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.