Best Comic Writer of All Time

[Roy_D_Mylote]

I'm interested in finding out who you think the greatest of all print comics writers is.

Personally, I can't decide between Joss Whedon, Mark Millar, or Neil Gaiman. Millar wrote the first dozen or so issues of UXM, my favorite book. Joss Whedon is just funny, and Gaiman...well, you know.

[Fifthfiend]

Your failure to mention Alan Moore shames us both.

Okay I'm not actually that in to Alan Moore. But it's kind of obligatory for this sort of thing.

Grant Morrison I actually think of as if Alan Moore did not hate all of existence. Which is something I am for.

Mark Millar is definitely in the running. You know what I like about Mark Millar's comics, is every character he writes exudes this aura of "Goddamn but I am a magnificent bastard." I mean even the pathetic loser ones, they've still got sort of this "I may be a pathetic loser, but I am a goddamn magnificent bastard of a loser."

That's the sort of thing I can get behind. I like a comic where people know what they're doing, where they look like they're having some fun.

Also he is responsible for the single greatest idea in all of comics ever (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1582404976/sr=8-1/qid=1154057642/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-9510961-0936146?ie=UTF8). That counts for a lot.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

Fuck. Why was I not aware of this sooner?

[gurusloth]

Other possible candidates:

Matt Wagner
Warren Ellis
Brian Michael Bendis
Frank Miller

And some late entries:

Brian K. Vaughn
Robert Kirkman

You may now commence to rip my suggestions to pieces with your textual barbs.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

Brian Michael Bendis


How do you respond to that?

[Fifthfiend]

How do you respond to that?

With violence and fire.

... Okay that's probably a bit much. I'm just saying if I'm gonna pick a Best Writer Ever, I'd at least pick a writer who can actually write characters, as opposed to caricatures and cartoons.

Fuck. Why was I not aware of this sooner?

Heck if I know. Get on that, dude.

Anyway back aways of topicland --

I think the thing I like about Grant Morrison is his sense of the fantastic. I mean in any given Grant Morrison comic you're probably going to see something unbelievably impossible on every third page. And really, I think that's almost supposed to be the whole point of comics.

I would be all for Neil Gaiman - he's got the best sense of comics as mythology of any comics writer, by far - it's just that in any Neil Gaiman comics series there's maybe half of it that I honestly just can't read. Like, in Sandman - there's probably like four or five books out of, what, the nine of them, that I've opened up and looked at and just said good Lord I just can't make myself care.

I honestly think he's a better novelist than he ever was a comics writer, in any case.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

I like most every Sandman. I don't like Daniel. I just, I dunno, never got a feel for him. But his Eternals series...well, the villains are two big dudes who try about seven million ways to kill this one guy, and none of them work. It's just weird to see such.

But 1602 rocked so hard.

[FunkyBlackMage]

The hell? Has everyone forgotten about Stan Lee? The guy created the whole Marvel Universe. He wrote about their adventures for over a decade. He set the groundwork for which all future writers would adapt when they took over the characters. Their personality, their foes, their arch-nemeses and their supporting cast. Without Stan Lee, there would be no 1602 or Ultimate X-Men.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

Stan Lee would have been such a clich(line over)e. I didn't forget him. But I was more going for modern things, really.

[FunkyBlackMage]

Well the title said of all time. If you were looking for best modern writer, I'd have to say Alan Moore.

[Fifthfiend]

I thought about Stan Lee, it's just that for all he did for comics, I don't know "greatest writer" is the term I'd use to describe him. I mean just for starters, his claim to fame was always more the raw ideas he produced than necessarily the quality of his writing thereof (which isn't to say it wasn't good, just not exactly 'great').

And really the whole thing of Stan Lee is we're talking about a guy for whom one of the biggest foundations of his success was his sharing of the creative duties with his artistic collaborators (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Method) - so with say, Spider-Man, you have to get into okay, how much of the credit for that goes to Stan Lee, and how much of it do you give to Steve Ditko? And of course the same goes for him and Jack Kirby, as concerns the Fantastic Four, Galactus, the Silver Surfer, all the way to Thor, Iron Man and the Avengers. And then arguably the most perenially popular of his creations, the X-Men owed well more of their popularity to Claremont's work as a writer than they ever had to Lee.

So I mean, okay, he was a writer, and as far as people who've worked in comics he was definitely one of the greatest, but as far as being "greatest writer," that's just kind of a stretch for me to make.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

Well the title said of all time. If you were looking for best modern writer, I'd have to say Alan Moore.

You haven't heard about that new, post-modern interpretation of time? Man, you're behind.

[Meister]

Honestly, I love Neil Gaiman's work, but I do wish he'd write something that isn't meta-mythology. Or if he has I wish I'd come across it. Other than that, the usual suspects, i.e. Moore and Ellis, although mind that I'm basing all of that judgement on one book/series of theirs, respectively (Watchmen and Transmetropolitan). Gotta look into that "Wanted" thing though.

[Althane]

Geeze, so hard.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman is just awesome, in my opinion. And they're coming out with recolored versions of it too. That's just freakin' awesome.

Stan Lee... eh, ok, but not the BEST.

Alan Moore. Watchmen? Great comic, plus the undertones of the comic, from Moral Nihilism, to Moral Absolutism, to Moral Relativity.... too bad the Moral Relativity guy won. I liked Rosarch.

Marvel 1602 was interesting, I bought the book (I have that and Kingdom Come as my two comic book books, to read when I'm depressed. Of course, they just make me MORE depressed, but that's besides the point)

Now I'm going to have to find Wanted, sounds good....

[TheSpacePope]

I don't know names. However, the guy that did Bone. Awesome comic, he also did the MAXX I think.
Also, Daniel Clowes.
Just because I love him.

And Frank Miller anyone? Sin City?

[Meister]

Frank "I'm the goddamn Batman (http://www.i-mockery.com/comics/longbox7/default.php)" Miller?

Love Sin City as much as the next guy, but that just strikes me as... well, let's say, brazen.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

I don't see why everyone thinks Sin City's so great.

[Meister]

That's it for the "as much as the next guy" routine I guess.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

I don't get it.

But I just read that linky-link you posted, and...well.

[FunkyBlackMage]

I don't know names. However, the guy that did Bone. Awesome comic, he also did the MAXX I think.
Also, Daniel Clowes.
Just because I love him.

And Frank Miller anyone? Sin City?

Jeff Smith did Bone. Awesome, awesome, awesome book.

[Shishio]

My vote goes to Katsuhiro Otomo and Kazuo Koike for creating my two favourite comic series of all time - Akira and Lone Wolf & Cub.

[POS Industries]

Do I have to mention Jhonen Vasquez here? Do I really need to be that guy?

The answer is yes. Yes, I do. I really fucking do.

[Fifthfiend]

Nobody who writes a comic called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is allowed to be the Best Comic Writer of All Time.

Alternately -

Anybody who writes a comic called Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is automatically the Best Comic Writer of All Time.

[POS Industries]

Wow.

Fifth and I are in perfect agreement. On a completely unrelated note, what's the deal with those four guys on horses riding off over the horizon?

[Jack of Spades]

Alan Moore is a genius, hands down. V for Vendetta, The Watchmen, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. All Awsome.

Neil Gaiman is another great writer. Sandman, The Eternals, and all his books are unbelievable.

[Death by Stabbing]

Barry Windsor Smith- Weapon X no matte how many times you read it you will be very impressed

Gaiman- 1602 was an increadable piece of work

J. Micheal Straczynski- Writting Spider Man and some sort of Fantastic Four...Some of the best writting the Web-Head's had in a long time

Paul Jenkins- also has some quality work...I know you don't like Wolverine but Origin was very good...and so was The End...he does other stuff too...

Hope that helped

Until next time,
Fuck Bendis
Love,
Death By Stabbing

[Meister]

I just read some of Straczynski's work on Spider-Man the other day. I think it was from early on, featuring Ezekiel and Morlun's first appearances. I was pretty damn impressed.

[Fifthfiend]

Yeah, everything from there to the second Ezekiel arc was pretty great.

Sort of goes downhill from there, though.

Oh! You know who's totally great, who hasn't been mentioned yet? Is Mark Waid. I guess that I haven't thought to mention him by now is because he's not really a presence in his own work the way some writers are. Like if you read Mark Millar's Fantastic Four, you're probably going to be saying "Man, Mark Millar kicks ass!" Where if you read Mark Waid's Fantastic Four, you're going to be saying "Man, the Fantastic Four totally kicks ass!" He's not the convention-defying auteur some of the other guys might be, it's just that he just manages through sheer determined craftsmanship to elevate rote competence in comic-book storytelling to the level of high art.

And I mean okay yeah, so Hypertime is his fault. But hey, nobody's perfect.

[Kurosen]

Well, it's not like he invented Hypertime just for kicks. DC drove a dumptruck full of money to his house -- sure, it was a Tonka truck, but comics ain't the fountain of money they used to be -- and said, "We need a thing to fix this other thing." Waid's not made of stone.

But, yeah, the fact that they didn't just adapt his first FF story arc or two for the FF movie is a damn crime.

[Fifthfiend]

Eh, his FF arcs were pretty far advanced in terms of continuity. I mean you have to stop somewhere to define Doctor Doom as a character before you can start redefining fundamental aspects of his character. And really who wants to waste precious movie minutes trying to explain Franklin damn Richards? His grasp of the characters was note-perfect, it's just that plot-wise I don't really think it would have worked.

Now not adapting Superman: Birthright for the movie, that's a damn crime.

Well, it's not like he invented Hypertime just for kicks. DC drove a dumptruck full of money to his house -- sure, it was a Tonka truck, but comics ain't the fountain of money they used to be -- and said, "We need a thing to fix this other thing." Waid's not made of stone

If there's a crime you can't blame on DC Editorial, I've never heard of it.

[Derek]

True belivers and spidey fans, obviously its Stan Lee whos the best, for creating, spider man, X men, Hulk, Fantastic 4, And all the other comics we don't care about.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

We have, you know, been over this. Stan Lee was a good creator, not a very particularly good writer.

[Sean C]

It's Alan Moore, by far. You've probably seen the movie version of V for Vendetta; ever read the graphic novel? It's incredible. The mood, tone, and theatrical elements all work in a wonderful harmony. It's also the little things. When V goes after the state's highest-ranking priest (who happened to be a pedophile) Moore sets it up perfectly. Dark room, V comes up from behind, and says. "Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste." That quote did it for me; it put Moore on top.

Ever read Top 10? Get the trade of Volume 2. It's got a heartbreaking stand alone story about a portal-jump accident. The pace, and the inevitability of the ending, which is the death of the two who collided, is nothing short of masterful. The humor in the rest is dynamite, too. Just read the part with the Super-Mice, and you'll never look at traditional superhero comics the same way again.

[Invisible Queen]

Yeah, I've read V for Vendetta. I didn't like the art. I'm not much of an art person but in this case it ruined the book for me.

One criticism I've read of Moore is that he doesn't write characters as much as plot devices. I'll have to concur with that, particularily in regards to Watchmen. Top 10, Promethea, From Hell, all great, though. He's certainly up there, but not the best.

I'll vote for Neil Gaiman, the best friend of every aspiring writer. Or maybe Grant Morrison, just because reading his stuff frequently feels like tripping on acid. There (http://www.uploadtemple.com/view.php/1153253499.jpg) is a massive interview with him that I scanned from "Anarchy for the masses", a companion to the Invisibles. It's not exactly related to comics writing but goddamn it makes my head explode every time I read it.

Also, sadly neglected in this thread, is David Mack who writes and draws Kabuki. He's more of an omni-artist than a writer, freakishly talented in more art forms that sensible people have heard of, but he uses them all to great effect in Kabuki.

[Derek]

I like Spawn. Mc Farlane's a good writer.

[Invisible Queen]

In these days one can never be sure, but are you sarcastic Derek? Look:

All the interesting characters in Spawn were made up by someone other than McFarlane himself. Neil Gaiman, for instance, created Cogliostro and Angela.

All the things that happen in Spawn are sick and twisted to the max. Pain and grotesquerie and angst and death permeate every issue in ways that resonates with the book's target demographic for maximum commercial viability. It is a very easy way to write; lots of emotional impact with the least amount of work.

Metallica and Stephen King, to take a couple of really obvious examples, both built their successes on that simple truth: It's easy to write about dark things. And you don't see them revieving a lot of critical praise.

If you like Spawn, more power to you I guess. I found it unbearably tedious when I read through it recently, the one high point being the plot twist with Cog. It's enormously repetetive if you ask me.

(Spoiler for those who want to know what Cog's plot twist was but didn't have the patience to read and find out. (I'm sure there are many of you.): Cog is actually Cain out of the Bible and manipulates Spawn so he himself can be the king of Hell.)

[Derek]

It may be twisted, But I love the plot, and Artwork. I don't think its that twisted. But then again I am quote on quote ahem "hard core".

[Roy_D_Mylote]

Isn't that just the problem? The plot ain't good.

[Viktor Von Russia]

From what I've read of Spawn, the art is the only redeemable feature. The original premise isn't too bad, I suppose, but not what I would base an entire series on. I could see that in a side character, but not the title "hero."

I agree with most of the names dropped here, but I would like to emphasize the greatness of JMS. When he wants to be, he is probably the funniest comic writer I've ever seen. Also, whoever wrote Kingdom Come (Mark Waid, wasn't it?) is my hero.

[Roy_D_Mylote]

Y'know, as much as I loathe DC, you're right about Kingdom Come being awesome.

[Whale Biologist]

Bill Watterson