Byrne was one of the first artists I knew by name, and his artistic run on X-Men still remains the best of that series.  Since then he's gone on to write and draw some fine, fine books -- Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, Alpha Flight, Wonder Woman, Superman, Captain America.  In every case, he's brought both his imagination and his respect for the characters to the table -- sometimes fundamentally changing things, but all the while in line with the spirit of the folks he's working with.  I miss his Next Men series an awful lot, too.

Best known for his character, Concrete, Chadwick is a man of imagination and ideas -- which, even when they don't quite work out (The World Below) are still fascinating to consider and lovely to behold.

Foglio is hands-down the funniest writer and cartoonist in the comics field.  Everything he's done I've enjoyed.  Everything.  Buck Godot, Xxxenophile, and Girl Genius are not in my favorites list by chance.  He also does the What's New? cartoon, produced quite a few Magic cards, and did a marvelous adaptation of some of Aspirin's MythAdventures series.

Mignola's design work has lent moodiness to everything he's done.  His work on Hellboy has shown he can write as well as draw.

The man who brought noir back to comics.  His Dark Knight opened up new ground in comics writing, his run in Daredevil is a classic, and his continued experiments in light and shadow in Sin City should be studied by everyone in the field.

Moore is best known for Strangers in Paradise.  His ability to mix (both in words and pictures) the absurd with the dramatic makes him a neat guy to read.  

If Stan never did anything other than Usagi Yojimbo, he'd still rate being included here.  He draws cute drawings that are highly dramatic, and blends simplicity and elegance to make an harmonious whole.  Alone among those who write about medieval Japan he manages both to portray the violence and the poverty of the era without grinding our noses in it.  A true pro, and a really nice guy to meet.

Simonson's greatest achievement was his long, defining run on Thor, as both writer and artist.  But his artwork on Manhunter is one of my early "Wow!" comic book memories, and his more recent work on Kirby's Fourth World series (again as writer/artist) has also been excellent.

The panel at left shows the origin of the phrase, "Stupid, stupid rat creatures!"

Vess is a fabulous illustrator, and had published (under his Green Man Press imprint) collections of old folk tales and the like with pictures he has drawn.  Most recently, he's been doing a "prequel" series for Jeff Smith's Bone.  Beautiful, beautiful stuff.

Matt Wagner is the writer and artist of Mage, as well as the writer and sometimes-artist of Grendel and a host of other projects.  

Willingham was brilliant on Elementals, hilarious (and sexy) in Ironwood, and appropriately apocalyptic and imaginative in Pantheon.  He's rumored to have problems keeping to schedule, but he's a fine writer and a fine artist.  I'll buy his stuff sight unseen. 

I "met" Judd through Barry Ween, Boy Genius, but his work on Pedro & Me, the Frumpy the Clown comic strip, and pretty much anything else he touches has sold me on the value of following this guy around (literarily speaking) and picking up anything he produces.  That includes such "mundane" offerings as Green Lantern and Exiles.