Is Alex Ross overrated?
cma...@cts.com
So what's the big deal about Alex Ross? Sure, he draws realistic looking characters; but, are they exciting?
Do the scenes he draws match the excitement and action of such "unrealistic" artists as Kirby and Ditko? Ross uses
models and dolls to draw photo-realistically; but, there is no life to his pages. Such "realistic" artists as Neal
Adams and John Buscema also add a touch of their imagination and personality to their drawings. I would rather have
more pizzazz per panel then more realism.
Keith Lee
Dwight Williams
In answer to your title question:
No. He isn't.
--
Dwight Williams - Orleans(Ottawa), ON, Canada
Personal Homesite: http://www.ncf.ca/~ad696/
*I* own my Usenet postings, not some archival service!
Bryan J. Maloney
Ross needs stories that can fit his style. Conventional superhero
stories won't fit.
--
"A 'Cape Cod Salsa' just isn't right."
Vincent J. Murphy
Dwight Williams <ad...@freenet.carleton.ca> wrote:
>
>In answer to your title question:
>
>No. He isn't.
Though "overexposed" might be correct. Don't get me wrong,
I like much of his stuff, just that I liked it better when
there wasn't so much of it. That's pretty much true of
all artists/writers, though, I imagine.
VJM
dins
lovely lovely stuff
rgds
dins
--
-
"next time you have one of these, keep it an all British thing"
TORI PAGAC
pages when he auctions off some
Working on my comic again Yahoo!
http://members.tripod.com/~magik88285/index.html
my marvel females links site
/note anti spam when replying
Shawn Hill
: All:
Yes, he's over-rated. He bores me to tears. He's the reason I didn't buy
Kingdom Come. I would have preferred a less realistic style, with actual
comic book inking.
Shawn
Eric
Boring stuff and he has an inability to make his characters not look 20 years
older than they should look.
Not a great storyteller either, seems to shine a bit more in situations like
the DC tabloid books where it's not always totally sequential work.
I can't see him getting much work outside comics in other arenas of
illustration had he not already established himself as the uber comic artist
that many think he is.
e.
Jonathan Harper
Shawn Hill wrote:
I don't think this guy is overrated at all! I love the realism for the simple fact he makes me believe our heroes can
exist. I'm not delusional or something but since our favorites characters aren't getting the movie screen treatment they
deserve, this is the next best thing in my mind.
Just bought his oversized Wonder Woman book. Woof! Lynda Carter...sit down.
JAH
Bryan J. Maloney
<harp...@umn.edu> wrote:
> Just bought his oversized Wonder Woman book. Woof! Lynda Carter...sit
> down.
You are aware that his Wonder Woman and Superman are from live models...
M-Wolverine
Y'know, I can see it in the way that Micheal Jordan was overrated.
Anyone who gets that much hype is overrated for what he's worth to
some extent. But it doesn't mean they aren't great, or even the best-
just that no one could live up to that amount of hype.
-Chris C.
Jonathan Harper
"Bryan J. Maloney" wrote:
Yes,
So that should creep people out even less that I am drooling over a series of
Wonder Woman paintings.
JAH
jayembee
Well, OK, but what *I* would rather have is a variety of
styles in comic book, ranging from Alex Ross to Bill
Sienkiewicz to John Romita Jr. There's a place for both
"pizzazz" *and* "realism". I like both. I like Ross, and
I like Kirby. I don't see why the existence of one has
to preclude the other.
-- jayembee
Franklin Harris
Yes, for exactly the reasons you cite. His work is good, and he is certainly
a major talent, but his work isn't *alive*, which is more than a bit ironic,
given its photorealism.
--
Franklin Harris
Pulp Culture Online, www.pulpculture.net
"I was sure of the Man in the Moon before I was certain of the moon." -- The
Kinks
Monica L. Tittle
Monica Tittle
histo...@mindspring.com
Bad habits are hard to break. Especially if you like them.
--Found inside a fortune cookie
Richard Marchand
covers and pinups, I don't get the same buzz. That's not to say I don't like them but it is not the most impressive
demonstration of his skills and seems to diminish his power as an artist.
Are there any Ross series coming out in the near future?
Clem Clambake
<cma...@cts.com> wrote:
> So what's the big deal about Alex Ross?
Ahhhh, he's a hack.
Clem Clambake
--
Visit Clem Clambake's "Alex Ross Lounge" hosted by Silver Bullet Comics at:
http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/arl/
Scott Eiler
Until Alex Ross starts putting out two painted comic books every month,
I'm not understanding this "overexposed" argument.
--
-------- Scott Eiler B{D> -------- http://www.eilertech.com/ --------
"Standing in the House of God is a rite of passage that occurs when
one is old enough to sit still and behave like a human being. Would
you let your children act like wild animals in the house of a beloved
relative? No? Then why is it happening in the purported dwelling of
the Creator Of The Universe?"
-- From http://internettrash.com/users/bitchdaisy/spiritual.html .
Alan Travis
> In answer to your title question:
>
> No. He isn't.
I don't think over-rated is the right term. 'In a rut' might be more
apt? When was the last time this guy did anything that knocked your
socks off? Between those awful, sanctimonious and boring DC over-sized
one shots (sorry Paul!) and doing increasingly lackluster covers for
Marvel and others, I haven't been excited by anything he's done in
years.
Do a comic!
Alan
Patrick MARCEL
> Between those awful, sanctimonious and boring DC over-sized
> one shots (sorry Paul!) and doing increasingly lackluster covers for
> Marvel and others, I haven't been excited by anything he's done in
> years.
Not too mention the Earth X series, which went from a couple of pencils done
as some kind of joke, to three large static and continuity-heavy mini-series
with extensions, with no end in sight - next stop PARADISE X.
Patrick
--
Reason is only a drug, and its effects cannot be permanent.
- Hope Mirrlees -
Vincent J. Murphy
Scott Eiler <sei...@eilertech.com> wrote:
>"Vincent J. Murphy" wrote:
>>
>> In article <3C483DAE...@ncf.ca>,
>> Dwight Williams <ad...@freenet.carleton.ca> wrote:
>> >
>> >In answer to your title question:
>> >
>> >No. He isn't.
>>
>> Though "overexposed" might be correct. Don't get me wrong,
>> I like much of his stuff, just that I liked it better when
>> there wasn't so much of it. That's pretty much true of
>> all artists/writers, though, I imagine.
>
>Until Alex Ross starts putting out two painted comic books every month,
>I'm not understanding this "overexposed" argument.
Let's see: I go into the comic store and am greeted with 4 Alex
Ross oversized DC books, with Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel,
Batman, and Superman. They've got the Crisis poster, and the
book, as well as Kingdon Come related crap.
I go into a Warner Brother's store (well, I USED to) and they've
got about 8-10 different Ross items, from posters to prints to
plates.
I think Ross is the most overexposed comic artist in a long
while. It isn't just the comics. :) There's a general
liking of his style beyond comics, so there's more of
his material out there.
Whenever I walked into a Warner's store and saw that stupid
Christopher Reeve as Aqualad Teen Titans plate, I would
laugh. There is a point where his art is just a parody of
itself. :)
VJM
Grant Enfield
"dins" <dingsyŁ74Ł@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:u4gk5mc...@corp.supernews.com...
> Marvels and Kingdom come kick major arse
Marvels works very well. The "snapshot" feel that Ross's art has fit a story
told by a news photographer. (That feel also lends itself well to covers.)
Kingdom Come works less well. The action scenes lack a sense of movement, so
they don't feel much like "action." He seems to be able to capture a moment
very well and give things weight and presence, but his art doesn't seem to
lend itself to stories that require a sense of motion. I'm only familiar
with Marvels and Kingdom Come, so I don't know if he's ever tried to depict
a fight scene outside of Kingdom Come, for example.
grant
sonof...@juno.com
worked beautifully with 'Marvels' all though out (even if I preferred
the original Kirby art during the Galactus bits). Overall, though, I
just don't care for so-called photo-realistic painting. If there's
some greater essence or emotive quality, that's one thing, but a lot
of Alex Ross (and half assed imitators) that I recall, struck me as
almost passionless. The idea that this is the best way to illustrate
comics, superhero or otherwise, or the ideal art style, is silly,
though. Reminds me a lot of people looking over surrealist works and
whining about it being all curvy, or something. The 'make it look
exactly like what it would be in reality' ideal, that never, frankly,
appealed to me.
Nice design aesthetic, though.
Randall P. MacMurphy
I disagree with statements about his scenes looking lifeless. They only
appear so compared to the the stylized hyper-sensational traditional
comic-book action.
Personally, I get a major thrill out of seeing these characters look
realistic. Artistic stylization in comic books got REALLY exaggerated at
the end of the century and I think that his contribution served as a
much-needed contrast to those.
I also especially like the character designs he's done for the
"Earth/Universe/Paradise X" series, his X-Men redesigns and even his
Spider-Man Movie costume proposal. At first I thought it made Spidey look
totally creepy, until I realized that that would account for public
opinion treating Spidey like a villian.
Long story short: I like his contributions and hope he keeps busy.
BlakGard
I've honestly been asking myself this question for years. I don't see it.
-=[ The BlakGard ]=-
"Somewhere there's danger;
somewhere there's injustice,
and somewhere else the tea is getting cold!"
Mike Caprio
Vincent J. Murphy <vjmu...@io.com> wrote:
>I think Ross is the most overexposed comic artist in a long
>while. It isn't just the comics. :) There's a general
>liking of his style beyond comics, so there's more of
>his material out there.
He's not overexposed - he just makes more merchandise than other comic
artists (posters, prints, etc) and merchandise gets sold in more
venues. I imagine he probably makes good money selling artistic work
and prints rather than illustrating books, and I think it highlights
and captures his talents as a painter well.
I'm sure if other comic artists did the same, we'd see more of their
work too.
Mike
quimico
and Miller isn't as overrated as Byrne is,
even now.
Shawn Hill
: Whenever I walked into a Warner's store and saw that stupid
: Christopher Reeve as Aqualad Teen Titans plate, I would
: laugh. There is a point where his art is just a parody of
: itself. :)
Definitely. Boring.
shawn
Shawn Hill
: I disagree with statements about his scenes looking lifeless. They only
: appear so compared to the the stylized hyper-sensational traditional
: comic-book action.
IE, work that's exciting and actually designed for the right medium?
: Personally, I get a major thrill out of seeing these characters look
: realistic. Artistic stylization in comic books got REALLY exaggerated at
: the end of the century and I think that his contribution served as a
: much-needed contrast to those.
He's no Boris Valejo.
: I also especially like the character designs he's done for the
: "Earth/Universe/Paradise X" series, his X-Men redesigns and even his
: Spider-Man Movie costume proposal. At first I thought it made Spidey look
: totally creepy, until I realized that that would account for public
: opinion treating Spidey like a villian.
: Long story short: I like his contributions and hope he keeps busy.
I don't hate him....but I find him very boring and not worth buying
usually.
shawn