For years now, the rise of manga has meant that North American comic book companies have taken notice of the Japanese medium for storytelling. In fact, manga has routinely outpaced traditional comic books in sales. Luckily, this rivalry between the two outlets hasn’t meant that American and Japanese artists won’t pay tribute to one another. My Hero Academia’s Kohei Horikoshi has routinely touted his love of Marvel comics, for example, even allowing All Might to team up with Deadpool. To honor this meeting of the worlds, we wanted to share some of the best examples of comic book artists taking on anime characters.
Videos by ComicBook.com
7.) Whilce Portacio’s Naruto
Whilce Portacio, for those who might not be familiar with the name, has been a major artist in the comic book world for decades. In the Marvel universe, Portacio worked on the likes of Uncanny X-Men, Iron Man, The Punisher, and X-Factor. Outside of Marvel, the artist has lent his talents to the likes of Image Comics for Wetworks and Spawn, and was actually one of the co-founders of the company originally. For some time, Whilce has been a major anime fan, and so when he was allowed to create the cover for the “Naruto Triple Feature Collector’s Edition,” a Blu-ray set collecting three of the films focusing on the Seventh Hokage and his allies. Despite his art being quite different from Masashi Kishimoto’s, Portacio seems right at home in the Hidden Leaf Village.
6.) Ryan Ottley’s My Hero Academia
Much like Whilce Portacio’s love of Konoha, Invincible artist Ryan Ottley clearly has an affinity for the world of My Hero Academia. Besides being responsible for the majority of issues focusing on Mark Grayson, Ottley has become a force to be reckoned with in the comic book world, with work on The Amazing Spider-Man and Hulk. For the anime crossover, Ottley was given the chance to depict the likes of All Might and Endeavor for this My Hero Academia variant released in France. Ottley is currently working in the Invinicible Universe once again, thanks to the new Battle Beast series, and his art remains a gold standard for superheroes to this day, whether they be for Marvel or the anime world.
5.) Peach Momoko’s One Piece
Peach Momoko might be best known by Marvel fans for her work in creating Ultimate X-Men, giving readers a fresh take on Marvel’s merry mutants. Much like Whilce Portacio and Ryan Ottley, Momoko was allowed to create official artwork for an anime universe she loves. As a part of the One Piece Card Game, sharing her take on the likes of Nami, Trafalgar Law, Boa Hancock, Black Maria, and Yamato. Considering how much this card game focusing on the Grand Line is played worldwide, Peach’s take on the Straw Hats is one that has hit quite a few tournaments in recent days and is sure to hit many more moving forward.
4.) Marco Checchetto’s Berserk
Marco Checchetto has been a big player in the Marvel universe, especially lately, thanks to his fresh take on everyone’s favorite wallcrawler in Ultimate Spider-Man. Previously, the artist worked on the likes of The Punisher, Old Man Hawkeye, Daredevil, Venom, and more. Clearly a fan of the Band of the Hawk, Marco had the chance to create a variant cover for Berserk’s 42nd volume in Italy. This volume was an important one in the dark anime’s history, as it was the first released following the tragic passing of Berserk creator Kentaro Miura. Writer Kouji Mori and the artists at Studio Gaga started their work on the series here, with Checcheto sharing his own take on this bleak landscape.
3.) Jim Chung’s My Neighbor Totoro
While many of these anime examples will focus on the shonen side of the medium, or go further into some dark territory, there’s always room for Studio Ghibli in the mix. Such is the case here with artist Jim Cheung’s take on Studio Ghibli’s My Neighbor Totoro. Cheung himself has been a force to be reckoned with in the comic world, having worked on major titles for Marvel and DC Comics. Specifically, Cheung has worked on New Avengers, Young Avengers, Iron Man, Uncanny X-Men, X-Force, and many others. Alongside these Marvel offerings, Jim has worked on DC’s Justice League, DC’s Year of The Villain, and Legion of Super-Heroes. While this Studio Ghibli property isn’t anything like any superhero stories made in the past, Cheung’s artwork still resonates with the titular creature.
2.) Chris Samnee’s Vampire Hunter D
Chris Samnee has become a juggernaut in the comic book world, having worked for almost every comic book company under the sun. For Marvel, his work has become legendary with the likes of Deadpool, The Mighty Thor, Black Widow, and Captain America, to name a few. In the DC world, Samnee has shared his talent on heroes such as Superman, Batman, the Justice League, and many more. While Samnee has depicted quite a few anime characters over the years, as he will routinely share various depictions of various figures, this Vampire Hunter D piece is worth placing a spotlight on. D has been dying to receive a new anime, though his first two movies remain legendary in the anime world to this day. Clearly, the vampire hunter had an effect on Samnee as we can see in the art above.
1.) Jim Lee’s Dragon Ball Z
Dragon Ball Z is often considered the pinnacle of Shonen anime, and so too is Jim Lee’s artwork often considered the pinnacle of superhero artwork. Lee might have started his career with the likes of Uncanny X-Men, but he would eventually have a major part in the creation of Image Comics and now sits as the President of DC Comics. The above artwork shows how Lee handles Dragon Ball’s most powerful fighter, Son Goku, being the only time that the DC president has taken on the anime character.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Studio Bones -
Image Courtesy of Science SARU -
Image Courtesy of Studio Pierrot
