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Let’s Talk Artists #2: Humberto Ramos

Dec 29, 2008 Let's Talk Artists

Today I am shinning the spotlight on Mexican born artist Humberto Ramos. I am a HUGE fan of Humberto and have been ever since my kid brother picked up some issues of Impulse with Ramos interiors in the mid to late 90’s. I still remember seeing the art in the comic my brother was holding in the “middle seat” of our family folkswagon during the drive to church one Sunday and completely loving what I saw. Since that time, I have picked up nearly everything that Humberto has produced. This includes his larger profile projects like X-Men and Spider-man and his creator owned books like Out There and Revelations.

This entry is going to look into Humberto’s run on Wolverine during the time of Civil War in the Marvel Universe back in 2006. Humberto seems to have the type of style that polarizes people and that was very apparent on his Wolverine work. Humberto’s style is extremely dynamic with an anime influence (big feet, big hair, big everything…) This approach seems to be more accepted on his creator owned work as there is nothing to compare his vision to in those cases. Where as with a character like Wolverine, many artist have left their mark on the Canadian mutant over the years so the yard stick is ever present.

Continue reading for more Humberto/Wolverine action.

I remember reading fans reactions online when it was only announced that Ramos would be taking on the art chores on Wolverine. Some were excited for the decidedly new direction the art would take while others felt that Ramos’ art was not suited for the generally hyper-violent title. Fans felt Humberto was better suited for a more “cartoony” book (perhaps like Runaways, his most current work). I couldn’t have been more excited to see what Humberto was going to do with the character and I was not disappointed when I picked up the first issue containing his pencils. Any fan of Wolverine or Humberto should have a copy of the Wolverine: Civil War TPB on their shelf or the single issues (Wolverine #42-48) in their long box.

When you look at Ramos’ rendition of Logan, he actually looks like a short, hairy brawler with some mass behind him. He is SOLID. Brick house SOLID. I actually read where Humberto caught some heat for the way he drew Wolverine, especially his face during fights. Things like “his mouth could NOT open that wide” and such. To that I say “relax”. Wolverine has a long standing record of achieving the impossible. His healing factor sees to that. So, let’s chalk up the ability to open his mouth REALLY wide to “mutant related”. Heck, the guy in this video can do it too and I’m sure he’s not a mutant… I don’t think.

Humberto’s unique approach to everything he works on is a major part of the appeal in his art. The sky is the limit in terms of what is actually possible and what looks cool on his pages. He constantly did things with Wolverine that I had never seen before. I have nothing against what other artists have done with the character (I LOVE many artists takes on Wolverine; Jim Lee, Steve McNiven, John Romita Jr., Marc Silvestri, etc.) but I felt that Humberto really nailed the look and more importantly the “feel” of the X-Man. Obviously, Ramos’ Wolverine could not exist outside of the comic page, his posture alone would see to that… But again, that is what I truly love about the entire run Ramos helped deliver! It was packed full of sensational locations and situations that Humberto lavishly illustrated with consistent quality and personal style. Wolverine in Ironman armour underwater popping his claws?!?! Highly unlikely? Of course it is. But is it highly entertaining? Yes!

Hopefully this will be enough to get you to look for this run on Wolverine if you haven’t already picked it up. I also want to include links to some of my favourite Humberto Ramos works in TPB form.  Note: some are no longer in print, so the best place to search is Ebay or placing the TPB on your wishlist at www.mycomicshop.com.  I will go into more detail on the best ways to find out of print TPBs when I continue my Comic Book Buyer’s Guide series):

- Spectacular Spiderman
- Out There
- Crimson
- Revelations
- Wolverine: Civil War

Let me know what you thought of Humberto’s Wolverine run. As it stands, I would say Humberto Ramos is in my Top 10 (maybe even Top 5)  favourite Wolverine artists. Where does he stack up in your opinion?

I have included a fan made video containing images from Humberto’s Wolverine run.  Makes me want to pull my TPB off the shelf.

Tags: Avengers, civil war, Crimson, humberto, Impulse, marvel, Out There, ramos, Revelations, spider-man, spiderman, wolverine