Favorite Writers?

As I sit here, freshly showered and drinking a cup of coffee, I am thinking of what I said my third blog would be about: my favorite comics writers. I have thought about this since my last posting and have come to an astonishing conclusion: I don't have any favorite comics writers. This is astonishing to me because I have read and enjoyed comics for almost forty years and there are certainly writers whose work I've enjoyed, and we'll get to those momentarily. There just isn't any writer that comes to mind that I would buy any and all of their work. There are characters I always go for and artists whose work I always follow but not writers. I've been "burned" several times following artists onto books that the only thing going for it is the art. I've since quit doing that. Man, the 90's were hard, weren't they?

Before this degenerates into just a list of writers whose work I enjoy, let me take a moment to try and figure this out. I think it stems from the fact that if a writer goes on a book and I don't care about the characters, I wouldn't get it no matter how brilliant he or she may be. The same holds true if the artist on said book is one whose work I don't care for. Bad art can sink great writing like Tom Cruise can his own career (not to be glib or anything). Plus there is not one writer I can think of whose work I've uniformly enjoyed. I realize everyone can have an off day, or issue if you will, but some have seemed to actively go out of their way to be bad.

Writing to a monthly deadline has to be one of the toughest jobs to do so I completely understand a bad issue now and then. It's when a writer doesn't seem to have a grasp on the character or characters they're writing that I can't stand. I'm all for updating and keeping characters fresh, but there's a reason so many of them have been around for decades. Don't lose sight of what makes them who they are. I also am not crazy about a writer trying to put his or her personal agenda on the character. Make up your own and self-publish if you want a soapbox.

 One of the problems, as I see it as an outsider, is that the editor these days seems to think they are the driving force behind a book. There seems to be a lot of editorial interference when the writer's vision doesn't mesh with the editor's. If that's the case, then why hire them to write the book in the first place? I always liked the stories about Archie Goodwin and Dick Giordano and how they would put together a good team and then get out of their way to let them create, only stepping in if they went off track somewhere. If the editor's vision is the one to be followed, why isn't he writing the book?

Well, I've gotten a little off topic but some of these issues have been bugging me for a while and I apparently had to get them out. So without further ado (there's always too much ado around), I'll go over some of my favorite writers and why. Again, there is no order and I may miss some.

Paul Levitz: I love his Legion work. I grew up reading his and Giffen's stories.

Marv Wolfman: His Titans work with Perez is still a favorite.

Denny O'neil: Mainly his early Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow work. Although I see now that GA was too much of a knee jerk liberal(soapbox, Denny?). Also, if I was GL and the old man asked me why I didn't do anything for the black skins, I'd tell him if he knew so much about me to know that I did considerable for purple skins and orange skins then he should know that I saved the world plenty of times including his wrinkly skin. I accepted this as a kid but it really burns me up now. Also I don't agree with is Batman is crazy BS. Batman does what he does to save others from having to go through what he did and does it the only way he can. Kind of makes one wonder how Denny made on this list, huh?

James Robinson: The Golden Age was wonderful and his Starman is still my favorite read. I have all the omnibuses and re-read them at least once a year. Jack Knight is a great character and I miss him.

Jeph Loeb: His Superman/ Batman work is outstanding. Batman:Hush was great too.

Geoff Johns: Great writer but too many hits and misses. Supes: yes, Legion: yes, Brightest day: meh.

Gerry Conway: Love his JLA Satellite  years work with Dillin.

Jeff Smith: Fellow Buckeye. Bone was amazing. He lived near a bookstore I used to work in and came in a lot. I never worked up the nerve to talk to him though. Wish I had.

Kurt Busiek: Now he would come close. I can't think of one story of his that I've read that I haven't liked. Astro City is one of my favorites and his Avengers was great! "And the crowd goes wild."

Grant Morrison: Good stuff most of the time, at least when I "get" it. Sometimes he is on a whole 'nother plane than I am.

Peter David: Love his stuff. The little details and minutiae he puts in his stories are wonderful. Plus he's funny as all get out.

Garth Ennis: His Preacher and Punisher stuff was great. I'll stop there.

Bill Willingham: Fables is a definite favorite and gets better and better.

Mark Waid: I feel like he really gets the DC characters and really cares about them.

Will Eisner: The Master. I think I may have left him out of my favorite artist blog. If I did, that was a huge oversight. The Spirit is one of my all-time favorite characters and his artwork and writing is the best of an era.

Well, I think I'll retire this blog for today and get ready for work. I know there are many, many more writers I need to list but time is a cruel mistress. I will have to revisit this and the artists again as I have many more that I want to recognize. My next blog should be coming soon and will concern my favorite characters. That one will be DC heavy so be prepared. If you've taken time to read this, let me know what you think.