My Top Writers: Second Installment
My Favorite Writers
•Second Installment
Jeph Loeb
Why he made it to this prestigious list:
Loeb tends to enjoy throwing piles of established villains at a hero while simultaneously introducing a new villain, who often has a connection to the hero. He's a master of murder mystery, and great with suspenseful scenes and mind blowing plot twists. His comics tend to be less action heavy than some but the story is so solid you won't notice. If you're a fan of the Dark Knight Movies, 2 of his comics, Long Halloween and Dark Victory, we're called on for plot material.
Essential Reading:
Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: Dark Victory
Batman: Hush
Red Hulk/Green Hulk
World War Hulks
Batman/Superman: Public Enemies
Scott Snyder
Why he made the list.
To be fair, I admit that I have only read 3 trades by Snyder. He's on this list for one reason. Batman: The Court of Owls. I read this trade four times waiting for volume 2 to come out. It portrays Batman as an established superhero, and we get scenes of him doing detective work, using gadgets, breaking faces, interrogating thugs using a train, and even some history of Gotham and the Wayne ancestry. Snyder seems to enjoy adding elements of steampunk to his stories, and some of the antagonists are highly stylized, like the Architect from The Gates of Gotham, one of my favorite villain designs ever. Snyder uses a lot of monologuing, especially at the beginning of chapters, which doesn't bother me personally, but may annoy some people. Of all the New 52 titles I've read, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman is my absolute favorite.
His style of storytelling explores unknowns from the past and how it affects the present. There may be moments that you have to read a couple of times before you can wrap your head around it, but I don't mean that in a bad way. I would honestly buy anything with his name on it.
Essential Reading-
Batman Vol. 1 The Court of Owls
Batman Vol. 2 City of Owls
Batman Vol. 3 Death of the Family
Batman: The Gates of Gotham
Joss Whedon
Why he made the list.
Of course, after Avengers, everyone is a Joss Whedon fan, but some of us used to watch his shows and read his comics before everyone went nuts about him. Whedon's writing can be simultaneously serious, and funny. He knows the characters he's writing and therefore writes them well. If you liked the character interactions in Avengers, you can expect the same from his comics. He's one of the most talented writers I've had the privilege to read.
Essential Reading
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1 Gifted
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 2
Dangerous
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 4
Frank Miller
Why he made the list.
So you like Batman? Send Frank Miller a thank you card. We've all seen how, for better or worse, pop culture affects comics. Did you know that in comics Magneto's helmet is just for show? It in fact doesn't protect him from Xavier's telepathy. He protects himself through innate ability. See what I mean? Well, back in the 60s, the Batman Show, with Adam West, bled into comics, leaving us with a campy, goofy Batman. Well, in the 80s, Frank Miller came up with a dark future for Batman that shaped the hero we have today. He showed us an aging, violent Batman, still haunted by his parents death and feeling that, for all his work, things haven't changed. After that, he went back in time to show us Batman's first year back in Gotham after his journey of training. Told side by side with the story of James Gordon's first year in Gotham, we get to see a gritty, realistic take on the corruption of the city, and the determination of those two men, and the lengths they're willing to go, and the lines they're willing to cross to clean up Gotham City. Its also worth mentioning that the books noted below were both used to am extent as reference material for Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. Many give Miller the credit for making the Dark Knight dark again. Of course I only included books I've read, but Frank Miller has been writing for a long time. Look him up to find more great titles.
It's also worth mentioning that Miller is an artist as well. His art is often black and white, and very distinctive. I've included a sample above.
Essential Reading
Batman: Year One
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
•Second Installment
Jeph Loeb
Why he made it to this prestigious list:
Loeb tends to enjoy throwing piles of established villains at a hero while simultaneously introducing a new villain, who often has a connection to the hero. He's a master of murder mystery, and great with suspenseful scenes and mind blowing plot twists. His comics tend to be less action heavy than some but the story is so solid you won't notice. If you're a fan of the Dark Knight Movies, 2 of his comics, Long Halloween and Dark Victory, we're called on for plot material.
Essential Reading:
Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: Dark Victory
Batman: Hush
Red Hulk/Green Hulk
World War Hulks
Batman/Superman: Public Enemies
Scott Snyder
Why he made the list.
To be fair, I admit that I have only read 3 trades by Snyder. He's on this list for one reason. Batman: The Court of Owls. I read this trade four times waiting for volume 2 to come out. It portrays Batman as an established superhero, and we get scenes of him doing detective work, using gadgets, breaking faces, interrogating thugs using a train, and even some history of Gotham and the Wayne ancestry. Snyder seems to enjoy adding elements of steampunk to his stories, and some of the antagonists are highly stylized, like the Architect from The Gates of Gotham, one of my favorite villain designs ever. Snyder uses a lot of monologuing, especially at the beginning of chapters, which doesn't bother me personally, but may annoy some people. Of all the New 52 titles I've read, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman is my absolute favorite.
His style of storytelling explores unknowns from the past and how it affects the present. There may be moments that you have to read a couple of times before you can wrap your head around it, but I don't mean that in a bad way. I would honestly buy anything with his name on it.
Essential Reading-
Batman Vol. 1 The Court of Owls
Batman Vol. 2 City of Owls
Batman Vol. 3 Death of the Family
Batman: The Gates of Gotham
Joss Whedon
Why he made the list.
Of course, after Avengers, everyone is a Joss Whedon fan, but some of us used to watch his shows and read his comics before everyone went nuts about him. Whedon's writing can be simultaneously serious, and funny. He knows the characters he's writing and therefore writes them well. If you liked the character interactions in Avengers, you can expect the same from his comics. He's one of the most talented writers I've had the privilege to read.
Essential Reading
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 1 Gifted
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 2
Dangerous
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 3
Astonishing X-Men Vol. 4
Frank Miller
Why he made the list.
So you like Batman? Send Frank Miller a thank you card. We've all seen how, for better or worse, pop culture affects comics. Did you know that in comics Magneto's helmet is just for show? It in fact doesn't protect him from Xavier's telepathy. He protects himself through innate ability. See what I mean? Well, back in the 60s, the Batman Show, with Adam West, bled into comics, leaving us with a campy, goofy Batman. Well, in the 80s, Frank Miller came up with a dark future for Batman that shaped the hero we have today. He showed us an aging, violent Batman, still haunted by his parents death and feeling that, for all his work, things haven't changed. After that, he went back in time to show us Batman's first year back in Gotham after his journey of training. Told side by side with the story of James Gordon's first year in Gotham, we get to see a gritty, realistic take on the corruption of the city, and the determination of those two men, and the lengths they're willing to go, and the lines they're willing to cross to clean up Gotham City. Its also worth mentioning that the books noted below were both used to am extent as reference material for Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. Many give Miller the credit for making the Dark Knight dark again. Of course I only included books I've read, but Frank Miller has been writing for a long time. Look him up to find more great titles.
It's also worth mentioning that Miller is an artist as well. His art is often black and white, and very distinctive. I've included a sample above.
Essential Reading
Batman: Year One
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
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