Artist Appreciation: Joe Madureira! I'm up a bit late for a Sunday night with nothing else to do so I am making a post that's long overdue. That rhymed unintentionally. This post is an appreciation post showcasing the art of one Joe Madureira, my favorite comic book artist of all time. I'm going to ramble here like you know who Joe Madureira is, so if you don't and you want to have some idea of what I am talking about in this post, check this out first...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Madureira

Joe's work is appealing to me on many levels. First and foremost are the energy, excitement, and dynamism bursting forth from all of Joe's works. His style and tremendous technical skills are awesome as well. The subject matter he has worked on ranging from various comic book properties to video games has always excited my imagination. There's also the nostalgia of Joe being one of the first artists to really blow my mind in my early days of comic book collecting. Back in the relatively care free days of middle school/high school Joe's work got me thinking more seriously about honing my drawing skills and being creative in general. His older work brings back great memories and his new stuff continues to inspire and entertain me.

Joe Madureira makes my "top five artists of all time" list which includes J.C. Leyendecker, Frank Frazetta and a select few others. Inclusion on this list is not based solely on technical skill but on my enjoyment of the artists' work on many different levels.

For me, Joe Madureira is the most exciting comic book artist working today. It's kind of a bummer that he spends most of his time these days working in the video game industry and his comics work has taken a backseat. Ultimates 3, his brief return to comics work, was cool but a bit disappointing on a few levels. I am still waiting for the day that Joe returns to finish off his finest creation, Battle Chasers. Battle Chasers is easily one of my favorite works in comics or any medium. It has incredible artwork, characters, story, passion, creativity, excitement, awesomeness! I digress...In the meantime, I am looking forward to the release of the videogame, Darksiders: Wrath of War, which Joe has been working on for quite a while. I'm hoping the game is loaded with Joe's concept art as unlockable/bonus material.

OK, enough fanboy ramblings out of me, enjoy these selections of Joe's work showcasing some of my personal favorites. They're sure to blow your mind and inspire you to whip out your trusty pencil and get drawin'...

For more incredible artwork, check out http://www.joemadfan.com/ For info on Darksiders: Wrath of War check out, http://community.darksidersvideogame.com/age_gate.php

Thanks for stopping by...more of my measly sketches coming soon!