Marvel is the current sales leader in comics and one of the biggest names in pop culture, thanks to the MCU. None of that would be possible without the comics, though, and Marvel has done a great job producing characters and stories that have stood the test of time. Marvel's creators are some of the best who ever worked in comics, with their writers crafting tales that have captured imaginations for decades.

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In the last forty years, generally considered the modern age of comics, some of Marvel's writers have been more important than others. Their work has influenced the Marvel Universe in a myriad of ways, creating something amazing.

10 Roger Stern Created Some Of The Greatest Avengers Stories Ever

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Roger Stern was a Marvel workhorse in the '80s, working on many books but the big one was Avengers. Stern's run on Avengers was a classic and produced fan favorite stories like "Under Siege". Stern had some tough competition in the '80s, as the rise of the X-Men overshadowed pretty much everything else that Marvel was putting out.

Stern made the second Baron Zemo, Helmut, into a credible threat and brought the Masters of Evil back to prominence. His work would help cement the Avengers' place in the Marvel Universe during a period of flux and nearly every Avengers writer after him found inspiration in his work.

9 Ed Brubaker's Captain America Run Redefined The Hero For The 21st Century

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Ed Brubaker has been gone from Marvel for years but his work there remains massively influential. He stepped on to Captain America and revitalized the Star-Spangled Avenger alongside artists Steve Epting and Mike Perkins. Mixing spy stories and superheroics with aplomb, Brubaker's run re-introduced Bucky Barnes to the Marvel Universe.

The creation of the Winter Soldier began a Cap renaissance that made his book a must-read for the first time in years. Brubaker also turned in runs on Daredevil and Uncanny X-Men, as well, and eventually helmed a Winter Soldier series. Captain America in the 21st century would be very different without Brubaker.

8 Mark Millar Helped Set Marvel's Course In The '00s

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Mark Millar came to Marvel on heels of his success on The Authority. Launching Ultimate X-Men and The Ultimates for the Ultimate line, he helped drive Marvel's sales into stratosphere. He turned in fan favorite runs on Wolverine and Spider-Man, working as one of the brain trust who helped guide Marvel, before writing Civil War.

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Civil War changed the course of the Marvel Universe for years to come. Millar was at the height of his powers and parlayed into it a creator-owned imprint at Marvel. Before leaving the publisher, he worked on Fantastic Four and "Old Man Logan", creating the Wastelands, Marvel's current dystopian future du jour.

7 Grant Morrison's Time At Marvel Was Massively Influential In A Variety Of Ways

Grant Morrison

Grant Morrison is one of comics' greatest writers, so fans were excited when they came to Marvel. Their New X-Men run was nothing short of revolutionary, making the X-Men actually feel like the future for the first time ever. Their gonzo imagination was perfect for the team, but their time at the publisher was cut short by fights with Marvel editorial.

Morrison's influence over Marvel was two-fold. In a fit of pique, the publisher spent years meticulously taking apart everything they had done, which would only last until writers who were fans of Morrison's work came aboard and brought back concepts and characters Morrison created. The current X-Men books owe everything to Morrison's work.

6 Jason Aaron Has Been One Of Marvel Main Writers For Years

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Jason Aaron did something that no one thought was possible; he turned Jane Foster into a fan favorite. Aaron made his name at Marvel working on Punisher and Wolverine before moving over to the X-Men books with the event book Schism. From there, he launched Wolverine and the X-Men and The Amazing X-Men, before runs on Doctor Strange and especially The Mighty Thor made him superstar.

Relaunching Avengers in 2018, Aaron has reached the pinnacle at Marvel. For over a decade, he's charted the courses of some of Marvel's biggest character and made Thor a big deal again in a way the character hadn't been in years.

5 Kurt Busiek Helped Make The Avengers Great Again

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The '90s were a bad time for the Avengers. The X-Men were fully ascendant and the Avengers felt old fashioned and staid. Farming them out to Rob Liefeld during Heroes Reborn didn't exactly help, but that's where Kurt Busiek came in. Making a name for himself on Thunderbolts and Untold Tales Of Spider-Man, Busiek was joined by artist George Perez to relaunch Avengers.

Busiek and Perez created amazing Avengers stories, ones essential for any fan of the team. Busiek's time on Avengers made fans realize just how great the team could be for the first time in years, and his run is one of the best in Avengers history.

4 Dan Slott Set Spider-Man's Course For A Decade

Spider-Man comics writer Dan Slott

Dan Slott had worked for Marvel for years before She-Hulk and two Great Lakes Avengers miniseries' brought him to fans' attention. He'd become a part of the Spider-Man brain trust that took over The Amazing Spider-Man after "One More Day" and eventually become the book's sole writer. He was in charge of Marvel's most popular character for a decade.

His run included fan favorites stories like "Spider-Verse", "Spider-Island", and The Superior Spider-Man. Slott's time on the book did a lot for Spider-Man, even if fan opinion can be mixed on it. Since then, he's worked on Tony Stark: Iron Man and Fantastic Four, cementing his place as one of Marvel's biggest writers.

3 Jonathan Hickman Has Had Iconic Runs On Marvel's Three Biggest Teams

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Jonathan Hickman rose through the ranks on books like The Ultimates, Secret Warriors, and S.H.I.E.L.D. before a run on Fantastic Four made him into a star. He'd go from there to Avengers and New Avengers post-Avengers Vs. X-Men charting the team's course until his Marvel Multiverse redefining book Secret Wars.

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He'd leave Marvel for a few years but return in 2019, taking over the X-Men line as Head of X and dropping the one-two punch of House Of X/Powers Of X, changing the X-Men line forever. Hickman's time on the X-Men is over, but he's a kingmaker at Marvel, having put out best of all-time work that redefined all three of Marvel's biggest teams in a decade.

2 Brian Michael Bendis Was Basically Marvel's Head Writer For Most Of The Time He Was There

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Brian Michael Bendis changed Marvel forever. Making his start on Daredevil and Ultimate Spider-Man, he became one of the publisher's most beloved writers before moving over to Avengers and relaunching it as New Avengers. His run with the Avengers would become a fan favorite and propelled him to the forefront of the Marvel Universe.

He wrote most of the publisher's significant events and eventually helped relaunch the X-Men line post-Avengers Vs. X-Men with All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men. He spent years as what basically amounts to Marvel's head writer before moving to DC.

1 Chris Claremont Transformed The X-Men Into The Comic Industry's Biggest Characters

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Chris Claremont was on Uncanny X-Men for seventeen years, the longest tenure any Marvel writer spent on a title. His time on the book coincided with the X-Men becoming the biggest characters in the comics industry, with Uncanny X-Men overthrowing the traditional titans of Marvel and DC to become the best selling book around.

Claremont didn't create the concept of the X-Men, but he created everything modern fans love about them. His ideas have been recycled a million times, and the characters he's created are still some of the most important and popular X-Men characters. He wrote the best selling comic ever, X-Men #1, a record that no one has come close to touching.

NEXT: Marvel: 10 Best Reformed Villains, Ranked