Making time for this today, and not looking at anyone else's choices (yet).

I know I'm leaving some "big" names off, but (blasphemy): Kirby, Ditko, Jeff Smith, Los Bros Hernandez,etc. . never really did it for me.

So my list is gonna be MY favorites that affected me over the years. .although I absolutely acknowledge that the above mentioned, as well as many others, vastly have influenced the medium over the years.

ok.

#10: Lynn Johnston

a comedic comic strip where the characters age and grow in real time? Nothing really new there.

but the series of strips where Lawrence, Mike's best friend, realizes that he's gay, and comes out?

Lynn gets my undying love and support just for those few weeks. . .and remember, this was back when papers refused to carry the strip those weeks that they focused on this storyline:

here are a few:

I used to love 'For Better or For Worse'. It was such a shame that the strip went downhill so far and so fast in its last few years after Johnston's own marriage broke up.

But those strips about Lawrence reminded me of when it was great. Thanks bert.

belated random Day 3 thoughts:

George Perez:
a favourite artist but don't know his writing well enough to have an opinion. His WW art doesn't look good to me, his figures around that time seemed to lose the fullness that gave them life and energy in his best work. Great character design for Ares, though.

Ted McKeever:
only knew him as a name up till now but I like some of the samples shown here and will be checking out some of the titles mentioned here.


Murray Ball:
nice to see a NZ creator listed here. Wouldn't mind seeing more of this.


Bill Watterson:
Not a fan. Calvin & Hobbes always feels too precious and self-consciously whimsical to me. I'm generally distrustful of the obsession with childhood innocence and/or precociousness, at least as seen through the lens of American pop-culture, and this highly successful strip has always rubbed me the wrong way.

Druillet:
Was originally on my list but I decided I really haven't read enough to speak intelligently about his stuff. I think his artwork is amongst the best I've seen in comics, though.

Frank Miller:
My opinion of his writing has been lowered over the years. I think he's very good at what he does but his range has turned out to be very limited. I sometimes feel his DD looks more like an interesting experiment than a successful re-invention of the character, notwithstanding the recent tv series, which I think is the best big or small screen superhero adaptation I've seen to date. I esteem him more as an artist than as a writer now.

Alex Nino:
not a pick but his name was mentioned. I think he's one of the most imaginative and inventive comics artists I've ever seen but haven't read much solo work. This reminds me to look out for more of his stuff.

Lynn Johnston:
I have a lot of respect for her but must admit her work doesn't elicit a strong response from me. I admire it but don't feel much urge to seek it out.

Posy Simmonds:
I like the look of this a lot. This artist is totally new to me and I'll be looking for more.

Posy's work in the Guardian goes all the way back to the 70s