Hokeyboy

I liked the 5YL Legion stories, probably for about the first year and maybe up to the point where they introduced the Legion clones. As you mentioned, they went meshugga over time and by the time we got to the "Legion on the run!" storyline that went on forever and featured Brainiac 5 disguised in a fatsuit, I checked out.

The Valor inspiration as well as using Andromeda as the Supergirl analog was acceptable enough. They made it work. But it was a grim-n-gritty Legion that maybe I wasn't TOTALLY in the mood for at the time. But they made bold changes: a depowered Cosmic Boy, an Ellen Ripley-esque Shrinking Violet, retconning out the Time Trapper and replacing him with Glorith, the Proty/Lightning Lad revelation, Svaughn Erin retconned as a transgender woman who reverted to male form when her meds were no longer available (surprisingly nuanced for the late 80s/early 90s), and on and on. It wasn't necessarily MY Legion, but it was an interesting and unique take.

The final reveal -- before Zero Hour and the complete Legion reboot -- that the Time Trapper was actually Cosmic Boy all along was inspired, I'll give them that.

rocket1312

Do you guys have any recommendations for post Flashpoint Geoff Johns? I've read a little bit of Flash (like I said above, it's fine) and the new 52 Justice League (didn't get far), but that's about it. Anything worth seeking out?

On a related note, I hate the way people do comics bibliographies on Wikipedia. Just list the series and the issues. The way they parse it out into collected editions is enough to make me want to slap Chris Rock.

B5Erik

Richard Corben, Chris Claremont, Geoff Johns, Al Williamson, Dave Stevens, Dave McKean, Keith Giffen, or Brandon Graham.

OK, of that group, I've only read a significant amount of Chris Claremont's work. Yeah, X-Men, blah blah blah. It was a great run in the 70's, but post 2nd run Dave Cockrum the title started getting weird. The Paul Smith issues were good, not great, but good, but it was when John Romita Jr took over tha the storylines and characterization really started to go downhill. Kind of like Claremont had gotten bored and wanted to change things up just for the sake of changing them up. For me, my favorite Claremont is something that rarely gets mentioned - his run on Marvel Team-Up (mostly with John Byrne providing the art). That was a great run. But Claremont doesn't quite make my list. Top 20 is possible, but definitely not Top 10.

Geoff Johns - I've got a bunch of trades that I've collected but not yet read. The little that I've skimmed on them looks great, but I haven't read enough of his work to make an informed decision. So, No, for now.

Keith Giffen. I've read a little of his work, but not a lot. What comes to mind with Giffen for me is actually The Defenders. He took over the pencil art duties from Sal Buscema, and I am not a big fan of his art on that title. It was like he was channeling Jack Kirby with a little Bill Everett thrown in there for fun. The issues he inked himself didn't look good. The ones inked by Klaus Janson looked better (usually I dislike Janson, but his style actually improved Giffen's work in this case). I've got the JLI Omnibi, and I like what I've read so far, but it's nowhere near enough to put him on the list.

Of the rest, I've heard of Dave Stevens (of course), and Al Williamson, but that's it. I haven't read any of Stevens' work. So for this list it's a big goose-egg.

My list remains (pending further editorial decisions)...

John Romita SR
John Buscema
John Byrne
John Romita Jr
Neal Adams
Sal Buscema
Gerry Conway
Marv Wolfman
George Perez
Gil Kane

PhantomStranger

Claremont has to be on my list. His X-Men run in its heyday was immensely enjoyable and incredibly influential on cape books. Turned no-name characters into household names.

Keith Giffen barely cracks my top ten but does make it. I've always vibed with his storytelling and love a lot of his work.

I want to include Geoff Johns but I don't know. Probably captures my personal view of the DC universe more than any other writer, but I feel his writing has slipped since the New 52 began. I'm going to keep him in mind and may reconsider later.

fujishig

Why post Flashpoint? IMHO, most of his best work is pre Flashpoint (I don't even remember him writing Flash after Flashpoint). The only other thing of note I can remember him writing outside of Doomsday Clock is new 52 Aquaman, which was pretty good. I think he got caught up with other responsibilities shortly after that.

rocket1312

Because I have read and loved everything pre-Flashpoint.

ddrknghtrtns

Yes to Claremont. Geoff Johns can join my bottom 10 list alongside John Romita Jr and Rob Liefeld.

majorjoe23

Looks like I'm only at a top 9 so far:Jack Kirby

Carl Barks

Ed Brubaker

Alan Moore

Brian K Vaughan

Bruce Timm

Walt Simonson

Mike Allred

Mike Mignola

Hokeyboy

Trevor

Day Seventeen Response and Wrap—Up

Corben would be in if I had space for more than one mostly ‘just’ artist. Enjoy Claremont on some stuff, but never a huge fan. Johns would be in the running if it was writers only. I really want to pick Stevens, and in a better world where he lived longer he’d have a large enough body of work to make it easy. Love McKean but haven't seen enough of his stuff yet to put him that high.

Giffen is giving me pause. I love a lot of his writing and art over so many decades now, but not sure if I've ever thought of him for a top ten. Take him and his work and impact for granted I'm afraid. I'm a Brandon Graham neophyte but can see him entering the picture someday. But all no for now.

My list so far:
Frank Miller
Jack Kirby
Carl Barks
Alan Moore
Mike Mignola
Jeff Lemire

ytrez

Having my top 10 considered this way really makes me think about it. And it ain't easy!!!

You've got some great talent in these choices.

Richard Corben - Incredible, an absolute legend in my eyes, But not my top 10.
Chris Claremont - he was good on the early days of Marvel Team-Up and Iron Fist, and X-Men but, IMO, he was always better when Byrne was helping with the plotting.
Geoff Johns - never a favorite of mine, so an easy pass.
Al Williamson - another legend. He's drawn great comics, great comic strips, was an amazing inker, etc. But just not top 10 material.
Dave Stevens - died too young and, with primarily Rocketeer on his resume, not top 10.
Dave McKean - interesting, but not top 10.
Keith Giffen - he's a least a near legend, on the merits of his Legion of Super-Heroes work alone. But he's also plotted, written, or drawn so many other books that he absolutely has to be considered. Ummm....He just misses the top 10 for me.
Brandon Graham - great artist but not all-time top 10 material.

Still my list:
Jack Kirby
Frank Miller
Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez
Joe Kubert
Alan Moore
John Byrne
George Perez
Steve Ditko

Trevor

Day Eighteen Choices

I want to get to some people who can draw like anything.

I want to know if Wally Wood, Bill Sienkiewicz, or Bernie Wrightson are in your top 10. Three monsters who can probably draw great monsters.

rocket1312

I'm familiar with all three (although I had to Google Chris Ware to confirm), but none are within my admittedly small bubble of comics interests.

Trevor

I briefly posted the wrong day. Fixed it, and I think we’ll all easily recognize these three.

fujishig

Ha, I was going to say, if nobody knows any of those three, where have you been?

I understand the mastery and importance of all three (well, now I do... back in the New Mutants days I took some time to be convinced about Bill) but none of them are in my top 10.

B5Erik

Wally Wood, Bill Sienkiewicz, or Bernie Wrightson.

Wally Wood was good for his day, but while I like his art, I don't love it. Bill Sienkiewicz is someone whose art I generally don't like much, but on occasion he's done things that I like somewhat. Bernie Wrightson - funny thing about Bernie, I haven't seen much of his work, but I just got the Swamp Thing Bronze Age Vol 1 two days ago. I read the first four issues, and his work is pretty good. Pretty good, but nowhere near Top 10.

So, No to all three.

My list remains...

John Romita SR
John Buscema
John Byrne
John Romita Jr
Neal Adams
Sal Buscema
Gerry Conway
Marv Wolfman
George Perez
Gil Kane

With two, maybe three names there holding the place of someone else who may come up later. The final edit is yet to come...

majorjoe23

None of the new trio make my list.

rocket1312

Alright, I guess it's day 18 take two.

Three masters, but three who don't make my list. Sienkiewicz was never my jam. Wrightson is an amazing artist who's work I'm just not that familiar with. Wood, on the other hand, I love. I'm not intimately familiar with his output, but I've been trying to read through his EC work. Some of it is truly breathtaking, though I might prefer his inking to his penciling. Is that blasphemous? Wood inking Kirby on Sky Masters is sublime. But I really do need to dig deeper. In theory he might be my favorite artist of that 50's-60's crew, but I'm not prepared to go there yet.

Hokeyboy

Absolutely love Wrightson's art but then I wouldn't put him in my personal top 10. Wally Wood did some fun stuff in early Daredevil but again, not top material. Sienkiewicz is certainly unique but it's a bit of an acquired taste and one I never really acquired all that well.

So my list remains the same.

My Top Ten:
John Byrne
Chris Claremont
Garth Ennis
Neil Gaiman
Keith Giffen
Jack Kirby
Frank Miller
Alan Moore
Grant Morrison
George Perez

Chopping List:
Neil Adams
Ed Brubaker
Darywn Cooke
Steve Ditko
Geoff Johns
Denny O'Neill
Walt Simonson
Marv Wolfman

IBJoel

I'm just going to do my Top 10 because I can't remember to keep up with this every day:
Grant Morrison
Paul Dini
Denny O'Neil
Lee Bermejo
Alex Ross
JH Williams III
Greg Rucka
Alan Moore
Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

I don't know who I'd pick as my 10th. I think I favor artists, since their work is more consistent, whereas writers can really do stuff I don't care for. Even Morrison gave us Damian Wayne. I guess I might lean Mark Waid, Bryan Hitch, Robert Kirkman, or Ryan Ottley. I did interview Jeff Lemire once, which was cool.

Trevor

Ok, the twist was going to be that once people hit 9 people on their list, they could be ‘knocked out’ by someone guessing who their 10th is.

Three people could guess, based on what they know of the poster, and if one of them guessed correctly, that 10th creator would enter the contest as a choice.

But with so many people already listing their 10 or maintaining two lists, I don’t think the twist will work here.

If I do something like this again, I’ll explain the rules more thoroughly. My bad.

ytrez

Sienkiewicz is close to Top 10 for me but falls just short.

Wrightson is a no for me, as talented as he is. Wally Wood is another legend who doesn't cross the threshold for me.

Still my list:
Jack Kirby
Frank Miller
Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez
Joe Kubert
Alan Moore
John Byrne
George Perez
Steve Ditko

Trevor

Day Eighteen Response and Wrap—Up

I love Wally but discovered him late and only partially so far, so can't put him in my top 10.

Sienkiewicz comes really close. His work was where I first really discovered that art can be unique and that I didn't have to be content with a mainstream house style. Elektra: Assassin is a top ten book for me.

Bernie Wrightson is not only an easy addition to my top ten, but he might be the only ‘just artist’ in my list. His work on Swamp Thing was an early cementer into getting me to truly love comics, and everything he ever drew is beautiful. There are a lot of creators I've never met, most of them, but never meeting him will be the only one that makes me truly sad.

My list so far:
Frank Miller
Jack Kirby
Carl Barks
Alan Moore
Mike Mignola
Jeff Lemire
Bernie Wrightson

Trevor

Day Nineteen Choices

I do think in like hardcore cartoonist circles these guys are considered at the very top of the game and are certainly respected by other comic creators and highly influential.

I’m speaking of the Midwest boys Clowes and Ware.

But we also need some flavor. Can’t let the flyover boys have a day to themselves

The third is about as far from that as you can get in Katsuhiro Otomo. Otomo’s direct influence across mediums is pretty incredible.

And how about an Emmy winner for your consideration? Set designer for Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, underground hero Gary Panter.

I think the theme maybe that these are viewed as auteurs.

So today I’m wondering and asking if Daniel Clowes, Gary Panter, Katsuhiro Otomo, or Chris Ware are in your Top 10?

rocket1312

I'll just repost yesterday's thoughts from before Trevor edited his post.