I agree with you on comic-book figurative artists--some who come to my mind that I'd put in that category are Burne Hogarth, Wally Wood, Al Williamson, Hal Foster, Joe Kubert, Frank Frazetta, Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, John Buscema, Gene Colan, and John Byrne. BTW you might enjoy this site: Comic Art and Graffix Gallery: Artist Biographies.
Frank Cho...
*chuckle*