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Friday, December 3, 2010

Top 5 Comic Book Writers

A lot has changed in comic books over the last 50+ years. They have gone from being regarded as silly kids things to a (somewhat) respected form of literature. The efforts of many writers have raised the bar of what we expect from a comic. These are my picks for the best of the best.


5) Chris Claremont - Chris took the failing Uncanny X-Men reboot and turned it into a best selling juggernaut. He's responsible for The Dark Phoenix Saga and the Days of Future Past story arcs, two of the best known passages in X-Men lore. Because of him just about everyone on the planet knows of the mutants and their struggles.



4) Frank Miller - While Frank's comic and movie career have been a bit uneven to say the least, when he's on he is on. His Dark Knight Returns helped usher in a new darker adult vision of comics (it was even published before Watchmen). His work on Daredevil is the stuff of legends and Sin City (comic and movie) is fantastic.

 
3) Warren Ellis
- Running the gamut from superhero books to drug crazed, gun toting psychotic journalists, Warren Ellis body of work is immense and amazing. Dystopian futures, clandestine government agencies, transhumanist themes and a wicked sense of humor are rampantly employed in his work.


2) Garth Ennis - Quite possibly the sickest, darkest humor in mainstream comics belongs to Garth Ennis. Reading his work you find yourself repulsed and laughing like a maniac at the same time. His creator owned Preacher is one of the most revered series in the comic world. He took the Punisher from kind of a badass to a kill-everybody-in-the-room-with-a-fork-because-I-ran-out-of-bullets baddass with Punisher MAX.


1) Stan Lee and Jack Kirby - How could these two titans not be number 1? Lee and Kirby are gods among men. They shaped the Silver Age of comics and brought superheros to the forefront. It speaks volumes that many of their creations are still some of the most respected figures in all of pop culture.

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2 comments:

  1. I'm surprised you didn't have Alan Moore or Brian Michael Bendis. But maybe that's for a top ten list.

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  2. I'm not an Alan Moore fan. I think I'm the lone person in the comic universe that didn't like Watchmen. :)

    I'm not familiar with Brian Michael Bendis' work. I don't read too much mainstream Marvel work anymore, although I've heard his run on Daredevil was great.

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