Asking questions about Comics

Someone who ultimately didn't join Peter Urkowitz and I upon this article, asked a question that made me think if there was a reasonable answer... Who was the most important person to have worked in the comic book industry in any fashion?

One of the most ardent supporters of my creative work is Peter Urkowitz.  He is a dear friend, a talented artist, and a moral kind person.  He is now writing poetry for public consumption, and we are working together on a future work that will blow the world's balls off.

We chat a lot, and I am usually humbled when I have a small thought that he speaks about and I learn how very little I know, and he is in fact, a librarian, so hell, I should know better.  He is bright, and as worthy a human for a friend as there exists.

We began chatting this subject and we arrived at the present list, which considers builders of the industry, publishers who shaped the market, artists and writers who created work that influenced others and enjoyed great sales.

Some of the names you the reader will recognize.  But some are either from a period of the industry's history when writing or drawing comics didn't result in stardom, or, were more influential in the work that followed than their own circumstance.  We included talents from across the oceans, in both east and west directions.

Robert Crumb is associated with the world of underground comix, but has a great deal of recognition by purveyors of high culture, and art, in general, and as such, could be pointed to as a major talent.  But at the same time I say that, he is also not as widely recognized due to this not working in the mainstream. 

The list includes two amazing women who were instrumental in making the comics world better, Jenette Kahn published DC Comics, and under her reign she encouraged new imprints.  When DC comics birthed the imprint Vertigo, Karen Berger was the very excellent editor there.

Some non-frontline talent or influential parties was Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, publisher of the first true comic book.  Another is Phil Seuling who was responsible for the rise of a direct market that allowed more independent comics and experiments by major publishers.

And, while everyone on this list deserves attention, some are here for their determination, Dave Sim's Cerebus ran 300 issues, as an independent, and never saw it fall from his ownership or vision.  Joe Kubert was a very successful artist, but chose to create a school to help artists discover their talents to create comics.  Some might dispute the concept, but some very successful people can be named that would considerably establish how great the work he did as an educator was.

Row 1

Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, 
Jenette Kahn, Karen Berger

Row 2

Neal Adams, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, 
Bob Kane, Will Eisner

Row 3

Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Kazuo Koike, 
Goseki Kojima, Moebius

Row 4

Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson,  Osamu Tezuka, 
Robert Crumb, George Herriman, Harvey Kurtzman

Row 5 

Phil Seuling, René Goscinny, Dave Sim,
Dennis O'Neil, Hayao Miyazaki

Row 6

Neil Gaiman, Roy Thomas, John Byrne, 
Bill Finger, Joe Kubert