Graphic Novel Reading Group discussion

In the superhero genre of the graphic novel, the X-Men franchise is one of the most popular and bestselling in this genre.

Please post your opinions and comments on who are The Best X-Men writers of all time, and WHY. Please back up your opinions/comments.

If you just post a name or names with no back up why you consider them The Best, please note that it will be deleted as Spam.

I don't think you can look past Chris Claremont really. I mean, the X-Men weren't particularly popular when he took over. Even though he didn't create them, he's responsible for most of the things that are memorable about them. There were so many iconic storylines written by him it's just astonishing.

Chris Claremont
Laid the foundations for the X-Men we know and have loved for nearly 40 years. Without Claremont's work, there would be no X-Men "franchise" and it would not be a cornerstone of the Marvel Universe.

Mark Millar
Gave us a fun new spin on the concept with Ultimate X-Men, less burdened by years of continuity or a need to follow multiple books.

Grant Morrison
For good or ill, he made X-Men interesting again, which I give him props for. Not my favorite run, but it had some strong and strange moments. Not afraid to add to the character mix, rather than stick to the regular cast.

Joss Whedon
He made X-Men fun again, after Morrison just go too twisted.

Brian Michael Bendis
As much as I hate to admit it, I really like Bendis' work on All-New X-Men. It's fun and deals directly with the changing tone of the Marvel Universe, which I haven't always liked. This goes right to the heart of that question.

Honorable mentions go to John Byrne on Alpha Flight, Judd Winick on Exiles, and Howard Mackie on Mutant X. Though not the main pillar of the X-universe, these titles had strong runs that dared to be something different in the glut of X-books.

Chris Claremont
The definitive X-Men writer. He's responsible for building the X-Men into the legacy characters they are today.

Peter David
Peter has a way of taking second (or worse) string characters and making them interesting. His original run on X-Factor was a strong departure for the series that brought different characters into the spotlight. It also produced one of my favorite single issues of all time, X-animations.

Joss Whedon
Told a great, long, self-contained story that felt true to established characters while turning a lot about them end over end.

Robert wrote: "Honorable mentions go to John Byrne on Alpha Flight, Judd Winick on Exiles, and Howard Mackie on Mutant X."

I remember Mutant X very fondly. It was so different (at the time) and very interesting. Mackie made Havok's "man out of his own time" adventure feel extremely unique.

Chris Claremont - He was practically the one who established the mythos of the X-Men and I've been enjoying the majority of the stories he had written for the X-Men.

Joss Whedon - He was pretty much the Chris Claremont of the early 2000s and managed to introduce the X-Men into a new generation, which I found very impressive.

Mark Millar - I loved his run on Ultimate X-Men as it really re made the X-Men for a newer generation and I also loved his story on Old Man Logan.