Aargh! It's 'im!

[Kashgar]

Did an artist, whose style you didn't like, ever spoil or mar your enjoyment of a strip that in another artists hands you would have liked?

[felneymike]

The artist on the Commando comic "Deep Secret" around Christmas ruined what would have been an excellent story otherwise

The artist on the current "Automatic pilot" comedy story normally seems to do more serious stories, like "Fire Over England" in the All Guns Blazing book, which is pretty grim (by Commando standards anyway)

[philcom55]

I always quite liked Eric Kincaid's work on features like 'Roving Reporter', but I thought he made a horrible mess of his short run on Dan Dare: sadly the last time that character was ever to feature in a new story within the pages of the original Eagle. Similarly I felt that Jim Watson's muddy and impressionistic style suffered hugely by comparison with Mike Noble's clean-cut visualisation of Zero X and Captain Scarlet in TV 21. I was also pretty disappointed by most of Don Lawrence's replacements on 'The Trigan Empire' in Look & Learn; though on the whole I found that the writer was even more important than the artist in adventure strips.

- Phil Rushton

[colcool007]

Personally, while I was annoyed, as a kid, at some of the choices of Editors to not pick my favourite artists, I am continually surprised by how glad I am that on re-reading a comic, as an adult, it makes me aware of how well-rounded each issue was.

So to express my opinion, no artist ever made me cringe, but some of the Editors disappointed me by not sticking with my favourite artist for a particular story.

[Cap Haggis]

I was very disapointed in seeing Robert Nixon's (a great cartoonist in his own right) version of Ken Reids FrankieStein (far to cute and for me and it went against everything Ken Reid was trying to do in his humour) also wasn't keen on the artists that filled in and/or took over Reids Faceache (after his death) and Big Head a Thick Head (from memory the artist on the latter tried to mimic Reid but for me failed) on a positive I thought the artist that drew Jonah a few years ago was pretty good (although no where near as " insane" or inventive as Reids version) - I also was a bit disapointed in Don Lawrences replacements (or fil in) artists on Trigan Empire but that was probably because Lawrence was just so good (as were the replacements, but they weren't as good) ditto anyone following Frank Bellamy who was the first artist I read on Thunderbirds so never liked anyone that followed (although I don't think he did that many) also for me Solanos Lopez was the only Adam Eterno artist for me as well despite other greats like Tom Kerr (origianl?) doing it. Fianlly I hated anyone following my boyhood comic artist hero Neal Adams especially on Batman and Green Latern.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I always felt that it was FRANK McDIARMID who took over the artistic reins on 'BIGHEAD and THICKHEAD' after KEN REID.........I was under the impression that FRANK tried his damnest to approximate KEN'S style, though it is not a challenge that i would particularly relish, meself.......

[Kashgar]

It was indeed Frank MacDiarmid who took over Big Head and Thick Head after Ken Reid left the Dandy.
BTW I've just checked and it wasn't Felix Carrion's work on the Thunder strip 'The Terrible Trail to Tolmec' that so dismayed me as, in fact, he didn't actually draw it, it was his work on another Thunder strip 'The Gauntlet of Fate' that failed to impress.

[AndyB]

Jimmy Hughes drew at least one Big head and thick head in mid-1966 (as observed elsewhere - it was in the replica in the 2006 Dandy World Cup issue)

[Earl]

Not in UK comics, but George Tuska and Bill Jaaska from US comics kind of fit that bill for me. Then there are others like Rob Liefeld that I liked for his first couple of years but looking back on that art now it was pretty poor and people like Don Heck who I did not like as a kid but have grown to appreciate since.

Earl.

[Cap Haggis]

Earl good to see an appreciation of Don Heck he was, in the early days, up their with Ditko in my opinion (compared to others US artists of the time) he def lost it a bit at times in the 60s and got a really bad time from the fans (and he did do some really bad work it has to be said KA-ZAR anyone??!!) but there was also a lot of great stuff in there , when he went to DC he did some of his best work on the Teen Titans , Batman Family, JLA, FLash, Wonder Woman etc (tho not so good on Steel) - similarly one of my all time favourite US artists that got a bad time was Frank Robbins I really wasn't keen on him as a kid but slowly took to his style now I think he's fantastic and buy anything he did.

[Raven]

Did an artist, whose style you didn't like, ever spoil or mar your enjoyment of a strip that in another artists hands you would have liked?

I just particularly remember not liking it when a new artist took over a favourite strip - especially if Reg Parlett was being replaced, as with Harry's Haunted House and Ivor Lott & Tony Broke; the replacements were never as good. Nobody could quite match that fluid style. I remember this happening a lot; Kid Kong being another example when R. T. Nixon was replaced as artist.

It's still annoying to buy a copy of an old comic for a particular strip, and to find that it's drawn by a fill-in or replacement artist.

The fill-in artists in summer specials and annuals would grate as a kid, too. Except in the case of Terry Bave, to heap yet more deserved praise on the chap - in the Monster Fun Annual 1977 he took over chores for both Gums and the Badtime Bedtime feature and did lively and excellent renditions of both.

[David Gerstein]

In the early days of my Beano subscription, Gnasher and Gnipper were drawn by David Sutherland, and Billy Whizz by the great David Parkins.
Billy being taken over by Vic Neill was nearly tragic to me?Parkins' dynamic, funny character becoming Neill's guilelessly smiling nit.
I'm afraid I never cared for Barry Glennard taking over Gnasher and Gnipper from David Sutherland. No offense to Glennard if he's reading this (as he still draws the characters), but Gnipper's head became far too big, while both dogs' faces got a curiously flat look.

[brisey]

On the American side it was always the inkers who overwhelmed the pencils who did for me-Jack Abel,Vinnie Colletta for example.

But I think editors like them for the continuity they provided.

Always had a soft spot for artists taking over a strip- a thankless task.So no complaints here.

brisey

[Lew Stringer]

On the American side it was always the inkers who overwhelmed the pencils who did for me-Jack Abel,Vinnie Colletta for example.

But I think editors like them for the continuity they provided.

Always had a soft spot for artists taking over a strip- a thankless task.So no complaints here.

brisey

It's swings and roundabouts usually. When one artist left a strip it often meant he was moving on to a new one. Even as a five year old kid I noticed the difference when Ken Reid left Roger the Dodger (although Robert Nixon did a fine job replacing him) but was very pleased to recognize his style in Wham! a while later, illustrating Frankie Stein. (And as the sixties progressed, Ken's work became even more manic, and funnier!)

Lew

[AndyB]

Peter Davidson.