Ask Kurt Busiek

[Super4Ever]

Kurt,

I am a big fan of your run on Superman. I found your issues and stories during that era really enjoyable. I was really interested in seeing where all those Intergang hints were going and it’s a shame you never got to follow thru with that.

I don’t have a question at this time but I would certainly love to see you back on the Superman titles one day.

[Vordan]

When you revamp a character, assuming your revamp is successful, do you get any royalties out of it or do only the creators of the character get money?

[Kurt Busiek]

I am a big fan of your run on Superman. I found your issues and stories during that era really enjoyable. I was really interested in seeing where all those Intergang hints were going and it’s a shame you never got to follow thru with that.

I don’t have a question at this time but I would certainly love to see you back on the Superman titles one day.

Thanks.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

When you revamp a character, assuming your revamp is successful, do you get any royalties out of it or do only the creators of the character get money?

Depends on the deal you make, and on how much of a revamp it is.

As I understand it, James Robinson doesn't get royalties on "Sharman," but he does on "Jack Knight."

Neil Gaiman gets royalties on his version of Sandman, of course (as do Dringgenberg and Kieth), but I don't know if he does on Black Orchid.

That's in terms of the concepts, of course. We get royalties on the stories, even if there's no new characters in them.

kdb

[Vordan]

Depends on the deal you make, and on how much of a revamp it is.

As I understand it, James Robinson doesn't get royalties on "Sharman," but he does on "Jack Knight."

Neil Gaiman gets royalties on his version of Sandman, of course (as do Dringgenberg and Kieth), but I don't know if he does on Black Orchid.

That's in terms of the concepts, of course. We get royalties on the stories, even if there's no new characters in them.

kdb

When it comes to the stories assuming you get anything, do you get any royalties if the adaptions are taking influence (like say how The Dark Knight Rises draws on Knightfall and No Man’s Land) or do you only get money if they’re directly adapting your work (like say the animated movies)?

[Kurt Busiek]

When it comes to the stories assuming you get anything, do you get any royalties if the adaptions are taking influence (like say how The Dark Knight Rises draws on Knightfall and No Man’s Land) or do you only get money if they’re directly adapting your work (like say the animated movies)?

Depends on the deal. And sometimes on the company's whim.

I got paid some money on AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and on SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME.

I didn't get paid anything on AVENGERS, despite it having a few bits from my stories, or from IRON MAN or IRON MAN 2.

If they ever do a THUNDERBOLTS project, it's in the contract that Mark and I get a certain amount of money.

But it varies -- company contracts and policies have changed over the years, so it's not one size fits all.

kdb

[EmeraldGladiator]

Mr Busiek,
How would you define the story telling of the different eras? I grew up in the Bronze age, a great lover of Starlin's Marvel cosmic stuff, as well as the "complicated" writings of Claremont on Uncanny and Wolfman on Teen Titans. Rarely have Golden Age tales held my attention and only the very exceptional Silver Age ones, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spiderman, Batman but to each his own. The longer story arcs, revisiting seeds planted earlier might not have been invented in the Bronze but in ways it seems to have been improved there (was going to say perfected but that is purely subjective). It isn't just a matter of storytelling getting more complicated over time because I wouldn't say any eras/ages post Bronze are any more intricate per se. I know one can't generalized eras per se, there are some books out now that have a Golden Age mentality and some books in the past that are way ahead of their time but in general how would you generally define the storytelling zeitgeist of the eras?

[Eto]

Hi Mr. Busiek.
I've no questions, just wanted to say that I looooved your Batman: CoTN and Superman: Secret Identity books.
Those books are pure quality and on another level. Hats offto you Sir.

[4thHorseman]

I havent been on these boards in a while, and Im shocked Kurt is still taking questions all these years later. Amazing.

[Kurt Busiek]

Mr Busiek,
How would you define the story telling of the different eras? I grew up in the Bronze age, a great lover of Starlin's Marvel cosmic stuff, as well as the "complicated" writings of Claremont on Uncanny and Wolfman on Teen Titans. Rarely have Golden Age tales held my attention and only the very exceptional Silver Age ones, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spiderman, Batman but to each his own. The longer story arcs, revisiting seeds planted earlier might not have been invented in the Bronze but in ways it seems to have been improved there (was going to say perfected but that is purely subjective). It isn't just a matter of storytelling getting more complicated over time because I wouldn't say any eras/ages post Bronze are any more intricate per se. I know one can't generalized eras per se, there are some books out now that have a Golden Age mentality and some books in the past that are way ahead of their time but in general how would you generally define the storytelling zeitgeist of the eras?

I wouldn't, really.

I'm a bad choice to define things; I prefer to take other people's definitions and say, "Yeah, but what about...?" and point out exceptions. I like the history of comics, the whole sweep of it. But what Stan, Jack and others did at Marvel and what Julie Schwartz or Mort Weisinger oversaw at DC may have both been coming out in the 60s, but I don't think they had a shared sensibility. Heck, I don't really think different editorial offices at DC had a shared sensibility in the 60s.

So I wouldn't want to try to pack it all into one "zeitgeist." I'm fascinated by it all, but I'd rather get jazzed about the stuff that stood out in different ways than figure out how to lump the whole era together, you know?

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Hi Mr. Busiek.
I've no questions, just wanted to say that I looooved your Batman: CoTN and Superman: Secret Identity books.
Those books are pure quality and on another level. Hats offto you Sir.

Thanks. There's another one I want to do that feels kinda like them to me, but it's not the same idea, nor would I do it at DC. But it's a 4-issue, 200-page-ish story idea that explores the idea of the superhero from a different angle and has maybe a more literary tone, like those two books.

Hopefully I'll get to it sooner than later...

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

I havent been on these boards in a while, and Im shocked Kurt is still taking questions all these years later. Amazing.

Well, it's been pretty intermittent, at times.

kdb

[Vordan]

Bumping this, who should I ask for an omnibus of your Superman run? It’s one of the few things I don’t have collected and I’d love to own a complete collection of your entire run.

[Laufeyson]

Mr. Busiek, I am your big fan from Indonesia, especially your Superman and Trinity run. I want to ask you about your books Superman: Secret Identity or Batman: Creator of the Nights. Do you have any characters in your mind that you want to make a book like that? Thank you, Mr. Busiek. I hope you have a nice day.

[Kurt Busiek]

Bumping this, who should I ask for an omnibus of your Superman run? It’s one of the few things I don’t have collected and I’d love to own a complete collection of your entire run.

That'd be up to the folks at DC. So I'd start with whoever's the head of Collected Editions there, which would be listed in the masthead of any recent book collection.

I wouldn't at all mind them doing that either!

kdb