The Most Important Figure in Comic Book History?

[Foolkiller]

After watching the History channel special (again...) it got me thinking about who the most important figure has been in comic book history. I think there are some obvious choices like Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, Stan Lee, Julie Schwartz, Jack Kirby, etc. but among these who did the most to change comic books or advance the medium?

 

I guess this includes editors, artists, writers etc. I think it's hard to pick just one, but I'm curious if there are any thoughts about this (presuming it hasn't been discussed before, which it might have been).

 

My pick (i don't want to take obvious ones) is Jim Shooter. During his reign as editor in chief he did a lot to advance creator rights, including royalties, returned Marvel to picking top flight talent and oversaw one of the best creative eras in Marvel comics, rivaling in my opinion, the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby age. The Miller DD, Byrne/Claremont on X-Men, the alcholism story line in Iron Man, and Secret Wars. Add on that he was a driving force behind Valiant, and he's my pick for the most important figure in comics.

[DiceX]

a) Siegel and Schuster - Without them, we may not even have comics anymore.

 

b) Stan Lee - Without him, we may not even have comics anymore.

 

As far as impact. They had the biggest. No doubt.

But it would be a tough call as to which of these was the most valuable.

I'd say it was Stan. But without S&S, Stan would have been a fry cook at a local cafe somewhere.

 

Tough call.

[FlyingDonut]

After watching the History channel special (again...) it got me thinking about who the most important figure has been in comic book history. I think there are some obvious choices like Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, Stan Lee, Julie Schwartz, Jack Kirby, etc. but among these who did the most to change comic books or advance the medium?

 

I guess this includes editors, artists, writers etc. I think it's hard to pick just one, but I'm curious if there are any thoughts about this (presuming it hasn't been discussed before, which it might have been).

 

My pick (i don't want to take obvious ones) is Jim Shooter. During his reign as editor in chief he did a lot to advance creator rights, including royalties, returned Marvel to picking top flight talent and oversaw one of the best creative eras in Marvel comics, rivaling in my opinion, the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby age. The Miller DD, Byrne/Claremont on X-Men, the alcholism story line in Iron Man, and Secret Wars. Add on that he was a driving force behind Valiant, and he's my pick for the most important figure in comics.

 

At the risk of sounding like Bug, you're smoking crack. Jim Shooter? That's worse than "The Hindu!"

 

20 People More Important Than Jim Shooter (in no particular order)

1. Joe Shuster

2. Jerry Siegel

3. Harry Donnenfeld (who bought Superman)

4. Bob Kane

5. Will Eisner

6. Stan Lee

7. William Gaines

8. Jack Kirby

9. Mort Weisinger (gave Shooter his first job)

10. Neal Adams

11. Carl Barks

12. Frank Miller

13. Dennis O'Neil

14. Julius Schwartz

15. Jeannette Khan

16. Carmine Infantino

17. Roy Thomas

18. Neil Gaiman

19. Alan Moore

20. Martin Goodman

 

 

 

[Joanna]

Siegel and Shuster. Stan had a big effect on Marvel, but not the other comic companies. You can eliminate him and still have DC, EC, etc. To put it another way, I've never read a single comic by Stan Lee, nor do I see any of his influence on the books I collected, yet I own thousands of books. But without S&S, comic book superheroes wouldn't exist. I don't need to own or read any of their original work to feel their influence. They created the genre and the phenomenon of comics as we know them.

 

 

[Foolkiller]

Oh jeez Donut, just take my knees out before I can even get rolling...

 

But... I'll defend my choice when I see who everyone else picks... I just didn't want to take the obvious choices, because, well, I figure everyone will tell me how incredibly insane I am for my choice.

[aardvark88]

1. Siegel & Schuster

2. MC Gaines

3. Bob Kane

4. Stan Lee

5. Jack Kirby

6. Gardner Fox

7. Julius Schwartz

8. N Adams (trendsetter, creator's rights)

9. Phil Seuling (direct mkt)

10. Roy Thomas

11. Denny O'Neill

12. Stv Geppi consolidates the comic distributors.

13. Carol Kalish (direct mkt)

14. Carl Barks

[blowout]

it got me thinking about who the most important figure has been in comic book history

 

For me this is an easy question, if you are talking about one person who had the largest effect on the medium. It has to be... Will Eisner .

He did more than anyone, both creatively and stylistically, to make comic books what they are today.

[ubiquiti]

After watching the History channel special (again...) it got me thinking about who the most important figure has been in comic book history. I think there are some obvious choices like Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, Stan Lee, Julie Schwartz, Jack Kirby, etc. but among these who did the most to change comic books or advance the medium?

 

I guess this includes editors, artists, writers etc. I think it's hard to pick just one, but I'm curious if there are any thoughts about this (presuming it hasn't been discussed before, which it might have been).

 

My pick (i don't want to take obvious ones) is Jim Shooter. During his reign as editor in chief he did a lot to advance creator rights, including royalties, returned Marvel to picking top flight talent and oversaw one of the best creative eras in Marvel comics, rivaling in my opinion, the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby age. The Miller DD, Byrne/Claremont on X-Men, the alcholism story line in Iron Man, and Secret Wars. Add on that he was a driving force behind Valiant, and he's my pick for the most important figure in comics.

 

At the risk of sounding like Bug, you're smoking crack. Jim Shooter? That's worse than "The Hindu!"

 

20 People More Important Than Jim Shooter (in no particular order)

1. Joe Shuster

2. Jerry Siegel

3. Harry Donnenfeld (who bought Superman)

4. Bob Kane

5. Will Eisner

6. Stan Lee

7. William Gaines

8. Jack Kirby

9. Mort Weisinger (gave Shooter his first job)

10. Neal Adams

11. Carl Barks

12. Frank Miller

13. Dennis O'Neil

14. Julius Schwartz

15. Jeannette Khan

16. Carmine Infantino

17. Roy Thomas

18. Neil Gaiman

19. Alan Moore

20. Martin Goodman

 

 

Shouldn't John Byrne be in there somewhere around 15 or so? Arguably - he had as much an imnpact all things together as Frank Miller.

[blowout]

If you're going to put John Byrne in, you have to also add Steve Ditko.

 

I think it is safe to say that Jim Shooter would be a long way down most GA/SA/BA comic fans list.

[Zonker]

hmmm... single most important figure? That would eliminate Siegel and Shuster (as a team). Stan Lee is a strong contender-- even though like Joanna he had little to do with the books I collect, I do realize his influence on everyone from Denny O'Neil to Len Wein to Steve Englehart to Marv Wolfman and even artist/writers like John Byrne. But as a writer, he needed an artistic team-mate, and he did indeed pick some of the very best in Ditko, Kirby, Romita.

 

We also need to agree on "important." Important might mean the quality of work the individual produced, or it might mean influential . Siegel and Shuster would rate high on the latter, not-so-high on the former.

 

No one has yet mentioned Harvey Kurtzman: very high quality work, but perhaps not so influential (after all, very few geniuses capable of following his footsteps...maybe if the late great Archie Goodwin had developed his drawing ability as well as his writing....?) Also, some of the best Kurtzman work (i.e. MAD, lots of the war comics) was done in collaboration, so that takes away just a bit from his importance as an individual.

 

So, assuming we're primarily talking about an individual and viewing importance as both high-quality and high-influence , I'd have to go with... Will Eisner.

 

Cheers,

Z.

 

P.S. But Foolkiller, if it is any consolation, I loved Jim Shooter's Legion of Super-Heroes: the best comics ever written by a teen-ager!

[FlyingDonut]

hmmm... single most important figure? That would eliminate Siegel and Shuster (as a team). Stan Lee is a strong contender-- even though like Joanna he had little to do with the books I collect, I do realize his influence on everyone from Denny O'Neil to Len Wein to Steve Englehart to Marv Wolfman and even artist/writers like John Byrne. But as a writer, he needed an artistic team-mate, and he did indeed pick some of the very best in Ditko, Kirby, Romita.

 

We also need to agree on "important." Important might mean the quality of work the individual produced, or it might mean influential . Siegel and Shuster would rate high on the latter, not-so-high on the former.

 

No one has yet mentioned Harvey Kurtzman: very high quality work, but perhaps not so influential (after all, very few geniuses capable of following his footsteps...maybe if the late great Archie Goodwin had developed his drawing ability as well as his writing....?) Also, some of the best Kurtzman work (i.e. MAD, lots of the war comics) was done in collaboration, so that takes away just a bit from his importance as an individual.

 

So, assuming we're primarily talking about an individual and viewing importance as both high-quality and high-influence , I'd have to go with... Will Eisner.

 

Cheers,

Z.

 

I'm going to pick one. Harry Donnenfeld. He was the guy who bought Superman and greenlit it. Without him...

[supapimp]

yeah! what donut and odin said.

[murph0]

My top 3 are Lee, Ditko, and Kirby

 

Brian

[Susanville]

Given everything I've just read, wouldn't the most important figure in comic book history be Clark Kent, aka Superman? Without him tossing that car, where would we be?

[Netmaster-migration]

It has to be Jerry Siegel! Joe Shuster did put forth some input, and was the artist that helped to make Superman what he is today, but if it had to come down to one person it would be Jerry Siegel because he was the writer and first mentioned Superman in a story for a pulp magazine, called simply: "Science Fiction" in January of 1933 (Joe Shuster did the drawings for the mag). The story was called "The Reign of the Superman!". Although, in the story Jerry depicted Superman as ugly and evil and vastly different from his current image, nevertheless, a legend was born!!.

 

So, you see, without the creative mind of Jerry Siegel their would have been no Superman, and the comic book world would not be the same. The influence both he and Joe had on other artists and writers in the business would not have been fealt, and the comic book scene would be very different today.

[Illiterati-migration]

Hmmm... who invented the Great Lakes Avengers again?

[Foolkiller]

wasn't that actually John Byrne during his west coast avengers run?

[lighthouse]

Absolutely no question...

 

Harry Wildenberg.

[MrNice-migration]

I would have to concur with Zonker. Stan Lee. While not the best storyteller, creator, artist, writer, etc., Stan was the consummate orchestrator and director under who the best of the best toiled for nearly 60 years!!

 

Stan was a Timely employee at the time of Marvel 1s release and within a few years was basically in charge, directing Timely Publications, his tenure lasting right through the post Golden Age, the new world of Silver age into modern times.

 

Don't forget, Timely, DC, Centaur, etc... these were basically revolving door companies whose artists, the creme de la creme, jumped from company to company, contract to contract throughout the Golden age taking with them the influential directions of Stan Lee gleaned from their work at Timely.

 

Joe Simon and Jack Kirby especially, who toiled under Lee with Timely, also influenced DC artists and art directors as their work was very prolific for both companies.

 

Superman's presentation in Action was an extremely significant event in 1938 in shaping things to come but when you start to consider "the most important person" you have to consider someone someone like Lee, a company mastermind, for 6 decades as probably the most influential.

 

The characters he created and that were created under his direction were very significant as well and shaped comic's direction and history for 60+ years! An awesome legacy.

[PovertyRow]

Superman's presentation in Action was an extremely significant event in 1938 in shaping things to come but when you start to consider "the most important person" you have to consider someone someone like Lee, a company mastermind, for 6 decades as probably the most influential.

 

I DO appreciate what you are saying but you have to ask yourself: if Superman had not been, would Lee? Would the concpet of a "company" even exist?

 

Not trying to slam ya! Just got over my flu and feeling Puckish!

 

PS - but my sentiment is serious.