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Post by Prince Hal on Dec 24, 2020 13:06:16 GMT -5
1. Bill Finger
BatmanAs with my other choices, all I had to do was to start looking up the stories that have made the deepest impressions on me. It made selecting the writers who were by dint therefore, my “favorites.” That made the selecting, if not the ranking, a heckuva lot easier, with this exception. I was torn for only a minute about whether Bill Finger should be first or second, but when I factored in his enormous influence on popular culture, let alone on comics culture, I had no doubt. If Finger did not “create” Batman, he gave him the depth and substance that an icon requires if it is to last. Batman certainly has lasted; indeed he has become one of the iconic characters, in popular culture. As a kid, being ushered into the vast realm of comics, I was like Billy Batson walking through the subway tunnel to meet Shazam. eager to learn the secrets of this comic book universe. Thanks to the magic of 80-Page Giants, I was able to experience the tapestry of the Batman saga that Finger had woven from strands of legend, myth, pulp adventures, and his own imagination. His fingerprints (Sorry!) are all over comics, television, and movies today, and they always will be. Were there stretches of memorable dialogue, flights of poetry, the angst, the Sturm und Drang, and the iconoclasm that have so dominated comics these last couple of decades? No, none of that. For better or worse, Finger worked in a system as rigid and factory-like as the studio system that produced thousands of popular entertainments for the masses and kept the flow of filthy lucre streaming into the pockets of the wealthy men who owned these artistic plantations. However, Finger, working within the strict boundaries of expedience, and laboring in the shadow of Bob Kane, sculpted a character and a legend that transcended those boundaries and became an archetype. What Batman’s legend needed, Finger supplied: an evil nemesis (the Joker); a sultry female counterpart (Catwoman); a Rogues’ Gallery rivaled only by Dick Tracy’s (Hugo Strange; Two-Face; Riddler; Clayface); a dashing young sidekick (Robin); even silliness on a par with Weisinger’s Superman (Bat-Hound, Bat-Mite, etc.). He wrote clever mysteries; oddball science-fiction; melodramas tinged with social comment; and intriguing slice-of-life stories in which Batman stayed out of the spotlight. Not to strain the movie studio analogy, but Finger turned Batman and Detective into the equivalent of Warner Brothers. His stories in the 30s and 40s were inevitably marked by violence, vengeance, realism and tragedy. Few Finger villains were simple. For all the Joker’s sui generis evil in his first appearances, Finger changed everything when he wrote “The Man Behind the Red Hood “ for Detective 168. Forget the ripple effect; that story has been like a tsunami. Then there were the maniacal (original) Clayface; the damaged Catwoman and her love-hate relationship with Batman; and the poignant story of Two-Face, an eerie version of what Batman himself might have become. Finger worked in sub-text, however unknowingly, but his sensitivity and his emotional intelligence made him an ideal writer for Batman, who at his core, was a hero with deep dark secrets, and a hunger for justice that often threatened to become a lust for vengeance in his early days. He spent his life in pursuit of wounded grotesques not very different from him and Finger was the first to hint at that sad side to his character; it has become a trope that nowadays risks becoming a cliché. And when Finger broke the formula, he left us with the kinds of stories that have become canonical, no matter which era’s Batman they involved. Where would the story of Batman be, for instance without, the aforementioned “Man Behind the Red Hood” and two other Finger classics, the haunting "The Origin of the Batman" ( Batman 47); and the powerful “Robin Dies at Dawn ( Batman 156)?   I thank Bill Finger, who so long was taken advantage of by Kane and DC for imagining the Batman and his complex story into four-color life. And for introducing one eager young reader into a new world of adventure, emotion and imagination.
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Post by codystarbuck on Dec 24, 2020 13:19:18 GMT -5
#1 Alan MooreAlan Moore is a titan in comics writing, with a body of work that is massive in both its breadth and depth. I could nominate anything, from his early UK work for 2000 AD, to his Captain Britain, his work in Warrior (Marvelman, V For Vendetta, Bojeffries Saga), Swamp Thing, Tales of the Green Lantern Corps, his Superman stories, The Killing Joke, Watchmen, From Hell, Lost Girls, to making an Image comic coherent, while also doing an homage to the Silver Age Superman. However, what puts him over the top, for me, is his creation of the America's Best comics line of books, at Wildstorm (which was DC, by the time it launched). Now, Promethea has always been a bit too esoteric for my tastes, though even I can see the quality within; but, the other books are soo deep into my wheelhouse that they are part of the structure. Tomorrow Stories are fun pastiches and satires of various comic book tropes and archetypes, from the subversive nature of Jack B Quick, the Plastic Man pastiche of Splash Branigan, the often 4th Wall-breaking nature of First American, to the saucy parody that is the Cobweb (not to mention Rick Veitch's pastiche of the Spirit, with Greyshirt). Those are just merely fun. It is with the other 3 major titles that my heart beats. Top Ten would rank as my favorite, if it weren't for a few things, which I will get to in a moment. The book is a brilliantly satirical romp, mixed in with an astoundingly good police procedural mystery structure, in a world where everyone has superpowers. All kinds of archetypes abound, but Moore's take on so many unique ideas makes it so much more. Then, there is the abundance of Easter Eggs, in everything from graffiti to advertising signs to background characters and action. In one sequence, in a hospital, you see Dr Strange and Doctor Who consulting, while Dr Fate is nearby. In a dimensional gate airport you see all kinds of characters standing in line, including Dirk Daring. In a pseudo-Roman Empire realm, you see various versions of Hercules hanging out (from Steve Reeves to the Marvel dude, tot he Walt Simonson DC Herc), cherubs walking a 3-headed Cerberus, the Little Cesar's mascot (as a statue), Asterix and Obelix, Mel Brooks and the cast of History of the World Part I (the Roman section) and an enslaved Alan Moore! If that wasn't enough to tickle your fancy, he threw in some great mysteries, as they hunt down a serial killer, the murder of Baldur, deal with a drunken Godzilla-type, and lose one of their own. The concepts are just mind-blowing, like Cosmic mice infesting an apartment, who end up fighting Atomi-cats...  Notice the costumes on the little guys? Aside from mice version of established heroes, there are also Atomic Mouse (Charlton), Mighty Mouse (Terrytoons) and Danger Mouse (Cosgrove-Hall)! Plus, Galacti-pus, a feline Galactus, and a mouse Eternity, whose silhouette matches a certain corporate mascot. Sheer genius! Moore wasn't content to stop there. He also took a bunch of Victorian pulp adventure and horror characters and turned them into a super-team, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. They find themselves caught up in a battle with the "evil doctor, in Limehouse" (Fu Manchu) and find that their master is not who they think. Then, they end up in the War of the Worlds, complete with storybook anthropomorphic characters, who are the by-product of Dr Moreau's experiments. It's like Moore fell asleep in a library and absorbed every great book and distilled it into an adventure story. Then, he took us through later ages and pop culture worlds, leading us through a post-Big Brother England and a rather nasty James Bond, one Emma Knight (before she married Peter Peel) and a Hugh Drummond, set the stage for Dan Dare and took us into weird fantasy realms beyond. then he stopped back in a few times to take us into the turn of the century (with some tributes to Bertold Brecht), the Swinging 60s and more. As an old bookseller and reader, the series was sheer delight, even when it got into metaphysics (or rather, despite that). Again, Easter Eggs abounded, to the point that Jess Nevins did three reference books, annotating the issues, panel by panel (he started on a website and also detailed Top 10). But, even LOEG isn't my favorite. No, that is reserved for Tom Strong.  Tom Strong is Moore's homage to the great pulp literature heroes, from Tarzan to Doc Savage. Tom's parents sought to raise their son in specially designed conditions to make him the perfect modern man. Like the Greystokes (technically, the Claytons), they end up shipwrecked on an island and their son ends up being raised by a native chief, after he is found, as a boy. He gains great longevity, due to a local plant and then sets forth on adventure, in the United States. We get both adventures set in the present,, and past tales in various decades, thanks to his longevity. We meet his wife Dhalua and daughter Tessla, robot butler Pneuman, and the intelligent and articulate ape King Solomon. The stories are wonderful bits of comedy, adventure and character play. Moore introduces arch-rival Paul saveen, a sort of Fantomas, mixed with Harry Blackstone. We see Tom defeat the exponentially growing Modular Man not with violence, but with reason. Tom befriends a pre-historic protoplasmic entity, called the Pangean. He rides with alien-altered space cowboys, and meets up with his counterpart fro Terra Obscura, Tom Strange, aka Doc Strange, from the Nedor line of comics, in the Golden Age. He travels with him to help free the heroes of that world, like The Terror (aka the Black Terror), Fighting Yank, Miss Masque, The American Crusader and more. The name America's Best Comic was taken from the title of a Nedor anthology, featuring the three top stars: Black Terror, Fighting Yank and Miss Masque. So, Moore was returning the favor. We meet his Russian counterpart, Svetlana-X and Nazi nasty Ingrid Weiss, who messes with Tom's head, then has to face the wrath of a very scary Dhalua. Tom Strong was a thinking man's hero; one who used his brains even more than his brawn. Tom Strong was everything I love about adventure comics, from colorful and unique characters, to humor, to exciting stories, a virtuous but imperfect hero, a great supporting cast, some thoughtful ideas and exciting action. Each issue featured work from previous collaborator Chris Sprouse (Supreme) and a guest artist, with the likes of Howard Chaykin, Alan Weiss, Jerry Ordway, Gary Gianni, Russ Heath, Paul Chadwick and Dave Gibbons. As if that wasn't enough, he gave us a storyline with an alternate history Tom Strong, called tom Stone, who is a person of color, to present the idea of such a pulp hero, in a less enlightened time. We see how this Tom is able to befriend Paul Saveen, rather than fight him and together bring wonders to the world. However, there is something wrong, at the core of things and we slowly unravel that thread, until we learn that, like Camelot, this seeming Utopia has its own destruction built in. It was a brilliant ending to Moore's run on the book, before he bailed on dealing with DC, any longer. I was reaching the end f my rope with mainstream comics, by the turn of the millennium. DC and Marvel were rehashing 20 year-old stories I read the first time, and so much of the unique voices in the indie world had gone under or moved on. A few things kept me going to the comic shop, rather than just waiting for the trade, at B&N: Hellboy (when Mignola had a new one), Starman (which was a finite series) and the ABC books. These were the reasons to go to the comic shop each week, while I waited for other things to come out (graphic novels, indie books, etc). Alan Moore brought fun back to comics and showed up everyone who was mining his previous material. So, you can criticize his stories, his stance on his work, the repetition of themes; but I will never care, so long as I have the ABC line of books on my shelves. Them's good comics!
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Crimebuster
CCF Podcast Guru
Making comics!
Posts: 3,958 
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Post by Crimebuster on Dec 24, 2020 14:49:12 GMT -5
1. Kurt Busiek
I think I have enjoyed everything from Kurt I have ever read. Obviously, some more than others. But everything is at least good. That's the baseline. Astro City, Avengers, Avengers Forever, Thunderbolts, Untold Tales of Spider-Man, Arrowsmith, Marvels, it's all excellent. I haven't read a lot of his DC work, but I'm going to guess it's also excellent.
Astro City would be enough to get him on my list, but add in everything else, and he's a clear #1 for me.
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Post by MWGallaher on Dec 24, 2020 15:09:15 GMT -5
1. Mark Evanier a page from Crossfire #7In late 1983, I was paying a visit to my favorite comics shop, Memphis Comics and Records, on one of my trips home from Huntsville. That weekend, they were running a back issue sale: half price on any comics with the name of a color in the title. I decided to take a chance on grabbing the recent run of Blackhawk. I had ignored the book, having no interest in war comics, but it was getting some good buzz in CBG, so I figured I'd give it a try. And thus did Mark Evanier rocket to a high point on my list of favorite writers. This was truly "the war comic for people who don't like war comics", a very human, genuine series with thrills, heart-warming emotion, and engaging plots. Despite not being "my kind of book", it became a mandatory purchase, and one I most looked forward to each month. And then there was Groo the Wanderer, a humor book that was genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, every issue, with a surprisingly rich supporting cast and universe. And then Crossfire, reuniting him with artist Dan Spiegle for a series that was unquestionably my favorite series running at the time, above every one of the hundreds of books on the market each month. When we lost that, there was a taste of the same magic with Hollywood Super-Stars, giving us show-biz-centered adventure, human interest stories the likes of which weren't available anywhere else. Mark's the only comics writer I'd follow to any writing he did--I've been there for every post on his 20 years+ blogging at newsfromme.com, enjoying each one, even if it's on a subject I have no interest in, like Broadway musicals. I've talked to him on internet radio, corresponded with him for the Jim Aparo Fan Club Newsletter, I'll darn tootin' be there for his Jack Kirby biography.
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Post by Paste Pot Paul on Dec 24, 2020 15:35:59 GMT -5
1. Garth Ennis
Preacher, Punisher. Its just occurred to me that with the love Ennis has for the old British war comics(Im assuming the strips and digest size books), which would hopefully extend to the adventure titles(like Action), he would make the ideal writer for a re-imagined Spinball, that would explode my(still 12 year old) mind. I really enjoy his writing for a number of genres, with his War Stories stuff being a fine example, though it seems odd that a genre(War) which is in itself ultra-violent, it is here he seems to be most restrained, almost in reverance to what the armed forces encountered on a day to day basis. Its been well documented how good his Punisher is and the joys of Preacher. I have to confess that there are plenty of his books that dont work for me. The Boys is far superior onscreen than on the page, and too many of his other titles leave me cold(Im looking at you Hitman). Ennis is here primarily because of Preacher, the book that affected me the most in the 90's, and that stuck with me through the lean times when I fell away from the faith.(comics, not the other...)I was late to the book of course, low finances, buying Star Trek CCG cards and Heroes Return seemed better options until I convinced myself to get an issue, something like #38 or 40. Instant addiction, scraping together money to buy the few back issues, the first 3 trades, anything man just gimme a shotttttaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!! The other unforgotten favor I owe Ennis is his letter columns introduced me to the writing of Stephen Hunter, my favorite Thriller writer of all time. THAT right there gets you the life-time pass, the heavyweight title belt. I had a picture picked, and a big write up done for his Johnny Red book, until I realised its only 4 - 5 years old butbut go find it, its freaking awesome.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,199
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Post by Confessor on Dec 24, 2020 17:18:55 GMT -5
#1 – Alan Moore ( The Empire Strikes Back Monthly [various issues 1981-1982], Marvelman [1982-1989], The Ballad of Halo Jones [1984-1986], V For Vendetta [1982-1989], Watchmen [1986-1987], The Killing Joke [1988], The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen [1999-2019], From Hell [1989-1996])  Alan Moore is easily my favourite comic book writer of all-time. To be honest, nobody else really comes close. His works like Watchmen, V For Vendetta, The Killing Joke, The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Miracleman are among the best things I've ever read in comic book form. Oh, and even though they are bat-shit crazy, I also love most of his off the wall Star Wars stories in the Marvel UK Empire Strikes Back Monthly comic. Why do I like Moore's writing so much? Simply put, he applies bona fide literary weight and quality to his comic writing more than any other writer I've ever encountered. No other writer makes me shake my head and say, "holy shit, this is good" as much as Moore. It's as simple as that. From Watchmen, issue #1 (1986)... 
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 24, 2020 21:53:13 GMT -5
#1 Stan Lee
Comics resume- Avengers , Thor, , Spider-man , FF , most of the Marvel Universe.
Stan Lee started it all in Marvel comics. Jack Kirby was the “ House Style” for all artists that drew at the company , and Lee was the House Style for writing. I debated whether to have Alan Moore as my # 1 choice this year but I felt Comics owes a lot to Lee for creating the flawed hero who fans could relate to. His style of writing drew the comic reader in and you were almost part of their lives. It mattered when Spider-man won, but Peter Parker's life was in shambles. You rooted for a villain as he tried to become a hero like Hawkeye did in those early Avengers tales. IMO, He greatly influenced the direction of storytelling and dialogue not just for Marvel but for DC comics as well. I won’t dive too deep into the -who wrote and created what debate , but I will just point out that Lee wrote the Avengers book from 17-34 without Kirby and Spider-man 39-110 or so without Ditko. If he didn’t have the writing and creative chops , those books would have floundered without the artists that started on those books. But my reason for choosing Lee is that the actual Dialogue touched my heart on more than a few occasions. Amazing Spider-man Annual # 3See how Peter agonizes over capturing the Hulk in order to be accepted into Avengers membership. Lee wrote compassion and decisions that were complex. I felt that comics at the time hadn’t really evolved into that level of sophistication. But it would because of Lee’s work.  Avengers # 16Look at the sadness Iron man feels at the same time Hawkeye is conceiving early thoughts of replacing Cap as the leader of the Avengers.  Again, nothing could be better than the synergy of great artists collaborating with a great writer but Lee is the person chiefly responsible for Marvel becoming the leader of the industry. It was through the strength of his great writing.
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Post by Rob Allen on Dec 29, 2020 13:11:23 GMT -5
1. Roy Thomas
Always at least competent, often excellent, sometimes stellar.
PS. During the era that I was most into comics (~1966-78), an awful lot of the comics I enjoyed the most were written by Roy Thomas, and a lot of the others were edited by Roy. And Alter Ego magazine is a treasure.
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Post by Calamas on Dec 31, 2020 15:23:14 GMT -5
John Ostrander
John Ostrander’s first career provided perfect training for his lifelong pursuit. He was an actor. It gave him the skill of getting inside his character’s head. More than that, he was a stage actor. He saw firsthand the value of story structure. All he had to learn was how to open out a story, how to move beyond the location restrictions inherent in a play. His initial work in comics would provide all the training he would need. After a couple backup stories about a backup character from a pedestrian comic called Warp!, alongside Tim Truman he would introduce Grimjack to the world.
They set Grimjack in a city named Cynosure, which existed at the center the universe. Various dimensions would periodically phase in and out of the city. Magic and science could exist side-by-side. Instantly Ostrander had gone from the limits of a stage production to absolutely no limits. Grimjack profited greatly.
DC came calling. He dove right into Firestorm, forcing Ronnie and Prof. Stein to confront some long-buried feelings. He launched Suicide Squad and exposed his talents to a much wider audience. He would go on to guide many of DC’s top titles but during his time at the company he was responsible for two other great works, one well-known and one forgotten. The Spectre he did with his longtime collaborator Tom Mandrake. The other was a maxi-series called The Kents. Ostensibly the history of Superman’s adopted family, in reality it’s the story of a family’s attempt to survive in the Kansas Territories before, during, and after the Civil War. Ostrander brilliantly weaves their lives with DC western characters and real life historical figures.
Post-DC Ostrander insinuated himself into the Star Wars universe at Dark Horse. Legacy was where he did his best work. Featuring a Skywalker descendant, he did not have to worry about contradicting known Star Wars continuity and had little problem with approvals from higher ups.
Ostrander originally caught my attention with those Grimjack backups in Starslayer. When Ostrander and Grimjack received their own title, it promptly became the first read of that week. I’ll admit Legends gave me pause. Though I had always enjoyed Len Wein’s work, I felt he and Ostrander did not mesh particularly well. But Suicide Squad locked me in. It wasn’t long before Ostrander was my favorite writer. From then on, the only time one of his titles wasn’t the first book I read that week was when he had more than one release. Something had to finish second. But for decades a comic with Ostrander’s name on the cover could never be found anywhere but at the top of my comic stack.
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Post by Farrar on Dec 31, 2020 18:39:37 GMT -5
1. Stan Lee
No contest for me; Stan's my #1 by a mile. There's a lot I could say but other CCFers here have already articulated it better. A couple of prime examples: - In the Eleventh Day slot, Rob Allen wrote: "I'm here because of the comics that Stan wrote & edited in the 60s. 'Nuff said." This perfectly sums it up for me too.
- And a few posts up in this very Twelfth Day thread, Icctrombone wrote:"...Lee is the person chiefly responsible for Marvel becoming the leader of the industry. It was through the strength of his great writing." So well put, and icc also pointed out that noted that Lee's characters wrestled with "decisions that were complex." To top it off icc then gave us an example from Spider-Man Annual #3 that was spot on in showing us what made Lee's writing so special.
A couple of my Lee favorites: From Silver Surfer #4  And then this always makes me laugh; Stan and Gene Colan from Daredevil Annual #1.  When Gene says "How his [Stan's] little beady eyes will light up..."😂😂😂😂 And remember this is Stan who's writing the dialogue!
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Post by Icctrombone on Dec 31, 2020 18:44:23 GMT -5
1. Stan Lee
No contest for me; Stan's my #1 by a mile. There's a lot I could say but other CCFers here have already articulated it better. A couple of prime examples: - In the Eleventh Day slot, Rob Allen wrote: "I'm here because of the comics that Stan wrote & edited in the 60s. 'Nuff said." This perfectly sums it up for me too.
- And a few posts up in this very Twelfth Day thread, Icctrombone wrote:"...Lee is the person chiefly responsible for Marvel becoming the leader of the industry. It was through the strength of his great writing." So well put, and icc also pointed out that noted that Lee's characters wrestled with "decisions that were complex." To top it off icc then gave us an example from Spider-Man Annual #1 that was spot on in showing us what made Lee's writing so special.
A couple of my Lee favorites: From Silver Surfer #1 And then this always makes me laugh; Stan and Gene Colan from Daredevil Annual #1. When Gene says "How his [Stan's] little beady eyes will light up..."😂😂😂😂 And remember this is Stan who's writing the dialogue! It's way too easy to blow off Stan's contributions and give all the credit to Kirby and Ditko, but subtract Lee's world building that stressed continuity , and Marvel maybe vanishes in a few years. |
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Post by foxley on Dec 31, 2020 19:14:49 GMT -5
1. Stan Lee
No contest for me; Stan's my #1 by a mile. There's a lot I could say but other CCFers here have already articulated it better. A couple of prime examples: - In the Eleventh Day slot, Rob Allen wrote: "I'm here because of the comics that Stan wrote & edited in the 60s. 'Nuff said." This perfectly sums it up for me too.
- And a few posts up in this very Twelfth Day thread, Icctrombone wrote:"...Lee is the person chiefly responsible for Marvel becoming the leader of the industry. It was through the strength of his great writing." So well put, and icc also pointed out that noted that Lee's characters wrestled with "decisions that were complex." To top it off icc then gave us an example from Spider-Man Annual #1 that was spot on in showing us what made Lee's writing so special.
A couple of my Lee favorites: From Silver Surfer #1 And then this always makes me laugh; Stan and Gene Colan from Daredevil Annual #1. When Gene says "How his [Stan's] little beady eyes will light up..."😂😂😂😂 And remember this is Stan who's writing the dialogue! It's way too easy to blow off Stan's contributions and give all the credit to Kirby and Ditko, but subtract Lee's world building that stressed continuity , and Marvel maybe vanishes in a few years. I don't think I'm ever going to get the attraction of Stan Lee. I prefer to decide for myself if a story is good rather than being battered around the head by the text constantly telling how great the story I am reading is.  |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 31, 2020 19:50:06 GMT -5
That Surfer monologue (which is my single favorite piece of Stan's writing) is from SS #4, not #1.
Cei-U!
I summon the red pencil!
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Post by Farrar on Dec 31, 2020 20:49:09 GMT -5
Oh, that's right--the Thor issue. Thanks
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2020 21:59:42 GMT -5
I don't think I'm ever going to get the attraction of Stan Lee. I prefer to decide for myself if a story is good rather than being battered around the head by the text constantly telling how great the story I am reading is. To be fair, he's usually right. Being serious, I'm not sure if it's because I didn't get into comics until I was in my 20s and had developed a level of cynicism that made me scoff at his grandiose carnival barker-like shtick, but I used to hate Lee's writing. Even as someone who hated Silver Age writing in general, he stood out as particularly off-putting. I'm not sure what changed (maybe it was all the negativity I was seeing surrounding comics), but his over-the-top show/salesmanship completely won me over. He absolute lays it on thick, but he's laying it on top of some very good stories. And it feels less like a man trying to convince me the story I'm reading is "sure to be a collectors item" and more like someone who is enjoying the stories he's writing and can't contain himself. I'm a big fan now, and Lee's writing does a good job of cheering me up. |
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