Most overrated/underrated writers & artists

[tbondrage99 0]

First off the writers. I think that Kevin Smith is pretty over rated. I dont see how hes any better then the next guy but because of his movies it seems like people automatically think hes better. Wizard doesnt help as there always on there knees in front of him.

 

As far as underrated...this one is alot harder. I would say Brian K. Vaughan or Peter Milligan, but I think there getting there due justice espically Vaughan. So I think that I will have to say....ummm actually I got nothing. I dont get to read comics like I want to since there are no comic store and my only link to the comic world for the most part is Wizard....and yeah they love everyone.

 

Onto over rated Artist. This one is pretty close. I think Alex Ross is extremely over rated but the most over rated? I gotta go with Frank Quitely. Theres just something about his artwork that I really hate..... and then theres the fact that he makes Wolverine look Purto Rican....

 

Under rated Artist I gotta give to Mike Allerd. I know the guys style is different from everyone else out there, but thats what I think makes it great (now I know someones going to bring up the fact that Alex Ross' style is different from everyone else too but.....shut up!) Anyways about Allerds art its just simple and very striking. It was enough to make me buy X-Statix itself.

[starvenger 0]

Well writing-wise I think that Grant Morrison is most overrated. He is still a very good writer, but in my mind he tends to burn out quickly and his stories just go downhill from there.

 

Underrated, I'll say Christina Weir, Nunzio DeFillipis, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and David Hine. The main X-Books get all the attention, but these guys on the secondary X-titles are writing the best stuff in the X-Universe.

 

Overrated artist... Bryan Hitch. Being constantly late while aping Alan Davis' style puts him at the top of the "overrated" list for me.

 

Underrated artist... funny to say this, but I'll say Darick Robertson. For all the great stuff he's done, it never seems like he's given his due.

[Guest SpiderFan]

Overrated writer...I'd say Mark Miller. None of his stuff really strikes me as being more then adequate, but everyone seems to praise the guy to high heaven.

 

Underrated...Dan Slott. I loved She-Hulk, and his Human Torch/Spider-man mini has been really great so far.

 

Overrated artist...Either Alex Ross or Jim Lee. Lee in particular is all flash, no substance these days.

 

Underrated...Ty Templeton. He's got a very simple, classic style that I enjoy very much.

[pochorenella 0]

I'll just go with pencillers right now.

 

Overrated: Mike Turner. For the life of me, I just can't see what all the fuzz is all about. He draws nice women, granted, but so do many others and better, I might add. For his style I prefer Marc Silvestri any day of the week.

 

Underrated: Carlos Pacheco. He just doesn't seem to get all the accolades he truly deserves. He's got that action/superhero style that just fits modern comics but with that powerful Jack Kirby-esque style also.

[starvenger 0]

Overrated: Mike Turner. For the life of me, I just can't see what all the fuzz is all about. He draws nice women, granted, but so do many others and better, I might add. For his style I prefer Marc Silvestri any day of the week.

Kids love the big boobies.

[Art Sandusky 0]

Chuck Palahniuk means "overrated garbage" in some Bantu languages.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

Does Rob Liefield still "draw" comics? How he gets paid for that trash he consistently puts out is beyond my scope of comprehension really.

[starvenger 0]

Does Rob Liefield still "draw" comics? How he gets paid for that trash he consistently puts out is beyond my scope of comprehension really.

Yes he does, but since we know he sucks, I don't think he can be considered "overrated"...

[Mecha Mummy 0]

I wouldn't call Peter Milligan underrated. Milligan is insanely hit or miss. He's either writing off-beat, original gems like X-Statix or he's writting banal, cliche crap like anything involving Venom and Carnage.

 

Dan Slott's very underrated, though. Very good writer.

[tbondrage99 0]

Does Rob Liefield still "draw" comics?  How he gets paid for that trash he consistently puts out is beyond my scope of comprehension really.

Yes he does, but since we know he sucks, I don't think he can be considered "overrated"...

Were this still the 90s then Liefeild would be considered over rated. Now...not so much.

[Vyce 0]

Overrated writers: WAY too many to count. Kevin Smith is DEFINITELY on the list. Bendis is for pretty much everything the writes these days outside of Daredevil (which is still pretty good). You know who else? Jeph Loeb. He's been overrated for a good LONG time.

 

Underrated: I'd definitely second Dan Slott. The She-Hulk series was very good at times. I've got a friend who normally loathes superhero comics, but he loved that series.

[Gary Floyd 0]

Overrated writers-Dean Koontz. I can't stand his shitty books.

 

Underrated-Jack Ketchum. When Steven King called him "one of the best", he wasn't kidding. Also, Edward Lee is great, if you like really hardcore, gross out horror, though he can also do great traditional, gothic horror.

[SuperJerk 0]

I gotta go with Frank Quitely. Theres just something about his artwork that I really hate..... and then theres the fact that he makes Wolverine look Purto Rican....

I once wrote a letter to Marvel complaining he made everyone look like Callista Flockhart.

 

Of course, for my one letter there was probably 1,000 "Authority" fanboy letters creaming over his uniqueness.

[Vyce 0]

Overrated writers-Dean Koontz. I can't stand his shitty books.

Koontz is maybe the biggest con artist in all of modern literature, because somehow he manages to convince millions of people to buy the dozen or so books he churns out every year. I know, I exaggerate a bit, but the guy does put out a LOT of books in a short amount of time, and that's because each one pretty much follows a standard formula, with the only deviation being in the type of villain that he uses (he only has a handful of different types, really, but he alternates between them).

 

What's really frustrating is that SOME of his books (the earlier ones) actually are decent, about 2/3rds of the way at least, but then just fall completely apart. But he really is a very mediocre writer who somehow managed to devise a formula that sells.

[SuperJerk 0]

You know who I really think is overrated?

 

The Kuberts. Their dad was awesome, but both Adam and Andy's work looks like a poor man's Marc Silvestri to me.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

Overrated writers-Dean Koontz. I can't stand his shitty books.

Koontz is maybe the biggest con artist in all of modern literature, because somehow he manages to convince millions of people to buy the dozen or so books he churns out every year. I know, I exaggerate a bit, but the guy does put out a LOT of books in a short amount of time, and that's because each one pretty much follows a standard formula, with the only deviation being in the type of villain that he uses (he only has a handful of different types, really, but he alternates between them).

 

What's really frustrating is that SOME of his books (the earlier ones) actually are decent, about 2/3rds of the way at least, but then just fall completely apart. But he really is a very mediocre writer who somehow managed to devise a formula that sells.

 

Remove Koontz and insert Crichton, same effect.

[Vampiro69 0]

Overrated writer-Brian Michael Bendis. I know this may bring heat, but I haven't been impressed with him, except for Daredevil. The only thing he seriously knows what to do is kill people. That is just my opinion though. Mark Millar and Jeff Leob are a close second.

 

Overrated artist- Have to agree with the Quietly assesment. Never been impressed with his work. Howard Porter is to inconsistant with his work. Some of it is great then the next is very mediocre.

 

Underrated artist- Scott Kollins drew the flash very well in my mind, espically the speed force was unique to me anyways.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

overrated is definetly Brian Bendis for me.

 

Back in the day, when he was writing Daredevil, USM and "Alias", I thought he lived up to the hype. Nowadays, everything of his just so mediocre, the novelty of his style has really worn off, and especially if you're reading monthly. I remember I thought USM was so great reading in bulk, when I finally caught up with the monthlies, it was just a mediocre unfulfilling read that was over in 5 minutes. Hearing "Bendis is coming onboard as writer" basically translates to "I'm done reading this title" for me.

[Vampiro69 0]

Glad to hear that there is someone else that thinks that Bendis is overrated.

[tbondrage99 0]

I dont think there are any shortage of people who think Bendis is over rated. I guess that tends to happen when one person seemingly writes half to books for a company.

[Guest The Last Free Voice]

I gotta go with Bendis and Millar as well. Niether of them does much for me. I disagree with the Grant Morrison ones though. I think he's one of the top writers out there.

 

As far as UNDERrated... I'll go with Brian Azzerello (spelling is fucked up probibly). He get's his due as a "good crime writer" for 100 Bullets, but I've enjoyed his other work as well.

 

As far as artists, I really can't say much. I think Phil Jeminez is underrated though. I loved his New Xmen stuff.

[Guest MikeSC]

Overrated writers-Dean Koontz. I can't stand his shitty books.

Koontz is maybe the biggest con artist in all of modern literature, because somehow he manages to convince millions of people to buy the dozen or so books he churns out every year. I know, I exaggerate a bit, but the guy does put out a LOT of books in a short amount of time, and that's because each one pretty much follows a standard formula, with the only deviation being in the type of villain that he uses (he only has a handful of different types, really, but he alternates between them).

 

What's really frustrating is that SOME of his books (the earlier ones) actually are decent, about 2/3rds of the way at least, but then just fall completely apart. But he really is a very mediocre writer who somehow managed to devise a formula that sells.

Remove Koontz and insert Crichton, same effect.

Grisham works, too. Well, except his books tend to fall apart in the first four pages...

-=Mike

[Special K 0]

Goldfish, Torso, Jinx, Powers, and early Ultimate Spidey (and I hear, Alias) are all really good. Bendis is simply spread to thin, and seemingly bad with continuity, which makes him a good fit for ultimates/original stuff, and a bad fit for 616 books.

 

I think Loeb is overrated, not bad, but overrated.

 

Yoshitaka Amano is underrated. His style doesn't lend itself to action scenes, and he doesn't have a large volume of work (most people are probably familiar with his Final fantasy artwork), but I've always loved his style, weird and androgynous though it may be.

 

I think Bagley may be underrated. you never really hear anyone praising him (or at least I haven't), but he was a super-solid artist, and drew the best-looking Spideys and Venoms, IMHO.

 

Hiroaki Samura's artwork in Blade of the Immortal is underrated, simply because he's probably my favorite artist.

 

Books:

 

I'm not big on Tom Clancy. His books are filled with technobabble that he doesn't even attempt to make interesting. Neal Stephenson, for example will spend pages on technical topics, but make them interesting to the reader.

 

Terry Goodkind and Robert Jordan could be considered overrated because they started good series, then drew them out too long and they turned to shit. Both are now just repeating themselves, and things happen at a SLOOOW pace, not exactly a good thing for escapist fantasy. It takes a special kind of suck to make you give up on a series in disgust when you're 8 huge books into it.

 

I'll say Harry Harrison is underrated in the old school sci-fi field. Like pretty much every old-school sci-fi author, he went crazy and pretty much lost his ability to write late in his career, but man, he had some GEMS back in the day; he had a wicked sense of humor too. You rarely hear his name, though, since his most famous book was 'Make Room! Make Room!' (soylent green).

 

Aaron Elkins was overrated. He was ok, but I can't believe he won an Edgar (for Old Bones, right? It's been a long time.)

[Sass 0]

Overrated Writers: Brian Bendis

 

Not everyone talks like a prick or an imbecile to one another and not every super villain needs to kill a dozen or so people in order to make an impact. Nor should stories that need be only 3 issues go on for 8 in order to appease the TPB market folks. He's better when not writing about super heroes, honestly.

 

Overrated Artist: too subjective

 

Alex Maleev's art has always made my head hurt though. I've never cared for any of his art on DD. The crappy shadow technique he uses to illustrate rooms and streets has always left me scratching my head. His fight scenes, or lack thereof, have also never done much for me either. I use to dislike Romita Jr. for the same reasons but he started using less shadow crap in his art and he won me over with that. It just looks like lazy artwork to me. I can at least ppreciate Hitch's work, even if he takes forever with it, only because he works his ass off at drawing every major and minute detail in a single panel, wheverer the characters might be located.

 

Underrated doesn't flow with me. I could probably go back and check out every series or mini-series that got cancelled early and probably find something about it that I thought made it underrated in *some* sort of way. Almost, every series. Sovereign Seven blew hard though. So did Next-Men. Both of those books blew.

 

I suppose a case *could* be made for Priest after his run on the 1st Black Panther series seemed to be in danger of cancellation like every other month towards the end of the books run. That was some damn good writing.

 

I'll come back to this one later, maybe.

[Guest MikeSC]

Under-rated for books: Terry Pratchett. "Discworld" is one of the best series of books I've ever read. Forget just good fantasy books --- they are insanely good books regardless.

 

And I can appreciate that some do not like Tom Clancy. I like his writing, but it is EXCEPTIONALLY techno-jargonish and can definitely be some slow reading.

-=Mike

[SuperJerk 0]

Almost, every series. Sovereign Seven blew hard though. So did Next-Men. Both of those books blew.

Next Men was excellent and ahead of its time. Many of the story elements from Next Men have appeared and reappeared in other science fiction TV shows, movies, and comics since it was published, thus diluting the effectiveness of the original series. However, for when it was publish, the series was simply great.

[Sass 0]

Next Men?

 

Oh man, go check out the Elementals, which smokes Next Men as being "ahead of its time" because that was a book that was ahead of it's time when the series first started up in 1985 and continued until 1994. It's probably one of my top 5 team books of all-time, if not universally. That book doesn't get pimped enough nowadays.

[SuperJerk 0]

Next Men?

 

Oh man, go check out the Elementals, which smokes Next Men as being "ahead of its time" because that was a book that was ahead of it's time when the series first started up in 1985 and continued until 1994. It's probably one of my top 5 team books of all-time, if not universally. That book doesn't get pimped enough nowadays.

Never heard of it. What was it about?

[Highland 0]

Under-rated for books: Terry Pratchett. "Discworld" is one of the best series of books I've ever read. Forget just good fantasy books --- they are insanely good books regardless.

 

And I can appreciate that some do not like Tom Clancy. I like his writing, but it is EXCEPTIONALLY techno-jargonish and can definitely be some slow reading.

-=Mike

I agree with you completely about Terry Pratchett. His books are hilarious and well written. I've yet to read one where I didn't burst out laughing at least once.

[starvenger 0]

Almost, every series.  Sovereign Seven blew hard though.  So did Next-Men.  Both of those books blew.

Next Men was excellent and ahead of its time. Many of the story elements from Next Men have appeared and reappeared in other science fiction TV shows, movies, and comics since it was published, thus diluting the effectiveness of the original series. However, for when it was publish, the series was simply great.

Wasn't Next Men part of Byrne's pitch for the (original) 2099 line? IIRC, that was supposed to be Byrne's baby but for whatever reason they went a different direction with it.