rocket1312

I'm not much of a fan of the Silver Age creators outside of the big guns that have already been mentioned. I do enjoy Marie Severin's work when I come across it. Curt Swan is probably the definitive Superman artist (and I even have an original page by him, despite not being a huge DC kid growing up), but he wouldn't come close to my list. Someone like Don Heck was pretty foundational for early Marvel (if not on the level of Lee, Kirby, Ditko, etc.) but I only enjoy him when he's inked by someone great. For example, there were a couple of early Avengers stories where he was inked by guys like Wally Wood or John Romita that I recall standing out. One other name I'll throw out there just out of respect is Larry Lieber. I don't know that he was a particularly memorable writer, and many just think of him as Stan's lackey, but he actually had a hand in creating some great characters/ideas in those early Marvel days, with Thor and his crew being probably the most notable example.

Hokeyboy

Curt Swan is the definitive, DEFINITIVE Silver Age Superman artist, bar none. While not as dynamic as the Kirbys, Ditkos, Adams, Sterankos, etc. of the day, he had simpler, cleaner, and (dare I say) sweeter charm. Perfect for the Man of Steel of the era.

Not Top 10 for me, but because I got a copy of Superman: From the 30s to the 70s on Christmas Day 1976 (age 5) and that pretty much started my love of both superhero comics and The Last Son of Krypton, and while he may not be my favorite Superman artist of all time (John Byrne), he nonetheless is as much part of Superman as Siegel & Shuster are. Honorable Mention for sure.

My favorite Christmas gift:


My Top Ten:
John Byrne
Garth Ennis
Neil Gaiman
Jack Kirby
Frank Miller
Alan Moore
Grant Morrison
George Perez
Stan Sakai
Jim Starlin

Honorable Mentions:
Kurt Busiek
Chris Claremont
Darwyn Cooke
Peter David
Geoff Johns
Keith Giffen
Stan Lee
Jim Shooter
Curt Swan
Mark Waid

davidh777

I checked out Batman from the 30s to the 70s from the library constantly. I liked the Superman one too but not as much. A few years ago I bought both at a used book store and was happy.

Josh-da-man

I was reading a book about Ditko (I think it was a big Fantagraphics book), and during the 1980s, editors were throwing him pity work. He was drawing Transformers coloring books and shit like that.

He had basically gotten Ayn Rand's head so far up his ass that he was difficult to work with, he was intentionally turning in shitty art, nobody wanted to hire him, and, reading between the lines, it sounded like he was nearly or actually homeless at one point.

John Pannozzi

My list as it stands now:

Paul Dini
Steve Gerber
Sam Kieth
Erik Larsen
Bryan Lee O'Malley
Akira Toriyama



Not in the game (yet):


Chynna Clugston Flores
Evan Dorkin
Adam Warren
Skottie Young

Eric Powell

Peter Laird
Kevin Eastman
Jim Lawson
Dan Berger
Steve Murphy

honorable mentions:

Osamu Tezuka
Jack Kirby
Stan Lee
Alan Moore
Grant Morrison
Neil Gaiman
Mike Allred

Hokeyboy

My brother got that one. I love it just as much, bought it off eBay around 2000. Worth quite a bit more now, but I'd never sell it.

Trevor

Some of you had never heard of one of the earlier modern choices, Tillie Walden. She has a book part of Free Comic Book Day today, a Walking Dead story of all things. Probably not as good as her own stuff, but will give you a taste.

PhantomStranger

Curt Swan is an easy call for me. For me, the artist who did more to define the modern conception of Superman and Clark Kent than anyone else. He is the Silver Age to me.

https://www.supermanhomepage.com/com...-creators-swan

Trevor

Day Thirty-Seven Response and Wrap—Up

I’m sure I’m not the only one who as a kid didn’t appreciate the classic art of people like Don Heck and Carmine Infantino, and gravitated to the “flashy” and “new” artists. I’ve grown to appreciate these masters, but I’m now more into stylized and off-beat art and don’t care much for the classic superhero styles.

That said, I was big into Superman as a kid so Curt Swan will always be fairly high up my list, not top ten anymore though. Those years of buying 20 cent DC comics off the racks at 7-11 will always be my fondest comic memories.

The more I learn of and read Archie Goodwin, the more I realize we owe a lot to him. Marie Severin too. Workhorses who deserved more spotlight.

My list stays at 9.
Frank Miller
Jack Kirby
Carl Barks
Alan Moore
Mike Mignola
Jeff Lemire
Bernie Wrightson
Matt Wagner
Will Eisner

Trevor

Day Thirty-Eight Choices

Standard disclaimers on this Bronze Age slate: many of these spanned multiple Ages, many others were nominated earlier, and many great creators won’t be mentioned here due to space. So please use wildcards if needed and tell us all about your Bronze Age favorites.

Bronze Age
1970-1985

Rich Buckler drew for just about every comic company ever, but is probably best known for creating Deathlok and drawing a lot of Fantastic Four. I know him best from his great DC work on All-Star Squadron and World’s Finest. We all owe him thanks for not only decades of great art, but for giving George Perez his first job in the industry.
Mike Grell has so many career highlights. He’d be on this list just for his creation Warlord, but also had memorable runs on Legion and Green Lantern, rebooted Green Arrow in 1987, and created Jon Sable.
Len Wein would be here just for co-creating Swamp Thing. But he also co-created a minor character over at Marvel called Wolverine, and most of the new X-Men. I can’t do his career justice, but just his editing or just his writing would be enough to consider him among the greats.
Dick Giordano started drawing comics in the Golden Age, and continued into the Modern Age, but I think best belongs here. An amazing career editing and managing lines, and still drawing up until his death in 2010. I had forgotten that he inked some issues of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman.
Mark Evanier has written books for several companies, but is probably best known for working with Sergio on what must be close to 200 issues of Groo. He’s also a great comic historian and has had numerous must-read columns and blogs over the decades.
Bill Mantlo co-created Rocket Racoon and Cloak & Dagger, and is perhaps best known for long writing runs on the licensed properties Rom and Micronauts. Both were so much better than most such comics, and I’m continually saddened that he was the victim of a hit-and-run accident and has been in institutional care for 30 years now.
Al Milgrom co-created Firestorm, but is probably best known for his Marvel work that included helming Marvel Fanfare, inking a lot of Starlin, and runs writing, penciling, or inking many characters.
Davis Michelinie co-created Venom, Carnage, Scott Lang, Claw, and War Machine. Has written a lot for Marvel and DC, and several other companies, from 1974 to today.
Jim Shooter has made an impact. I’ll let somebody else flesh out some thoughts on him if they choose.
Frank Brunner did beautiful work at Marvel in the 70s on mostly Doctor Strange and Howard the Duck. Has a few bits of other notable work at various companies but has apparently been mostly working in the film industry since the 90s. Had a couple Marvel stories pop up in 2010. Not a ton of info easy to find on his life and career decisions, will have to seek out interviews or stories about him. Anyone know more?

B5Erik

So much great talent there.

Bill Mantlo is close to my list for his run on The Incredible Hulk alone. He did a lot of great work. His life almost literally came to a tragic end 30 years ago, and the person left alive isn't the same Bill Mantlo that was there before the hit and run. It's a horrible story. So, yeah, he almost makes my list, but not quite.

Mike Grell & David Michelinie were also close, maybe Top 30.

But the guy who DOES make my list, is Len Wein. Len makes my list for his work on The Amazing Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk alone. Beyond that he did some great work on The Fantastic Four, The Defenders, Thor, and a lot more. Coincidentally, I just finished the trade paperback collecting the first 13 issues of Swamp Thing a couple days ago, and his writing on that was fantastic! He was already set for my list, but that just reminded me of why.

Now I just have to figure out who gets bumped off the list...

(I'm not happy about having to bump anyone to the 11-20 section, everyone who has been in my Top 10 up to now REALLY belongs there!)

John Romita Sr
John Buscema
Neal Adams
Gerry Conway
LEN WEIN
Marv Wolfman
George Perez
Gil Kane
Stan Lee
Joe Sinnott

Cut from the list, but still great...
John Byrne
Sal Buscema
John Romita Jr.

In my Top 20, but never on my Top 10 list...
Steve Ditko
Jim Aparo
Denny O'Neil
Roy Thomas
Ross Andru


Jeez, it sucks that two guys that will always stay in my Top 10 just died within a week or so of each other. That's just brutal...

And I almost pulled a Spinal Tap and made my list go to 11. Almost. But that would defeat the purpose of this entire exercise, so I didn't. But I really, really wanted to...

Hokeyboy

Shout out to Mike Grell, who really did great work on Green Arrow from 1987 through 1993. Beautiful art and amazing storytelling. Plus iconic work on the Legion of Superheroes, Warlord, Jon Sable, and even his Shaman's Tears title at Image.

Trevor

Day Thirty-Eight Response and Wrap—Up

I wish I had met Len Wein (and Bernie Wrightson). Their 1970s Swamp Thing is one of the main reasons I’m here today. Still one of the best ten issue runs in comic history.

Definitely wouldn’t be here if we had no Swamp Thing or Micronauts. Plop got me started, but Swamp Thing and then Micronauts cemented me as a collector. As great of Golden’s art was, Bill Mantlo deserves most of the credit for making Micronauts (and Rom) so good.

But as close as they are, my list remains at 9.
Frank Miller
Jack Kirby
Carl Barks
Alan Moore
Mike Mignola
Jeff Lemire
Bernie Wrightson
Matt Wagner
Will Eisner

Trevor

Day Thirty-Nine Choices

Only a couple more slates after today, I promise you we’re almost done here.

Our final Manga Monday cheats in two ways. First, it includes all non-US creators, and two, it’s another wildcard option day. So if any non-US creators are still to be revealed in your top ten, please tell us all about them now.

Hopefully you’re not boring like me and have only US/English creators on your list. Hopefully my list in ten years has nobody from the big-two and at least half non-US creators.

Kazou Koike wrote some of the biggest names in manga (and adapted into anime) history; Lone Wolf and Cub, Lady Snowblood, and Crying Freeman.

Hayao Miyazaki didn’t go a ton of manga, but Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind is a landmark.

Takehiko Inoue is most known for the huge sellers Slam Dunk and Vagabond.

Moto Hagio is a founding mother of shōjo manga (girls comics), so perhaps not many of her main target audience here.

Go Nagai pioneered many genres of manga, and is know for Cutie Honey, Devilman, and Mazinger Z.

Albert Uderzo drew, and wrote for a time, Asterix. He is best know for that of course, but did a couple other notable works with René Goscinny. René died way too soon, and worked on other titles, notably decades of Lucky Luke.

Lucky Luke creator Morris didn’t do much else, but almost 50 years on that beloved title might be enough for one of you to have him on your list.

Hugo Pratt, one of the Group of Venice, is best known for Corto Maltese.

Are the myriad works of Alejandro Jodorowsky great enough to make your list?

Can you ignore the controversies and put Dave Sim on your list?

And again, so many more deserve to be discussed I’m sure, as I’m about the last person you want writing about international comics. So please use your wildcards and tell us about them.

rocket1312

I know you're being self deprecating here Trevor, and I think I understand what you're getting at, but I find comments like this to be rather silly. Read what you like, like what you like and don't be ashamed of your favorites. Liking Jack Kirby and John Byrne makes you no better or worse than liking Moebius or Koike & Kojima. Broaden your horizons? Sure, but ultimately no one's keeping score.

Trevor

Yeah, I agree, there is no right or wrong way to enjoy any entertainment product. And I’m definitely pushing against mainstreaming a bit. But the more I push my boundaries the more I see mainstream US comics as like the bread&butter of the world of cuisine. I wish people had pushed me out of my box decades ago.

rocket1312

Some might even say they're the Wendy's of comics.

Trevor

Hmmm, were there ever any Wendy’s promotional comics? I’ve got some McDonalds and Taco Bell’s….

B5Erik

Personally, I'm a huge fan of the Big Two. Look at my Top 10 list. Those are the artists and writers that I love the most.

rocket1312

Back on topic:

Yesterday's batch of Bronze Agers don't really come close to my list even though the Bronze Age is a favorite era. Frank Brunner is pretty amazing. Len Wein co-created the "New" X-Men, and without him that series doesn't exist, but Claremont, Cockrum and Byrne are who made that series what it was. Shooter we've already discussed. The rest of those guys are workman whose stuff I've enjoyed over the years, but don't stick out. As for other bronze age names, they don't quite make my list, but the team of Doug Moench and Pual Gulacy need to be mentioned for their work on Master of Kung Fu. I've fallen completely in love with that run over the last few years. I might argue it's the best Marvel series of the 70's. Mike Zeck and Gene Day also had great runs on that title, but the Gulacy era was the best. Moench went on to do plenty of other stuff, most notably Moon Knight and Batman. Gulacy worked consistently over the years, but I don't think he had any long runs after Shang Chi. Speed might have been an issue for him.

Todays list of international names are mostly meaningless to me. For the nth time, I don't know manga. I'm familiar with most of the other names, but they don't mean anything to me personally. Jodowrosky is obviously a visionary. I've read a bit of Cerberus and was intrigued, but not enough to dive deep. I've always been interested in reading Corto Maltese, but never got around to it.

majorjoe23

Kazou Koike is a master of the form, and if I was making a top 10 manga list he would be on it. For comics in general, I don't think he makes my list. Still, I've read a lot of his work.

I recognize the impressive feat Dave Sim pulled off with Cerebus, but it's not really a comic I could recommend to someone. Even setting aside his views on pretty much everything, I'd say at least half of the run of Cerbus just isn't good comics. It's more illustrated essays, and a lot of that illustration was done by Gerhard.

Trevor

On another forum someone said that the High Society arc of Cerebus is worth reading even if you skip everything before and after. I think I have that phonebook in storage so maybe I’ll check it out soon.

Hokeyboy

Lone Wolf & Cubis one of my favorite long-form serialized graphic stories of all time. Perfect delivered from beginning to end. Much respect to the late Kazou Koike and what he accomplished.

I wouldn't put him in my Top 10 but I'm going to add him to my Honorable Mentions.

Hayao Miyazaki is an absolute master... of film and animation. So El Paso on that.

My Top Ten:
John Byrne
Garth Ennis
Neil Gaiman
Jack Kirby
Frank Miller
Alan Moore
Grant Morrison
George Perez
Stan Sakai
Jim Starlin

Honorable Mentions:
Kurt Busiek
Chris Claremont
Darwyn Cooke
Peter David
Geoff Johns
Kazou Koike
Keith Giffen
Stan Lee
Jim Shooter
Mark Waid

fujishig

I'd probably agree that one major work and several short works aren't enough to put him in my top 10, but if you haven't already everyone should at least try Miyazaki's Nausicaa, especially if you loved the movie (same for Otomo's Akira).

I'm still waffling on the likes of Toriyama and Oda, I might need to cheat and keep manga creators out of my top 10.

On a side note I went to a local Kinokuniya with my kids the other day and saw that Stan Sakai collaborated with his wife on a chibi Usagi book for kids...

Trevor

Day Thirty-Nine Response and Wrap—Up

I’ve been very slow to look outside of US comics, so have almost no experience with any international creators, let alone this narrow slate.

I did quite enjoy the Lone Wolf and Cub that I read from First Comics back in the day, but due to its high price at the time I didn’t stick with it long. Have always meant to get back to it someday, and will do so.

Think I saw some Asterix decades ago, and have a bit of it from Comixology to try now.

I have fairly recently started The Incal and do plan to read all of it. And I’ll give some early Dave Sim another try.

So my list still remains at 9.
Frank Miller
Jack Kirby
Carl Barks
Alan Moore
Mike Mignola
Jeff Lemire
Bernie Wrightson
Matt Wagner
Will Eisner