The penultimate Mike! Who will it be? Who?

I'll give you a hint: he's fantastic. And sensational. And friendly. And probably obvious, now.

3/9/07

68. Mike Wieringo



Mike Wieringo (or just Ringo, as many call him) is a great artist. Call him cartoony if you want, but he's got an energetic, clean style that has all the right hints of Parobeck, Kirby, and Romita Jr. in it, to name a few.

If I could find that awesome self-portrait I've seen of his, I would put it up here, but the internet is hiding it from me. Bah.

I first encountered his work on The Flash with Mark Waid, where he illustrated one of my favorite issues of any comic ever (and which I see will be appearing in a Greatest Flash Stories Ever Told volume!):



After that, I think I saw him on Sensational Spider-Man with his buddy Todd DeZago:



He'd later reteam with DeZago on creator-owned series Tellos, a fantasy story with an anthropomorphic tiger. Why? Because anthropomorphic tigers are grrrrrrrrreat!



It's a shame Ringo never sticks around for very long on a title. Flash, Sensational Spidey, Friendly Neighborhood Spidey, Adventures of Superman... the man's always on the move.



His longest run is probably his greatest, and that's his stint on Fantastic Four with Mark Waid. It's the best FF run since Lee and Kirby. Jemas tried to kill it before it was over, but the fans stepped up and told him what for.



I love Mike's art. I do. I just wish I had a better ability to describe good art so I could tell you how damn awesome it is. Er... smooth lines! Dynamism! I dunno. It's good, darn it! Buy the upcoming Spidey/FF mini! Jeff Parker's writing it, so you know it'll be awesome.

Meanwhile, you can visit Ringo's website, where he has a blog with a new sketch or drawing every entry, like the one at the top of this post. You can also check out his forum here at CBR.

How about you? How would you describe the awesomeness of Mike Wieringo?