The countdown concludes!

Here are the last three artists that you voted as your favorites of all-time. Click here for the master list of all of the creators listed so far.

3. Becky Cloonan

Because Cloonan was already featured on our writer's list (at #14) I have used the same write up, but included new images that focus more on her art than writing. If you missed the first piece however, you can find it here.

American (by way of Italy) writer and artist Becky Cloonan studied art at the School of Visual Art and published mini-comics all through college. She was a part of the Meathaus collective and her first major published work was Channel One: Jennie Zero with writer Brian Wood in 2003. They followed that up with Demo in 2004, which got Cloonan a lot of well-deserved attention (as well as some award nods). In 2011 Wood and Cloonan would collaborate on Demo Volume II, but before that

Cloonan would do a ton of work from her own self-published mini-comics to work on Dark Horse Presents and Buffy The Vampire Slayer for Dark Horse, American Virgin for Vertigo, Flight for Image, Strange Tales for Marvel, Hopeless Savages for Oni, and of course her own OGN with Tokoyopop in 2006: East Coast Rising.

Cloonan was a fast rising star and as a result she has a shocking list of credits for one so young, many of them fascinating and impressive like a notable run on Dark Horse’s Conan The Barbarian (again with Brian Wood), and art duties on Gerard Way and Shaun Simon’s The True Lives of The Fabulous Killjoys, also for Dark Horse. All this work of course culminated in Cloonan is becoming the first and only woman to ever draw an issue of the main title Batman book (Batman #12, 2012).

But through all this art, Cloonan has never stopped writing, continuing to publish mini-comics, and even some hilarious journal comics, and in 2011 publishing the first book of an “unofficial” trilogy – Wolves. The Mire (which won Cloonan an Eisner, 2012) and Demeter (2013) followed, and the series was collected into a gorgeous single volume – By Chance or Providence -- in 2014.

But in 2014 Cloonan also made the leap to writing work both corporate IP and creator-owned work for others to illustrate. First as co-writer with Brenden Fletcher on DC’s Gotham Academy with Karl Kerschl illustrating, and then the creator-owned Southern Cross from Image with Andy Belanger drawing. Writing more and drawing monthly books less has allowed Cloonan to do even more projects – still exploring her wildly successful self-published work as well as doing covers and art on other projects as she deems fit.

While Cloonan has show to be exceptional at any project she puts her mind to she has especially become known for her ability with horror, subtle or unsubtle. The ability to create real mood and atmosphere and emotional resonance through her imagery. A master of tension and pacing, Cloonan’s work is magnificently difficult to put down thanks to her mastery of storytelling. It’s all rather beautiful as well of course, even the “gross stuff.”

As both a writer and artist Cloonan is also known for her extreme adaptability, tackling anything from iconic characters like Batman and Conan to her own journal comics and finding that sweet spot of a faithful and engaging feeling that is also totally her own.

In Gotham Academy her writing, though still laden with mystery is funny and fresh with a young vibrant pop to it; in By Chance or Providence it’s foreboding and loaded with layered meanings and tragedy; while in Southern Cross it’s playing out as slightly more matter of fact, even as a stunning line of tension boils just beneath the surface.

A sample from Cloonan's Eisner winning The Mire. Just look at how she handles horror and how she mounts the tension on each page!













A few pages from Cloonan's Batman #12...I don't know about you guys but she can draw my Batman anytime:







A few pages from Demo Vol II (this is from the opening of issue 3, each story stands on its own but they are all also interconnected):











And here are a few of the gorgeous covers that Cloonan has become so known for, for good measure!







Go to the next page for #2-1!

2. Amanda Conner

Amanda Conner's first published work was a back-up story in Solo Avengers #12. What's amazing about this story is just looking at this 27-year-old story and already you see so much of what makes Amanda Conner a great artist...











There's the strong storytelling and the charming character work that has made her a star. She delivers so much emotion in each panel.

Conner's first regular gig was drawing Peter David's Soulsearchers and Company for Claypool Comics. Throughout the 1990s, she worked on a variety of projects from a variety of publishers, from Vampirella to Painkiller Jane to Gatecrasher.

One of her most famous works was the 2002 graphic novel The Pro, with Garth Ennis, the hilariously offbeat story of a prostitute who is given superpowers, and how she manages to interact with the rest of the more traditional superheroes...





A few years later, she helped launch JSA Classified with Geoff Johns, detailing the new origins of Power Girl...





She then debuted the Power Girl ongoing series...





One thing I've always loved about Conner is a silly little thing, but it's very cool, and it is the way that she draws cats...





Conner nails emotions perfectly and cats are always filled with weird little emotions.

Recently, Conner has been doing more work on the other side of the creative team, writing the hit DC comic Harley Quinn with her longtime collaborator/husband, Jimmy Palmiotti, as well as the upcoming Starfire.

1. Fiona Staples

Fiona Staples was already building a reputation for being a strong artist when she was given the assignment of the 2009 mini-series, North 40. That series, I believe, really began to show just HOW striking she really is. Her design sense is impeccable, her style is unique and her storytelling is top notch...











I think people sometimes forget that she was ALREADY an Eisner Award nominee for Best Artist for North 40. So it wasn't Saga came out of nowhere. She was already a star.

Saga, though, naturally took her to the next level. Saga is a series where she and her co-creator, writer Brian K. Vaughan, have created a number of compelling characters that we'd like to follow through a rather unvarnished fantasy world where a young couple (Alana and Marko) is on the run with their baby. Slowly but surely, Vaughan and Staples populated their world with a variety of fascinating characters. Most notable are the the bounty hunters who hunt down the couple and their child and the robot prince who is tasked with their capture, as well, in an official governmental capacity.

On Saga, Staples gets to show off pretty much all of her strengths - amazing character designs, strong character work and stunning storytelling.

Heck, you see it all in just the first few pages of the series!









Such emotion pouring out of every panel, such great design and such an oddly gritty yet charming approach to the scene.

Here we see Alana, Marko and their nanny try to head for a rocketship forest to find a way to get away from the people tracking them down...









Stunning.

As she and Vaughan have made Saga into one of the top books on the market, the awards have come pouring in for her, and rightfully so, as she has established herself on the top echelon of modern comic book artists.

She will be doing the new reboot of Archie soon, which will use her extraordinary design sense to great use.