I don't mean to slag on Todd too hard. Of all those crazy "fan-art" artists who rose to superstardom in the 90s without actually being able to draw, Todd is certainly one of the best. He's no Liefeld by any stretch.

Love Walk Kelly, and Pogo DOES have a huge influence… but I'd argue the influence was more due to the stories he told and the characters he created, and less with his art.

Actually… I gotta throw Richard Corben and Moebius there as well. There'd be no Heavy Metal without Moebius… and Americans wouldn't have read it without Corben.

Can't argue MacFarlane's influence on Spiderman, but for me he's the epitome of stuff you loved when you were a kid, and now you look back at aghast.

Excellent list you guys
But I do think Frank Miller should be included. His work on Ronin and especially DKR was honestly re-inventing the comic book page and doing stuff that no one had ever seen before. You could argue Chaykin was doing similar work with American Flagg but Miller was far more influential for doing…

"What Ho, Gods of the Abyss!" is my favorite part of the Black Dossier. One of the funniest things Moore has ever written.

I gotta vote for The Diamond Age if we're talking Stephenson. Much shorter (obviously) than his most recent books, and though - in my opinion - as fun as Snow Crash, it's much much deeper.

In Pynchon's first appearance on The Simpsons, he himself pronounced it "pin-CHON."

I'm surprised
How can the AV Club pretended to scramble for another Tim Thomerson credit while totally neglecting what has to be his most iconic performance - Jack Deth in the "Trancers" series. Five films! And not co-incidentally, another Charles Band franchise.

I see what you're saying here, Ron, and I think you're right - the politics of "Rambo: FBP2" aren't as jingoistic or problematic as a lot of people (myself included, obviously) have blasted them for. The movie pretty much does cover it's ass on that issue.

Zanzibar & Cap Ron,

Diry Harry
A few years ago I went to a Don Siegel film series hosted by Curtis Hanson, one of his other famous proteges (living in L.A. can be cool sometimes.)