My Top 10 Favorite Comic Book Writers, #'s 6-10

This is a list of my favorite comic book scribes. I've limited it to works completed since 1980 to the present day. The list will give brief descriptions of my favorite works by each writer.

10. Mike Mignola
Mike writes Hellboy, one of my all time favorite titles. He draws upon myths and legends familiar, forgotten, and rarely told to shape his stories. His characters are engaging, making a book of primarily secondary players like BPRD as readable and fun as Hellboy's. Gotham By Gaslight was a creative slant on the Batman mythos.

9. Brian Wood
Brian's vast talent has produced a number of must-read titles over his relatively short career. Vertigo's DMZ and Northlanders are innovative and thought provoking, while titles like Local, Demo and the New York Four bring slices of life from twenty-somethings onto the comic page.

8. Brian K Vaughn
My list's second of three Brians, BKV has written a slew of critically acclaimed books I have not yet read, but I loved Y:The Last Man. My favorite work by BKV was Pride of Baghdad, chronicling the journey of four escaped lions during the first Gulf War. I am currently reading Ex Machina.

7. Matt Fraction
I first read Fraction on the Immortal Iron Fist, an epic run that really opened my eyes to a budding talent. He's completely changed my opinions on Iron Man. I once hated Mr. Stark, particularly after the Civil War, but Matt brought out the vulnerability and honor that I've never seen in Tony. He has reinvigorated an Uncanny X-Men title that had stagnated creatively. I recommend both Mantooth and Last of the Independents.

6. Grant Morrison
Simply put, Grant is the preeminent Batman writer. Starting with Arkham Asylum, to his more recent Batman story arcs and Batman and Robin, Grant brings a flair, poetry and just the right amount of madness to the Dark Knight. Morrison also brought myself and countless others back to New and Uncanny X-Men with his visionary relaunch. I also found We3 fantastic.