Me - To come up with all the amazing, grand, sweeping ideas for the universe.
Geoff Johns - To put those ideas into play and oversee the mechanics of said universe.
Greg Rucka - Top mechanic. Handles the big-seller series.
Brian K. Vaughn - With a clause in contract that he must "stick the landing" on any series he oversees. No petering out on the last issue to wrap things up quickly.
Christopher Priest - Handles editing tasks. Final veto over all other writers.
In spite of the lofty job descriptions, each of us are also writing books as well as editing.
Comments
J.R.R. Tolkien
Charles Dickens
Mark Twain
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
....you did say "any five writers."
Geoff Johns - To put those ideas into play and oversee the mechanics of said universe.
Greg Rucka - Top mechanic. Handles the big-seller series.
Brian K. Vaughn - With a clause in contract that he must "stick the landing" on any series he oversees. No petering out on the last issue to wrap things up quickly.
Christopher Priest - Handles editing tasks. Final veto over all other writers.
In spite of the lofty job descriptions, each of us are also writing books as well as editing.
Terry Moore - the guy who digs into the non super hero corners of the universe.
John Byrne - The heavy lifter. Big projects and events. Also probably the guy who gets mad and quits first.
Roger Stern - the person I depend on to give me consistently good books month after month.
Geoff Johns - the fixer. Relaunces books when necessary and freshens up old characters/ideas.
Bob Layton - He's already done it twice (or more?) and while not always successful commercially, the comics have always been well made.
Brian K. Vaughan - An idea factory. The guy can do no wrong.
Kurt Busiek - Knows how to take a long-lived, tired idea and make it feel fresh, something superhero comics desperately need.
Marjorie Liu - Brings the X-books style, and has proven she can create a new property with Monstress and her novels.
Gail Simone - A pro's pro. Always does excellent, moving work.
My second choices, for most of the same reasons, would be, respectively, Jim Shooter, Tom King, Mark Waid, Fabian Nicieza, and Geoff Johns.
And were he still with us, Dwayne McDuffie would be at the top of the list without question.
Geoff Johns
Tom King
Grant Morrison
Mark Millar
Geoff Johns
Ed Brubaker
Terry Moore
Joss Whedon
Waid
Rucka
Fraction
DeConnick
;)