I went out and made an investment in some Chartpak AD markers. There is nothing else like them out there. The end results are really great - hardly any noticable strokes at all. Just be prepared to get a little high while using them. I can typically stand the smell for a little bit but lately I have noticed a distinct belly ache after using them for too long. That could be due to a recent battle with the flu though. Bottom line: If you're easily offended by smells then these are not the markers for you. Stick with Prismacolor and deal with the dried-out-marker-stroke-look. If you can tolerate something smelly for art's sake then Chartpaks are the way to go.
The line work is done with Prismacolor Fine Liners. I love them. They are waterproof - and really are waterproof - plus they hold up against the solvent base of the Chartpaks without running or smudging. Nice! They come in about half a dozen colors and all the standard fine line sizes. I prefer the tiny .005 over anything else. The illustrations above have some blue, green, and brown - all .005 line widths.
Oh, I tried the recommended marker paper as well - Beinfang Graphics 360 - and I'm not crazy about it. I have been using archival, bright white copy stock instead which these two pieces are done on.
Edit: Beinfang seems to be a great drawing paper. It takes ink without bleading and is transparent enough to trace with. I'm just not thrilled with how it handles the Chartpaks. They seem to make the paper more transparent then it already was - almost a glassy, vellum kind of thing happens to it.
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