You say "no one qualifies" in a Top Five Best Creators of Today, yet you give a nineteen-person list of current creators...
Well, I thought I said it above, but if I was unclear, these are creators that I think are capable of good work that I watch, but I don't think they've done a good satisfying and complete story in a long time. Generally, I've purchased books with nice art, but with really lame and disappointing writing that kills it cold.
As I've said for a long time, there's a writing crisis in comics, and I'm tired of purchasing 22 pages of pinups disguised as a story, or a one-issue story that's been stretched over 6 issues to fill a trade.
One of the last I read that was halfway interesting was one of your recommendations, a LOKI hardcover by Robert Rodi and some guy who did painted art that looks like John Bolton. It was better than the standard fare, but still felt incomplete to me. I really miss reading the last page of a story and thinking "Wow, that was great!"
Some issues that come to mind that fill the bill:
LEGION (4th series) 49 (Matter-eater Lad solo story, very funny!)
ABRAHAM STONE # 1 (Marvel, 1995, by Joe Kubert)
The last few issues of Bud Root's CAVE WOMAN: PANGAEAN SEA.
The first 5 trades of HELLBOY stories by Mignola (before he started farming the work out to less inspired creators)
BATMAN/TARZAN by Ron Marz and Igor Kordey
SOJOURN by Ron Marz and Greg Land
SILVER SURFER: PARABLE by Stan Lee and Moebius
CONAN THE ADVENTURER 1, by Roy Thomas and Rafael Kayanan
And the other two series I listed above, early issues of YOUNG AVENGERS and Waid/Kitson LEGION
