Top Comic Book Creators of 2019
By Various — One of the grand appealing things about comics is that it lacks many of the barriers between audience and creator found in other visual mediums like TV and movies. This more direct connection between artist and audience means comics stories are less polished, less labored, and less beholden to corporate interests than their counterparts on screens or prose pages. The result is an agile storytelling medium, where creators are arguably able to disseminate unique visions and perspectives better than if they’d spent years on a novel or on a large-scale production in television or film.
This all leads means that individual creator contributions can perhaps be better identified in comics. We’ve certainly done our best, anyway, to identify some of our favorite creators from this past year, be it in scripting, illustrating, coloring, letterering, editing, or a combination of several. And so below you will find our list of the Top Comic Book Creators of 2019, as determined by a mix of influence, quality, volume, and individual tastes. enjoy!
Top Comic Book Creators of 2019 - Artists
Elsa Charretier
Notable Work in 2019: November
Fico Ossio
Notable Work in 2019: No One Left to Fight
The Fiumaras (Max and Sebastian)
Notable Work in 2019: Sandman Universe
German Garcia
Notable Work in 2019: Barbarella/Dejah Thoris, Immortal Hulk #25
Ian Bertram
Notable Work in 2019: Little Bird
Joshua Hixson
Notable Work in 2019: The Plot
Martin Morazzo
Notable Work in 2019: Ice Cream Man, She Could Fly - Lost Pilot
Sana Takeda
Notable Work in 2019: Monstress
Stephanie Hans
Notable Work in 2019: Die
Sumit Kumar
Notable Work in 2019: These Savage Shores
Honorable Mentions: Jorge Fornes, Ivan Reis, Dan Mora, Martin Simmonds, Caspar Wijngaard, Jacopo Camagni, Cliff Chiang, Andrea Sorrentino, and Juan Ferraya.
Top Comic Book Creators of 2019 - Writers
Al Ewing
Notable Works in 2019: Immortal Hulk, Marvel Comics #1000
Chip Zdarsky
Notable Works in 2019: Daredevil, Invaders, Spider-Man: Life Story
Christopher Cantwell
Notable Works in 2019: Doctor Doom, Everything, The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask, She Could Fly - Lost Pilot
Eve Ewing
Notable Works in 2019: Ironheart
Jonathan Hickman
Notable Works in 2019: East of West, House of X/Powers of X, New Mutants, X-Men
Kelly Sue DeConnick
Notable Works in 2019: Aquaman, Pretty Deadly
Kieron Gillen
Notable Works in 2019: Die, Once & Future, Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt, Wicked + Divine
Mariko Tamaki
Notable Works in 2019: Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, Harley Quinn - Breaking Glass
Matt Fraction
Notable Works in 2019: November, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen
Tini Howard
Notable Works in 2019: Excalibur, Strikeforce, Thanos
Vita Ayala
Notable Works in 2019: Livewire, Magic: The Gathering - Chandra, Marvel Action: Black Panther, Morbius, Age of X-Man: Prisoner X, James Bond)
Honorable Mentions: Brian Michael Bendis, Dan Watters, Gerry Duggan, Jason Aaron, Jeff Lemire, Jody Houser, Marjorie Liu, Michael Moreci, Ram V., Scott Snyder, and W. Maxwell Prince.
Top Comic Book Creators of 2019 - Colorists
Brad Simpson
Notable Works in 2019: Black Stars Above, Coffin Bound
Chris O’Halloran
Notable Works in 2019: Ice Cream Man, Immortal Hulk #25
Cris Peters
Notable Works in 2019: Collapser, Buffy/Angel - Hellmouth, The Dollhouse Family, John Constantine: Hellblazer Special, Narcos
Dave Stewart
Notable Works in 2019: Gideon Falls, Rumble, BPRD: The Devil You Know, Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Silver Surfer: Black, Hellboy and the BPRD: The Beast of Vargu, Basketful of Heads
Jacob Phillips
Notable Works in 2019: Criminal
Jordie Bellaire
Notable Works in 2019: The Banks, Daredevil, Dark Knight Returns - Golden Child, Doctor Mirage, Killer Grove, Pretty Deadly Rat
Matt Hollingsworth
Notable Works in 2019: Batman Curse of the White Knight, Little Bird, November, Spawn
Msassyk
Notable Works in 2019: Isola, Critical Role: Vox Machina - Origins Series II, The Magnificent Ms. Marvel Annual
Tamra Bonvillain
Notable Works in 2019: Captain Marvel, Crow Hack/Slash, Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds, Marilyn Manor, Once and Future, William Gibson’s Alien 3
Triona Farrell
Notable Works in 2019: Crowded, Doctor Strange, Hit-Girl, Runaways Web of Black Widow
Top Comic Book Creators of 2019 - Letterers
Aditya Bidikar
Ariana Maher
Clayton Cowles
Deron Bennett
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Jim Campbell
John Workman
Notable Works: All of these letterers are uber prolific, ranking among the busiest people in comics, so chances are you’ve seen plenty of examples of their work throughout the year.
Top Comic Book Creators of 2019 - Editors
Andy Khouri, DC Comics
Notable Works in 2019: Collapser, Far Sector, Doom Patrol: Weight of the Worlds, High Level, Goddess Mode, Lucifer, Harleen, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth
Adrian F. Wassel, Vault Comics
Notable New Books in 2019: Black Stars Above, Heist or How to Steal a Planet, The Mall, Money Shot, The Plot, Queen of Bad Dreams, Relics of Youth, Resonant, Sera and the Royal Stars, She Said Destroy, Test
Eric Harburn, BOOM! Studios
Notable Works in 2019: Folklords, Black Badge, The Empty Man, Coda, Bone Parish
Karen Berger, Dark Horse Comics/Berger Books
Notable Works in 2019: Everything, Invisible Kingdom Ruby Falls, She Could Fly - Lost Pilot
Top Comic Book Creators of 2019 - Writers/Artists
Chris Ware
Notable Work in 2019: Rusty Brown
Daniel Warren Johnson
Notable Works in 2019: Murder Falcon, Wonder Woman: Dead Earth
Eleanor Davis
Notable Work in 2019: The Hard Tomorrow
Jeff Lemire
Notable Work in 2019: Frogcatchers
Livio Raimondelli
Notable Work in 2019: The Kill Lock
Michel Fiffe
Notable Work in 2019: Copra
Raina Telgemeier
Notable Work in 2019: Guts
Ray Fawkes
Notable Work in 2019: In The Flood
Stjepan Sejic
Notable Work in 2019: Harleen
Tillie Walden
Notable Work in 2019: Are You Listening?
Walt Simonson
Notable Work in 2019: Ragnarok: The Breaking of Helheim
d. emerson eddy, Harry Kassen, and Zack Quaintance contributed to this list.
Check out our other Best of 2019 lists, including Best Single Issues of 2019, Best Superhero Makeovers, and Best Comics of 2019: Contributor Picks.