Disney style artists?

[Rob Knotts]

I was just curious what people thought of the current wave of artists who seem to be influenced primarily by Disney and/or Don Bluth animation? I've heard people refer to this style of art as "cartoony" or (somewhat mistakenly) as anime/manga-styled, but in general when somebody points out the art style it's in a negative light. I've never heard anyone point out this sort of art postitively.

There are actually quite a few artists out there I would put into this category: Joe Madureira, Greg Titus, Humberto Ramos, Jeff Matsuda, Paco Medina, just to name a few. Probably the most prominent superhero artist right now is Chris Bachelo, although he tends to play down the exaggerated limbs/faces common to this style of art.

What do you guys think of this style of art? And if you don't like it (or just plain hate it), what exactly don't you like about it?

[Viscount Einstrauss]

I think a lot of people bash it because it's easy to do at the later stages of development. Notice the "later stages of development" part. First you have to properly balance and master the proportions and stylistic flair you'll be utilizing. After this it'll be plenty easy to duplicate endlessly, but the original creation is a difficult design-oriented procedure.

Personally, I like stylized art. Something doesn't have to look like days were spent on every drawing to look good. Art ought to be judged on entertainment value, not difficulty.

[Mr White]

i can't actually comment to the named artists as I'm not familiar with their work, but I can comment on the so called 'cartoon style' in general.

First off, stylised art isn't easy. It is really hard to convey a cerain emotion with a minimum of lines. I have more admiration for some artists who use a seemingly simple drawingstyle and still be able to get subtle differences in facial expressions or body language across than other artists who draw more 'life-like'.

Secondly, I suppose (again I'm not entirely familiar with the US comic scene) the cartoon style was previously reserved for the more comical series like Garfield, Dilbert, Calvin & Hobbes,... No wonder similar art styles get bashed when used in the action based comic books (although they're drawn highly stylised themselves).
In the French/Belgian comic scene (where I'm from), a 'cartoon' style (I'm reluctant to use this term as it is somewhat inherently negative) is common even in the story based comics. The 'Ligne claire' style (think Tintin by Hergé) is a good example of this. As a consequence, highly stylised comic art isn't looked down upon but rather judged in its ability to convey a certain message and its contribution to the whole atmosphere of the comic.

[Rob Knotts]

Calvin & Hobbes isn't a bad example of what I was talking about.

[Kaelaroth]

I don't actually mind the current writing style of most of the comics I read. Yet, there is one exception to that rule. Whoever wrote Son of M (where Quicksilver gains Terrigen mists) has the most annoying picture style ever. I HATE IT!!!!!!!