Comic Book Fans AHOY!

[Professor S]

This is for all the comic book fans, or "sequential art" art fans, out there. We, the few who know that the best storytelling in any media right now is in the pages of a comic book. We, the few who know that shows like LOST and Heroes were saved by comic writers.

So, here is my questions to those who love and read comic books on a semi-regular basis:

1) What are you reading right now?

2) What are your Top 5 runs (modern age) by a writer? (Must be an established franchise)

3) What are your top 5 runs (modern age) by an artist? (Must be an established franchise)

My answers:

I'm a big on trade paperbacks, and the only book I'm collecting monthly right now is Kick-Ass. I wait on trades for Invincible, The Walking Dead, Astonishing X-Men, All-Star Superman and Mouse Guard. I tend to only invest in well reviewed runs by writers I trust, and a few artists will spur me to buy (Cassaday, Hitch, Quitely, Romita Jr.). I also tend to enjoy books based in small universes or ones exclusive to a single book.

Top Writing Runs
5) Mark Millar - Ultimates
4) Alan Moore - Swamp Thing
3) Chris Claremont - The Uncanny X-Men
2) Grant Morrison - New X-Men
1) Frank Miller - Daredevil

(I'm sure my ignorance of the DC universe is becoming apparent)

Noteable ommissions
Bryan K. Vaughn (Y:The Last Man) and Garth Ennis (Preacher) - Excluded because the were solo runs in a closed universe.
Joss Whedon - Not sure yet, but its shaping up to be epic.
Robert Kirkman (Invincible, Walking Dead) - So far these are solo runs, but f he open his franchises up to other writers, he would qualify, but probably still not crack the top 5, even though I love his work)

Top Artist Runs
5) Bryan Hitch - The Authority
4) John Romita Jr. - Iron Man
3) Frank Quitely - New X-Men
2) David Petersen - Mouse Guard
1) John Totleben - Swamp Thing

Noteable Ommissions
Jim Lee - Yeah, he changed comic art for almost 15 years... for the WORSE. He almost single handed ruined comics in the 90's.
Mark Silvestri - Great work on X-Men with Claremont
Any manga influenced piece of trash from the 90's... I hate you.