50 Greatest Spidey Creators

[hondobrode]

Comics Should Be Good, Brian Cronin, has this open in celebration of Spidey's 50th anniversary. Who do you guys think are the best Spidey writers and artists ?

Each voter votes on his or her picks and has 10 votes each for writer and artist. Note : Because of Ditko's extreme influence to plotting Amazing Spider-Man # 1-38 and Annual # 1-2, he can be included along with Stan as one vote for writer, as Stan Lee / Steve Ditko.

Typing this before I run off to work. Will put my 2 cents in later tonight.

Oh yeah. List them from favorite, as # 1, down to # 10, as least favorite. Brian assigns them points (10 points to # 1, 9 points to # 2, etc....1 point for # 10).

I thought we could vote openly here on the Classic thread, in front of each other, and say why we voted how we did. I'll tabulate our Classic results and see how the thread overall votes and share with everyone. It'll be interesting to see how we compare with the Comics Should Be Good results.

[salvorhardin]

Literally just made a thread in the Spidey forum about DeMatteis. Don't think there's been as good a writer on the character since he left.

[Polar Bear]

Writers:
10 - Roger Stern: I'm still upset that he jumped ship before finishing his Hobgoblin saga, but man, those were some good stories.
9 - Gerry Conway: Yeah, he killed Gwen and did the first clones, but his writing was entertaining.
8 - Marv Wolfman: Amazing Spider-Man was the first title I bought on a monthly basis as opposed to randomly. Wolfman was the writer at the time--the issue was #196, with Peter mourning (and Spidey, super-imposed above him, raging) at Aunt May's tombstone. I was hooked. Plus, Wolfman co-created Black Cat, which is a big plus in my book.
7 - Brian Michael Bendis: His re-imagined Spider-Man wasn't quite the Spider-Man I'd grown up with, but it was one I'd be willing to grow up with. And his Spidey in Avengers was true to the character, too.
6 - Chris Claremont: As another post recently mentioned, he knew how Spidey would react in different circumstances meeting different heroes.
5 - Bill Mantlo: His Owl-Octopus War is a classic, one I'm surprised hasn't been reprinted by now.
4 - Peter David: He knew how to combine the humor and the tragedy that are so central to Spider-Man.
3 - Stan Lee & Steve Ditko: They were there at the beginning.
2 - Stan Lee: He knew Spider-Man better than anyone.
1 - J.M. DeMatteis: When I "hear" Spider-Man, it's DeMatteis' writing that I hear.


Artists:
10 -Sal Buscema: For his long run on Spectacular Spider-Man, especially when paired with J.M. DeMatteis, and for the Marvel Team-Up issues inked by Steve Leialoha.
9 - Frank Miller: For his dramatic artwork on Marvel Team-Up #100, his two Amazing Spider-Man annuals, and his fantastic covers (especially ASM #219--Wow!)
8 - Ed Hannigan: Some unusual and excellent covers on Spectacular Spider-Man.
7 - Ross Andru: Stegron! Stegron! Stegron!
6 - Mike Zeck: A nice run on early Spectacular Spider-Man, plus Kraven's Last Hunt.
5 - Rich Buckler: Talk about an artist who doesn't get any respect! I actually thought his work on Spectacular Spider-Man was quite good.
4 - Steve Ditko: For that little nostalgia fix.
3 - Mark Bagley: Very wiry and spider-y, I think he does what McFarlane tried to do without making it overly cartoony, over-rendered, or self-distracting (if that makes any sense).
2 - Charles Vess: Yes, I know he only drew a graphic novel, a cover or two, and a back-up story, but as far as I'm concerned, this is almost the perfect match of artist and character.
1 - John Byrne: Elegant lines, with just a touch of humor when needed. Plus, the supporting cast looks great!

[Venomous Mask]

Writers:
10 - Roger Stern: I'm still upset that he jumped ship before finishing his Hobgoblin saga, but man, those were some good stories.
9 - Gerry Conway: Yeah, he killed Gwen and did the first clones, but his writing was entertaining.
8 - Marv Wolfman: Amazing Spider-Man was the first title I bought on a monthly basis as opposed to randomly. Wolfman was the writer at the time--the issue was #196, with Peter mourning (and Spidey, super-imposed above him, raging) at Aunt May's tombstone. I was hooked. Plus, Wolfman co-created Black Cat, which is a big plus in my book.
7 - Brian Michael Bendis: His re-imagined Spider-Man wasn't quite the Spider-Man I'd grown up with, but it was one I'd be willing to grow up with. And his Spidey in Avengers was true to the character, too.
6 - Chris Claremont: As another post recently mentioned, he knew how Spidey would react in different circumstances meeting different heroes.
5 - Bill Mantlo: His Owl-Octopus War is a classic, one I'm surprised hasn't been reprinted by now.
4 - Peter David: He knew how to combine the humor and the tragedy that are so central to Spider-Man.
3 - Stan Lee & Steve Ditko: They were there at the beginning.
2 - Stan Lee: He knew Spider-Man better than anyone.
1 - J.M. DeMatteis: When I "hear" Spider-Man, it's DeMatteis' writing that I hear.


Artists:
10 -Sal Buscema: For his long run on Spectacular Spider-Man, especially when paired with J.M. DeMatteis, and for the Marvel Team-Up issues inked by Steve Leialoha.
9 - Frank Miller: For his dramatic artwork on Marvel Team-Up #100, his two Amazing Spider-Man annuals, and his fantastic covers (especially ASM #219--Wow!)
8 - Ed Hannigan: Some unusual and excellent covers on Spectacular Spider-Man.
7 - Ross Andru: Stegron! Stegron! Stegron!
6 - Mike Zeck: A nice run on early Spectacular Spider-Man, plus Kraven's Last Hunt.
5 - Rich Buckler: Talk about an artist who doesn't get any respect! I actually thought his work on Spectacular Spider-Man was quite good.
4 - Steve Ditko: For that little nostalgia fix.
3 - Mark Bagley: Very wiry and spider-y, I think he does what McFarlane tried to do without making it overly cartoony, over-rendered, or self-distracting (if that makes any sense).
2 - Charles Vess: Yes, I know he only drew a graphic novel, a cover or two, and a back-up story, but as far as I'm concerned, this is almost the perfect match of artist and character.
1 - John Byrne: Elegant lines, with just a touch of humor when needed. Plus, the supporting cast looks great!

I agree with most of this, although I think that McFarlane should be one of the featured artists, and possibly Alex Saviuk.

[Cei-U!]

Keeping in mind I know almost nothing about Spidey comics after 1986 or thereabouts:

Writers

1. Stan Lee
2. Roger Stern
3. J. M. DeMatteis (for his Team-Up run)
4. Len Wein
5. Chris Claremont (for Team-Up again)
6. Bill Mantlo
7. Gerry Conway
8. Denny O'Neill
9. Tom DeFalco
10. Marv Wolfman

Artists

1. Steve Ditko
2. Ross Andru
3. Kerry Gammill (for his Team-Up run)
4. John Romita
5. John Romita, Jr.
6. Mike Zeck
7. Gil Kane
8. John Byrne (for his Team-Ups)
9. Frank Miller (for his two Amazing Annuals)
10. Ed Hannigan

Cei-U!
I summon the Top Ten Times Two!

[hondobrode]

I was wondering why this thread didn't get any response for a while. Maybe it was putting the responses together. I know it took me a while to figure out mine.

Writers :

1. Stan Lee / Ditko
2. J Michael Straczynski
3. Roger Stern
4. Marv Wolfman
5. Len Wein
6. Bill Mantlo
7. Gerry Conway
8. Kurt Busiek
9. J M DeMatties
10. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Artists :

1. Steve Ditko
2. Paolo Rivera
3. John Byrne
4. Johnny Romita Jr
5. Ross Andru
6. Romita Sr
7. Al Milgrom
8. Marcos Martin
9. Art Adams
10. Michael Zulli

I'm kind of with Cei-U, cause a lot of the newer Spidey I hear good things about but haven't read. From what I hear Dan Slott is doing a great job post-Brand New Day. Someday I'll get around to trying it. I only rated what I've read and had personal experience with.

[hondobrode]

Steve Ditko



Paolo Rivera



John Byrne

[hondobrode]

Johnny Romita Jr



Ross Andru

[hondobrode]

John Romita Sr.



Al Milgrom

[hondobrode]

Marcos Martin



Art Adams



Michael Zulli

[hondobrode]

I'm shocked there aren't more Classic responders here listing their picks.

[berk]

I'm shocked there aren't more Classic responders here listing their picks.

I think a few people here, myself among them, stopped reading Spider-Man some time in the mid 70s. I don't really have an opinion on anythng that came after that - which means I can't list a top ten. Of the ones I did read, I'd go with:

writers:
1. Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
2. Stan Lee
3. Len Wein
4. Chris Claremont
5. Gerry Conway

artists:
1. Steve Ditko
2. John Romita, Sr.
3. Gil Kane
4. John Byrne
5. Ross Andru


I'll tell you who I would like to have been given a shot at Spider-Man: Don Perlin. I didn't always think he was well-suited to superhero comics (e.g. the Defenders) but I loved his Moon-Knight in Werewolf by Night and always thought his style might have worked well with Spider-Man.

[hondobrode]

I agree with you Berk. I pretty much stopped reading Spidey in the 90's, but I know some of the artists after I stopped reading.

I've never been maniacal about Spidey, but I like the character, if not so much how he's been handled.

[Venomous Mask]

I agree with you Berk. I pretty much stopped reading Spidey in the 90's

That's a shame, there were some great artists: Mark Bagley, Alex Saviuk, Todd McFarlane, Tom Lyle, Joe Bennett. And you couldn't beat DeMatteis' writing.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Marcos Martin, Paolo Rivera and Javier Pulido are my top favorite modern day comic artists; god they're fantastic,