Prolific Creators: Examining My Collection

Recently I got caught up in a very hyper conversation with Augie De Blieck Jr. over at the “Pipeline Commentary and Review” about writers and artists. What started as the usual “Who are your favorites?” evolved into something I find far more interesting, “What creators have you followed the most?” Meaning, of all the comics in your collection, who’s work do you have the most of?

With the help of ComicbookDB.com, my 30 long boxes and some rules, I found the results fascinating.

After some bickering, we set the ground rules to be fairly easy to follow:

• Which writers do we have at least 200 comics (roughly 4,400 pages) written by?
• Which artists (pencilers) do we have at least 75 comics (1,650 pages) drawn by?

Now, of course this is a bit of a finger in the air project, so there may be a percent deviation here and there, but that’s okay. Also, we’re not talking inking here, so no artists are getting points for their inking work (not to demean inking, but come on we gotta draw the line somewhere) So let’s go to it.

ARTISTS
Alan Davis – Everyone is sick of hearing me talk about how Excalibur was my first ongoing series that I fell in love with, but it was and it was Alan Davis’ art that got me hooked on comics. That said, he eeked onto the list with 89 issues in my collection that he penciled. And I love every one of them.

Sam Kieth – I looked up Kieth’s work to see, on a lark, if he’d make it, and at 84 issues, he did and that’s awesome. I loved The Maxx and Zero Girl, but it was his work on Marvel Comics Presents that made me look for him in the first place and I love that I still own those issues.

Jim Lee – One of the next artists I fell in love with at a young age was Jim Lee, who like Alan Davis, squeaked by with 91 issues. It’s fascinating to see how little work of his I actually own when compared to others or conversely how little he’s actually drawn…

John Byrne – You’d think he’d rank higher on my list, but Byrne only clocks in with 103 issues in my collection. As much as I respect the work he’s done, especially at Marvel, my collection lacks those key series such as Fantastic Four, She-Hulk and Namor, but his X-Men works put him over the top.

Terry Moore – When you think Terry Moore, you don’t really think just in terms of art, but as a indie creator, he wrote and drew every damn issue of Strangers in Paradise and sure enough, I read them all, as well as everything else he’s drawn (almost), so he makes the list at 134 issues. Not bad at all.

John Romita, Jr. – I don’t think I’d ever tell you that John Romita Jr. was one of my favorite artists, but between his long work on the Uncanny X-Men and Spider-Man he makes the list at 135 issues. It’s either a testament to how much I like Marvel Comics, or how much he works… I’m not sure which.

Erik Larsen – I never thought that when I raised an eyebrow to the guy following Todd McFarlane on Spider-Man, that I’d read 159 issues of comic book featuring his artwork. 130 plus issues on Savage Dragon doesn’t hurt though in making that happen. 15+ years and 159 issues and I’m psyched to have been there as I think his art is fantastic and it has been a joy to watch it evolve.

Mark Bagley – Apparently he’s my favorite artist, or at least the one who works the most, with over 193 issues (I had to stop counting the various one shots on various titles) from Ultimate Spider-Man to Thunderbolts to New Warriors, apparently I love Bagley’s career. Who knew?

Now, I could go on forever and I’m sure there are some creators I missed or am forgetting. What’s almost as interesting is those who didn’t make the list, like Todd McFarlane (48), Brent Anderson (56), Howard Porter (53) and Mike Avon Oeming (66). It represents a list of those who don’t draw nearly enough anymore, or those who are on their way up and I’m sure will make the list given another few years of work.

WRITERS
Scott Lobdell – The 1990’s were not a good time for my beloved X-Men books. Sure they started out with a bang, but after the Image Revolution and the speculator crash, the creative was… how do you say it? Lackluster at best. And the man behind the lackluster stories across nearly the entire X-Universe? Scott Lobdell. I hate nearly every issue of the 212 I own that are written by him. I don’t think this number will ever grow beyond where it is currently.

Geoff Johns – I was elated to see Johns made the list, being one of my favorite current writers, but this one may be up for some debate. How much is his work on 52 worth? Some might say only 13 issues, a quarter of the issues written. I disagree. I give him all 52 issues, which gives him a grand total (so far) of 215

Fabian Nicieza – If Scott Lobdell wasn’t writing something in the 1990’s for Marvel, there’s a pretty good chance Nicieza was, and I was buying it. Like Mark Bagley, Nicieza is ALL over my collection across 239 issues from Cable to New Warriors to Thunderbolts to X-Force. Were they as bad as the Lobdell issues? The fact that I can’t really remember either way is pretty telling so you make the call.

Mark Waid – I wasn’t surprised to see Waid so high on this list, by the sheer fact that he’s written nearly EVERY major superhero title as some point or another. It doesn’t hurt that he’s written some of my favorite characters like The Flash, and my old personal favorite Ka-Zar, across his 276 issues that I own. 52 helps the numbers as well, similar to Johns.

Brian Michael Bendis – No one will be surprised by this at all, considering how we’ve professed our love over and over for Bendis’ work. But think about this, I own and have read 379 issues of comics that he’s written. Now, I’ve been collecting comics for almost 18 years or so. Bendis has only been really writing at a huge clip over the past 7 years. With titles like Powers, Ultimate Spider-Man, and The New Avengers, Bendis has been able to dominate my collection. That revelation blew me away.

Chris Claremont – Another unsurprising one, and the king of my collection at 423 issues, Chris Claremont is one of the few creators that I went searching for back issues to get as much as I could. What would drive me to do that? Uncanny X-Men, that’s what. It was pretty much his work on the X-Men books alone that puts Claremont on top; I didn’t even follow him after he left Marvel! Crazy! The thing is though, this number isn’t getting any bigger. At least not at the pace Bendis’ number is.

Between writers and artists, writers were way harder for me. Apparently I have a whole bunch of writers who just missed the cut, like Kurt Busiek (174), Garth Ennis (165), Brian K. Vaughan (150), Grant Morrison (159) and Peter David (152). And there are writers who are rapidly moving up the charts, like Robert Kirkman (120) and Greg Rucka (111). I imagine, like the artists, in a few years, the number or writers over the 200 issue threshold will be way more.

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Examining your collection in this manner really makes your eyes open to reality of collecting. A lot of my favorite creators made the list, but many did not. For some, it’s a matter of timing. As much as I love Neal Adams work, I simply don’t have the huge segment of 1960’s and 1970’s comics that would get him on the list. Additionally, a creator who I really respect and enjoy, like Jeph Loeb, hasn’t created the sheer volume of work, for me at least, to make the cut. And finally, special creators like Frank Miller and Alan Moore, while they will always be considered great and among my favorites, their body of work is hardly represented amongst my long boxes.

This has been a lot of fun dissecting my collection and trust me folks, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of this type of analysis. With that, it’s your turn! What do you think of my list? How does your list differ? Are you a child of the ’90s like me, or have you been able to enjoy comics from before 1990? Tune in next week when I’ll collect the best of your reactions and comments. And maybe in the future we may see what Josh and Conor’s numbers look like – or maybe even the numbers of some special guests!