Comic Creators to Follow on Twitter

The advent of social media platforms like Twitter has made it easier for fanboys and girls to stay in touch with their favorite creators than ever before. This has been an incredible boon for comic fans since now they don’t have to wait for a con to ask their favorite writers and artists their burning questions. You no longer need to wait for an interview to hear what a creator is thinking in regards to just about anything. Twitter has become the sounding board for discussions on some of the biggest controversies to hit the industry. If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s hot in the world of comics then there's no better place than Twitter and there’s no one more vocal about the state of the industry at large than the people working in the trenches.

Comic book writers and artists don’t just stay in their studios all day and create your favorite comics. They do actually have a life outside of comics. The great thing about being a talented and world renowned writer such as these fellas is that they tend to be pretty damn funny, too. That’s why after after scouring the depths of Twitter we’ve picked out some of the best and brightest comic creators whose Twitter feeds are guaranteed to brighten up your day.

Gail Simone

Gail Simone is an iconic figure in the comic industry. She’s a very well-respected writer who came to prominence in the late 90s thanks to the website Women in Refrigerators. The site was dedicated to documenting the numerous women heroes and girlfriends of superheroes who had been killed and disposed of as a trope used to punish the hero. Her writing on the subject got her a great deal of attention and even led her into writing actual comics. Since her humble origin, she’s gone on to write for such iconic comic book characters as Batgirl and Red Sonya. She’s been a staunch feminist writer and is one of the most respected and acclaimed writers to be working in mainstream comics. You can try and see if you can catch her in a crowded panel or you can just follow her on Twitter and hear her thoughts about everything.

@gailsimone

Duane Swierczynski

Duane Swierczynski is mainly known for writing crime novels and non-fiction books, but he has also penned a number of comic books. He’s handled such characters like Cable, Punisher, Moon Knight, Iron Fist, and even Godzilla. His ability to bring the kind of grit from his crime stories into this superhero comic works makes him a fascinating talent. Also, his ability to go between working for Marvel Comics and smaller publishers like Valiant displays a great versatility in his talent of navigating between larger and smaller publishers. Plus his dry sense of humor comes across perfectly in his tweets.

@swierczy

Jhonen Vasquez

Jhonen Vasquez has always been an indie darling in the underground comic book scene. Writing comics like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee!, and I Feel Sick turned him into a household name on the underground circuit. Then he hit mainstream success with Invader Zim on Nickelodeon, which has become a mainstay at Hot Topic stores in malls across the country for over a decade. This has earned him a devoted following. Thankfully he’s provided one of the most delightfully inspired Twitter accounts so he can share whatever deranged musing he has with the world on a 24-hour basis. Invader Zim might be cancelled but the world can always rely on the fact that there'll be more Jhonen Vasquez inspired insanity streaming into their feeds on a never ending basis.

@JhonenV

Neil Gaiman

Widely considered to be a God-tier talent, Neil Gaiman’s epic storytelling has transformed the landscape of comics itself, especially in such seminal pieces of work like The Sandman. He’s written for just about every major comic publisher under the sun and won every award that can possibly be given. His books have been adapted into numerous TV shows and films. The chance of meeting him in person is rare given his busy and prolific schedule, but you can receive daily insights into what he’s reading and writing thanks to his incredibly thoughtful Twitter account. It’s the best way to gain insight into the real soul of a poet then you shouldn’t miss Neil Gaiman’s twitter account especially with his iconic novel American Gods finally making its way to television.

@Neilhimself

Becky Cloonan

Becky Coonan is a brilliant Eisner Award-nominated artist who managed to make her way from working in indie comics to doing big mainstream stuff. She also has the very special distinction of being the first women to ever draw a mainline Batman title. But what makes her especially remarkable is how versatile an artist she is. Not only has she drawn for mainstream comics, but she also did her own original manga style graphic novel for Tokyo Pop as well as work for more high brow comic book labels like Vertigo. The best part is she even tweets out pictures of her work-in-progress drawings so you can literally see the artistic process at work as she creates her masterpieces.

@BeckyCloonan

D. J. Coffman

D. J. Coffman is a cartoonist most well known for creating the Hero by Night comic. He frequently collaborates with Brian Lynch the screenwriter behind Puss and Boots and the minions movie. His wonderfully irreverent sense of humor makes his twitter a laugh riot that any fan of smaller indie comics should never miss out on. He also writes for his daily webcomic Yimumah.

@DJcoffman

Rob Liefeld

Rob Liefield was one of the most influential artists of the 90s. His signature art featured ridiculously over muscled superheroes and influenced the entire industry of 90s comics. He’s also responsible for creating iconic comic characters like Deadpool as well as drawing for X-Force and The New Mutants. What’s even more amazing is that he had no formal art training and was completely self-taught. He was also instrumental in the comic industry, being one of the original founders of Image comics and creating one of the most successful comic labels of all time. He can still be seen on the con scene selling art and greeting fans. But now you can hear what he has to say about everything and stalk the musings of icon.

@robertliefeld

Dan Slott

Dan Slott has been one of the main writers for Spider-Man for nearly a decade. He’s written some of the most influential wall-crawler stories. He’s also worked on other characters like Silver Surfer and Ren and Stimpy, but it’s the wall crawler that has largely defined his career. He’s taken Peter Parker through many adventures including the controversial One More Day storyline as well as his issue 700 for the Amazing Spider-Man where he killed off Peter Parker and had his brain replaced by Doctor Octopus. Despite his risky storytelling decisions, it’s hard to argue there isn’t a writer working today who knows how to handle Peter Parker or tell an amazing Spider-Man story. With movie Spider-Man returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe we might even see him take one of his stories to the big screen.

@Danslott

Kate Beaton

Kate Beaton is web comic royalty. Her webcomic Hark! A Vagrant has won every award under the sun. Her combination of historical figures and general whimsy has captured the hearts of millions. Her work has been featured in Wired, Macleans, and Comic Book Resources. A few of her cartoons have even had the illustrious privilege of being published in The New Yorker. Due to other projects, her work on her acclaimed comic strip has ground to halt, but Twitter is now the best way to get a dose of Kate Beaton sanctioned whimsy in your day.

@beatonna

Jim Lee (@JimLee)

A veteran of the comic book industry in every aspect of the word, Jim has applied his penmanship to many different comics, ranging from The Punisher to Star Trek, but he grew to massive popularity in the 90s when he frequently contributed to Uncanny X-Men, which proved to be a sleeper hit for Marvel, especially in the wake of decreasing comic sales. He tweets pretty often, usually linking to interesting stories about the comic book industry as a whole. An intelligent, funny, and influential fella indeed.

Scott Snyder

No one can deny that the Batman runs in The New 52 have been nothing short of spectacular, primarily due to the stories concocted by Scott Snyder. On his Twitter, he shares quirky geek culture items and shares his musings on the industry as a whole.

@Ssnyder1835

Kelly Sue Deconnick

Nominated for an Eisner Award in 2014 for her comic book line, Pretty Deadly, Kelly Sue has been an influential voice in the comic book industry, both for female writers as well as manga adaptation, becoming more popular as years go on. She tends to tweet funny geek culture pictures and musing about her inability to use modern technology, “My relationship with tech in a nutshell: 'this would be so cool if it worked.' "

@kellysue

Robert Kirkman

You may not know who Robert Kirkman is, but you almost certainly know some of his contributions to pop culture. This is the man who wrote the original graphic novels of The Walking Dead and still has a story and producer position on the popular AMC TV show. On his Twitter he highlights some interesting The Walking Dead facts, retweets articles about the show and shows off some of the stranger sides of the industry all with a trademark sardonic wit.

@RobertKirkman

Brian Michael Bendis

Brian Michael Bendis is undeniably one of the biggest influences in the comic book industry. Winning five Eisner Awards for his writing over the years, he excelled at writing gritty crime and noir stories before eventually moving over to mainstream comics where he helped write some of Marvel’s biggest cross-comic events in the past 10 years including, Secret War and Age of Ultron. He continues to write for Marvel and most recently has had a major hand in the Playstation series, Powers. He tweets out some of the most seminal moments in comic history pretty often.

@BRIANMBENDIS

Fiona Staples

Having won multiple Eisner Awards between 2013-2015, many herald Fiona Staples as one of the greatest feminist comic book writers to ever enter into the industry. Having a wide influence, stretching from Archie comics to Saga, she is one of the leading voices in the comic industry, so it makes sense to follow her on Twitter to see what she thinks of the world, her favorite TV shows, and some kickass art work.

@fionastaples

Mark Millar

A rare sight in the comic book industry, Mark Millar is one of the few prominent comic book writers who doesn’t hail from the US. Instead, he's from the rainy hills of Scotland where he has penned some influential graphic novels and comic books such as Civil War and Kingsman: The Secret Service which have both individually been turned into hit films. He’ll be sure to share his thoughts on Glaswegian nightlife and Marvel films on his Twitter.

@mrmarkmillar