Top Ten Current Writers at Marvel

[killerbass]

I tried, but it was too hard for me to pick my ten favorite artists at Marvel. However, writers are much easier to choose from...

So without further ado, here are my ten favorite current writers at Marvel:

10. Marc Guggenheim -- Did a great job on Wolverine; I liked Blade and can't wait to see what he does with Spidey.

9. Matt Fraction -- I love Iron Fist, really like Punisher War Journal, and like The Order. Plus he did that great Sensational Spider-Man annual.

8. Fabian Nicieza -- He's made the premiere Odd Couple -- Cable and Deadpool and made it interesting and entertaining for 44 issues thus far. He needs to get more work!

7. Christos Gage -- Future superstar writer. Everything he's written at Marvel has been really good.

6. Warren Ellis -- Mr. Ellis is buy on sight in my book. His Thunderbolts is outstanding.

5. Mark Millar -- I get swept up in his stories. I buy everything he puts out these days.

4. Dan Slott -- I never thought I would enjoy a She-Hulk comic, but I do. Immensely.

3. JMS -- His run on AMS was great. His Thor has been awesome.

2. Brian Michael Bendis -- OK, I even enjoyed his Halo. And I have never played the freakin' game.

1. Ed Brubaker -- I love, love, love his work on Cap and Daredevil. Criminal is extremely entertaining. The last issue of Iron Fist was incredible.

Honorable Mentions: Jeff Parker, Mike Carey, Robert Kirkman & PAD.

OK. Your turn!

--Tom

[DaeJi]

In a sick, sick way you are right. It is easier to pick your favorite writers over your favorite artists. Let's see, top ten (in no real order)...

1) Keith Griffen- the guy gets characters, and he gets what's cool about them and brings it out. Plus he's funny.

2) Ed Brubaker- Need I say more? Not a man alive to can make normal, everyday humans look as powerful as gods.

3) Christos Gage- This man is all over the place, hitting all corners of the Marvel universe, and not missing a beat in any of them.

4) PAD- He could turn in a blank sheet of paper for a story and it would still be gold.

5) Mike Carsey- He's a smart writer, no other way around it. This guy's imagination is out there, and he knows how to take us all to it.

6) Warren Ellis- Here is a case of someone taking the weird, unusual and underused and making it work oh so well.

7) Brain Michael Bendis- Love him or hate him the man can write some entertaining stuff, and is a master of dialogue.

8) JMS- When he's bad, he's awful. When he's good, he's a must have.

9) Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning- I love cosmic stuff, but I especially love human characters in cosmic stuff, the kind of think they excel at.

10) Robert Kirkman- Hey, I liked Ant-Man.

[Dusty.]

1. Ed Brubaker - He's the best modern comic writer, no question about it. His Captain America has been the best thing on the stands since it came out. Even before it came out! His Daredevil is excellent, and I think it'll be fondly looked back upon. I hear good things about Iron-Fist and Criminal. His X-Men work is decent, but just not really something I can get up about. I'm sure the upcoming thing with Silvestri will change that, if only because I will be getting some new Silvestri art from Marvel.

2. Greg Pak - His Planet Hulk and World War Hulk stories look to be classics, and I'm surprised he's not getting more than just the Hulk to play with at Marvel. Greg Pak would be an ideal sellection to start inviting to creative meetings, and seems like he would be a good fit in the good ole boys club at Marvel, starring Quesada, Bendis, Millar, Brubaker, Ellis, Loeb, JMS, and recently graduated Dan Slott, along with junior members Matt Fraction, Mike Oeming, and Brian Reed. (I think Kirkman's membership was revoked... :D

3. Peter David - As X-Factor shows, PAD can still hit all his marks on a monthly basis. I am anxiously looking forward to his She-Hulk, and he is one of a very few creators that could have made me continue with She-Hulk after Slott. (Of course, Byrne was another) He's currently paired with a favorite artist of mine, in Pablo Raimondi, but his Spider-Man got hampered by mediocre art, and X-Factor just had a mediocre artist fill-in. Also, while we've seen great Deodato She-Hulk covers, not a page of the interiors, so they must not be THAT good. It would be nice if he was always paired with a stud artist like the Bendis, Ellis, and Millar do.

4. JMS - I have no idea why I rank him this high, because his last year on Spider-Man was not my bag, but I think that probably was because of Spider-Man becoming an Avenger and Avengers tower becoming home to Peter, MJ, and Aunt May. Ugghhhh.... Sins Past was well told, but not well thought out in the long run. He's writing my favorite character now (Thor), and it's interesting, though flawed (and slowwwwwwwww).

5. Dan Slott - He did some funny stuff with She-Hulk, but was paired with weak regular monthly artists except for the 4 issues that Pelletier was the regular guy. His GLA was probably the best thing he's done. His Thing was good, it just wasn't great. His Spider-Man stuff led to a gig he was born to write, and he's getting Steve McNiven for his issues! His Avengers Initiative is entertaining with great art. Dan Slott is now a full fledged member of the boys club. He gets the plum assignments and cream of the crop artists. Great guy, much deserved success.

6. Dwayne McDuffie - He's wrote a great GREAT Fantastic Four, and kinda redeemed Reed a bit after the CW disaster. (Ughhh...Millar needs to research Reed and Sue ASAP!!!) I would hope that Marvel will have more work to offer McDuffie. JLA is getting a good one.

7. Brian Bendis - He starting to redeem himself lately, after that terrible disrespectfully bad portrayal of the heroes using a decoy of Cap's (still warm!!!) corpse to trap their friends, who pose absolutely no threat at all. That was just plain bad writing, but his excellent Mighty Avengers, the much improved (since the Skrull reveal) New Avengers, the Illuminati, which is decent, and the Avengers one shots that he had, along with his Ultimate Spider-Man, rolling on strong, have made signicant strides in recent times. I think I miss him, too. *sniff* Sorry, Brian.

8. Chris Claremont - "Claremont hate" befuddles me about as much as George Lucas hate does. He's actually doing some good stuff these days. His Uncanny X-Men run was the best run on that series in YEARS. It was stronger than what Brubaker, Carry, or Whedon are currently doing. I think if he was given an artist like Ellis, Whedon, or Millar get, he'd sell, too! I also think he'd sell if John Byrne was paired with him on Exiles. That would ROCK!

9. Mark Millar - His personality and his terrible portrayals of the dumb American cowboy who thinks with his fists...err...I mean Captain America...along with the Reed, Sue, and Tony characterizations, really dropped him. He's offensive to me. I liked Ultimates, still have to read Ultimates 2 beyond issue 4, but I have no desire to read the last few issues of CW. SLOPPY WRITING 101. I can only hope that his Fantastic Four is as good as his Wolverine was. I liked his portrayal of them in that story. (Enemy of the State is a favorite Wolverine story for me. Love it. ) He's a John Byrne fan, so he gets major points for that, but he needs to lay off the political BS, especially when the guy doesn't even have his facts straight.

10.Warren Ellis - He's surly. He can't handle criticism. He's disrespectful of other writer's works, and isn't shy about telling everybody how he is greater (even though facts state otherwise), and he's only in it for the money. His Ultimate Universe foray was a major flop, and it was evident that Marvel wanted him to take over from Bendis and Millar. He flopped like a fish on the sand. Despite the failures, Nextwave did get good reviews from the 5 people that DID read it, and New Thunderbolts was a bit of a revelation, showing that if Ellis didn't look down his nose at the genre, he could actually write great costumed adventures. It doesn't try to be a movie, it tries to be a comic, and it's a good one. It makes me look forward to his Astonishing. Newuniversal is competently written, but it's just never going to be as fun as the superheroes for me.

Haven't read enough Matt Faction, Kirkman didn't really distinguish himself with the stuff I read, and Loeb has been solid, but his lack of a monthly series makes his job a lot easier. Josh Whedon has not been anything that I would call "special". Not bad, though. His first X-Men arc was damn good.

[Magneto Rocks]

1. Mark Millar -I just love everything the man writes. The BEST man for action scenes in comics, period. Can write understated, character moments too despite his reputation. Brilliant for big ideas, and I like his dialoguing, sense of reality and characterization. Honestly, I've never read something I disliked from Millar.

2. Ed Brubaker - Captain America. 'Nuff said.

3. JMS - Errr... hesitated, but yeah, I'll go with this. Phenomenal Spidey, brilliant Thor so far, incredible Surfer series... pretty rubbishy FF though, and doesn't get Iron Man at ALL, but I forgive him. :)

4. Marc Guggenheim - Second best Wolverine I've read, and wrote the BRILLIANT Fastest Man Alive which made me accept Bart Allen at last. Can't wait for him to get on ASM.

5. Brian Bendis - I like MOST of his stuff... but Disassembled was horrible, and House of M was weak. Still a very very very good writer.

6. Dwayne McDuffie- Could be one of the best if he slowed down and gave ideas space to develop instead of cramming. But he writes great humour, brilliant dialogue, cool plots, he rocks.

7. Christos Gage- Only because he hasn't written a full, proper arc yet (like more than 3 issues in a row), that I've read- through no fault of his own. His Casualties of War special was AWESOME, and his work since, while not as good, has been very very good.

8. Warren Ellis- Thunderbolts. Nuff said. Would be higher but that's all I've read. Still, he makes it on the basis of those 7 issues alone, because they're THAT good.

9. Peter David- For FNS and X-Factor. Both brilliant books.

10. Dan Slott- Ehhh.... Strong, but some glaring weaknesses. In general, great overall quality but some of his She-Hulk I'm not a fan of, and some aspects of Avengers: The Initiative are weak too. Should be a great Spidey writer though.

[Diablito]

1. Warren Ellis- Amazing humor, and a great style of writing. I enjoy Thunderbolts a lot, loved Nextwave, and I can't wait for his Astonishing X-Men run.

2. Joss Whedon-Great use of dialogue, and amazing characterization. His Astonishing X-Men run is amazing and something I always look forward too. Only problem is his tardiness.

3. Mike Carey- I only read his X-Men, and I love it. Great characterizations, good dialogue, and great taste in characters (I love Omega Sentinel!)

4. Ed Brubaker- All his books are gold except Uncanny X-men. Captain America was the first thing to get me out of reading only X-books, and his Daredevil is amazing too.

5. Peter David- Great dialogue, and the best noir-style work I have read.

6. Mark Millar- Love his Ultimate books, and I enjoy his past work. I want to see him try his hand on an X-Book.

7. Christos Gage- A great up and coming writer with a lot untapped potential. His only miss so far was WWH: X-men.

8. Dan Slott- Great writer with good humour, and great use of minor characters. Love his Avengers: Initiative, don't read She-Hulk.

9. Brian Bendis- Imaginative writer with lots of great books. Loves his New Avengers most of the time, but a lot of his stuff was hit or miss.

10. Jeff Parker-Fun writer,very good dialogue. However I have only read his X-me:First Class series, so I can't opine.

[TotalWorldDomination]

1. Ed Brubaker- Captain America, Daredevil, Uncanny, heck he could write howard the duck and somehow make it grity dark realistic and brilliant. His take on Cap is amazing, and he regularly proves that he knows how to handle pretty much every character in the Marvel library.

2. Mark Millar- Civil War, The Ultimates... Well do I have to actualy say anything else? If he dose half the job on FF that he did on those, he may overtake Bru in the top spot. He's got a great cinimatic style and sure knows how to turn characters on there heads while keeping the core of the character pure.

3. Brian Bendis- I want to hate him. I realy do. I loathed his Civil War Tie-ins for New Avengers and he has a huge tendency to Mary-Sue characters, but that can't erase his great work on the likes of Alias, Illuminati and every OTHER issue of New Avengers. His diolouge is snappy and golly, he's just readable.

4. Joss Whedon- Even though he's only on two titles, Astonishing X-Men is the best X-Book being published (and has been for some time) and his run on runaways has been damn good so far too. I only wish that Marvel could convince him to stay on for more.

5. Peter David- Second best X-Book author. X-Factor is a joy of a read, and FNS was great while it lasted. I'd love to see him do more...

5. Warren Ellis- Thunderbolts, Thunderbolts, Thunderbolts. Oh yeah and Thunderbolts.

6. Christos Gage- Can we let him write Iron Man full time? Please? The Casualties of War special rocketed him up as the only tie-in to truly work the long and glorious histories of the two leaders of the war into the story. He seems to love the characters like the fans do. He's a writer to watch for

7. Greg Pak- WWH has been brilliant thus far, and I'm a big fan of his Pheniox stories. Made Thunderbolt Ross seem justified without seeming right and has truly blurred the already murky lines of who is a villian and who is a hero in the Marvel U. Would rank higher, but he has also created the loathsome Mastermind Excello.

8. Matt Fraction- was higher before the last arc of Punisher, but he's still great. The Order is brilliant and his first few issues of punisher are great. hopefuly he'll get back on track soon.

9. Dan Slott- Best know (in my mind) for his humor, but he'll be much more then that to most soon. Avengers: the Initiative is great and She-Hulk has had some brilliant moments. Keep him away from Tony Stark and I'll be fine.

10. Mike Carey- for his work on X-Men, of course. He manages to use a large cast without it seeming croweded, works in cameos from other teams and other plotlines without it seeming like a cameo or overflow from another plotline. He writes a fun book, thats sure.

Notable Snub- JMS. He's not on my list, dispite the admirable job he's done so far on thor. Still, if the previews of issue three are indicitive of anything, I'll drop that faster then I dropped his Spider-Man. Take that as you will.

[Hatut Zeraze]

Dang! Do I even read 10 different writers at Marvel?

Lessee - Dan Slott, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Dwayne McDuffie, Warren Ellis, Greg Pak, Keith Giffen, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Christos Gage.

Yeah. There's 10. They are in no particular order, and it's possible that there are some Marvel writers I like more, but I think these are the only ones I'm reading, so they get to be my top 10.

[Omega Alpha]

1) Ed Brubaker
2) Warren Ellis
3) Mark Millar
4) Mike Carey
5) Brian Michael Bendis
6) Peter David
7) Greg Pak
8) Keith Giffen
9) Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
10) Christos Gage

[sabongero]

Hatut Zeraze & Omega Alpha, I hope you guys don't mind. I just wanted to ask, what about the works of the writers you guys typed below did you like ? The other posters typed a brief descritpion on what they liked about the 10 writers they chose. Thanks for your time on this guys.


1) Ed Brubaker
2) Warren Ellis
3) Mark Millar
4) Mike Carey
5) Brian Michael Bendis
6) Peter David
7) Greg Pak
8) Keith Giffen
9) Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning
10) Christos Gage



Dang! Do I even read 10 different writers at Marvel?

Lessee - Dan Slott, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Dwayne McDuffie, Warren Ellis, Greg Pak, Keith Giffen, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Christos Gage.

Yeah. There's 10. They are in no particular order, and it's possible that there are some Marvel writers I like more, but I think these are the only ones I'm reading, so they get to be my top 10.

[Chiasm]

1. Garth Ennis. His Punisher is the most realistic and best version ever done. It should be law that no one but Garth ever gets to write Frank Castle again.

2. J. Michael Straczynski. Before he was editorally neutered on Supreme this was the best book Marvel was doing and while its lost a lot now that J Michael has been forced into the SS concept earlie than planned its still good. And his Peter Parker characterization is the best I've ever seen - most of his villians and some of his plots aren't the best but in depicting the life and times of Peter, MJ< and Aunt May no other writer has ever come close to what he's done.

3. Peter David. X-Factor - nuff said. Well almost. He took a bunch of D list characters and made them interesting. And he especially deserves commendation for his lifetime of work in taking a D--- (minus to the infinite) list character like Jamie Madrox and making him interesting to the point that he's pretty much an A list character now.

4. Ed Brubaker - I'm tempted to lower him a few spots for his what he's done to Uncanny X-men but his Cap work redeems him.

5. Fabian Nicieza - He's taken a Liefeld creation in Deadpool and made him awesome. I can only imagine how hard that must have been.

6. Mike Carey - I'm not sure if he's great or if its just that he's so much better than anyone who has written an X-comic in the last few years.

7. Warren Ellis - When is the new issue of New Universal coming out?

8. Neil Gaiman - Made a group of characters like the Eternals who I'd never read about fascinating.

I can't think of anyone else worth putting on my list. Putting them onto it implies that they are close in my estimation to the ones above and thats nowhere near the case.

[killerbass]

5. Fabian Nicieza - He's taken a Liefeld creation in Deadpool and made him awesome. I can only imagine how hard that must have been.

Deadpool was awesome before Fabian came along, to be honest. Joe Kelly deserves a lot of the credit. As does Christopher Priest and Gail Simone, who were also pretty good on Deadpool... (If you get the chance, Deadpool (1997) #66 & 67 are a hoot and a half! Rhino on a keychain, and "Hulk pants activate!")

I giggle every time I think about it... even after all these years...

That's not to say Fabian is not doing a great job, just that Deadpool was a pretty nifty character before Fabian came along.


--Tom

[Omega Alpha]

Hatut Zeraze & Omega Alpha, I hope you guys don't mind. I just wanted to ask, what about the works of the writers you guys typed below did you like ? The other posters typed a brief descritpion on what they liked about the 10 writers they chose. Thanks for your time on this guys.

Well:

1) Brubaker: He has 4 titles on my top 10. No one write dark/gritty noir stories like him.

2) Ellis: His Thunderbolts is one of the best, if not the best book at Marvel, and Nextwave was great. I love his sense of humor and anarchic stories. More than with any other writer, i really don't know what to expect next.

3) Millar: Could have been higher if he had books going on currently. Ultimates was the best book while he was at it, and the best comic work ever since Marvels, IMO. And UFF, MK Spider-Man, Wolverine, etc, all have been gold.

4) Carey: He has great concepts, and it's rare to find so much creativity in company-owned projects like the one he shows in UFF and X-men. His X-men specially is great because he took a team that no one thought it would work and he made it work as being a unsucessful team that couldn't work on the long run. And he writes well pretty much all characters.

5) Bendis: I'm not a big fan of NA, but he always has several books at the same time, and they're almost always very good. Ultimate Spider-Man specially. And he is the best Daredevil writer of all time.

6) PAD: If he wrote more books, he could have been higher. But his X-factor alone guarantees the 6h position.

7) Greg Pak: Made the Hulk a major played again. And Endsong was good too. Yeah, Warsong was as crappy as they come, but he still has done more good stuff than bad.

8) Keith Giffen: Annihilation was fantastic, he re-shaped the cosmic MU and made it more interesting than evetr. And Starlord is hilarious;

9) Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning: Very promising writers. Nova is one of my favorite current series.

10) Christos Gage: A writer who will be a star soon. Could have been higher if he had an ongoing.

[StoneGold]

Deadpool was awesome before Fabian came along, to be honest. Joe Kelly deserves a lot of the credit. As does Christopher Priest and Gail Simone, who were also pretty good on Deadpool... (If you get the chance, Deadpool (1997) #66 & 67 are a hoot and a half! Rhino on a keychain, and "Hulk pants activate!")

I giggle every time I think about it... even after all these years...

That's not to say Fabian is not doing a great job, just that Deadpool was a pretty nifty character before Fabian came along.


--Tom
Besides, if you're bashing the Liefeld creation, Fabian was writing X-Force when he debuted. You're actually bashing the Deadpool he wrote.

[Jack Zodiac]

Top o' the list, Ed Brubaker. He picked up a book like Daredevil at an awkward time for a new writer, but he rolled with it perfectly and has written several stories that rival Frank Miller's time on the title. And his Captain America run... I can't imagine anyone else being able to make a title with a dead star character continue to be so interesting. And then there's his Immortal Iron Fist, which is hands down one of the best books in mainstream comics.

Second, I'd say Dan Slott. The man can write pure fun comics and he's captured the very spirit of characters like The Thing, Human Torch, and Spider-Man. I can't wait for him to start on Amazing, and I'm even considering giving his Avengers book a try when the first trade comes out, even though I've all but given up hope for the franchise.

Third, goin' with Neil Gaiman. While he may not have written much for Marvel, what little he has is great stuff. 1602 was a perfect take on the characters for their setting, and Eternals managed to expand on Kirby's mythos for older readers while intoducing it subtley for new readers, and was an all-told pretty interesting story, even if it intersected with Civil War. I hope he gets a chance to expand on their story even more sometime in the future.

Fourth, Keith Giffen, for dreaming up the amazing Annihilation books, and for his short Heralds of Galactus series. I love some Marvel space opera, and the man delivers in spade.

Fifth, Fabian Nicieza. Cable & Deadpool, hopefully soon to be just Deadpool, has been one of my favorite books since he relaunched it, and it keeps coming close to being as funny as Joe Kelly's run, but would fall flat because of interjections by Cable. Now that he's down to just the Merc with a Mouth, hopefully the book can go all-out hilarious.

Sixth, Peter David. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been the only worthwhile Spider-book for a while, and he told some great stories. And X-Factor has been really interesting, even though I got into it late. Wouldn't mind seeing him great a crack at the bi-weekly Amazing some time, either, 'cause he handles Pete well. I think I'm mostly putting him here, though, because of how much I loved him on other non-Marvel stuff, and my list's getting thin.

I can't even think of a seventh person. Greg Pak, maybe, for doing such crazy-imaginative stuff with Hulk. "Planet Hulk" was the greatest storyline running last year next to Annihilation. But that's it, really. Most of Marvel's writers today are pretty so-so, and with Dwayne going to DC now, it's staying pretty so-so.

[Chiasm]

Deadpool was awesome before Fabian came along, to be honest. Joe Kelly deserves a lot of the credit. As does Christopher Priest and Gail Simone, who were also pretty good on Deadpool... (If you get the chance, Deadpool (1997) #66 & 67 are a hoot and a half! Rhino on a keychain, and "Hulk pants activate!")

I giggle every time I think about it... even after all these years...

That's not to say Fabian is not doing a great job, just that Deadpool was a pretty nifty character before Fabian came along.


--Tom

Could very well be. My only Deadpool experience before Civil War was in Liefeld X-Force where Deadpool was just another version of the same character which described nearly every character Liefeld wrote.

[Magneto_X]

Ed Brubaker (Uncanny X-men, Daredevil, Immortal Iron Fist, Captain America)

Joss Whedon (Runaways, Astonishing X-men)

Peter David (X-Factor)

Mike Carey (Ultimate Fantastic Four, X-men)

Warren Ellis (Nextwave, Thunderbolts)

Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Nova)

Mark Millar (Ultimates, Spiderman: Marvel Knights)

Fabian Nicieza (Deadpool & Cable)

Dwayne McDuffie (Fantastic Four [wish he had a longer run!])

Brian Reed (Ms. Marvel)

[sabongero]

Well:

1) Brubaker: He has 4 titles on my top 10. No one write dark/gritty noir stories like him.

2) Ellis: His Thunderbolts is one of the best, if not the best book at Marvel, and Nextwave was great. I love his sense of humor and anarchic stories. More than with any other writer, i really don't know what to expect next.

3) Millar: Could have been higher if he had books going on currently. Ultimates was the best book while he was at it, and the best comic work ever since Marvels, IMO. And UFF, MK Spider-Man, Wolverine, etc, all have been gold.

4) Carey: He has great concepts, and it's rare to find so much creativity in company-owned projects like the one he shows in UFF and X-men. His X-men specially is great because he took a team that no one thought it would work and he made it work as being a unsucessful team that couldn't work on the long run. And he writes well pretty much all characters.

5) Bendis: I'm not a big fan of NA, but he always has several books at the same time, and they're almost always very good. Ultimate Spider-Man specially. And he is the best Daredevil writer of all time.

6) PAD: If he wrote more books, he could have been higher. But his X-factor alone guarantees the 6h position.

7) Greg Pak: Made the Hulk a major played again. And Endsong was good too. Yeah, Warsong was as crappy as they come, but he still has done more good stuff than bad.

8) Keith Giffen: Annihilation was fantastic, he re-shaped the cosmic MU and made it more interesting than evetr. And Starlord is hilarious;

9) Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning: Very promising writers. Nova is one of my favorite current series.

10) Christos Gage: A writer who will be a star soon. Could have been higher if he had an ongoing.

Omega Alpha thanks for the response man.

[Dark Soul # 7]

I'm going to go by my current mood, which could change in a matter of hours. But here's what I think right now.

1. Christos Gage: I've absolutely loved just about everything that this man has written for Marvel. Even if all of it is minis you can see that Gage understands a large variety of characters and can write for a many genres. He's star in the making just you wait. He needs an ongoing STAT.

2. Mike Carey: This man is probably the sole reason for why I'm even remotely interesting in the X-men part of Marvel again. His writing is interesting and has a classic feel to it and he can make you feel for some of the msot obscure characters one can think of.

3. Mark Millar: The man knows how to do epic comics. Give him his twelve issue and he will easily rock ones socks of. He can do touching character moments, huge action scenes and has a plethora of thought provoking, and controversial ideas for the comics he writes.

4. Fabian Nicieza: This man is funny! But just because he's humerous doesn't mean that the comics he writes are cute little humor stories. Sure they can make you laugh like an idiot, but they are also complex stories about less than perfect humans. Which is what Marvel comics should be.

5. Warren Ellis: I'm not even sure how to explain this one. He's just awesome in almost every way. I've only read T-bolts and a little Nextwave so that's what I'm basing this on. But they're just so awesome I don't need any other reason.

6. Matt Fraction: Great writer, his Sensational Annual is easily one of my top ten comics this year and the Order is better than I thought it would be. He's not higher on the list because I've read very little written by him.

7. Robert Kirkman: Another funny man who can do some really gruesome stuff, in the good way when he has to. His MTU run was my favorite book when it was out, and Antman is great. Hopefully he'll get something more high-profile at Marvel. Right now I'm happy with his Invincible.

8. Keith Giffen: Drax was awesome. Annihilation was the greatest thing I've read in comics in recent years. But that's about the only things I've read of his work.

9. Dan Slott: He's really good. Has nice sense of humor, can handle continuity to great effects and can write darker stuff than most would give him credit for. Will be interesting to see if he lives up to the hype as a Spider-man writer.

10. JMS: Brilliant when he's good and downright dull when he's bad. these fluctuations give him this rather modest spot on my list.

[seeso]

Ed Brubaker
Brian Michael Bendis
Warren Ellis
Peter Allen David
Mark Millar
Joss Whedon
Greg Pak
Dan Slott
J. Michael Straczynski
Keith Giffen

[sabongero]

Ed Brubaker
Brian Michael Bendis
Warren Ellis
Peter Allen David
Mark Millar
Joss Whedon
Greg Pak
Dan Slott
J. Michael Straczynski
Keith Giffen


Just wanted to ask you seeso. What about these 10 writers did you like about them ? Thanks.

[Frank]

If it was 2003 I would have a lot of candidates(Bendis was at his best, Bruce Jones was doing Hulk, Milligan on X-Statix) but right now it's hard to find one that's better than the others. For instance I buy Mighty Avengers and New Avengers but I'm not too impressed. I love WWHulk but that's the only Pak writing I've ever read. Millar was awesome on Civil War but what else...?

[Billy Parker]

1. Brian Michael Bendis - Mighty/New Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, Civil War: Confession, Daredevil, Alias, House of M, EVERYTHING!!! Bendis rules and brought the new style of writing to comics that everyone uses now.

2. Mark Millar - Civil War, Ultimates, Ultimate X-Men, Ultimate Fantastic Four, MK Spider-Man, Wolverine!! Barely second to Bendis, everything he touches is solid gold!!!!

3. J. Michael Stracynski - Amazing Spider-Man!!!! Ezekiel and Morlun long arcs were brilliant and really made some great Spider-Man comics!!!

4. Ed Brubaker - Daredevil, Captain America!! Killing Foggy Nelson, and everything Cap has been freaking incredible comics.

5. Brian K. Vaughn - Ultimate X-Men, Runaways, The Hood!! His X-Men was my favorite!!!

6. Dan Slott - Avengers Initiative!! One of the best books today.

7. Roberto Aguirre Sacassa - Sensational Spider-Man! The Feral arc was brilliantly brutal.

8. Peter David - Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man! The Mysterio arc was zany and it was a fresh and fun book.

9. Greg Pak - Planet Hulk, World War Hulk!!! Freaking awesome!! SMASH!!!

10. Robert Kirkman - Ultimate X-Men!!! The Magician, Rogue's arm blown the F off, Xavier dead!!!!

WINNER: Love them all, but Bendis is the man!!!! No topping Bendis baby!!!!

PS - I miss Sean McKeever!

[seeso]

Just wanted to ask you seeso. What about these 10 writers did you like about them ? Thanks.


Ed Brubaker - Bru edges out Bendis because he stays out of the way of his own books. With Bendis, you always know he's there, lurking behind the story. You can hear Bendis' voice. With Bru, all I hear is the character's voice. It's a more organic method of storytelling - one which I prefer. Captain America is arguably the best superhero comic being published today. Daredevil is at the top of my stack every week it comes out.
Brian Michael Bendis - I like Bendis for the exact detractions listed above. Bendis' writer's voice is both his strength and his weakness. It's entertaining and engaging. Ultimate Spider-Man is pure gold. Powers and his Avengers books are among my favorite titles. Love him or hate him, you'll be talking about his books every Wednesday.
Warren Ellis - Ellis is one of those writers that can blow you away on one title, but just be mediocre on another. His Thunderbolts is fan-boy heaven, with it's use of C and D list characters, hard-hitting action, and strong characterization. Other titles, like newuniversal, are just boring, and that's what knocks him down to #3.
Peter Allen David - PAD is the most underrated writer at Marvel today. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was the best Spidey comic during its run, and X-Factor is the best X-Title. He's successful without being too much of a personality. He just writes solid, unpretentious comics. The job he did on Dark Tower was excellent.
Mark Millar - I can't remember the last time I've enjoyed a comic book more than I've enjoyed Millar's Ultimates. You know you're in for good popcorn fun when you crack open one of his books. Where Millar fails is in his characterization. Too many of his characters act as distillations of their personalities, boiled down to their essences. I like my comic characters more two-dimensional than Millar sometimes writes them.
Joss Whedon - Astonishing X-Men and Runaways are two of my favorite books. I may be guilty of placing Joss at #6 because I'm such a big fan of Buffy and Firefly - after all he's only writing two Marvel titles. And they aren't that great. But if that were true, he'd be #1. I love Buffy and Firefly. Whedon rules!
Greg Pak - Greg Pak has finally found his stride at Marvel. After some forgettable projects like Iron Man: HOM and Phoenix War Song, Pak's World War Hulk and Incredible Hulk are delights. I'm looking forward to his future work and am excited to watch him grow.
Dan Slott - Another fan boy favorite. Slott knows and respects his audience, and we love him for it.
J. Michael Straczynski - Another hit or miss writer for me. Supreme Power? Among the best titles Marvel has ever put out. Amazing Spider-man? Fantastic Four? Wake me when it's over. Thor has been really good, and seems to be picking up steam. Ask me again in a year, and he'll probably have climbed up a few notches.
Keith Giffen - Annihilation, Drax, and now Star-Lord are excellent books. Keith is the cosmic Marvel Universe's best asset.

[sabongero]

Thanks for your time and ifo seeso.

[sabongero]

Ed Brubaker (Uncanny X-men, Daredevil, Immortal Iron Fist, Captain America)

Joss Whedon (Runaways, Astonishing X-men)

Peter David (X-Factor)

Mike Carey (Ultimate Fantastic Four, X-men)

Warren Ellis (Nextwave, Thunderbolts)

Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (Nova)

Mark Millar (Ultimates, Spiderman: Marvel Knights)

Fabian Nicieza (Deadpool & Cable)

Dwayne McDuffie (Fantastic Four [wish he had a longer run!])

Brian Reed (Ms. Marvel)

Hi Magneto X. I just wanted to ask you, what about the writers' work above did you like ? Thanks for your time.

[seeso]

If we assigned points to these lists, this is how it would shake out. A #1 ranking gets 10 points, a #2 ranking gets 9, etc. Point totals follow each writer's name.

1. Ed Brubaker - 109
2. Mark Millar - 67
3. Peter Allen David - 65
4. Warren Ellis - 63
5. Brian Michael Bendis - 58
6. J. Michael Straczynski - 46
7. Mike Carey - 43
8. Dan Slott - 38
9. Christos Gage - 35
10. Joss Whedon - 30
11. Fabian Nicieza - 25
12. Keith Giffen - 24
13. Greg Pak - 22
14. Dwayne McDuffie - 12
15. Neil Gaiman - 11
16. Garth Ennis - 10
17. Matt Fraction - 10
18. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning - 9
19. Marc Guggenheim - 8
20. Robert Kirkman - 6
21. Bryan K. Vaughan - 6
22. Roberto Aguirre-Sacassa - 4
23. Chris Claremont - 3
25. Jeff Parker - 1
26. Brian Reed - 1

[DaeJi]

You may want to adjust that list seeso; I didn't put my favorite writers in order from best to worst, I just picked my ton ten and numbered them.

[seeso]

You may want to adjust that list seeso; I didn't put my favorite writers in order from best to worst, I just picked my ton ten and numbered them.

Eh. Not meant to be definitive... Why don't you rank yours?

[reta-winter soldier]

1.- Ed brubaker.- my damn goodness can there be a better writer. His cap run has been the best run i have seen in the last 15 to 20 years. HIs dardevil is on par with bendis's and iron fist ( havent had money to read it but heard it's good)
2.- Dan slott: maybe not the best writer but damn good fun. he brings stuff the very little books have right now
3.-Matt Fraction: nice punisher and again heard good things about his iron fist
4.- Bendis: if theyre a guy who im not sure of is bendis, his daredevil will be legendary maybe even top miller, nice dialogue but his NA has been very very lacking and has a tendency to do with characters what the hell he wants
5.- joss whedon: very nice astonishing, never liked xmen before
6.- gage: hve read little but loved everything
7.- pak: his hulk is great, got out of the hulk smash cliche
8.- J. Michael Straczynski: maybe his spiderman wasnt top of the game but everthing else was, and loved to hate his iron man
9.- ellis: pretty good thunderbolts
10.- gaiman: hasnt had that much stuff out lately, but if he did would be maybe a number 3 on my list

note: now for my comic razzie award, the worst( im going to be super flamed on this) comic book writer is....... millar. HIs civil war was a piece of crap, nothing happened, and the ultimates hell dont get me started on the ultimates

[Magneto_X]

Hi Magneto X. I just wanted to ask you, what about the writers' work above did you like ? Thanks for your time.

Whedon brings his wit and incredibly storytelling from his tv shows and movies to the comic page.

Brubaker does crime noir, pulp and intruige better then Bendis does.

Brian Reed effortlessly captures the inspiring and innocent side of super-heroes that few Marvel titles have these days. He also blends it casually with the grittier aspects of the Marvel U.

DnA make cosmic stories fun again. Like Reed it's fun and enjoyable but they'll do the unexpected so you never know what's gonna happen next.

Millar takes everything up a notch, makes the grittiness work on old characters to make them relevant again in an addictive way. He's also one of the most brutal with action.

Fabian is a mixed bag who makes no name D-listers into great and complex characters. I like his huge storylines that cover several arcs, too.

PAD does great comedy, adds some political commentary, gives everyone unbelievable depth (even with huge casts) and isn't afraid to make his characters get beaten to a pulp, logically, while maintaining unexpected ways for them to survive said encounter. Similar to Priest, I guess.

Duffie creates exciting, enthustisastic stories of any character he gets his hands on. He makes the genius characters extremely easy to relate to.

Carey has his characters face impossible situations to characters who are in over their heads (re: UFF), is great at making casts squabble like everyday people and making them able to kick serious ass when the time calls for it.

[sabongero]

Thanks for the info Magneto X.

[BouffonVert72]

10 not yet

9 Tom DeFalco (Mc2) : "Marvel touch", and I like the DeFalco-Verse... I'm still fan of his Green Goblin with Scott McDaniel (Phil Urich...).

8 Dan Slott (Great Lake Avengers, GLX, Deadpool-GLI) : the fun. Which contrast with the Quesada-Bendis-way (grim& gritty events that I hate).

7 Brian K. Vaughan (Mystique, Dr Strange : the Oath) : part fun and part drama, all mixed... But in the good Marvel touch...

6 Joe Casey (Iron Man Inevitable - Avengers EMH) :

5 Mike Oeming (Thor Blood Oath) : well, perhaps I prefer his art, but...

4 Warren Ellis (Nextwave) : crasy fun, the new Marvel way ! (I hope so).

3 Robert Kirkman (Marvel Team-Up, Ant-Man, what if Thor) : fun adventures.

2 Brian Bendis (Powers).

1 Fabian Nicieza (Thunderbolts) : like Kirkman the fun adventures, but with more drama perhaps... Even I prefered his old T-bolts...


Almost all these authors on these comics : mainly for the fun in the stories, and the gap with what we usually have from this editor (License-Marketing comics-events)...

They had the courage not to fall in the ease for these titles...

[Lanowar]

10. Mark Millar -- I loved "Enemy Of The States" and The Ultimates is the modern day classic but Civil War was horrendous and it really forces him up the list for me. Fantastic Four I have hopes for.

9. Greg Pak- Planet Hulk first off was amazing a great story that did somthing new with a character. Sure towards the end it went a bit odd but so far World War Hulk has been enjoyable. I've not really read anything of his that is'nt Hulk focused so thats why he's at number 9. Like Matt Fraction I hope to see more from him.

8. Matt Fraction -- I love Iron Fist and The Order but the Punisher just does'nt do anything for me. He shows Great promise though he really needs to do a X-title or perhaps one of the Spider-Man titles to get further down the list.

7. Robert Kirkman- Ant-Man and Marvel Zombies are two of his most recent works that have really impressed me. He's a good guy and like Fraction really deserves a Spider-man writing gig if you go for Invisible. Ultimate X-Men's questionable direction only gets him as far as 8.

6. Peter David- Master of the social scenes, from Strong Guy watching Madrox squirm to Rictor and Jamie's drinking sessions he is great at simply having characters sit in a room and talk. Unfortuntely I did'nt find his work on the Spider-Man titles as intresting as his X-Factor work.

5. Dan Slott- Fun and out there this is a guy who channels the silver age but in a way that is'nt wishing comics where more like the past. Ignored at the peril of those around him while at times She-Hulk goes a little over the top and loses itself at times it's still a decent read.

4. Ed Brubaker-- From Daredevil to Immortal Iron Fist and not exluding Captain America his work has been top notch easy to read and enjoyable. My problem is Uncanny X-Men a book that he has just failed to do anything with and thats why he barely makes it into the top 5

3. Fabian Nicieza- A writier who modelled the industry and then was mostly flamed due to the 90's the biggest turn around is his work in Cable & Deadpool and Thunderbolts. Giving the two most co-herrant civil war tie ins Fabian like slott seems to be ignored if be due to fans remembering past titles.

2. JMS- Despite recent story arcs his run on Spider-Man will be remembered, Silver Surfer Requim was a masterpiece and overall has done alot of good books fondly looked upon by the fans. While Thor might not be off to the start many thought. It's still been a good read nevertheless.

1. Brian Michael Bendis -- Great writer people do give him the most over the top crap. Most writers only have 1 title there remembered for perhaps 2. Bendis has like 3-4 titles people think of when talking about him. Daredevil, Ultimate Spider-Man, New Avengers Jinx, Torso, Powers so much more.

[Niro]

the writers i can think of (in no particular order):

Fabian Nicieza - Deadpool. No explanation needed.
Marc Guggenheim - His run on wolverine was real good stuff, wished he carried on with it.
Ed Brubaker - Captain America is doing nicely in his hands
Greg Pak - World War Hulk has been enjoyable to read, much more so than the Civil War event
JMS - The run on amazing spiderman (especially post civil war) has been the best i've read in a while
Mike Carey - yea x-men but endangered species has been real interesting
Brian Michael Bendis - combined with leinel yu's art makes new avengers a winner and probably my favourite series at moment

[sabongero]

10 not yet

9 Tom DeFalco (Mc2)

8 Dan Slott (Great Lake Avengers, GLX, Deadpool-GLI)

7 Brian K. Vaughan (Mystique, Dr Strange : the Oath)

6 Joe Casey (Iron Man Inevitable - Avengers EMH)

5 Mike Oeming (Thor Blood Oath)

4 Warren Ellis (Nextwave)

3 Robert Kirkman (Marvel Team-Up, Ant-Man, what if Thor)

2 Brian Bendis (Powers)

1 Fabian Nicieza (Thunderbolts)


Almost all these authors on these comics : mainly for the fun in the stories, and the gap with what we usually have from this editor (License-Marketing comics-events)...

They had the courage not to fall in the ease for these titles...

Just wanted to ask you BouffonVert72. What about these 10 writers did you like about them ? Thanks.

[Billage]

my favs in no order and not even at 10

Fraction - newbie @ Marvel but does dialogue better than Bendis
Brubaker - loves the roofhopping monologues too much,but great scope,mystery and suspense
Millar - nobody does epic widescreen action like the Scot,Ultimates,Ultimate F4,Wolverine were all fantastic
Ellis - made Osbourne a dangerous character again

[rogerio]

Ed Brubaker
Mark Millar
Warren Ellis
Brian Bendis
Christos Gage
Matt Fraction
Garth Ennis
Joe Casey
Bryan K. Vaughan

[pimp1911]

Ed Brubaker- This man is a pimp. He could squeeze a diamond out of hunk of coal.
Brian Michael Bendis- If I could have 2 number ones. Love Ultimate Spidey
Warren Ellis
Peter Allen David
Mark Millar
Joss Whedon
Greg Pak - Has worked wonders for the Hulk
Dan Slott
J. Michael Straczynski- Amazing Spiderman nuff said.
Keith Giffen - Has lit a major spark for Marvel Cosmic series of titles.

[Karl H]

For me

1. Ellis
2. Bru
3. Bendis
4. Fraction
5. Gage
6. Guggenheim
7. JMS
8. the Knaufs
9. Reed
10. Whedon

[Pixie_Solanas]

Brubaker, Ellis, and Fraction at the top.

Second-tier, i'd go with Bendis and Carey

[Pach!]

Obviously I like them for their writing so I'm jut going to list the books they wrote/write that I have enjoyed.


Matt Fraction.- Immortal Iron Fist, The Order.

Brian Michael Bendis.- New Avengers, Illuminati.

PAD.- X-factor

Ed Brubaker.- Captain America, Daredevil, Immortal Iron Fist, Uncanny X-men.

Chris Gage Union Jack, WWH: X-men

Chris Yost.- New X-men, X-men Unlimited, X-men ES (the Kavita Rao chapter which was the only one I enjoyed)

BKV.- Runaways, Dr.Strange the Oath.

Mark Millar.- Ultimates, Civil War

Mike Carey.- X-men

Ellis Thunderbolts

[Kareem]

Keep in mind i've only been reading comics monthy for like 4 months (also read some trades of the last few years though)


Eb Brubaker: Immortal Iron Fist, Criminal, Captain America Daredevil. Need I say anything else.
Warren Ellis: Stuff actually happens in his books. Thunderbolts and Black Summer rock. Can't wait to start Transmetropolitan.
Brian K Vaughan: I love the characterisation in Y the Last Man
Matt Fraction: Immortal Iron Fist rocks HARD. And his Sensational Spider-Man annual is one of my favorite comics I've read in the short period I'v been reading them. I wan't an actual Matt Fraction Spider-Man run in the future.
Robert Kirkman: Invincible is my fav superhero book (I'm only up till trade 6)
Peter David: X-Factor is one of my fav Marvel books right now.
Brian Bendis: Love his Daredevil and Ultimate Spider-Man. Not a big fan of either avengers titles though.
Grek Pak: I loved Planet Hulk and am still loving his Incredible Hulk.
Joss Whedon: Astonishing is the only X title I read with the core members. Good stuff, just hate the delays.

[sabongero]

Ed Brubaker & Matt Fraction: Immortal Iron Fist. Expanding the mythology of The Iron Fist and the Mortal Kombat-like tournament in the current storyline has been phenomenal and handled well. The popularity of the title is because of the combined work of Ed and Matt. Of course David Aja's art has helped alot.

Brian Reed: Ms. Marvel. He has helped Ms. Marvel's journey to A-List superhero in the 1st eighteen months on the title. Brian captures Carol's insecurities well along with her flawed ways as a superhero.

Jeff Parker: Marvel Adventures Avengers. Good ol' superhero slobber-knocker superheroing with great wit on the side.

Brian Bendis: Ultimate Spider-Man. Modern teenaged Peter Parker. Brian has really captured Peter's unmasked self. Although, Ultimate Universe Peter's problem is nowhere near the mainstream Marvel 616 Universe's Peter Parker.

...that's all for now.