Ok might as well add my 2 bits worth - I personally prefer modeling in Lightwave. Though I do tend to prefer Maya's cloth solver when creating some clothing items. I still end up grouping them and such in LW. But for the straight modeling process,(organic modeling in particular)  I find Lightwave gives me a smoother and quicker workflow. (Granted this may be partially due to the fact that I've been using LW longer) but I can do most things in one step in LW that it takes two or three steps to do in Maya. 

My main example would be when it comes to dragging points individually. In Maya it's select move tool, click to select point(s), release mouse button, click again to move point, click another point, release mouse, click again to move, etc. With LW no need to select anything, just hit the drag tool and start dragging points at will.  At least in Maya 7 vs. LW 8x. Unless something has changed in latest version of Maya..

Certainly not knocking Maya for it's other superior functions though. Just talking strictly figure modeling here. On the + side for Maya though, I do like its overall handling of SubD's a bit better. And does have some good tools for fine detailing.

All this aside though, any good modeling app will do the trick, the main thing is get to know how your chosen software works and learn some basic modeling do's and dont's, like the importance of edge loops, poly flow etc, so the model will rig, bend, morph and animate properly when its time to put it to use.

Hey! His nose is dry! ... Someone should lick it,  just in case. - Diego