Do people actually care about realistic anatomy in art?

[hardcore_gamer]

As a part of my learning experience with 3D modeling and sculpting I am now learning anatomy and how to make people and creatures. It's lots of fun but there is one thing I am not sure if I agree with (from the learning material that is): The idea that realistic anatomy is vital. The reason I say this is that often if you look at comic book characters for example they will often have anatomy that doesn't make any sense, like having muscles on their body that don't even exist simply so that the character will look more muscular!

Now there are certain landmark muscles that do have to look mostly correct in order for the human to look like an actual person. Things like the traps, the shoulders and the chest+abs. But otherwise does it even really matter? I mean do people really complain about the wildly inaccurate anatomy of comic book characters? What is your opinion on this?

EDIT: I should add that by "art" I mean game and entertainment art. Like video games, comic books etc

[NeuralStunner]

It depends on the work.

For a more whimsical/comic-book style, departure is great. (Dishonored takes this route, and works well for it.) Attempts at photorealism will most likely end up looking dated when technology eventually progresses beyond that stage. (Both techniques can be mixed, to an extent. A bold art style will usually age well - God Hand and Timesplitters 3 are good examples.)

[Arctangent]

Comic books especially get flak when their art ends up stretching believable anatomy without appropriate justification or a consistently exaggerated art style. Granted, the justification can just be symbolic ( i.e. face and arm distortion and exaggeration to really sell a hard punch, or the Japanese favorite of having a character tower over another despite any real difference in height - or even the towerer actually being shorter than the toweree - to symbolize their strong presence or the fact that they're an unavoidable obstacle ), but ... well, I think I just have to point towards criticism pointed at Rob Liefeld to illustrate how "comic book" is far, far from an excuse for anatomical mistakes.

And let's not get started about how much mockery someone gets when they try to treat a woman's waist as if it was an owl's neck.

[Reactor]

It is story-dependant. If the game/comic/art really tries to be realistic, then...well, it established a standard, readers and viewers will expect realism on each and every aspect. Unless it is something abstract, of course.

[Chris]

Knowledge of realistic anatomy is essential. There's that saying: learn the rules so you can know how to break them. This applies to a lot of things. Having knowledge of realistic anatomy lets you learn how you can warp or modify proportions to maintain a sense of solidity and realism, despite being stylized and unrealistic. It also gives you a solid foundation from which you can branch off and try mixing up various styles, to see effects you can create.

[Matt]

It's always cringey and instantly recognizable when someone tries to do "stylized" proportions who doesn't know the basic real proportions that the stylization is deviating from.