Jack Burnley was real good. Had a real flair for an illustrative style.
Top 5, hmmmm.
I do like Meskin a whole lot!
Mac Raboy--wonderful stuff.
I loved the Lou Fine Ray and Black Condor stories....whew!
Big fan of Dick Sprang, too.
I've discovered Lee Alias recently [mostly with Green Arrow, but his Black Cat is pretty sweet].
Funny, nobody's mentioned E.E. Hibbard [thassa joke, son...smile when I say that]
Someone brought up Harry Lucey--I knew the man's work, but never knew his name until last week when I found Archie artists on Wiki--almost by accident....by looking for his artistic record, I was able to finally come across the name.
My brother and I both love his Archie work, but always called him "the guy who draws Archie with the circles comin' outta his head."
Someone mentioned not likin' Alex Toth that much--thing is, he's an artist's artist. To see what he's doing artistically, it helps if you're also an artist. I've been a comics freelancer for 25 yrs [but not an artist]--and his stuff is gorgeous. Just not to the casual observer.
Many of the 70's artists listed him as an idol--much like the 30's guys always seemed to list Alex Raymond. But of course Raymond's talent was right there in every panel. Toth is more subtle.