Silkcuts top 5 Overrated and Underrated (Writers edtion)
By Silkcuts 142 Comments
Top 5 Overrated
- Brian Michael Bendis - Loved and Hated by many at the same time. I wonder how many would still love him if he was no a Marvel writer? I feel his only level of success as a writer was work on Marvel. Sure he did have his Image work, but when it boils down to it, would you save "Fire" for a fire? I would of linked "Fire" to help with my pun but that was killed when I noticed that there was no page to it. I guess people only care about Bendis' Marvel work after all, who cares about his indie work after powers.
- Judd Winick - I admit this maybe harsh without reading Pedro and Me, but its because of Pedro and me I placed him at number two. Maybe I can't find it, but do we even have Pedro and me as a page on the vine? He is a reality star who still won't stop acting like we still care. She his Power Girl hasn't gotten the series canceled yet, but look how many people dropped it because of him. He is maybe DC comics weakest writer.
- Mark Millar - I am not saying I am not a fan of him. I am just saying he is overrated. The dude is on the top of many peoples list and all he is really good at is self promoting. I enjoy a lot of his work, but he is Grant Morrison's student and I still don't think he can touch his master in creation comparison. At a Con in Toronto I even heard Barry Kitson say "Mark, yeah he is special, he just wants to be famous". Millar is a great writer, but his heart is in it for the wrong reasons.
- Neil Gaiman - This is strictly talking comics. Like my argument with Millar, Gaiman was the student of Alan Moore. Sure Gaiman has the Sandman Universe, but how many of us really know how much Moore influcend that world. Even "Gaiman's Cain and Abel" are Moore's version from Swamp Thing. It was Alan Moore who created the constant killing of Able in the DCU. I do love Neil Gaiman, but his name on comics sell because he is a Rock Star. A friend of mine was only interested in Wednesday comics because of the Gaiman story, which was great but not the reason to read Wednesday comics alone.
- Garth Ennis - I know I'll get flack for this, but if you think about it it is true. After Preacher Ennis has become formulated. You can see the difference in his writing drastically between Hellblazer and Preacher. Hellblazer had a heart to it I think Ennis lost, in which Ennis used John Constantine to preach his " true faith" and push his creative writing talent. With Preacher, most people read it because it was cool. I am still convince Preacher is in Hellblazer's universe and " Genesis" is Ellie's baby. Ennis is all about shock, which he still pumps out fun great tales, but what really new is he doing? Even his war books get ignored by his fans if there is not enough gore. How many of his fans have read Enemy Ace? Honestly.
Top 5 Underrated
- Alan Moore - It is easy to say Alan Moore is your fave writer if that is all you know and then many of those people change their minds to other writers because they stop after being introduced to comics because of a Moore book (like Watchmen) and then go on to something different. There are people who hate Alan Moore because he refuses to work in superheros anymore. There are people who hate Alan Moore because they believe the negative publicity DC feeds us, that idea Alan Moore is a bitter old man who hates everything. I don't know all the reasons why there is beef between the two, but its between them. Part of the reason Alan Moore is the most celebrated writer in comics is because of his importance to comics. If he is not your honest favorite writer, odds are he is your favorite writer's favorite writer. Warren Ellis and Grant Morrison are too other Vertigo vets that have found influence on their writing besides the mentioned above Neil Gaiman.
- Peter Milligan - I was talking to Aztek one day because we both are reading Hellblazer right now. Aztek said "Peter Milligan is the invisible backbone of Vertigo", no words have ever been so true. Many people still don't know who Peter Milligan is because he'll appear and disappear just as quickly either way when dealing with mainstream comics. Not everyone has read Shade or X-Statix and you all should! From the British Invasion he hasn't blown up to the level many of his peers has. His writing is just as brilliant and layered as Grant Morrison, but Morrison had the Invisibles which solidified his rep. Peter Milligan can be as perverted as Ennis, but because Extremist or Minx was not Preacher, he is overlooked again. There is so much great Milligan work, yet not enough love for the man.
- Kyle Baker - A man I hope you have read something from. Gifted with both ability to write and create wonder images, Kyle Baker is master of the graphic narration. Most of his famous works were at Vertigo and that fact that most of them only saw one printing means not enough people have read his work. He has created for Marvel, DC and Image comics and has had fun work like the short lived Plastic Man to powerful researched literature pieces like King David. In honesty I loved Wednesday Comics and from all the stories Hawkman was my favorite. It was exciting, it made me laugh, it was a solid read.
- Joshua Dysart - Why does he keep going Vertigo if they won't let him do anything past 25 issues. The boy can write, yet he gets no love or respect. Unknown Soldier should of not be canceled so quickly when it was winning awards. If you haven't read a Dysart Vertigo book, you should try it out. Heck Dysart is so unloved that on Comicvine he still doesn't have a picture displayed on his page.
- Eddie Campbell - Famous as one of Alan Moore's go to artist, Eddie Campbell knows how to create comics. After From Hell odds are you haven't read anything else by him... that is assuming you read From Hell of course. Eddie Campbell has written a little bit of Captain American and Batman, but how many people really read those short work. Eddie Campbell's flaw is he is too Independent and only fans of graphic narration, which should not be confused to just comics, would follow his work. In the Alec omnibus Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman and Warren Ellis are quoted to praise the Alec series in which many comicviners I am sure haven't read, since I have slowly been adding there pages.
Don't take my overrated list as a hate list. I love many of the writers I placed there. Heck I rank Gaiman as my 4th fave writer... I know that is too high, but I loved Sandman and the universe he created. What has he done for me lately?
This list is meant to make people think about comic talent and popularity. I could of added Ellis on the overrated list because he gives up on projects too much, but then I can also argue that he is prolific. No one was safe on my list, it was honest opinion. Heck I love Azzarello, if I made it a top 10, he likely would be on the 10 of Overrated because all he can do well is Crime, Westerns and Batman. Frank Miller is off the list because he is not high no most people's list nowadays. Grant Morrison is high on most people's list as he should be, so he was safe on my list.
Feel free to tell me your lists and why you would list people that way.
Cheers
- Silkcuts
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