I may get shot for this...

marko10174 · 23 April, 2017, 09:52:14 PM

but I'm not a fan of Carlos Ezquerras art work on Judge Dredd. Compared to the the beautiful work of Greg Staples, or Nick Percival's incredible art work on "Good night kiss" CQ just doesn't cut it. His work on Dredd just seems so basic and cartoony. America is my favourite JD story and Colin macNeil's work again is better than anything CQ has contributed. Apologies to any CQ fans in advance.

SIP · 23 April, 2017, 10:03:16 PM

Jesus christ.......

Good night kiss? Really? Compared to necropolis? Or the Apocalypse War??

I think I just died a little inside.

marko10174 · 23 April, 2017, 10:11:04 PM

How do you add pictures to messages on here? I just want to give an example.

SIP · 23 April, 2017, 10:14:05 PM

Goodnight kiss is what finally drove me away from 2000ad and Dredd. It took me several years to recover from that one.

Carlos is about as good as comic art gets.

SIP · 23 April, 2017, 10:18:47 PM

Quote from: marko10174 on 23 April, 2017, 09:52:14 PM

CQ just doesn't cut it. His work on Dredd just seems so basic and cartoony.

😭

Magnetica · 23 April, 2017, 10:19:15 PM

Yes Greg Staples work is beautiful but now long does it take him to produce a story? Same with MacNeil's painted stuff, it's great but simply takes ages - and he said so himself.

There is an original Carlos Dredd page at the Cartoon Museum in London, which is painted, and frankly it is great. Every bit as good as Staples, Bisley or MacNeil.

Overall I think you will be hard pressed to find an artist who has made a bigger overall contribution to 2000AD than Carlos.

Creator of the most popular character - check
Creator of the 2nd most popular character - check
More pages than any other artist - well I haven't counted, but I should think so

Also can't think of anyone who was there at the start who is still drawing for the Prog (cameos in Prog 2000 don't count as still contributing).

SIP · 23 April, 2017, 10:21:49 PM

I was standing right by Carlos the other week as he was sketching at the Wales comic con......I genuinely felt like I was in the presence of greatness. He is 2000ad royalty, and I would pretty much read any old rubbish if he was drawing it. Pure class.

I'll shut up now, Sunday night blues.

Ps. Absolutely no insult or disrespect intended towards Nick Percival work, goodnight kiss was just a dredd story that made me sad inside.

marko10174 · 23 April, 2017, 10:28:00 PM

Honestly, don't mean to offend anyone, I just don't get it. I'm right now starring at two images on wiki images. "Judge Dredd the complete CQ collection" and Judge Dredd "the Brian Bolland complete collection". The difference is astounding. CQ's version of Dredd is basic to the core, where as the detail in BB's Dredd is noticeably different.

Magnetica · 23 April, 2017, 10:47:14 PM

Speaking for myself only, I'm not offended. You are entitled to your opinion and I actually like discussions such as this.

I remember my brother (who used to read my Progs) telling me years ago that he didn't like Carlos' art. I was surprised but that's up to him.

Yes Bolland is better at drawing than anyone else (in my opinion) and I long to have him draw Dredd again, but a) it's probably never going to happen and b) as with Staples he is notorious slow.

So it depends what you want - a tiny amount of pages that are wonderous to look at, or a higher volume of pages that are still great, but maybe not quite at that level - as art. But Carlos is a great story teller. I can't recall any of his stories where it wasn't clear what was going on - the story flows beautifully with him.

Sadly I can't say the same for all artists.

TordelBack · 23 April, 2017, 10:59:55 PM

Carlos for me over Bolland any day. Bolland's art is stunning precise draughtsmanship and I love it, but Ezquerra's is magnificent, individually designed, lively, characterful, powerful, comics storytelling at its finest: and he gets 'er done, page after page. I actually didn't really get Carlos when I started reading the prog: he was doing Starborn Thing, The Moses Incident and Stainless Steel Rat, and I was besotted with Ron Smith, Bellardinelli and Ewins, but going back to read Apocalypse War ans Portrait of a Mutant sold me on him forever.

I tell you what though, the Mega Collection really opened my eyes as to the scale of Colin MacNeill's contribution to Dredd's world. I've moved him into my Top 5 Dredd artists as a result.

Dave Kendall · 23 April, 2017, 11:05:10 PM

Strontium Dog in Hell. That was magnificent. I can remember copying those double page spreads when I was eight or Nine. Carlos gave me a lovely thumbs up when Alan Grant showed him my work at one of the last UKCAC's. He's a true master and gentleman.

But everyone's entitled to an opinion. Art is subjective.

JOE SOAP · 23 April, 2017, 11:07:15 PM

I prefer the way Carlos Ezquerra lays-out a page and the gritty, dynamic feel of his work.

The visual energy from the interplay between the angle of composition and the alternating direction of deep black/high-contrast line work in these pages is extraordinary. You feel like you're being drawn into the black swirl of the last frame of the second page.

I don't get the same intense flow of story-action from more static, illustrative artists like Brian Bolland or Greg Staples. I also think Carlos Ezquerra has a unique feel for character design.

Rogue Judge · 23 April, 2017, 11:49:31 PM

Very interesting...this is not a popular opinion, but it is an opinion you are entitled to. However, Carlos Ezquerra is my absolute favorite (along with Mick McMahon). The image and explanation Joe Soap posted provides an excellent reason why he is the best. I especially like his B&W artwork.

He consistently draws a mean and tough looking Dredd and is, in my opinion, the definitive Dredd artist (who also happened to co-create the character). Small nose, big chin, giant shoulder pad/eagle, awesome lawmaster - he does it all. Also, nothing makes me happier than reading Carlos Ezquerra's Strontium Dog

Come on man, this is as good as it gets!

The Adventurer · 24 April, 2017, 12:35:33 AM

Considering I rank Carlos at the level of Eisner, Kirby, and Tezuka.... I must disagree.

Arkwright99 · 24 April, 2017, 04:41:39 AM

Quote from: marko10174 on 23 April, 2017, 10:28:00 PMHonestly, don't mean to offend anyone, I just don't get it. I'm right now starring at two images on wiki images. "Judge Dredd the complete CQ collection" and Judge Dredd "the Brian Bolland complete collection". The difference is astounding. CQ's version of Dredd is basic to the core, where as the detail in BB's Dredd is noticeably different.

I'm kind of more offended that if you're going to abbreviate Carlos Ezquerra's name to two initials you (apparently) can't be bothered to get his second initial correct. You may not like Carlos' artwork - it's your opinion and you're entitled to be wrong - but at least do him the respect of getting his name (initials) right.

But that gripe aside, I think this depends on how you're defining 'basic'. Brian Bolland has a very 'realistic' style to his art; not photo-realistic necessarily but it's clean, precise and unarguably slick. Carlos's artwork is grittier, arguably messier, but it's no less detailed than Bolland's, just different. If you don't like it, fair dos but I can think of work by other artists that appeared in 2000AD which barely passed 'basic' levels of competence (I won't name names because it doesn't seem fair) so calling Carlos' art 'basic' is a pretty below-the-belt argument.

I've followed Carlos' artwork for 40 years now and throughout those four decades I can't think of anything Carlos has produced that, by any dispassionate assessment, doesn't demonstrate exceptional levels of draughtsmanship and storytelling. Even his early experiments with digital/computer-coloured art showed an artist willing to master new tools to add to his repertoire rather than doing the same-old same-old forever (albeit doing it very well).

It's one of the things I like about Mick McMahon and Simon Coleby; they're prepared to change their 'style' in order to up their game. I love Bolland's art - I bought 'Wonder Woman' for years solely because of his covers - but I don't think it's unfair to point out that his art hasn't really evolved since the '80s except maybe to become even slicker (although his 'Mr Mamoulian' strips did show a willingness to experiment) whereas Mick's current art is unrecognisable compared to his Carlos-inspired Dredd, his own 'classic' Dredd or even his 'Slaine' style (which was, frankly, an amazing step-up) and Coleby's current work on 'Jaegir' is worlds away from his '90s 'Rogue Trooper' stuff (and all the better for it imo).

Given all the great (and not so great) artists who have contributed to 2000AD over four decades the fact that Carlos is still working for Tharg on a regular basis is testament to his exceptional talents and accomplishments.