Who do you think is the best writer Marvel had?

[babyblob]

So I would like to know peoples thoughts on who you guys thinks is the best writer Marvel had? I mean in terms of story quality, stories aging well and becoming iconic etc...

I know there might be some "This person is my favorite so he is the best."

So give me you thoughts on the best.

I am hoping to find some writers that I can read in this.

[JT221]

Have you ever tried Paul Jenkins' Peter Parker: Spider-Man stuff? I thought it was under-rated.

Outside of that I fear mine are all to standard to get into stuff you likely have not already read.

Lee and Ditko's run on Dr. Strange
Byrne's run on Fantastic Four
Frank Miller. All his Marvel stuff I enjoyed.
Claremont's X-Men.
Claremont and Byrne's run on Marvel Team-Up.

[babyblob]

Have you ever tried Paul Jenkins' Peter Parker: Spider-Man stuff? I thought it was under-rated.

Outside of that I fear mine are all to standard to get into stuff you likely have not already read.

Lee and Ditko's run on Dr. Strange
Byrne's run on Fantastic Four
Frank Miller. All his Marvel stuff I enjoyed.
Claremont's X-Men.
Claremont and Byrne's run on Marvel Team-Up.

I have never read Frank Millers Marvel stuff. I will have to see what he has out there.

I have never read Paul Jenkins Spiderman I will give that a shot. I have read some of his dc stuff and I did enjoy it.

Thanks for the recommendations.

[Alan2099]

Steve Gerber's Howard the Duck and Man-Thing work is legendary and his Fool Killer mini series in the 90s is VASTLY underrated.

[Sutekh]

There's different ways to go with that, and some of the really great *book* writers have, IMO, turned out to be not so great at *comic book* writing.

Others seem to have one or two amazing stories in them, or are hot blazes when writing their own creations, set in their own little niche, and kind of avoiding the whole 'Marvel universe,' but sort of fall apart when given a monthly or saddled with pre-existing characters designed by other writers.

But for comic book writers at Marvel, I'd have to go with Kurt Busiek. He doesn't ignore any of the characters he uses (which seems to happen a lot with other writers, who focus on a few favorites and everybody else is just wallpaper in the background), and he deep dives into the continuity and characterization of the roster he works with, instead of some more-famous writers, who, IMO, tell whatever story they wanted to tell, with whatever characters they grabbed from the hat (or were handed by editorial mandate...), regardless of whether the speech or actions of those characters are even remotely in-character for the people they are using (or even consistent from page to page).

[JackDaw]

Peter David had high quality long runs on Hulk and X-Factor, he might shade it for me.

The other contenders for me all have claims primarily based on long Fantastic Four runs: Lee/Kirby (think Jack K was effectively co writer for bulk of their run), John Byrne, and Jonathan Hickman.

(The Frank Miller Daredevil run also marvellous.)

[Sandy Hausler]

I would say, Steve Gerber, Mark Gruenwald, Kurt Busieck and Stan Lee (how could he be left out?)!

[JackDaw]

I have never read Frank Millers Marvel stuff. I will have to see what he has out there.

I have never read Paul Jenkins Spiderman I will give that a shot. I have read some of his dc stuff and I did enjoy it.

Thanks for the recommendations.

The Frank Miller Daredevil run was top notch. Apart from really good stories, the way the artwork captured the way Daredevil moved (especially in fights) and sensed the world was wonderful.

[Solid Snake]

I will try to make a quick top five with some brief thoughts.

1. Kurt Busiek: Always presents the superheroes as extraordinary beings, not the norms in their universe. Thus, maintains the strenghts and the excitement of the superhero genre even after thousands of comics published.

2. John Byrne: Seems to be never out of ideas, some great some not so much. But always present his ideas in a fulfilling way, every single issue he has written is at the very least an interesting read.

3. Jonathan Hickman: Great with big and grandiose stories, twists and turns. Also, some people argue that his character work is lacking but I think he has a formula, that he brings his characters to the points he is planned and might not give full sensibility on the character to get them there, but when that point in story is reached he always manages to give them some big and powerful moments that will be remembered on the mythos of the character.

4. Stan Lee: With all the characters that he co-created, I think his most important contribution is that he manages to give each character their own unique voice. Although this approach sometimes brings with it a storytelling that renounces realism, these unique voices that Stan Lee bestowed on each of his characters still form the basis of the characters to this day. I think this may even be the most important factor that makes Marvel different from DC.

5. Peter David: He approaches his characters as complex and genuine beings and takes them to new status quo where they will always be tested. In his team books, characters' interactions with each other reveals new angles. Also has great humor.

[marhawkman]

mmm hard to find a Kurt Busiek story I didn't like.

[charliehustle415]

I will try to make a quick top five with some brief thoughts.

1. Kurt Busiek: Always presents the superheroes as extraordinary beings, not the norms in their universe. Thus, maintains the strenghts and the excitement of the superhero genre even after thousands of comics published.

2. John Byrne: Seems to be never out of ideas, some great some not so much. But always present his ideas in a fulfilling way, every single issue he has written is at the very least an interesting read.

3. Jonathan Hickman: Great with big and grandiose stories, twists and turns. Also, some people argue that his character work is lacking but I think he has a formula, that he brings his characters to the points he is planned and might not give full sensibility on the character to get them there, but when that point in story is reached he always manages to give them some big and powerful moments that will be remembered on the mythos of the character.

4. Stan Lee: With all the characters that he co-created, I think his most important contribution is that he manages to give each character their own unique voice. Although this approach sometimes brings with it a storytelling that renounces realism, these unique voices that Stan Lee bestowed on each of his characters still form the basis of the characters to this day. I think this may even be the most important factor that makes Marvel different from DC.

5. Peter David: He approaches his characters as complex and genuine beings and takes them to new status quo where they will always be tested. In his team books, characters' interactions with each other reveals new angles. Also has great humor.

Replace Stan Lee with Bendis and add Claremont that's my list for the best.

[babyblob]

I will give my list since I started this thread.

For me it goes Claremont number 1. The man took the dead franchise of The Xmen and turned them into the iconic characters we know and love today. Without Claremont there would be no Xmen.

Kurt Busiek I have never read a story of his that I did not like. He writes his characters as if he cares about them.

John Byrne another one THat I really enjoy. Not every thing he hits is a home run but he has enough good ideas that he keeps me coming back for more. He also wrote my favorite mini of all time (But that was in DC)

[etrumble]

While I agree with the above votes, my personal favorite will always be:

Roy Thomas.

Great flair with characters and history. Laid much of the foundation of Marvel going forward.

[Steroid]

All the names I have seen in this thread count easily get the nod. My personal favorite is Roger Stern as his run on Avengers and Spider-Man were amazing.

[Sutekh]

I will try to make a quick top five with some brief thoughts.

1. Kurt Busiek: Always presents the superheroes as extraordinary beings, not the norms in their universe. Thus, maintains the strenghts and the excitement of the superhero genre even after thousands of comics published.

2. John Byrne: Seems to be never out of ideas, some great some not so much. But always present his ideas in a fulfilling way, every single issue he has written is at the very least an interesting read.

3. Jonathan Hickman: Great with big and grandiose stories, twists and turns. Also, some people argue that his character work is lacking but I think he has a formula, that he brings his characters to the points he is planned and might not give full sensibility on the character to get them there, but when that point in story is reached he always manages to give them some big and powerful moments that will be remembered on the mythos of the character.

4. Stan Lee: With all the characters that he co-created, I think his most important contribution is that he manages to give each character their own unique voice. Although this approach sometimes brings with it a storytelling that renounces realism, these unique voices that Stan Lee bestowed on each of his characters still form the basis of the characters to this day. I think this may even be the most important factor that makes Marvel different from DC.

5. Peter David: He approaches his characters as complex and genuine beings and takes them to new status quo where they will always be tested. In his team books, characters' interactions with each other reveals new angles. Also has great humor.

Great choices. One thing I like about most or all of these writers is that they seem to actually *like* some or all of the characters they write, and it shines through. Other writers I'm less fond of almost visibly dislike certain characters or archetypes (or perhaps just resent working on other people's characters that they don't own and being expected to follow pre-existing characterization or canon, to 'draw within the lines'?).

Even when John Byrne (in particular), will put a beloved character through the wringer, it's presented as a tragedy, not a comeuppance. I don't feel like he's just tearing them down with no intention of building them back up again.

I'd add Alan Davis to your list, for having a similar quality of feeling like he loves the genre and characters, and wants us, the readers, to love them (and empathize with them), too.