Greatest cartoonist of the 20th century.....

[longshot]

Chuck Jones, Wendy Pini, Jack Kirby, and of course Sensei Stan.

[Stan Sakai]

I wouldn't be surprised if a hundred years from now, Picasso and Charles Schulz will be regarded as the greatest artists of the 20 century.

[Usagi]

Hey!-- know one has really metiond Hanna Harbra....Gotta love that Yogi Bear!

[Colin Solan]

Someone who hasn't been mentioned is Winsor McCay of Little Nemo in Slumberland. I saw some of his work in Spigelman's In the Shadow of No Towers and was blown away. I then came across a collection of his work at my local comic shop. His work is incredible with amazing depth and creativity.

[Bienenoberst]

Favorite Comic-Writers: Lewis Trondheim (Donjon, Lapinot), Benito Jacovitti (Cocco Bill), René Goscinny (Asterix, Lucky Luke, Adventures of Harun al Pussah), Stan Sakai (who the heck...), Art Spiegelman (Maus), Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes), Ralf König (Bull Balls), Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira, Mother Sarah)

Favorite Comic-Painters: Albert Uderzo (Asterix), Grzegorz Rosinski (Thorgal), Stan Sakai, Nagayasu (Mother Sarah), Sanpei Shirato (Kamui)

Most influensive? Who am I to judge! Disney? Shuster/Siegel? Stan Lee? Herge? Andre Franquin?

[mrgrooism]

Man, that's tough. How is this for a sub-question. How different would your Favorite list be over Greatest? Same or different?

Well, Greatness can be measured in many way. To me Greatest is a word which conjures up visions of Iconic characters. If you factor popularity with longevity and influence, it's hard to beat good old Charles Schultz. For total mass marketing and financial success, you've gotta go Walt Disney, he who spawned an empire (No Star Wars jokes, puhleeze).

Favorite is easier for me: Sergio and Stan top the list with the greatest of ease!

[Cyberwolf]

There will be no answer to this, but I do know of a lot of choices: Sergio Argones, Stan Sakai, Jeff Smith of Bone, the creator of the old cartoon strip Krazy Kat (His name escapes me,) if he still was around, Stan Lee, and several more I cannot think of right now.

[Shishio]

If I were to be objective, I would have to say Tezuka Osamu gets my vote, quite simply for being the father of manga, which is my favourite medium for storytelling. And, in my opinion, noone does it better than the Japanese.

That's not to say there aren't good North American comics or European comics, but far and wide, I prefer Japanese ones, so naturally, I owe a debt of gratitude to Tezuka. (Ha... Even when I try to be objective, I come out biased...)

If I were to be completely biased, I would say Otomo Katsuhiro, because, along with Lone Wolf & Cub, Akira is my favourite manga of all time.

[bombcar]

My personal opinion is that Carl Barks is the best I've ever read.

His stories, like Stan's, were always well researched and fun to read.

[Fanfan]

I am quite astonished by this thread. Why should be a greatest cartoonist ? should we consider sellings, influence, diversity, story telling, graphical abilities, ideas or reflexions ?
I have seen a lot of Japanese and american cartoonist in these posts, but there are also European cartoonists. Manga, comics and European BD are different school of cartoon art, and there are many different style in each, and many interinfluence…
For my own, there’s at least one people to honor and that not have been named : Winsor Mc Kay (Little Nemo), who is historically the beginning of actual cartoon and animation movie…
If we talk of animation we should insert plasticine creator like Jiri Trnka (Czech, during Cold War).
In european BD (comic) I really like Franquin that is really typical of french school, I suppose that he is not known in USA, but in France (and not only) most of the authors you named are quite unknown… so what criteria ?
Concerning animation : French movie “Le roi et l’oiseau” by Grimault is a source of influence for many modern animator (Miyazaki himself) and a message of hope. Just to show the subjectivity, and there's an old dictum that say here "Old writers are for new ones, modern writers are for the audience", so perhaps we should ask cartoonists themselves… I dunnot know enough to pronounce myself…
What is sure is that i really like Tenshi no Tamago by Oshii even if no one knows or likes it.
Anyway it’s hard to talk of Stan Sakai on this forum (some kind of prejudice ^_^), but I really think it’s a major cartoonist, and that Usagi Yojimbo will become a reference with time
And why to have The One, as we have many passions, many great artists that are waiting to be discovered and appreciate by us… at last if one people is designed as the greatest, it won’t change your mind and the ones you prefer…

----
anyway it is funny to see our favorite artists !

[Tim]

Because nobody has brought him up, and I think he at least deserves to be mentioned, let's toss R. Crumb into the fray.

[Angelcake]

Because nobody has brought him up, and I think he at least deserves to be mentioned, let's toss R. Crumb into the fray.

Ah, yes. Who can forget Fritz the Cat?

[CWmax]

So tough to pick a greatest----So I will just mention an artist that is one of my faves but hasn't been mentioned yet.....


John Buscema...I love his work!

[CWmax]

Did anyone mention Matt Groening?

I used to like his "Life is Hell" stuff ....The Simpsons is pretty popular too....



CW

[Ma-Ku]

Art Spiegelman

His Maus story perhaps isn't the best drawings around but that story is wonderful. I read this many years ago in school and I havent read a story since written as well as this.

Has anyone read A contract with God by Will Eisner?