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Best comic writers?
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Started by Lofwyr,

27 posts in this topic

Lofwyr

Lofwyr

Posted
Posted

Anyone tired of these yet? smile.gif

 

I guess this would be more relevant than "worst comic writers" since the bad ones far outnumber the good ones. Who would you consider "best" not just for innovation but consistency?

 

Probably common, but here are my picks:

 

1) Alan Moore (This man is truly gifted in so many ways. I don't think I can say much about him that hasn't been said already. He can write ANY character no matter how ludicrous. It's amazing how he took Liefeld's cheesy superman knockoff and made it into something readable and fascinating. That's the mark of a great writer..when you can spin a great story off anything.)

 

2) Neil gaimen (Moore's protege. Sandman never dragged for me so it was always great. There isn't much Gaimen has written that I can't sit down and read without becoming the least bit awed)

 

3) Brian Azzarello (Gritty, fascinating,and realistic character portrayels. He's still a legend in the making I think. For a young guy like me his characterizations and dialogue are VERY up to date. It doesn't suffer from contriveditis where writers invent their own slang because of unfamiliarity with today's urban environment. I have little doubt that Brian grew up near the hood in one way or another.)

 

4) Peter David (Humorous tales that never become dull or obselete over time. I believe he's got the gift of gab more than a stroke of literary "genius" like Moore. He's still a remarkably entertaining writer. I can read most of the stuff he writes without becoming bored.)

 

5) Jim Shooter (Created a fantastic universe..and the universe ended without him. Shooter took a handful of gold key characters and revitalized a pantheon that rivaled marvel or DC at the time. If he ONLY managed to keep valiant together I truly believe it would have been the start of something grand.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

Posted
Posted

Bill Watterson

Alan Moore

Neil Gaiman. BTW, read "American Gods" by Gaiman. A little slow at the beginning, but stay with it. You'll be drawn in - just outstanding.

Steve Engelhart

Doug Moench

Mark Waid

acclaim.gif

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Zonker

Zonker

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Posted

Len Wein/Marv Wolfman for New Teen Titans, Manhunter (Detective)

 

aye, Manhunter in Detective was classic, but let the record show it was indeed written by one of comics' greatest writers: the late Archie Goodwin (also wrote some of the best war comics this side of Harvey Kurtzman for Warren mags).

 

Cheers,

Z.

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Zonker

Zonker

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...and I agree with all of the above and would just add

 

- Will Eisner (again in this category)

- Harvey Kurtzman

- Grant Morrison (when he's not completely on drugs)

- Denny O'Neil (at the height of his powers: GL/GA, The Question, the best of his Batman stories)

 

Cheers,

Z.

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Lofwyr

Lofwyr

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Posted (edited)

I also agree with Frank Miller and Chris Claremont but the reason I didn't list them was because they are both inconsistent.

 

Claremont's quality ebbs and flows, he was brilliant in the early Uncanny era for quite a few years but his work became more and more convoluted near the end. His writing since his return to an X-title has been OK at best. He is still THE X-men in my mind but not without flaws and inconsistencies.

 

Miller is the same way..good in the beginning and middle but getting worse near the end. Dark knight returns was... mediocre.

 

Edit: Oh btw, I meant the sequel to dark knight returns. Not the original..

 

Edited by Lofwyr
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buena_vista

buena_vista

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There can be no doubt that Moore is the all time best. Almost everything he's done has been groundbreaking. Miracleman, Swamp Thing, Watchmen, Killing Joke, League, Tomorrow Stories, V for Vendetta... the list goes on and on. What's more, without him, many of the British writers, including Gaiman, would have never even entered the field.

 

Having said that, Stan Lee is the most important writer of all time. He (with Kirby, Ditko, Heck et al) simply changed what mainstream comics could do. His brand of melodrama might have been over the top sometimes but look at DC's simplistic strips in the 40's, 50's & 60's and tell me what's better.

 

Those who say Kirby & Ditko deserve all the credit are wrong. Comics ARE indeed a visual medium but look at Kirby's New Gods epic. Great characters & visual concept but the dialog was just awful. It took me 'til my 20's to figure out what he was trying to do and, at the end of the day it failed. Kirby's return to Marvel in the 70's wasn't much better.

 

Stan might not have come up with all the ideas but he knew how to make them work. rantpost.gif

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Lofwyr

Lofwyr

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Stan Lee was definitely the man and injected a human idealism that was lacking in comics at the time. The problem with Lee's work is if you try to read his stuff as an adult. It comes across as goofy most of the time but it was certainly groundbreaking..like the biplane or Model-T. Some writers are timeless though, I can pick up an 80's run of Swamp thing and be utterly amazed at Moore's insight into the human mind. Just like I can pick up an old literary classic by Tolstoy, Shakespeare, or Dostoevesky and be amazed at their work.

 

True genius is timeless. Stan's concepts, basic emotions, and characters are timeless but his writing isn't.

 

 

 

Edited by Lofwyr
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fiendish

fiendish

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Posted

All of the above (including Shooter) 893scratchchin-thumb.gif, and:

 

Jim Starlin (before he started phonin' it in with the Inifinity War, Infinity Crusade, etc.)

Peter David

John Byrne

Walt Simonson

C.C. Beck

Otto Binder

 

 

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chrisco37

chrisco37

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Posted

Alan Moore (as mentioned, THE Best)

 

Neil Gaiman (Sandman was magical)

 

Brian Azzarello (as Lowfry said, best command of "modern" dialogue. And the man can write a frikkin' nailbiter!)

 

Garth Ennis (gets a little carried away w/ the violence sometimes, but his Hellblazer stuff is fantastic!)

 

BM Bendis (Daredevil hasn't been this good since Miller, Spidey hasn't been so much fun since Lee!)

 

Peter David (Loved his Hulk!)

 

Stan Lee - Duh! grin.gif

 

Chris

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