The man with the huge guns is me, the guy in the black cap, that's Greg Capullo. As a kid I remember his early work on Quasar. I next remember him popping up drawing lots of issues of Spawn.
Fast forward to the present, and having read the first 5 issues of the renumbered Batman from DC comics he is hitting an artistic stride like never before.
I know after only 5 issues it may be premature to say that Greg is the best Batman artist ever, but lets look at my pre-Capullo top 3.
1. Norm Breyfogle.
So the guy couldn't draw an interesting Bruce Wayne to save his life. I don't care. His rendering of Alan Grant's tales in Detective and Batman were arguably some of the most impressive, in your face stuff. Ever.
go here to see what I'm talking about http://www.normbreyfogle.com/
2. Kelley Jones
Kelley's work shows the dark side of Batman and gotham, even a brightly lit room is full of shadows to Mr Jones. His run with Doug Moench is up there with Grant & Breyfogle for me.
3. David Mazzuchelli
Batman Year One - 'nuff said. After 4 pages in he made my top 5 artists of all time. He simply rocks.
So why Capullo? I think that you can tell when some one is punching the clock and when they really love what they're doing. Greg is loving drawing Batman and that shines through in the quality of the work he is producing. Follow him on twitter @GregCapullo and try to tell me this guy doesnt love his work.
His art is slightly cartoony, which ironically makes me believe every inch of the story, and the 'clean grittiness' of his stuff works perfectly to convey a decaying Gotham.
But hey, this is just the opinion of a guy who works in a comic shop all day, what would I know?
Feel free to leave comments of your own top 3 Batman Artists.
All images TM and copyright DC comics.
