My big surprises so far have been:
Carlos Pacheco (though I like his work well enough)
Olivier Copiel
Jim Aparo
Mark Bagley
Steve McNiven (who?)
John Byrne (I’m not surprised that he made the list – just that he’s 6th in the artists list)
Mike Mignola (in the writers list)
Fabien Nicieza (who?)
Roger Stern

This list doesn’t include the people who’s work I hate, but am not surprised by

Or is there some merit to his art that I’m simply missing?

(In case anyone’s wondering about my tastes, I think my vote was something like the following, though I’ve misplaced my actual post to Brian:

1. Don Newton
2. Jim Aparo
3. Paul Smith
4. Steve Rude
5. Mike Mignola
6. Jack Kirby
7. Mike Kaluta
8. Dick Sprang
9.Gene Colan
10. Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez)

(Note – in the above statement I can only say that because Erik Larsen was never 90′s Image House Style artist)

But the fact that Todd McFarlane beat out Barry Windsor-Smith was sad. I think it made my heart cry a little. On the inside.

I think McFarlane’s an interesting vote because, while lauded at the time) he hasn’t done anything for so long really that he can’t really be shrugged off as a pop vote like one might be inclined to do with contemporary creators with little history (Wheadon, Finch, etc.). Voters had to think back a decade to pick him out; they had to consider. And still, enough picked him that he could beat out scads of others. Now, I’m not judging here, but I do find it surprising.

You’re right. I don’t know what appeal his art has. I can’t find anything appealing about it.

(If he’d kept up the standard of writing he had in The Challengers of the Unknown then he’d deserve to be in the top ten)

Other things – Re: “All Time”, I can see your point here, but it’s still valid because it stresses that we are voting for our favourites from all time, rather than our current favourites.

RE: “Lack of knowledge” – If someone likes Andy Kubert’s work then that does not show a lack of knowledge of what makes “good art”. Maybe if you don’t like Andy Kuberts art (personally I find it passable) then you lack the knowledge of what appeal Andy’s art has. Gawd knows I lack the knowledge of what people see in Jim Lee’s art – and various others I’ve seen in the list so far.

And Alex Toth was robbed – He should have breezed the top ten

Dan

I like Whedon. Just not his comic work. I’m not badmouthing anyone for voting for Whedon. They like Kirkman too and Invincible is similar to Savage Dragon (considering it’s one of Kirkman’s favorites).

Guys like Walt Simonson, Gil Kane, Jack Kirby (The Writer!) are all represented.

And Kudos to Brian for making the list informative and interesting. You rock, BC!

But see, you’re talking about talent. I’m talking about skill. And neither one is wholly reliant on the other. It’s totally possible to have interesting characters in fascinating situations who have the worst, most stilted dialogue in history. The difference between talent and skill is that one is objectively measurable.

I’m starting to think that Wally Wood, Russ Heath, Dick Sprang, Curt Swan, Jerry Robinson, Mac Raboy, and Lou Fine, among others, aren’t going to be on the artists list. And I’m equally doubtful of Robert Kanigher, Joe Simon, Otto Binder, Bill Finger, Gardner Fox, John Broome, Bob Haney, Arnold Drake, and Michael Fleisher for writers.

I don’t think there’s any “Fact” to it at all. Art is not wholly subjective, but it is subjective enough that you can always debate the relative quality of artists (and I mean artists in the broad sense, not the “draws pictures” sense) from here nigh unto eternity. I still maintain Ed Wood had talent.

I kind of doubt it. He doesn’t get a whole lot of love at CBR. Which is kind of shame because I think a lot of people here would like Savage Dragon if they gave it a chance.

Nothing wrong with saying, “You have ___ ahead of ___?!?” or “How could you put ____ on the list?”

That’s completely reasonable.

I know I was thinking that often while compiling the votes.

Even considering that, I’d have a hard time voting for anyone who hadn’t been working in comics regularly for 10+ years for any sort of All Time list. Heck, I like Joss Whedon, but I’d have a hard time thinking he’d belong in the top 500 due to his small body of work, and certainly I’d put him behind some true pioneers.

You guys are arguing with something I didn’t say. I’m not talking about what the poll should be or anything. I was explaining the “lack of knowledge” comment that people took offense to.

I don’t care who people vote for, but if they’re voting Andy Kubert as one of the best artists of all time, then they literally don’t know what makes good art. They know what they like, yes, but there is still a lack of knowledge.

Maybe the title should be changed to “CBRs All-Time Top 100 Writers and Artists as Voted by the Fans Based Upon Their Objective Perspective.”

I think that’s an accurate satire of the fairly unrealistic expectations regarding this list.

In any event, even if that WAS the title of the list, and we tossed in ALL the parsing language that people wanted, we would STILL get basically these same results , because there are a whole lot of people who DO think that Joss Whedon is, objectively, one the greatest comic book writers of all-time.

There are plenty of people who DO think that Greg Land is, objectively, one of the most proficient comic book artists of all-time.

Feel free to disagree with them. Lord knows I do.

But, like Lynxara said, “A professional would probably do that, but you don’t go to fans expecting professional behavior!”

Exactly. We’re just judging what the CBR posters think – which should be evident in the fact that the votes are cast by CBR posters.