I'm massive fan of Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, and Grant Morrison! All three writers bring wonderfully de-constructive and imaginative takes to the characters that they write, absolutely reinvigorating each title blessed enough to have their pen grace its scripts, and truly transcend the pulp medium into something that only the most stubbornly obtuse of high-brow snobs could dismiss as art! These three writers have rightfully had well-deserved praised heaped upon them so often that I virtually feel no need to elaborate on the masterful quality and influence of their works! In particular: I highlight Neil Gaiman's work on
The Sandman, Alan Moore's work on
Saga of The Swamp Thing,
Watchmen,
From Hell, and
V For Vendetta, and Grant Morrison's work on
Batman,
Seven Soldiers of Victory,
Final Crisis,
The Invisibles, and
Animal Man.
Sticking with
Vertigo: I also love what Jamie Delano did with
Hellblazer, and moreover what Garth Ennis subsequently did with
Hellblazer and
Preacher alike!
Moving beyond
Vertigo to
DC proper, I also truly appreciate Dennis O'Neal's work with Batman, The Question, and Green Arrow / Green Lantern. Together with the astoundingly talented artist Neil Adams, O'Neal reinvigorated Batman following the two decades of downright silly camp that was Batman during 1950's and the 1960's! They brought Batman back to his roots as a crime-fighting vigilante hunting down Gotham's criminal element under the cover of night, and moreover then proceeded to further expand and enrich the Batman's legacy by introducing the likes of Arkham Asylum, the drug Venom, Man-Bat, and the al Ghuls and their League of Assassins! O'Neal's handling of The Question was similarly masterful! And of course, again along with Neal Adams, O'Neal took Green Arrow / Green Lantern on a fascinating tour of 1970's America that brought further realism to superhero comics (including the infamous Speedy is a junkie story).
Just as O'Neal brilliantly invigorated Batman and The Question as crime-fighting vigilantes, I must also praise the similar treatment Mike Grell brought to Green Arrow during the 1980's with
The Longbow Hunters and onward: having Oliver Queen discard campy trick arrows and moving to Seattle to fight a more realistic and gritty criminal element there!
Ed Brubaker's and Greg Rucka's work on titles like
Gotham Central demonstrate their mastery when comes to comics with a pulpy noir feel and moreover giving the traditionally over-looked supporting cast of major franchises a fascinating voice of their own!
I heap similar praise upon Frank Miller's work up to and including
Batman: Year One. Unfortunately, a few years after that phenomenal work Miller's writing began a downward spiral into sheer insanity... I can't believe that the same man who penned such fantastic work with Daredevil and Batman in the 1980's went on to give us
All-Star Batman and Robin and
Holy Terror! Ugh!
As for more recent comics in
DC's New 52: I really like what Scott Snyder did with the
Batman and
Swamp Things titles, what Jeff Lemire did with
Animal Man and
Justice League Dark, and what J.H. Williams III did with
Batwoman. Under those writers, those titles are the definite highlights of the
New 52! (I've heard great things about
Demon Knights and
Dial H For Hero, but haven't yet gotten around to checking out their trades!) I also quite like Geoff Johns' epic run on
Green Lantern, pre- and post
-Flashpoint. As you can tell, I'm firmly in the
DC/Vertigo camp when it comes to comics!
James O'Barr's
The Crow and the exaggerated satire of Judge Dredd's various writers also hold a special place in my heart, to cite at least two examples from outside
DC!