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Post by tarkintino on May 11, 2022 9:42:56 GMT -5
Another list filled with individuals who are nowhere near a top ten list--even of their own era.
Dan Jurgens: no.
Kerry Gammill: no.
Ron Frenz: no.
Ivan Reis: no x 1000.
Olivier Coipel: no.
Tom King: no.
Tom Taylor: no.
Donny Cates: no.
Chip Zdarsky: no.
Joëlle Jones: no.
I'm waiting for the all too few master-level talents of the modern era to be named.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2022 10:56:08 GMT -5
Well since my 10A/#11 pick is neither underground nor humor, I am going to throw his name out since I never prevailed on a wildcard. When I brainstormed a list of who I would respond yea to when this started, his name was on the initial list, but that list didn't include strip creators, so he got bumped by Canniff and Raymond, but otherwise would have made my top 10.
So my wildcard nomination is the king of 50s romance, crime and jungle girl comics (and our cover contest on a regular basis), the incomparable Matt Baker.
-M
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Post by MDG on May 12, 2022 9:52:28 GMT -5
Surprised not to have seen John Ostrander come up as a choice, so he would be my wildcard. Grimjack, Suicide Squad, Firestorm, The Kents, some really good Star Wars stuff, etc. I quickly learned to buy his stuff on sight back in the day. Another name I was expecting to see was William Messner-Loebs.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on May 12, 2022 11:06:44 GMT -5
Surprised not to have seen John Ostrander come up as a choice, so he would be my wildcard. Grimjack, Suicide Squad, Firestorm, The Kents, some really good Star Wars stuff, etc. I quickly learned to buy his stuff on sight back in the day. Ostrander would be super close to making my top ten, if he didn't quite crack it. He and Mandrake's Spectre is one of my favorite superhero titles of all time. Add in The Kents and Grimjack and he's WAY up there.
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Post by Trevor on May 12, 2022 22:01:32 GMT -5
Day Forty Response and Wrap—Up
I put most of my commentary in the initial post. Lots of great art and fine writers. Given enough time, I can see one of those writers, or Jones, making my list someday.
And yes, lots of great creators not mentioned, but I should have shouted out Ostrander and Loebs.
My list remains at 9. Frank Miller Jack Kirby Carl Barks Alan Moore Mike Mignola Jeff Lemire Bernie Wrightson Matt Wagner Will Eisner
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Post by Trevor on May 12, 2022 22:07:07 GMT -5
Day Forty-One Choices
Penultimate slate! Only a humor day follows this one, so please remember to shout out your wildcards if needed.
Underground
Spain Rodriquez created Trashman, and I’ve been putting off reading his Che for way too long. Peter Bagge is best known for Neat Stuff and Hate, but actually has a bunch of mainstream work. There have been a few series at DC and Dark Horse, and some stories in Marvel’s Strange Tales mini. Chester Brown is an interesting guy. Lots of unfinished projects, extremely varied works, and creative drawing styles and tools. Howard Cruse was the first editor of Gay Comix, created Barefootz, and had a graphic novel published by DC. Kim Deitch is hugely respected and has won a ton of awards, but I have sadly remained completely ignorant of his work. Eisner Hall of Famer Trina Robbins was the first woman to draw Wonder Woman, designed Vampirella’s costume, and wrote and drew one of the Marvel Star Comics. But much more important are her activism on behalf of female cartoonists and her underground work. Art Spiegelman edited Raw for a time, has a lot of work in The New Yorker, and co-created the Garbage Pail Kids and Wacky Packages, but will always be best known for Maus. Hunt Emerson is yet another of these creators with Biblical work. Are you having fun yet with Bill Griffith? Zippy has been appearing since 1971! You may know Clio Award winner Victor Moscoso for his advertising or psychedelic rock posters, but he also contributed to almost every issue of Zap. Daniel Clowes got mainstream love and a film out of Ghost World, but is probably best known for Eightball. S. Clay Wilson is considered one of the major figures in underground comix and is another who appeared in Zap from issue 2 onward. Harvey Pekar helped bring autobiographical comics more into the limelight, with his great American Splendor and David Letterman appearances. He is one of many in this list that worked with and owes a lot to Robert Crumb.
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Post by Deleted on May 12, 2022 22:20:49 GMT -5
There's a lot of people on that list whose work and talent I respect but a lot of them aren't my jam so to speak. I have read an enjoyed stuff by Bagge, Brown, Robbins, spiegleman, Clowes and Pekar, but not enough to consider them favorites.
I do want to shout out Trina Robbins, who is one of the loveliest people we have met on the con circuit. She took time to talk art with Mrs MRP, examine her work and offer encouragement, and sending people to our table to look at my wife's work.
-M
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Post by EdoBosnar on May 13, 2022 5:31:53 GMT -5
Of those listed, the only one who rates really highly for me is Trina Robbins - not just for her art and comics work, which I love, but also in general as an activist and comics historian. Rodriquez was an outstanding artist, but I really haven't read enough of his output for him to be in my top tiers; Maus is a monumental work, but that's the only thing by Spiegelman that I've read (I've seen some of his other stuff, and honestly it never interested me enough to want to read it). As for the others, I'm familiar with most of them, but most of their work is not my cuppa (I've never had even the remotest desire to pick up anything by Pekar, and I'm often baffled by all of the gushing praise and love for, say, Bagge and Clowes).
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Post by Dizzy D on May 13, 2022 5:47:52 GMT -5
I'm familiar with most of them, but not enough to have formed a decent opinion of any of them.
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Post by tarkintino on May 13, 2022 7:01:04 GMT -5
Another list filled with individuals--with one exception-- who are nowhere near a top ten list.
Spain Rodriquez: no.
Peter Bagge: no.
Chester Brown: no.
Howard Cruse: no.
Kim Deitch: no.
Trina Robbins: no.
Art Spiegelman: yes.
Hunt Emerson: no.
Bill Griffith: Just no.
Victor Moscoso: no.
Daniel Clowes: no.
S. Clay Wilson: no.
Harvey Pekar: no.
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Post by commond on May 13, 2022 7:29:28 GMT -5
Of the Modern Age creators, I'm only familiar with Jurgens and Frenz, who are both solid but not creators I'd go out of my way to read.
I'm very tempted to put Art Spiegelman on my list, but a large chunk of his candidacy would be based on his work as an editor, and I'm not sure how that weighs into how I feel about him as a creator. Clowes was already nominated and is on my list. I'm going to go ahead and put Chester Brown on my list as well. He had a big influence on me as a teenager when I finally starting branching out and reading different kinds of comics, and his work still holds up for me personally.
My list so far: John Buscema, Gene Colan, Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez, Dan Clowes, Kentaro Miura, Takehiko Inoue, Chester Brown
I'm still mulling over the final two creators. I didn't have a top 10 prior to starting this game, so I haven't been waiting for creators to appear aside from the mangakas.
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Post by MDG on May 13, 2022 8:58:00 GMT -5
First off, I want to point out that I believe all of these folks have been making comics for more than 30 years and some for more than 50.
Spain Rodriquez: Already on my list. a solid and distinctive drawing style. His history an autobiographical strips are vwry well done.
Peter Bagge: I've read a fair amount and sometimes love his highly animated style, though he's not a favorite. (I read one strip where a character referred to a submarine sandwich as a "wedge" which is a hyperlocal term that I'd only heard around where I grew up. Looked up Bagge and found out he grew up about 25 miles away.)
Chester Brown: have only read a couple things that didn't cut through. No opinion.
Howard Cruse: His Barefootz was a genuinely funny strip that could (almost) have become a daily without any changes. He had a highly appealing cartooning style.
Kim Deitch: One of my top 10. Endlessly fascinating work, solid storytelling, and a mindblowing meld of reality and fantasy. It took me a long time to appreciate his drawing style, but it works very well--solid cartooning.
Trina Robbins: TBH, I would have a higher opinion of her today if i hadn't read her memoir. I appreciate her work documenting female cartoonists, but never warmed up to her drawing style and can't really name a comic story she did that impressed me.
Art Spiegelman: Probably blasphemy, but I always liked his formal experimental work more than Maus, but he's very important in the history of comics (esp comics as literature) and does good work.
Hunt Emerson: No opinion
Bill Griffith: Produced one of the most unique daily strips ever. Always a solid creator, and his last two books, about his mother's affair with a cartoonist and about the circus performer Schlitzie were both excellent. He's working on a graphic biography of his (great?) grandfather, who was a photographer in the 19th century.
Victor Moscoso: An excellent artist, but his non-narrative cartoons don't click with me (except as eye candy).
Daniel Clowes: Already on my list.
S. Clay Wilson: Let's call him an acquired taste. However, he can do amazing things with ink when working in his later black-heavy style.
Harvey Pekar: Finishes up my list, the only "just a writer." Knows how to tell a story and--unlike most mainstream writers--knows how to say just enough to make the point and when to end for maximum impact.
Final lists: Comic Books: Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Xaime Hernandez, Dan Clowes, Alex Toth, Harvey Kurtzman, Charles Burns, Spain Rodriguez, Kim Deitch, Harvey Pekar
Comic Strips: Bill Watterson, Milton Caniff, Charles Schulz, Alex Raymond, George Herriman, Chester Gould, Roy Crane, Cliff Sterrett, Frank King, Ernie Bushmiller
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Post by badwolf on May 13, 2022 9:35:25 GMT -5
I like the Clowes that I've read; not familiar with any of the others. (I do recognize some names, just haven't read their work.) No to all.
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Post by Trevor on May 15, 2022 5:39:40 GMT -5
Day Forty-One Response and Wrap—Up
Most of that underground slate I have a little exposure to from an issue here and there of Zap. I think I have one of Wilson’s Lovecraft books, and I love Maus of course. Have a couple issues of the old Vortex Yummy Fur, but haven’t read them yet. Pretty sure I saw Stuck Rubber Baby by Cruse at my local shop the other day, will have to go back for that one.
I’ve read a few Pekar books and imagine I’ll end up reading a lot more.
My list remains at 9 as we head into the last slate. My forum name on some sites is TrevorPlop, and I use covers of it as my profile picture sometimes, so that may have hinted that I’d have at least one choice on the soon-to-come final slate of this experiment, humor. Frank Miller Jack Kirby Carl Barks Alan Moore Mike Mignola Jeff Lemire Bernie Wrightson Matt Wagner Will Eisner
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Post by Trevor on May 17, 2022 9:08:58 GMT -5
Day Forty-Two Choices
Well, here we are, our final slate. After today, we should all have a top ten list, even if you had to use one or more wildcards.
Could have gone for hundreds of days with 10+ creators to discuss and consider. 100 comic fans with top 10 lists might have 800 different creators. But decided to end this exercise before it completely wore out it’s welcome. Some might say it did so 40 days ago…..
Anyway, when it appeared that I was going to need 42 slates to comfortably cover the basics, it seemed perfect to end this on a Douglas Adams reference and close things out with humor. Thanks to Dizzy D for steering me there!
Usual disclaimers that we have discussed a lot of humor creators already, and many of the below are not humor only, and many great candidates will not be listed until you make it so.
Funny Books
Joe Kelly co-created Ben 10, has done a lot of ‘serious’ comic writing, but I imagine is best known for his more comedic Deadpool writing. Sergio Aragonés has perhaps drawn more than any human ever. I can’t do him justice with a tiny blurb. Pretty much every issue of Mad has his work, Groo is wonderful, and he has so much other work too. His Poster Plague story directly led to the reason I’m in this hobby, Plop. It pains me to have him as my number 11, and if I made my list tomorrow I’d likely drop Moore or Miller for him. Bob Burden is best known for creating and drawing Flaming Carrot off and on since 1979. Mystery Men, a part of that comic, was made into a pretty fun movie; and he and Art Adams made some wonderful Gumby. Bob Haney co-created characters such as Metamorpho, the Teen Titans, Eclipso, and Cain. He wrote a lot of stories over the decades, not necessarily meant as comedy, but he epitomized the saying, “comics should be ridiculous”. Evan Dorkin would make my list of funniest comic creators just for Milk and Cheese, but he has a ton of other good stuff too. Between his work and Scott Saavedra, I bought a ton of Slave Labor Graphics books back in the day. Ty Templeton’s 1980s Stig’s Inferno will always be a favorite of mine, but he’s been doing steady work in comics ever since. The last Marvel comic I read had some Ty cartoons in the back and they were the best part of the issue. Looks like all of Stig’s Inferno is available for free on his website. He’s fighting cancer right now, ugh. Kyle Baker worked hard to get into comics, interning at Marvel doing all sorts of odd jobs that led to steady work at both big two. He has worked a lot in cartoons and TV, and I think most probably consider that ~2005 Plastic Man run to be his crowning moment. Skottie Young is building an amazing resume. Just his Oz work and years of constant covers would be enough to make me mention him, but he has so many other titles that he has created or worked on. Allie Brosh has a popular webcomic, and keeps popping up on most best lists I’ve been googling. Have her book on order now. Mark Russell is likely too ‘new’ and not quite enough output to be considered anyone’s top 10, but I just wanted to shout him out. His DC work has gotten great reviews, and I love the couple recent Ahoy books I’ve sampled of his.
So close out your top ten and let us know what comics make you laugh please.
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