Your five favorite comic book writers
Moderators: Daniel Jackson, greg
- Cyberstrike
- Consider it mine!
- Posts: 5220
- Joined: Sat Oct 07, 2006 9:07 am
- Valiant fan since: Unity 1992
- Favorite character: Solar, Man of the Atom
- Favorite title: Unity
- Favorite writer: Jim Starlin
- Favorite artist: Jim Starlin
- Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
- Contact:
Your five favorite comic book writers
Mine are:
1) Alan Moore-What can I say the guy is ****ing genius.
2) Peter David-Any guy that can turn Aquaman into the bigger bad @$$ than Batman, make a botched revamp of Supergirl into one of the most complex and unique characters in the last 10 years and then creates a morally ambiguous heroine like the Fallen Angel to say he's good is an
understatement.
3) Jim Shooter-Love him or hate him, but Jim Shooter made comics pay attention to Valiant, Defiant, and Broadway. He wrote or co-wrote some
great stories too.
4) Neil Gaiman-If Moore helped give birth to Vertigo then Gaiman helped to adulthood.
5) Stan Lee-OK sure some of his dialogue is corny as hell but the ideas he
introduced at Marvel in the 60s are still being felt today.
1) Alan Moore-What can I say the guy is ****ing genius.
2) Peter David-Any guy that can turn Aquaman into the bigger bad @$$ than Batman, make a botched revamp of Supergirl into one of the most complex and unique characters in the last 10 years and then creates a morally ambiguous heroine like the Fallen Angel to say he's good is an
understatement.
3) Jim Shooter-Love him or hate him, but Jim Shooter made comics pay attention to Valiant, Defiant, and Broadway. He wrote or co-wrote some
great stories too.
4) Neil Gaiman-If Moore helped give birth to Vertigo then Gaiman helped to adulthood.
5) Stan Lee-OK sure some of his dialogue is corny as hell but the ideas he
introduced at Marvel in the 60s are still being felt today.
- Lightning Strike
- Silent from '04 to '07, then he strikes!
- Posts: 8008
- Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 9:58 pm
- Location: Physically: USA---Spiritually: Ireland
Re: Your five favorite comic book writers
I hear that!Cyberstrike wrote:
2) Peter David-Any guy that can turn Aquaman into the bigger bad @$$ than Batman, make a botched revamp of Supergirl into one of the most complex and unique characters in the last 10 years and then creates a morally ambiguous heroine like the Fallen Angel to say he's good is an
understatement.

Gaiman MADE Vertigo what it is.Cyberstrike wrote:4) Neil Gaiman-If Moore helped give birth to Vertigo then Gaiman helped to adulthood.

Here's my list:
1. PAD
2. Walt Simonson
3. Neil Gaiman
4. Jim Shooter
5. Frank Miller
- The Harbinger
- You gotta have Faith!
- Posts: 754
- Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2007 8:10 pm
- Location: Eggbreaking today, Gone tomorrow
- Contact:
- tarheelmarine
- Ask me about the Mellow Mushroom
- Posts: 3747
- Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2004 4:14 pm
- Valiant fan since: 1992
- Favorite character: Magnus Robot Fighter
- Favorite title: Shadowman
- Favorite writer: Jim Shooter
- Favorite artist: Jim Calafiore
- Location: Japan
- Lightning Strike
- Silent from '04 to '07, then he strikes!
- Posts: 8008
- Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 9:58 pm
- Location: Physically: USA---Spiritually: Ireland
- leonmallett
- My mind is sharp. Like a sharp thing.
- Posts: 9468
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:39 am
- Valiant fan since: 2006
- Favorite character: Shadowman (Hall version)
- Favorite title: Shadowman (under Hall)
- Favorite writer: Fred Van Lente
- Favorite artist: Clayton Henry
- Location: hunting down paulsmith56 somewhere in the balti belt...
Okay my list (in order, best first):
1. Alan Moore - challenging, thought provoking, deconstructionist, rarely easy to read. Genre-defining.
2. Kurt Busiek - Astro City would be enough to include him, but then you can throw in Marvels and Avengers Forever. Wow.
3. Grant Morrison - maybe the greatest ideas man in comics, whether reworking or refreshing old ideas or generating new ones. If nothing else, then Zenith would cement his place for me.
4. Roy Thomas - growing up, All Star Squadron was my favourite book. I was lucky enough to read some of his avengers work through a friend at about the same time. A great storyteller.
5. James Robinson - for Starman, the Golden Age, and Firearm. All character driven in a way I think others struggle to emulate.
Noatble others: Marv Wolfman (5 years of genius writing New Teen Titans and CoIE), Bob Hall (for the Shadowman run - try and read his run over a period of a couple of weeks or less and feel the transition he achieves), Dwayne McDuffie (for Icon and the rest of the Milestone line), Mark Millar (love or hate him he has some stupidly-simple big ideas), Erik Larsen (for his Savage Dragon run), Paul Grist (I love Jack Staff), Frank Millar (I don't like everything he does by any stretch, buut he wrote the greatest line in a comic book, ever, in my mind) and there are probably a few others who are nearly there. In fact it makes me think we need a thread of 5 great short-to-medium length runs by 'not the usual suspects'.
1. Alan Moore - challenging, thought provoking, deconstructionist, rarely easy to read. Genre-defining.
2. Kurt Busiek - Astro City would be enough to include him, but then you can throw in Marvels and Avengers Forever. Wow.
3. Grant Morrison - maybe the greatest ideas man in comics, whether reworking or refreshing old ideas or generating new ones. If nothing else, then Zenith would cement his place for me.
4. Roy Thomas - growing up, All Star Squadron was my favourite book. I was lucky enough to read some of his avengers work through a friend at about the same time. A great storyteller.
5. James Robinson - for Starman, the Golden Age, and Firearm. All character driven in a way I think others struggle to emulate.
Noatble others: Marv Wolfman (5 years of genius writing New Teen Titans and CoIE), Bob Hall (for the Shadowman run - try and read his run over a period of a couple of weeks or less and feel the transition he achieves), Dwayne McDuffie (for Icon and the rest of the Milestone line), Mark Millar (love or hate him he has some stupidly-simple big ideas), Erik Larsen (for his Savage Dragon run), Paul Grist (I love Jack Staff), Frank Millar (I don't like everything he does by any stretch, buut he wrote the greatest line in a comic book, ever, in my mind) and there are probably a few others who are nearly there. In fact it makes me think we need a thread of 5 great short-to-medium length runs by 'not the usual suspects'.
VEI - I look forward to you one day publishing MORE than 9-10 books per month
- Lightning Strike
- Silent from '04 to '07, then he strikes!
- Posts: 8008
- Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 9:58 pm
- Location: Physically: USA---Spiritually: Ireland
- siren3-4
- The best feeling I get is filling holes
- Posts: 8912
- Joined: Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:46 pm
- Location: Florida

Garth Ennis - Preacher is one of my favorites of all time & love his Punisher & Hellblazer.
Warren Ellis - Transmet, DV8, Hellblazer, etc . . .
Grant Morrison - Invisibles, New X-Men, Arkham Asylum, etc . . .
Neil Gaiman - Sandman may be my second all time favorite . . .
Brian Bendis - (sorry guys) his Daredevil run is amazing (I bought all 6 HC collections)
Honorable Mention:
Bill Willingham - Loving the hell out of Fables
James Robinson - I recommend Starman to everyone, it's just really good
Brad Metzler - Identity Crisis got me back into comics
- Zool
- Get those scissors away from my coupons
- Posts: 308
- Joined: Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:08 pm
- Location: ianmayor.blogspot.com
1. Alan Moore: Better and more influential than any other writer in the medium has ever been.
After that I have no order, but another four I very highly rate are:
Grant Morrison: For posessing a terrifyingly active and barely restrained imagination.
Brian Micheal Bendis: For the best dialogue in comics and his understanding of long form dramatic structure (ripped from TV, generally, but it works).
Brian K. Vaughn: For writing 'people' who really interact with each other and you can't help but care about.
Neil Gaiman: For the solid storytelling and whimsical, mythical tone.
Jim Shooter: For VALIANT
After that I have no order, but another four I very highly rate are:
Grant Morrison: For posessing a terrifyingly active and barely restrained imagination.
Brian Micheal Bendis: For the best dialogue in comics and his understanding of long form dramatic structure (ripped from TV, generally, but it works).
Brian K. Vaughn: For writing 'people' who really interact with each other and you can't help but care about.
Neil Gaiman: For the solid storytelling and whimsical, mythical tone.
Jim Shooter: For VALIANT
- The Harbinger
- You gotta have Faith!
- Posts: 754
- Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2007 8:10 pm
- Location: Eggbreaking today, Gone tomorrow
- Contact:
- ferdelance
- 100 posts! (if you round to the nearest 100)
- Posts: 59
- Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:59 pm
- Location: DC
1 Garth Innis
2 Frank Miller
3 Alan Moore
4 Peter David
5 Warren Ellis
199 Kindergarten student
200 Rob Liefeld
2 Frank Miller
3 Alan Moore
4 Peter David
5 Warren Ellis
199 Kindergarten student
200 Rob Liefeld
Last edited by ferdelance on Wed Aug 08, 2007 4:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Lightning Strike
- Silent from '04 to '07, then he strikes!
- Posts: 8008
- Joined: Mon Apr 12, 2004 9:58 pm
- Location: Physically: USA---Spiritually: Ireland
- The Harbinger
- You gotta have Faith!
- Posts: 754
- Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2007 8:10 pm
- Location: Eggbreaking today, Gone tomorrow
- Contact:
Easy enough:
Jim Shooter (Valiant era and Defiant)
Kurt Busiek (Astro City, nuff said)
Stan Lee (all those books from the past, awesome for the time)
Garth Ennis (Punisher stuff)
Brian Micheal Bendis
Extra:
Ed Brubaker (for his current Captain America and Daredevil runs... awesome)
Larry Hama
Doug Murray (for his AWESOME work on The 'Nam)
Jim Shooter (Valiant era and Defiant)
Kurt Busiek (Astro City, nuff said)
Stan Lee (all those books from the past, awesome for the time)
Garth Ennis (Punisher stuff)
Brian Micheal Bendis
Extra:
Ed Brubaker (for his current Captain America and Daredevil runs... awesome)
Larry Hama
Doug Murray (for his AWESOME work on The 'Nam)
- leonmallett
- My mind is sharp. Like a sharp thing.
- Posts: 9468
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:39 am
- Valiant fan since: 2006
- Favorite character: Shadowman (Hall version)
- Favorite title: Shadowman (under Hall)
- Favorite writer: Fred Van Lente
- Favorite artist: Clayton Henry
- Location: hunting down paulsmith56 somewhere in the balti belt...
What did you think of Murray's brief tenure on Justice Machine?Knightt wrote:Easy enough:
Jim Shooter (Valiant era and Defiant)
Kurt Busiek (Astro City, nuff said)
Stan Lee (all those books from the past, awesome for the time)
Garth Ennis (Punisher stuff)
Brian Micheal Bendis
Extra:
Ed Brubaker (for his current Captain America and Daredevil runs... awesome)
Larry Hama
Doug Murray (for his AWESOME work on The 'Nam)
VEI - I look forward to you one day publishing MORE than 9-10 books per month
I am not sure if I have all of Justice Machine yet so I have to put off that reading for a while and besides, Hero Alliance is in front of Justice Machine in my reading priorities but I am SO far behind in my current readings that it may take me quite a while just to get to there. I am SO behind on my reading.leonmallett wrote:What did you think of Murray's brief tenure on Justice Machine?Knightt wrote:Easy enough:
Jim Shooter (Valiant era and Defiant)
Kurt Busiek (Astro City, nuff said)
Stan Lee (all those books from the past, awesome for the time)
Garth Ennis (Punisher stuff)
Brian Micheal Bendis
Extra:
Ed Brubaker (for his current Captain America and Daredevil runs... awesome)
Larry Hama
Doug Murray (for his AWESOME work on The 'Nam)
- leonmallett
- My mind is sharp. Like a sharp thing.
- Posts: 9468
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:39 am
- Valiant fan since: 2006
- Favorite character: Shadowman (Hall version)
- Favorite title: Shadowman (under Hall)
- Favorite writer: Fred Van Lente
- Favorite artist: Clayton Henry
- Location: hunting down paulsmith56 somewhere in the balti belt...
So stop postin' and get readin'! Oh, and keep watching cool toons as well, of course (B:TASetc).Knightt wrote:I am not sure if I have all of Justice Machine yet so I have to put off that reading for a while and besides, Hero Alliance is in front of Justice Machine in my reading priorities but I am SO far behind in my current readings that it may take me quite a while just to get to there. I am SO behind on my reading.leonmallett wrote:What did you think of Murray's brief tenure on Justice Machine?Knightt wrote:Easy enough:
Jim Shooter (Valiant era and Defiant)
Kurt Busiek (Astro City, nuff said)
Stan Lee (all those books from the past, awesome for the time)
Garth Ennis (Punisher stuff)
Brian Micheal Bendis
Extra:
Ed Brubaker (for his current Captain America and Daredevil runs... awesome)
Larry Hama
Doug Murray (for his AWESOME work on The 'Nam)
VEI - I look forward to you one day publishing MORE than 9-10 books per month
- Heath
- The Saints will win the Super-Bowl!
- Posts: 11527
- Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:05 pm
- Valiant fan since: 1992
- Favorite character: VH1 Shadowman; VEI X-O
- Favorite title: VH1 Shadowman; VEI X-O, Harb
- Favorite writer: Bob Hall; Dysart, Van Lente
- Location: Torque's Hundred-Yard-Long New Orleans Saints' Themed Dining Hall
- leonmallett
- My mind is sharp. Like a sharp thing.
- Posts: 9468
- Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 9:39 am
- Valiant fan since: 2006
- Favorite character: Shadowman (Hall version)
- Favorite title: Shadowman (under Hall)
- Favorite writer: Fred Van Lente
- Favorite artist: Clayton Henry
- Location: hunting down paulsmith56 somewhere in the balti belt...