Who are the top 3 comic book writers of all time

[mortari]

Will Eisner
Carl Barks
Stan Lee or Sergio Aragones (Sergio is about the only must have current guy for me)

[dancj]

Alan Moore
Frank Miller

The third is trickier. Probably one of the following:
Grant Morrison
Neil Gaiman
Garth Ennis
Brian K Vaughan
Peter Milligan
Will Eisner
Junji Ito
Osama Tezuka

[RegalSin]

Rumiko Takahashi ( Lum Chan is my young adulthood, it looks like my life in animation. As an adult I could appreciate the adult characters as well. Otherwise I was once like Ataru. A poor man brave enough to chase skirts instead of playing baseball ). Further looking it is basically an tomb of animation and writing along with speech ranging from the 1950's to the mid-1990's. I like how she did not like the way the OVA's was done. Because of the rapid change of animation during that time in the mid 1990's.

Sophia Stewart ( Terminator/Matrix was originally a script for a comic book and the lesbian bros stole her work. It was an entire movement for the 1980's, and later 2000. She is probably the greatest fiction writer of our generation before celluar/mobile phones ).

Philip K. Dick ( blade runner, total recall, and so many more. I wish I could even add in Soylent Greens but that is Harry Harison. Some other books are even quoted in his works. Blade runner also inspired many of our media from the 1990's including "hardware" ( which is a comic ) to "Phantom 2040" ( which is also based on THX1138 ).

..................

Other top favorites are

Michael Poe ( exploitation now, Babylon Jones ). He is basically what "Zot" was but via the internet back at KeenSpot along with "Sinfest" and "Everything Jake", "Sex and Violence". I really like Poe and how he branched off and is still doing what makes him...him.
I really wish his stuff was animated.

Rob Scarob ( Scud the disposable Assassin ) . Still hunting for merchandise. Scud is great because it makes you see through the eyes of somebody who identifies as a 70's guy striving to be some sorta artist while not following the trends. Only thing else is Tank Girl writers or even TNMNTs but that is 80's and 60's.

I have other favorites but I list in terms of writers.


Joshwa Quagmire ( Cutey Bunny )
Edward E. Swartz ( Minerva Minx/Tiny Toons/ Amiga animations )

[GreenLanternRanger]

1. Grant Morrison
2. Darwyn Cook
3. Steve Gerber

[Shawn Hopkins]

I see people listing Takahashi. I'd definitely put Takahashi somewhere in my top ten. Her stuff is the only manga I've ever really, really liked.

[Mister Mets]

I see people listing Takahashi. I'd definitely put Takahashi somewhere in my top ten. Her stuff is the only manga I've ever really, really liked.

I've enjoyed her work on Ranma 1/2 and Inu Yasha, but I can't think of any story she did that would be in my top ten. But I'm always looking for recommendations.

[Mark Thrust]

Jack Kirby, with help/edits from Stan Lee
Will Eisner
Alan Moore

The first two basically defined and redefined how sequential art is used for story-telling. Eisner used more intimate and noir-ish elements to create a tone all its own, and Kirby defined and still defines the way super-hero comics are done. Wide screen, bombastic, and powerful. His books could be and have been used as a template for blockbuster movies. The King was always ahead of his time.
Alan Moore took what they did and expanded and became just as influential in the process.

[Kirby101]

Jack Kirby, with help/edits from Stan Lee
Will Eisner
Alan Moore

The first two basically defined and redefined how sequential art is used for story-telling. Eisner used more intimate and noir-ish elements to create a tone all its own, and Kirby defined and still defines the way super-hero comics are done. Wide screen, bombastic, and powerful. His books could be and have been used as a template for blockbuster movies. The King was always ahead of his time.
Alan Moore took what they did and expanded and became just as influential in the process.

You make a good point with Kirby, leaving aside the who did what debate, the characters he created and co-created at Marvel and DC have had immeasurable impact on the field.

[Mark Thrust]

You make a good point with Kirby, leaving aside the who did what debate, the characters he created and co-created at Marvel and DC have had immeasurable impact on the field.

Characters aside, Kirby changed the way that super-heroes were done. Gone were the bland 6-9 panel grids that DC used for their Superman stories. Energy crackled out of the panel borders. Two page spreads of Gods racing into the infinite, astride impossible machinery.
Power. That is what Kirby brought to the super-hero. Sheer power.
There is a reason that he was used at Marvel as the template for new artists. Some artists understood, some just aped his style.
The ones that got it, took the lessons and expanded upon it, and built on the tapestry that the King started.

[Mark Thrust]

Not to take away from Stan Lee as a dialog man, he wrote the dialog for Kirby's stories (plenty of original Kirby art exists with Kirby's dialog suggestions in the borders), but the credits should have been 'Story and art by Kirby' or 'Story and Art by Romita', Ditko got his story credit somehow, which is good for him.
To use a Marvel reference, I always thought of Stan as Reed Richards and Jack as Ben Grimm. Reed filled the air with words, words, words, while Ben was pure action..energy that crackled from his very essence, the same way that Jack's creativity could not keep inside him. Even when Marvel was doing him dirt, he couldn't stop creating; it was ingrained in his very being to share his limitless ideas of heroes and gods and their stories with the world.

[Shawn Hopkins]

I've enjoyed her work on Ranma 1/2 and Inu Yasha, but I can't think of any story she did that would be in my top ten. But I'm always looking for recommendations.

Maison Ikkoku is probably her best work. Doesn't get bogged down by Shonen tropes like the two you mentioned can.

[Vericc]

Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman, dunno about the third

[codystarbuck]

I'll put forward some unsung (or under-sung)ones:

Otto Binder-His Captain Marvel stories at Fawcett had tremendous impact and led to many of the elements being copied at DC, where Binder went and added even more to the Superman mythos of the Silver Age. He was also a heck of a prose writer, in the world of sci-fi.
Alfred Bester-ditto, on Green Lantern and then in novels and short stores.
George Carlson, the creator and artist of Jingle Jangle Comics. Those things are still brilliant today.
Gardner Fox, who did much to define superheroes, across the Golden and Silver Ages, particularly the team books and many sci-fi concepts.
John Stanley, who wrote Little Lulu
Robert Crumb and Gilbert Shelton, probably the best of the Underground crowd, whose work still resonates.
Sid Jacobsen, who wrote a lot of the classic Richie Rich stories (which were endlessly copied and recycled by later writers)
Gaylord Dubois, who was the true workhorse of comics, at Dell and Gold Key, writing everything from cartoon characters to their adventure series, including excellent Tarzan stories, with Russ Manning.
Al Feldstein-he shaped the styles at EC, which had major influence on the Undergrounds, alternative press, and genre storytelling that followed
Jack Cole, whose writing was on par with his illustration and influenced many who followed and surpassed all who imitated.
Elliot Maggin-he was one of the guiding voices of Superman in the Bronze Age; but, it is his two Superman prose novels that are the zenith of Superman stories and comics in prose form. For my money, he is also the only person to make Lex Luthor a truly rounded character and wrote the best Jonathan Kent. His novelization of Kingdom Come is in many ways superior to Mark Waid's writing on the comic, though he has more room to make an impact. His writing on Superman greatly influenced Grant Morrison's take in All-Star Superman.

Archie Goodwin-Archie is fairly lauded; but, he was so good in lower profiles setting that it bears repeating. His Blazing Combat tales are some of the best war stories ever put to paper. He did fantastic horror work at Warren. His writing on Secret Agent Corrigan helped revive it in the world of James Bond (along with Al Williamson and Carlos Garzon's art). He wrote the best Star Wars stories of anyone, including Alan dean Foster, Timothy Zahn, Lawrence Kasdan, and George Lucas. Manhunter is probably the best American adventure comic ever, and one of the best in the world. His influence extends well beyond himself, as both inspiration for later writers and as a guiding light, as one of the best editors in comics. James Robinson has never been shy in crediting Archie for making Starman as good as it was and you can see how his absence affected Robinson's writing.

Bryan Talbot-beyond just his art, the writing in Luther Arkwright and A Tale of One Bad Rat is so amazing.
Len Wein-moving into the editorial world let people forget how good he was as a writer. Look at his Swamp Thing and batman stories to see how good he was. Also, he was the guy who successfully revived the X-Men and set up things for Chris Claremont.

Marv Wolfman-He has some so-so work; but, Tomb of Dracula and New Teen Titans stand up to anything. He also made a coherent and compelling story out of crisis on Infinite earths. No one since has been able to do the same, including the so-called "God of all comics."

Pierre Christin-His work with Enki Bilal and Jean-Claude Mezieres is classic.
Osamu Tezuka-his stories are the foundation that almost all manga that followed were built upon.

Robert Kanigher-not for Wonder Woman; but, for his work on things like Sgt Rock, Enemy Ace, The Losers, The Haunted Tank, and The Unknown Soldier. Marvel may have outdone DC (depending in your point of view) on superhero titles but the couldn't touch them on the war books and Kanigher and his artists are the reason.

Rene Goscinny-writer of Asterix and editor of Pilote. He influenced many of the comics of Europe
Jen-Michel Charlier-His work on Lt. Blueberry is amazing, and his influenced extended to the series Barbe Rouge (Redbeard, a pirate series), Tangy et Laverdure (an aviation adventure series) and Buck Danny (another aviation adventure series).

[Tami]

Maison Ikkoku is probably her best work. Doesn't get bogged down by Shonen tropes like the two you mentioned can.

I was going to say the same thing. I love Ranma 1/2 and Inu Yasha, but Maison Ikkoku was the best.

[JCAll]

I'm a weird sort of guy, so I'll go with:
Steve Gerber
J.M. DeMatteis
Kurt Busiek

Yeah, they probably will never have the impact of a Kirby, Lee, or Moore, but they're still the best.