Top Ten Spider-Writers

With all of the writers to have graced the Spider-pages, who has done the best job of pleasing fanboys and crafting good storylines?

1. Roger Stern: He brought us the Hobgoblin for cryin' out loud! Not to mention the memorable Juggernaught storyline and who could forget "The Kid Who Collected Spider-man"? I thought "The Hobgoblin Lives" mini-series was a great end to the Hobgoblin mystery as well. Stern is definately one of the best.
2. Tom DeFalco: He was the man behind the symbiote. Before Venom. He also utilized the Hobgoblin in his heighday and edited Hobby's creation. He was also the editor for the Secret Wars, which is classic. He was also the man behind the Ultimate Guide for Spider-man, which is well done.
3. Whoever Wrote the Spider-man Movie: I searched on the web and found that dozens of writers over the course of 20 years aparently worked on scripts so I don't want to give any false credit. Yes, it wasn't a comic, but I never said it had to be. They wrote a movie that was exciting and let fanboys sleep easy. That's tough. Whoever did the final draft did a great job.
4. Todd McFarlane: Not a great writer, but his story telling through his pictures was enough for me to put him on here. He revolutionized the way Spidey was drawn simply by showing that change is possible ("Hey, what's wrong with his webbing?"). McFarlane was a decent writer, but a Spider-man legend.
5. Whoever makes the Shocker Interesting: I love that guy and I think he needs some good publicity.
6. Gerry Conway: He had to take over a book written by Stan Lee and he did it seemlessly. He made the Green Goblin infamous and corrupted Harry. These are all bad things for Spidey, but great reads. Plus, the Punisher, and the Jackal, without whom the Clone Saga wouldn't have happened. Wait... Kill Gerry Conway!
7. David Michelinie: He created Venom. The Green Goblin is Spidey's worst enemy, but Venom is the best. He has all Spidey's powers, but he's stronger, faster and has those cool tendrils. He followed through with Carnage (the nastiest guy Spidey has ever faced), made the Sinister 6 interesting, and made Spider-man so afraid he faked his own death just to get away from Venom.
8. J. Michael Straczynski: He's new, but he's already the funniest Spider-Writer ever. And he did something no one else dared to do. He gave Aunt May a *gasp* personality. He deserves a spot just for that. But also making Peter a teacher, which should have been obvious a long time ago. Pete's smart, but can't have too much money or the book will be disinteresting? That spells teacher.
9. J.M. Dematteis: Kraven's Last Hunt was probably the greatest storyline in Spider-man's history. And he did it with a villian like Kraven? This story alone makes him my hero and one of the best, but he also did The Best of Enemies, Harry's death. This was touching and a great way for him to go. J.M. is, quite frankly, the best Spider-Writer except for...
10. Stan "The Man" Lee: Duh! With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility. He created Spider-man, Doc Ock, the Sandman, the Scorpion, Green Goblin, Doctor Doom, The Lizard, The Kingpin, The Shocker, Kraven... I'll stop there. All of the great books written after Stan exist only because of him. Besides, what a great nickname, huh? Honorable Mention-Steve Ditko: He was an artist, but also listed as aa "co-plotter" for Spidey's earliest years. He deserves a mention at least.

Of course, there are many more great writers, but there's only room for ten on a top ten list, and so here are my picks!