The Cap movie thread below got me thinking about this:
My top 3 would be:
1 - Roger Stern - unforgettable runs of both Cap and the Avengers (war & remembrance, under siege, the Olympus War), created my favorite Avengers villain in Nebula, a very good Amazing Spiderman run (created Hobgoblin) plus Death of Superman over at DC
2 - Mark Gruenwald - 10 year run on Cap including the classic Cap No More story plus he created the Serpent Society, who are my favorite Cap villains; wrote the short-lived but excellent Quasar title making him my favorite marvel cosmic hero, plus a very good run on Marvel Two In One that includes the excellent Project Pegasus saga.
3 - Steve Engleheart - launched both the West Coast Avengers and Silver Surfer titles in the 1980s, which were both fantastic; wrote the Avengers-Defenders War, which is a magnificent trade, had a very good 1970s run on Cap that is recollected in Essential Vol 4.
Other favorites would be: Jim Shooter (Secret Wars, a very strong Avengers run in the late 70s particualrly with Ultron), Peter David (primarily for Spectacular Spiderman with Death of Jean DeWolf and the way he writes Black Cat in that title, but his Hulk stuff is good too), Tom DeFalco (my favorite work of his is actually Marvel Two In One but his general tone makes for fun reading even with characters I'm mostly indifferent on like Thor and FF), Kurt Busiek (perhaps the single best Avengers run ever), and Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Guardians of the Galaxy and other modern cosmic Marvel).
A few of my favorites would be Peter David (Supergirl/Young Justice), Grant Morrison (JLA), Kurt Busiek (Superman Secret Identity), Warren Ellis (Stormwatch/Authority/Planetary), Garth Ennis (Preacher), James Robinson (Starman), Greg Rucka (Gotham Central), Neal Gaiman (Sandman), Brian K Vaughan (Y/Ex Machina), Bill Willingham (Fables) and Alan Moore (Watchmen).
I'm afraid my exposure may be a little low to comment on comic writers. I mean, since most of my reading has been limited to X-men stuff, I can really only pull from their authors. From them, my favorites might be a little obvious.
Chris Claremont - revived X-men from the brink of extinction into one of the most beloved series there are. Set the bar high.
Fabian Nicieza - did excellent work within AoA and also on Gambit's own series (1-24)
Frank Miller
Brian Michael Bendis
Kevin Smith
Definitely enjoy reading these authors:
Brian Michael Bendis (New Avengers, House of M)
Geoff Johns (Green Lantern, Booster Gold)
Jeph Loeb (Batman: Hush)
Grant Morrison (Batman)
Joss Whedon (Runaways, Firefly)
Mark Miller (Marvel Comics Civil War, Superman Red Son)
Peter David (Young Justice)
I just finished Whedon's X-men omnibus yesterday and it was absolutely fantastic
Quote from: The Dude on February 12, 2012, 07:51:05 PM
I just finished Whedon's X-men omnibus yesterday and it was absolutely fantastic
I agree - this was great! I also really enjoyed Astonishing X-Men when it was written by Whedon - not so much when he stopped writing it though.....
Adam Warren (Empowered)
Alan Moore (D.R. & Quinch, Watchmen)
Jim Starlin (Dreadstar, Silver Surfer, Infinity Gauntlet/War/Crusade)
I'm consistantly a fan of these dudes:
1. Matt Fraction
2. Kevin Smith
3. Brian Michael Bendis
4. Greg Pak
5. Andy Lanning
6. Daniel Way
7. Tom DeFalco
8. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
9. Dan Abnett
10. Sean McKeever
11. Ed Brubaker
12. Jeph Loeb
13. Fabian Nicieza
14. Jeff Parker
15. Warren Ellis
16. Christopher Yost
17. Brian K. Vaughan
18. Peter David
19. Jonathan Hickman
20. Kurt Busiek
21. Scott Lobdell
22. Mark Waid
23. Tony Bedard
24. Fiona Avery
25. Zeb Wells
26. Jason Aaron
27. Kieron Gillen
28. Victor Gischler
Brian Michael Bendis
Read the Ultimate Wolverine/Spiderman mind switch and tell me you don't love this man.