Sundays are known for folks gathering around tables on television and pontificating about some of the hottest topics out there, offering their expertise. We bring that tradition to Graphic Policy as the team gathers to debate in our Sunday Roundtable.

On tap this week?

We all probably have characters we follow, but what about artists? Are there artists that have made an impression on you as comic readers and are there any that you follow around to different books?

Daphne: Jeff Smith. I’d follow him anywhere. After he wrote Bone, which is still my favorite comic series of all time, I went to read his Shazam series and his original comic RASL. I love his art style and his sense of humor.

Elana: I’m obviously massively obsessed with Jack Kirby but there are contemporary artists that I really love too. I buy pretty much everything that J.H Williams or Jamie McKelvie do. They have totally different aesthetics but they both do amazing things with panels and layout. They both make stunning art. Williams is probably the most revolutionary artist in the medium. McKelvie is one of the only straight male artists who actually understands clothing as part of character design. Every character has a unique face and body. Basically he defeats all of my nemeses in comics art. I think I’ve bought almost everything that Stephanie Hans has done — I realized that looking at her portfolio. I’m obsessive about Tom Neely‘s amazing work on The Humans and mean to get his back catalog. He’s a flawless craftsman, when it comes to sheer technique he is unbeatable. He does his own inks and lettering and it makes everyone else look bad by comparison because of how woven in it is.

I live for Kevin Wada covers. The only times I’ve spent extra money to buy a variant cover was his cover for A-Force with all the female heroes hanging in front of a brownstone. The other time was Ming Doyle‘s pin-up of John Constantine on issue 1. It was the most radical cover on the shelves in its brazen display of a male cheesecake. Wada and Doyle are both outstanding artists. Period. I always check out their stuff. Wada draws the most beautiful people. He really uses costuming well. His colors are amazing and he’s the king of cheeky. Doyle’s style is also unmistakable and moody. I can spot a Ming Doyle eye a mile away.

Katherine: Wait. Are we talking about art/drawing style artists, or artists in general? grin emoticon

Elana: Talking about comics pencilers (or painters in the case of like Hans or Ross).

And not just ones you like but ones who’s presence on a book is enough to make you buy it.

Katherine: Ooooooh. In that case Jack Kirby, Dave McKean and Bill Sienkiewicz, whom I can never spell right.

Elana: Great choices! Each completely distinctive in style.

Katherine: To this day, Bill is the only person who can draw Marvel’s Warlock right.

I also follow Rob Liefeld, but that’s because I like watching a good trainwreck now and then.

Elana: Katherine that’s totally true re Warlock. The character is really a distillation of his look.

I basically kept reading Silver Surfer because of the work of team Allred. They do so many comics that I can’t actually buy them all but I will always check their work out. Super distinct. I love their Post Modern take on Silver Age art.

I don’t technically follow my favorite Silver Age and Bronze Age artists because there’s just so much out there. I could do a whole other roundtable about my favorite artists from earlier periods.

Katherine: A few. Jack Kirby will always be the measuring stick of any comic book artist, and with good reason but he’s not really active anymore, obviously. Dave McKean and Bill Sienkiewicz are two from the 90s that I will always love, as well as Sam Keith and Michael Allred, now that I think about it. I used to follow Bill Willingham until he proved to be an utter choad, however.

Elana: People either love Allred or hate his style. I’m on team love. When I was first going in to comics shops his work was what really stood out to me.

I have a large tattoo based on Kirby designs. and I’ll be getting more.

Paul: Joe Madureira was IT for me for the longest time. I loved his work on Uncanny X-Men and his contributions to the original Age of Apocalypse were some of my favorite issues. I just loved the way he incorporated manga influences into his work and, for me anyways, brought something new to the X-Men that just made me a bigger fan. I also love Jimmy Cheung‘s work especially when Young Avengers jumped onto the scene. I was instantly hooked on that book because it had it all…great characters, writing and the art was just fantastic. To be honest, I don’t follow writers or artists like others do… I’m more into my books and characters. But seeing this new topic, I just had to mention these two artists that definitely left an impression on me.

Alex: Man I would drool over Mad’s Wolverine…

Katherine: Actually, now that I think about it, before I was really into comics I was into the Heavy Metal magazine, and I started noticing certain artists. Most notably Richard Corben and Moebius. I mean, a lot of the stuff that Corben was associated with was godawful (Den anybody?) but his art was brilliant. Moebius was just brilliant all around.

Alex: These days I don’t tend to pick up a book just because a specific artist is involved, but I will certainly pay more attention to a comic if Humberto Ramos, Richard Isanov or Robert Gill are involved. And Nick Bradshaw, too, but that’s more because he’s a local(ish) artist.

Paul: Ramos, yes!

Michael: J.H. Williams. He did and an amazing job with Batwoman that it had to read Sandman Overture. His art seriously haunts my soul wink emoticon

Elana: His style is unmistakable!

Brett: That wraps up this week’s discussion! What about you readers? Sound off in the comments below!