Welcome back to Stir the Pot Saturday! Forget the rules? Check them out here and here. And forget the question? Well check that out here.
And remember, stirring the pot is, simply put, an old idiom that means agitating a situation to cause a reaction, trouble, unrest, or even dissent. Kinda like what Loki does. But on the internet. And with less death involved.
Got it? Good. So what are you waiting for? You’ve read my opinions (on Tuesday) and those either sparked you to jump on the bandwagon, form an uneasy alliance with me for the time being, or possibly start planning your own top ten list of reasons why I’m an idiot. Either way, it’s all good.
This week’s question: Who are the best current writers?
Go forth. Conquer. And take no prisoners!
Rick Remender. I have really like his run on Uncanny Avengers and Black Science and Deadly Class are awesome books.
Kirkman deserves kudos for writing something so massively popular right now, if you want to look at “best ” as successful then look no further. Bendis, Spurrier,and Hopeless are probably giving me the most enjoyment in comics right now, Remender I would certainly put on the list, he won our EC awards for a reason, Waid as far as I’m concerned is a living legend, and Kelly Sue DeConnick is making a hell of a name for herself.
Two names come to mind:
Bill WIllingham. He created an entire universe in less time than it took Marvel and DC. Even though he used established characters he managed to make them original and engaging. I’m speaking of course of FABLES. The series has lasted for over 10 years, spawned numerous spin-offs, a prose novel, and even a video game and its own convention. While it’s popularity has never reached The Walking Dead levels I would argue it has just as strong a fan base as Kirkman’s franchise.
Dan Slott. Yeah, it was a given I would say this but look at what he’s done with Spider-Man. He took a character that has kind of just become part of the group and made him stand out again. He took a villain and made him not only the lead in his own title but made that title one of Marvel’s top selling books for 2013. He has done so many great things with Peter, Otto, and Spider-Man it boggles my mind how anyone could NOT like it!
Well, that’s tough, as I’d say it’s divided pretty heavily between graphic novel writers – Gene Luen Yang, Alison Bechdel, Daniel Clowes, etc… – who are probably stronger writers, but who release a book every few years, which makes them easy to leave off lists like this.
I disagree with most of your list – excepting Rucka, Brubaker, and maybe Kindt, all of whom I’d rank among my current favorites – but I definitely understand why you picked who you picked, especially since you seem to really dig the current direction of the Batbooks.
I don’t know that I’d be able to make a ‘Top 10’ just out of writers right now. There are a number I respect, but very few that have been operating at the top of their game. Though I’d probably at least add Kelly Sue DeConnick, Matt Fraction, Kieron Gillen and Mark Waid, and leave an honorable “If this was 3 years ago, Gail Simone would be on this list, whatever happened to her anyway?” award at the end of the list.