...our tastes are so far apart that there may be no basis of discussion...
I have discussions all the time with people who don't exactly share my tastes. It usually goes better when they don't use phrases like, "Oh, please..." or imply that if I don't like a particular comic where Bad Things happen, I expect every comic I read to be like *The Sound of Music* or something.
I rather liked most of the art in the Barbara/Ted thread, actually. Manapul is also pretty good (in some of the Adventure previews, IIRC), Amanda Connor, Barry Kitson... I'm only sort of returning to "paper" comics recently after having been out of the loop for quite some time. Most of the other artists I could name are largely 'net-based, at least those who are still actively drawing comics.