Impactful creator runs

[Perry]

Okay gang, lets have a little discussion. 
I was listening to one of my podcasts the other day, and they were doing this "What is the most influential peace of work from creator {X}" round table and I thought it would be kind of cool to bring that conversation here, to the Realm.

What the guys on the podcast did was they made a list of their top 15 creators, for the goal of determining what would be that creators most influential work. For example and point of note, they ended up not even putting Allen Moore's name on the list as they all agreed ahead of time that "Watchmen" was Alan Moore's "most influential" title (not sure I agree, but okay, it's all opinions, yeah? )
 
Now, when I was playing along, whenever they would announce the next creator and I made my pick, I began to wonder if I was concentrating on my "favorite" work from a creator instead and not what I thought was their most "influential" work. So, to make it easier for me, what I would like to do here is kind of combine those two descriptives into a unifying one. Go a little more personal, just go with a question more along the lines of -

"What title from creator {X} impacted you the most?"

That way, your choice could either be your favorite work by that creator or work from that creator that made a difference in some other way for you... or both! Maybe its your favorite AND it hit you mentally, visually, emotionally... whatever.
  
And also, as the Alan Moore pick already mentioned implies (and some future names will infer), your answer doesn't have to be a creator owned title, it can be a run from any company, any time... any title upon which they did work. I.E you may think (using the name once more) that Alan Moore's work on Supreme would be your pick, or his work on Swamp Thing for DC would be your pick, or, yes, you may choose his creator owned Providence, a property he owns... it's up to you, baby!! 

Sooo... as the podcast discussed the list of creators alphabetically, I figured we would just do the same. I will list them one at a time, as it was told to us podcast listeners, hahaha, we can discuss and then move to the next. Yeah? 

Okay, we are starting with a good one (They're all good in some way, honestly), but yeah...


What ED BRUBAKER title was most impactful for you?

[Jeff]

Me likey!

Ed Brubaker is a tough one to start with because there are so many!  For me there are two that stick out the most and it's hard to pick between the two.  If I'm going for MOST impactful then I'll argue that Brubaker's Captain America "Winter Soldier" run is the most impactful.  Before this run there was a LONG standing phrase in comics when a character perished...

 "There's dead and then there's Bucky dead."

For decades when a character was just "dead" you always knew it probably wouldn't stick.  But if someone was "Bucky Dead" then you knew they were permanently gone and would never come back.

Then Brubaker took that hard rule and blew it all up by indeed bringing Bucky back from the dead as the brainwashed soviet villain The Winter Soldier.  Mind blown.  And not only was it a giant shift in the Marvel universe - the character was pretty dang awesome (and still is).  And to further prove the point, Brubaker kills off Steve Rogers and Bucky becomes the new Captain America.  Brilliant.

The impact of the Winter Soldier didn't just stop here either.  This story arc ultimately became the plot and focal point of the new Marvel Cinematic Universe's Captain America 2 movie.  In my opinion, the best movie of all the MCU movies.

So yep.  I gotta go with The Winter Soldier arc of Captain America as Ed Brubaker's most impactful.

[Jimmy T]

I'd have to fully agree.

I don't know of anything greater than that he has done. Oh, great successes in writing; sure! But his Captain America, Winter Soldier, and whole run is a magnum opus on the character.

[Perry]

Waiting to see if Rodney is going to join in before I throw mine in and continue

[Perry]

Well, I guess the ole Rodster is going to just leave us hanging   but maybe he will pop in at some point 

As for Brubaker, I am also going with his Captain America run. 

The podcasters I was listening to chose Reckless as his most "influential", not Criminal (which I thought would have been the choice) but I can't agree with them. I think his Cap, as Jeff did a good job of conveying, is not only his most influential in comicdom, but is my pick for being the most impactful personally

So a unanimous pick from the Realm!

- Ed Brubaker - Captain America

Next up, John Byrne!!

What is John Byrne's most impactful work to you personally?
What'cha got?

[Perry]

And as I have a minute, I will go ahead and jump in here with this one. And hey, while last time we all agreed... with this one, there is a possibility... there is a chance, that we could end up giving different answers.   But hey, maybe not. 

I'm am sticking with form and of course picking the work John did on Fantastic Four. His run was almost just as important to my comic fandom, and I dare say even more impactful (to my youthful mind at the time I was reading), as Kirby's run. He did so much right with the team... it was my favorite book for some time. He got Ben, He got Johnny and he (mostly) got Reed, but he damn sure got Sue. He gave her so much. Made her such a powerful character, powerful socially I mean, and I will always appreciate his work with her because, at the time, she was rarely given much of a voice. Not a strong one anyway, but Byrne gave her a lot of that. True, not as much as she would be afforded today perhaps, but he did her fair for the time. 

And damn... he made her much more powerful in the more traditional superhero sense as well. Way more powers and ability than she ever was prior to Byrne's stories.

[Jimmy T]

I love purchasing Bryne's 'Visionary' trade collection of his FF. The places he went to with the family dynamic, the powers, the places, the subjects ( I mean, going to Doc Ock to try and help with Sue's pregnancy; and losing the baby anyways?!!) such moments. Amazing run, amazing pick.

I will pick, however, (not Jeff's pick), as we are going personal feeling as well as deserved, so I have to pick

SUPERMAN POST CRISIS.

Superman obviously had a problem; stronger than any one thing in all of the DC universe. Can push planets, travel through time with ease, and to young fans like Perry, that seemed boring.
So, the Crisis, fixing the awful history snafus of DC, and rewriting Superman.
REWROTE SUPERMAN.
His origins, his powers, explanations of how people wouldn't recognize Clark and Superman, and fans got to experience how Superman established himself on earth after his first appearance.
Everything ancient and old became new, rewritten, explored, understood.
Lex was amazingly retooled. Clark's parents were kept alive as a lynchpin to Superman's humanity, and Lois was certainly no longer a fainting damsel in distress, but a hard nosed woman not afraid of trouble.
Within the first 2 years, Bryne took Superman to such places that he would condemn Kryptonians in a different dimension to death by Kryptonite as the only way to stop them.

So, just wow. Bryne was given the reins to make a landmark, cornerstone establishment of the 1st and greatest comic icon ever-and landed it.

[Jeff]

No surprise that we all three are going different directions on John Byrne.

I would argue for his Uncanny X-Men run as most influential.  I don't think there would even be a massive X-Men movement if not for Byrnes Phoenix saga, Days of Future Past, Hellfire club. I know Claremont wrote the dialog but I really believe, much like Giffen on Legion, that Byrne was the driving creative force back then.

But there is no argument that he had a big influence on almost everything he touched.  Both Fantastic Four and Superman were redefined under his work, not to mention his great work on West Coast Avengers and Scarlet Witch's new "children".  Really impactful storylines.

[Perry]

Okay, this next creator should also give us some varying opinions. Hell, I don't know which way I'm going yet...

next creator up is Peter David

******************************************************

- Ed Brubaker - Captain America, Captain America, Captain America
- John Byrne - Fantastic Four, Superman (title relaunch), X-men

[Jimmy T]

So much to think on and consider!!!! My mind is blown!

I have 2 off the top of my head RIGHT AWAY

[Jimmy T]

By the way, Peter David is NOT doing well.

His Kickstarter page, or his gofundme, or whatever it's called to raise money for hospital bills talks about how Medicaid has run out for him. NO more money coming his way. He's had 2 strokes and a cardiac event.

This blows my mind. He's written how many actual novels, written comics for 4 decades, and even still at the end of life, he has nothing left.
I know I considered him to be a 'success' -but was he successful in a field that couldn't support him well?
Then again, MEDICINE SUCKS THAT BAD IN THE US.
It was hard to read.

[Perry]

Yeah, I still follow him and it is hard seeing him suffer each time more and more. Absolutely insane that he has to rely on the kindness of fans, after all the work he did for those two very small, start-up corporations

[Jeff]

That's horrible.  How does one's Medicaid just run out?  If you qualified for it, they should cover right up to the end. I feel for him and his family.

[Jeff]

For me personally it would be his X-Factor run.  He really took a bunch of B & C level characters and made them A-listers.  But I know that wouldn't be considered his most impactful.  Especially since no one else could maintain it and the characters personalities went back to B & C level sadly.

He's probably most well known for his Incredible Hulk run so I'd have to pick that.  That was some good stuff.

[Gay Titan]

Sorry I am late to the party. LOL. Great topic and interesting to read.

I definitely agree with John Byrne, but it wasn't his FF that did it for me. He was AMAZING on Alpha Flight!

Not a fan of Alan Moore, sorry.

Let's discuss the man, the myth, the legend... George Perez. Hands down, he is my favorite.