What Archie comics had the best artwork?

[Myst]

I am interested in picking up some old Archie comics on eBay. What issues would you guys reccommend?

As a reader of IDW Sonic, I myself am partial to the artwork of Tracey Yardley. Any reccommendations featuring Yardley's artwork would be appreciated.

[Red Hot Jack]

I think issue 256 is one of the best Yardley works honestly. 

[Myst]

Thanks!

[Red Hot Jack]

Also Pirate Plunder Panic. The arc he wrote and designed.

[Myst]

Which issue number is that?

[SonicWindAttack]

1 hour ago, Myst said:

Which issue number is that?

Sonic Universe issues 55-58.  But if you like Yardley, his best works, in my opinion, are Sonic the Hedgehog issues 199-201, and Sonic Universe 50 and 75.

[Myst]

Thanks for the reccommendations!

[Cuz]

I'm partial to Matt Herms soft, chunkier style from #185-188.

For Tracey I'd go with Tails Adventure, Sonic Universe #17-20.

Anything from Steven Butler during and after the Iron Dominion Arc. Butler paired with Herms on colors is a winning combination. #215-216, #234, just for some hard numbers because just about anything directly after 200 qualifies.

And anyone checking out Archie for the art owes it to themselves to dig up the Mecha Madness Special for Spaz and some of the best action from the oldest issues. #39, and Mecha Madness.

[Sega DogTagz]

Cant go wrong with any of the issues with interior art done by Spaz or J. Axer. 

Good luck finding it at a reasonable price, but the SA2 adaption for issue #98 is an awesome piece of work.

 

If your a fan of some of the older comics, the Sonic Quest mini-series (three issues in total) also had consistent and good work - full of action

[Myst]

I wound up settling on SU #75. Just got it in the mail today (Tyson Hesse variant cover) really amazing art.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. 

[MetalSkulkBane]

Silver Saga. Sonic Universe 25-28.  Yardley is a great artist, true. But when add Ray Dill colors? It's FANTASTIC.

 

[Alexios31]

Let's post some more art!

[Cuz]

If you insist.

#43's Opening Splash Page. - Spaz

Spoiler

They're Back!!! Sonic Kids, Super Special #9 pencils -Sam Maxwell & Harvey Mercadoocasio

"Zoneward Bound"

Spoiler

The kids came out of this one looking really sharp and cute.

#51 "Reality Bytes" pencils - Sam Maxwell

Spoiler

Those robot designs, everyone looming over him. I'm somewhat surprised this issue wasn't Spaz.

That's all I can fit in one post. ^^;

 

[Heckboy]

Anything drawn by Ben Bates is great. 217-218 is his debut arc, and it's a pretty good story too. 

He also did the final third of Worlds Collide, which is probably the best part of that crossover.

If you like Yardley, the Eggman Empire arc (175-177) is great, as is pretty much all of Sonic Universe (he did the art for most of the arcs). Some Universe arcs I'd recommend are Tails Adventure (17-20), Silver Saga (25-28), and Chaotix Quest (46-49).

 

[Austroid]

I jumped into the comics at #118, so I'm very partial to Steven Butler's art from that time. A bit of semi-realism combined with manga.

I also enjoyed James Fry's art a lot. (before he drastically changed it in the Flynn-era) I really loved his exaggerated style when it came to Eggman!  

Butler and Fry, along with many other artists of the day helped me find my art style when it came to Sonic characters. I still gloss through those old issues to this day!

[Cuz]

Outside of some of his older 'pre-adventure' stuff, (I liked when he's working with the classic character designs), I didn't really take notice of Butler's work again until Iron Dominion. Not to repeat myself just adding visuals.

Butler paired with Herms' colors. I really notice the shadows and shading details like Chuck's lighter fur to Sonic's solid blue. Butler's lengthy proportions compared to most of the artists at this time end up working to Herms' advantage here, giving him the space to really put some thought into the lighting. For instance at the top Nicole has a green tint as if Sourge's hologram is producing a glare.

(This scan turned out a little choppy and cut off, sorry about that)

Here's Herms on Pencils for #187. It's a much looser (I've heard some even call it Manga-ish) but otherwise similar style to Yardley and that sort of addresses an issue I can sometimes have with Yardley's style. I think it can be a little too ridged and  (especially early in Flynn's run) loses it's sense of motion by being too on model.

#90 - Fry and Ron Lim, Mina's introduction.

[Myst]

Sonic Mega Drive: the Next Level (by Tyson Hesse) is gorgeous! (But expensive!) It would be great if IDW could continue that mini-series.

 

[Austroid]

I was a bit saddened when the comics had all the characters be drawn more on-model. Likely Sega's doing but still...

Having its own depiction of the cast, depending on the artist, made it more unique and really feel like a different world from the games. Opening #146 and seeing Eggman drawn like this was so badass:

[Cuz]

This one's for @Alexios31

#111Jeff Axer

#95 - Fry and Lim again

 

 

[Alexios31]

Thank you so much @Cuz!!!

[Austroid]

I always liked Metal's doofy "expression" in the second panel!