10 Influential Comic Book Writers That Never Miss

As someone who follows comic books, finding writers to love is crucial to a reader’s life. For example, there's Gail Simone. If it wasn’t for her, plenty of people may never have fallen in love with Deadpool through her stories. Years later, she’s writing one of the most emotional runs of Uncanny X-Men and making well-known characters better than ever. It makes her one of the best and someone everyone should follow, and she’s only one of the many names that audiences can discover, jump in blind on their project, and leave satisfied.

10 Stephanie Williams

This year, Stephanie Williams made history for being the first Black woman (and the second Black person) to be nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Writer. Sadly, a lot of comic book journalists (this writer included) didn’t do enough to promote this incredible feat, especially since she’s been amazing for years.

One moment, Stephanie Williams can give fans Street Sharks and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Wreck and Roll​​​​​, then turn around and bring in an emotional story like Mad Cave Studios' Temporal or the interlude for DC Comics' Wonder Woman: Wonder War. Plus, just for the horror fans, she’s got a particularly new addition to the Smile universe, the recently-launched Any Given Smile.

The best part about Stephanie Williams is that she’s just getting started. DC Comics announced that Stephanie Williams will be writing Vixen’s first ongoing series, despite the character being around for 47 years. Williams' goal is actually 47 issues to represent the amount of time Mari McCabe’s been around.

9 Stephanie Phillips

A quick look at Stephanie Phillips bibliography will show that comic book companies know just how reliable she is as an industry talent. She’ll create incredible stories with Harley Quinn and Rogue & Gambit that have to follow continuity, and thrive with her own characters like in BOOM! Studios' Red Before Black and Grim. The latter was picked up by Netflix a week after the series concluded.

Phillips is currently writing an exceptional run of Daredevil where Matt Murdock has a new job (law professor) and a terrifying villain (Omen) who tested the Man Without Fear’s well-known radar. It was also announced that she’ll be writing Black Widow in the future. This shows that there’s no one Stephanie Phillips can’t write about, and that Marvel has faith in her (as we all should).

8 Cody Ziglar

It’s one thing to write a flawless miniseries. It’s another to do it for 42 issues with a character that gets criticism for being a legacy character and make sure that the lead character’s heritage and ethnicity are well represented. However, Cody Ziglar did it with Miles Morales: Spider-Man and made it look easy.

Coming off the end of the aforementioned Miles Morales: Spider-Man, Ziglar was announced to be writing Static for DC Comics. This is a big deal because he’s taking over one of the most influential Black characters of the last 30 years. Adding to that is that it’s one of the only Black-led comic books in either of the two major comic companies (Marvel and DC). Luckily, pressure isn’t a big deal for the Emmy-nominated writer.

7 Hannah Rose

The rise in horror comic books is a joy for genre aficionados everywhere. For even the horror agnostics, writer Hannah Rose May will make anyone into a fan. Her stories have all the elements that people love about horror, but with a much better storyline. For instance, in her two Exorcism miniseries (The Exorcism at 1600 Penn and The Exorcism at Buckingham Palace). In both Exorcism titles, there was more depth to why a person was possessed. The Exorcism at 1600 Penn is so good that it was picked up by Blumhouse and Atomic Monster.

On top of those projects, Hannah Rose May recently wrote a flawless miniseries in the Smile Universe, Smile: For the Camera. It didn’t just focus on the horror, either, even though it was superb. It highlighted the disgusting and predatory nature of the modeling industry. Depth like this isn’t always touched on in horror stories. Even if they are, it isn’t done this well.

6 Deniz Camp

Deniz Camp will give readers everything that they love about a comic book, like action and fantastical storylines. With all the normal goodness also come tales that will tug on the heartstrings as no one else can.

It doesn’t matter if audiences are reading Marvel’s recent run of Ultimates or DC’s Absolute Martian Manhunter. People who read Deniz Camp's stories get topics with real-life problems told through fictional characters. A great example of this is Image Comics’ Assorted Crisis Events.

Assorted Crisis Events discusses things like mental health, racism, and the current job market, but with time being corrupted. This way, readers can see the difficulties others face in a more digestible way. Hopefully, people who have read this series and others by Deniz Camp come out more understanding and tolerant of others around them.

5 Dan Watters

Dan Watters’ accuracy with comic books is like Bullseye. Sometimes it seems like there’s no way he can hit the target with a series, only for it to be something nobody will want to miss. For example, Image Comics’ newest addition to the Energon Universe, M.A.S.K., has been phenomenal, despite not being as popular as the Transformers or G.I. Joe franchises.

Another flawless comic book that may have flown under the radar is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder. The series follows Oroku Saki, and Watters doesn’t make him a sympathetic character. Sometimes he's downright unlikable. Nevertheless, it's easy to find oneself rooting for Shredder because he’s smooth, calculated, and an elite fighter. Readers will also be left wondering when he'll lose, but it doesn't look like it will happen any time soon.

Lastly, on the subject of Dan Watters, you can’t leave without discussing Batman: Dark Patterns. This series focused heavily on Bruce Wayne’s skills as a detective, but also highlighted some of his glaring imperfections, such as his obsessive tendencies. If anyone is looking to get into Batman comics, there's hardly a better point of entry that's as new or relevant.

4 G. Willow Wilson

Villains like Joker, Sabretooth, and Bullseye will always be in demand because they’re brutal, deadly, and weirdly charismatic. So any creator will jump at the opportunity to write them. Only someone special can take someone like Poison Ivy to the heights she’s currently at. That writer is G. Willow Wilson.

As the headline says, G. Willow Wilson will make you a believer because she understands the characters and her audience. The stories never have the heroes or villains doing anything that’s unlike themselves, even when it’s something new. So, when Black Cat becomes friends with Sue Storm, or Poison Ivy is voted Mayor of Gotham City, it's contrived in such a way that makes sense. It’s the mark of a terrific writer and fan of the genre.

3 Steve Orlando

When people start talking about legendary comic book runs, Steve Orlando’s time writing Wanda Maximoff needs to be on this list of the best. Before the first issue of Scarlet Witch, Marvel Comics promised that readers would see Wanda’s full potential, and Steve Orlando more than delivered. She’s currently the Sorcerer Supreme and continues to use magic in ways that no one in comics has, and that’s saying something.

Beyond Marvel Comics is a phenomenal take on the Peter Pan story, Land of Never. It’s dark and heartbreaking, but readers will find they won’t be able to put the comic book down. This shows that Steve Orlando can do more than just create comics for DC and Marvel. He can take readers to a grim place without superpowers and make it intriguing.

2 Che Grayson

Che Grayson is fairly new to writing comic books, but has recently taken the world by storm. Their stories in Exquisite Corpses may have been a lot of people’s introduction to them, but it didn’t stop there. DC Comics announced that she would take the lead in Absolute Catwoman and the one-shot, Absolute Cassandra Cain: The Shadow's Hand. Both have been incredible and prove that they have a long career ahead of them.

On top of the two DC Comics titles, Che Grayson is writing the backstory to one of the more recognized killers in Exquisite Corpses, the Fox Mask Killer. As this article is being written, only one issue has been released. Nevertheless, it's enough to show that this will be more than a story full of sword kills. Readers will feel for the lead and learn why she has a vendetta against Lady Carolina.

1 Kelly Thompson

This article ends with a creator who will make anyone understand what it means to be a fan of comic books: Kelly Thompson. She knows what it means to be a fan of the genre and now gets the opportunity to be the one that fans look to for escapism, a story that hits with realism and fun.

Before Absolute Wonder Woman, there was Jem and the Holograms, Captain Marvel, Jessica Jones: Blind Spot (and "Purple Daughter"), and Birds of Prey. What do these three prove? They confirm that there’s an unlimited amount of versatility in Kelly Thompson’s work.

No matter what she’s writing, you won’t be disappointed. She can give you goofiness from Big Barda, show that Carol Danvers can be fun, and make Wonder Woman more about magic than hand-to-hand fighting. In short, she’s a comic book creator’s comic book creator.