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Post by Roquefort Raider on Dec 27, 2020 14:20:08 GMT -5
Very eloquently put, Prince Hal! People like Roy and Stan did a lot to improve the vocabulary of an entire generation, I'm sure. Henri Vernes did the same for French readers, and such writers are to be thanked for their worthwhile efforts. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 27, 2020 16:08:17 GMT -5
Very eloquently put, Prince Hal ! People like Roy and Stan did a lot to improve the vocabulary of an entire generation, I'm sure. Henri Vernes did the same for French readers, and such writers are to be thanked for their worthwhile efforts. I’ll never forget certain moments: I was reading a Batman comic (I was about 9) and Ra’s al Ghul called an underling a ‘sycophant’. Did I know what that word meant? No. But I did check it out in the dictionary. I was too pedantic to continue reading unless I could look up a word - and there was always a dictionary in the house. So while entertainment was first and foremost my priority, I do remember learning some big words. |
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Post by brutalis on Dec 27, 2020 16:15:56 GMT -5
Yep, reading comics is a great learning and teaching tool. It was because of comics I tested out in 5th grade into advanced level reading and English classes. Same for high school, my freshman English, history andreading classes were all in advanced College level instruction. I knew, understood and could use words properly that most kids my same age didn't know. Thanks to Stan, Roy, Englehart, Gerber, McGregor, Moench and others...
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Post by Rob Allen on Dec 29, 2020 12:41:19 GMT -5
4. Steve Gerber
For Howard, Man-Thing, Defenders, and Tales of the Zombie, among others. I've also read that Gerber was one of the best at imitating Stan Lee's hype-patter.
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Post by berkley on Dec 31, 2020 19:06:35 GMT -5
4. Grant Morrison
What I said about Ellis goes even more for Morrison: if this were a list of "best" rather than "favourite" comics writers, Morrison would get even higher than this already high ranking from me. Because in terms of sheer talent and skill, I'd say he's about the best there is with the exception of Alan Moore. He has more tools in his toolbox, can convincingly write more different styles, more different voices better than anyone apart from Moore. He can play with symbolism and multiple levels of meaning more deftly than anyone - except for you-knw-who. And so on.
What brings him down a few notches for me, as it does most contemporary writers, is his Big 2 work, most of which,, witha few notable exceptions (especially Seven Soldiers), seems to me a complete waste of his time and talent, though in Morrison's case, for the opposite reason to Ellis and Ennis: far from being uninterested or antagonistic to the superhero genre, Morrison is all too enamoured with it, and especially (from my POV, since I don't like 'em) with the big DCU icons Batman and Superman.
But judging him by what I consider his best work - The Filth, The Invisibles, Seven Soldiers - he's about as good as it gets - with one exception ...
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Post by Farrar on Dec 31, 2020 19:29:06 GMT -5
4. Edmond HamiltonWhy he's a favorite of mine: 1960s Legion in AdventureThe Legion was probably my favorite DC feature back in the day. While I certainly enjoyed Jim Shooter's take on the team, when I started to collect back issues I became enthralled with the pre-Shooter Legion, that is the stories by Edmond Hamilton and art usually by John Forte (though Curt Swan took over as the primary Legion artist for the last few issues of Forte's tenure). These older stories just seemed so much more adult in tone and theme than the Shooter stories that were infused with a lot of "Hi Brainy, ol' buddy!" and "How's it going, Ultra Boy pal?" banter (which made the Shooter Legion more similar to the rest of the Superman books at the time, which is what Weisinger wanted. And of course I enjoyed those Shooter stories--he's on my list!--but the series had a distinctly different flavor when Hamilton was writing it). For me, what stands out is this: Hamilton's scripts were often grim. People died in his stories (and not only Lightning Lad). Members were expelled from the Legion. Characters sustained injuries they had to live with (well, until the publisher/editorial powers that be decreed that everything had be wrapped up in Adventure #351, scripted by E. Nelson Bridwell). Anyway, IMO Hamilton's Legion presented superhero stories that also functioned as life lessons for a young audience. From Adventure #342, Star Boy is expelled  Adventure #345. In this "Super Stalag of Space", two characters are killed: Weight Wizard, who was the traitor in the guys' camp tries to redeem himself but is killed; then Blockade Boy and Matter-Eater Lad are captured trying to escape, and BB pays the price. Yes, I know they're characters dreamed up just for this story, but Hamilton never shied away from showing death in these Legion stories. Another example is in #339, in which Beast Boy (unrelated to the later Doom Patrol/Teen Titans character), a misunderstood character who's turned to the wrong side of the law, dies at the end of the story while protecting a little girl. I don't even want to post that particular sequence here, it still brings me to tears. Pages from #345:  I'd like to read more of Hamilton's other work, esp. in the sci fi (non-superhero) comics, but his Legion work secures his spot in my top comics reading experiences.
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