It’s an interesting time in the world of comics, to say the least. Change is afoot, with distribution stabilizing despite a million legal actions surrounding the previous leader in that space, the direct and book markets seemingly thriving, and the digital space seeing new players and veterans alike vying for control of the market. Throw in crowdfunding being as competitive as ever and the turbulent societal and economic situations we’re all living through, and needless to say, it’s an odd time — as it always is in comics.

With all that change — and all that success and consumer interest — it felt there was an opportunity to revisit a feature concept I previously tackled just under four years ago. It’s just what the title of this article suggests it is. It’s a look at the most interesting people in comics right now, and it’s a list built from both my observations and conversations I’ve had with industry folks in recent months.

But why “interesting” rather than saucier phrases like “best” or “most successful?” Simply put, I like it more because it isn’t quite as definitive as those others are. It isn’t saying “this person is superior,” or anything like that. Instead, it says, “hmm, that person sure is doing intriguing things,” which is both meaningful and somewhat vague. For some reason that is much more…well…interesting to me!

Of course, “interesting” is a broad term. It also could be read as a positive or negative. It isn’t the latter here. What I mean when I say “interesting” here is that these people — including creators, retailers, editors, executives, or anyone who really plays a role specifically in comics — are making impactful moves or playing a key role in what’s happening in comics, both today and into tomorrow. That doesn’t mean that they have to be the showiest of folks. “Interesting” doesn’t necessarily equal “top selling” or “richest” or something like that. It just suggests that these are people who are affecting comics in a real way, even if it’s not always easy to point to how they’re moving the needle. It can sometimes even be less specifically about what they’re doing and more about the role they have in the overall comics ecosystem.

That’s a complicated explanation, but I want to make sure I cover my bases here. And because I am a rule-based creature, I came up with guidelines to fuel this exercise. This list isn’t driven by whims! Real thought went into it! So, what were those rules?

They were the following:

• I was only allowed to make six picks. Not five. Not ten. Six.
• None of the people I selected in the previous edition — apologies to Christina Merkler, Elsa Charretier, James Tynion IV, Spike Trotman, Steve Anderson, and Zainab Akhtar — were eligible, because I wanted to highlight a different group of individuals this time. Those folks are still incredibly interesting, though!
• No duplication of roles was allowed, just to ensure that a broader mix was considered. That meant only one creator, one editor, one whatever, etc. could be included.
• Picks could be representative of a larger concern rather than an actual reflection of what a person does, because frankly, I don’t really know what some of these people actually do in their jobs.
• Even though Absolute DC is the biggest thing in single-issue comics right now, I limited myself to one contributor from that line. I didn’t want this to be The Absolute Show.

That’s it. Those were the rules that guided me. So, that’s it for my preamble. Let’s get to the list, which is ordered alphabetically by last name.