I honestly love Tim Sale's art and don't really like Jim Lee's art. Like it's so generic to me and Sale's stylized stuff fits the stories he does. At least for me! It's my opinion haha
Jim Lee does that 90s superhero art better than anyone. But I hate 90s superhero art, so he never appealed to me.
Here we go again... I will say though you should power through The Long Halloween because the story is great
That second picture especially is a fantastic piece of illustration. His Batman specifically, out of context, isn't the coolest looking, but as a whole, he's a wonderful artist. Gorgeous pages. I prefer Todd McFarlane Spider-Man in terms of 90s stuff. He had (and maybe still does, but I don't keep up with him) a great dynamic energy reminiscent of Jack Kirby. Jim Lee at his best is really good, but isn't as loose. The best modern 90s-style artist is probably Greg Capullo. You can still see that standard 90s Image style in his work, but he's established his own really cool, creepy style.
Excellent points. McFarlane is a bit of a blind spot. I have come across some of his Marvel work in my day, but I never really read Spawn. Capullo is great, but I admit that he wasn't on my radar until Batman. So I tend to overlook both of them when thinking about 90s artists.
I think Tim Sale's art also just fits really well with The Long Halloween story itself. Might not be the prettiest thing to look at (I thought it worked extremely well anyway), but the story is so worth it.
I've been convinced to not put it off despite the ugly art so I'm glad I brought it up, ha. I suppose it does fit well with Halloween..
It's one of the best comic books of all time. Easily in my top 3. It's not Jim Lee quality realism, but the noir art works.
This is what I love about it. It has such a noir style that it fits this like mafia neo-noir story that the Long Halloween is. It's perfect for it.
Damn now I want to read that trilogy. Is it officially a trilogy? Haunted Knight, Dark Victory, and The Long Halloween. I can't remember the order and it's been a good 3-4 years since I've read them.
If I remember correctly, Haunted Knight is like a prelude to The Long Halloween kind of? Like it's more side stories. And then after LH it's Dark Victory!
Ah yes, that sounds right. I also want to go through Snyder and Capullo's Batman run. I know it just ended but Ive been wanting to go through all of it at once.
I think Haunted Knight is mostly unrelated besides the same creative team. It's also early, unrefined Tim Sale. You can probably pass on it. Dark Victory is the sequel, and Catwoman: When In Rome is a spinoff in the same continuity. These comics share a continuity with Batman: Year One, Robin: Year One, and Batgirl: Year One. (Batman: Year One is also separately in a continuity w/ everything else Batman that Frank Miller has done.)
Missed the Sale talk. The thing I love about his art is everything he can do with the colors he uses. Sooooo good.
Crazy that this artist snuck that in there. Strictly speaking, what you're complimenting is the work of his colorists. Check out the Wolverine/Gambit miniseries he did in the 90s for how bad coloring can screw his work up. But, yeah, his illustration lends itself to gorgeous colors that pop so well. There's a lot of great fine arts flavor to what he does.
Shiiiiiiiiit. That's what I get for assuming he did that work. I always feel like colorists should get as much credit as the guys drawing it. Just throw their names on the spine, dammit!
I'd love a re-colored version, by like Jordie Bellaire or Dave Stewart or Matt Hollingsworth. Or even a black and white version. Do it. Great series.