Ask Kurt Busiek

[Kurt Busiek]

Hi, Kurt. Has anyone ever pointed out that "Astro City" is just one letter "S" -- AKA the symbol of Superman -- away from being the word "Atrocity"?

Yes, many times. Not before Brent, Alex and I had noted it, though.

And Monstro City, where Rex and Madame Majestrix are from, is one letter away from "monstrosity."

Is this just a huge coincidence?

It's not that huge, really. It's just the way the words are spelled.

"Fantastic Four" is two letters away from "Fanatic Four," too. And "Superboy" is so close to "Superbly" that my Autocorrect seems to think Superbly is one of the Legion.

kdb

[Jim Kelly]

Personally, I prefer a single Superman. But I think married Superman stories can be good, too, as can stories where Superman has a son.

I think, ultimately, it'd be fun to do a Superman series where you could tell stories in any part of the "legend," from Krypton to babyhood to Superman-wen-he-was-a-boy to young Superman and onward all the way through a married Superman with a family and an elderly Superman. I like the whole mess of it, so why stick with only one status quo?

kdb

That's what I've always wanted to see. I think that's what's great about Conan--he has a whole life story and writers can choose any period within that long life to set a story.

[DrNewGod]

I'm sure we haven't seen every Honor Guard roster, or even every Honor Guard member... I doubt we'll ever see all of them.

kdb

I never expected to say this to you, but Boooo.

Thanks for the reply.

[Kubert]

Tips on how to write faster.

[Robanker]

You mentioned wanting to write the Metal Men. I love them so much and am grateful they have been finding ways to show up semi regularly for nearly a decade now. Have you pitched anything with them to DC?

The world could always use more Metal Men.

[kjn]

My best advice would probably be found here (though it's a little dated now, and the internet has created even more opportunities):

https://busiek.com/site/2009/06/21/b...without-rules/

Interesting essay!

I don't know. I think the creative challenges for superhero comics are the same as for most other genres -- be engaging, attract an audience, make an emotional connection between the reader and the story, that kind of general stuff. Or maybe I'm not understanding the question.

Yeah, I was thinking right now, and if there are any issues that are particularly acute within the field of superhero comics, and how and why they are such.

Like the balance between continuity and being approachable to newcomers.

But it's a question that easily could expand to essays in answering.

[superduperman]

What is your avatar? It looks like a beardless Papa Smurf.

[Kurt Busiek]

You mentioned wanting to write the Metal Men. I love them so much and am grateful they have been finding ways to show up semi regularly for nearly a decade now. Have you pitched anything with them to DC?

No, I'm plenty busy with other stuff. But you never know, I guess.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

What is your avatar? It looks like a beardless Papa Smurf.

Like it says, it's Oblio.

From Harry Nilsson's THE POINT.

kdb

[Vordan]

As someone who has worked on all three characters, I wanted to ask, what do you see the character dynamics being between the “Trinity”? Writers have had a lot of success with Batman/Superman obviously, but less so with WW and the other two. Diana tends to be written as the “one who kills” to differentiate her. What do you see the character interactions being?

[Kurt Busiek]

As someone who has worked on all three characters, I wanted to ask, what do you see the character dynamics being between the “Trinity”? Writers have had a lot of success with Batman/Superman obviously, but less so with WW and the other two. Diana tends to be written as the “one who kills” to differentiate her. What do you see the character interactions being?

I spent 52 issues of TRINITY exploring that, really, so I'd point you there.

But I think a simple division is, Superman is the one who protects us, Batman is the one who punishes the bad guys and Wonder Woman is the one who shows us we can stand up for ourselves.

But there are others, of course. I spent a whole chapter of TRINITY on how each of them represent truth, justice and the American way -- but in different ways.

kdb

[Kubert]

Thanks!

my top fantasy choices would be:

WONDER WOMAN
LEGION OF SUPERHEROES
SWAMP THING
THE DEMON
OMAC
METAL MEN

sure there are others

Are you open to the idea of a Marvel DC crossover covering all your fantasy choices? DC brought back the Source Wall - seen first in a Marvel DC crossover - with Dark Phoenix's clone (1982). A year later Jean Grey was also brought back to life in great thanks to two dudes getting together. In that shared spirit - are you open to the idea of getting together a Marvel DC crossover - to help bring LCSs back to life?

- http://ibold.site/comics-pros-call-f...-industry-cbr/
- https://www.newsarama.com/49766-todd...-downturn.html
- https://screenrant.com/marvel-dc-crossover-source-wall/

[krazijoe]

Moved to Marvel side since it dealt with their properties. MY bad.

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post4977821

[Kurt Busiek]

Are you open to the idea of a Marvel DC crossover covering all your fantasy choices? DC brought back the Source Wall - seen first in a Marvel DC crossover - with Dark Phoenix's clone (1982). A year later Jean Grey was also brought back to life in great thanks to two dudes getting together. In that shared spirit - are you open to the idea of getting together a Marvel DC crossover - to help bring LCSs back to life?

If Marvel and DC wanted to do a crossover, I'd be happy to play -- but I think they'd probably pick someone else as the lead horse (Bendis, maybe). I've already done a big Marvel/DC crossover, after all, so I've kinda had my turn.

And Marvel and DC, at least so far, don't seem to be in any kind of hurry to do another crossover. They're Disney and Warner Bros now, which makes a big difference.

But if they did one, sure, I'd be happy to be involved. It'd be nice if they'd start my getting the old ones back in print, though. They could do that without it taking much time, so the stores could have them to sell faster.

kdb

[Doctor Kent Nelson]

I think the way you're asking the question suggests that you want Dr. Fate to occupy the same role in the DCU as Dr. Strange does in the Marvel U, and I don't think I'd bother with that, because I don't think that the Marvel and DC universes should be mirror images of one another, with all the same "slots" and different characters occupying those slots.

I think Dr. Fate should be the best Dr. Fate he can be, not an imitation Dr. Strange.

That said, while I haven't thought about Dr. Fate much, a couple of problems the character has historically had are:

1. His mask is inexpressive. That makes it hard for the character to show emotion, which is always a problem. The trouble here is, the mask looks great, so you don't want to get rid of it. It just makes it hard for emotional storytelling.

2. For long stretches of his history, Fate's personality is in the helmet, not in the person, which makes it hard for readers to care about both the person and the hero; there's an emotional disconnect. And when they make the person and the hero have the same mind, the same personality, they seem to go with a weaker or inexperienced personality, which doesn't have the presence Dr. Fate has at his best. I don't have a real solution for that, either, but it'd bear some thinking.

But the main thing I think I'd work with if playing with Dr. Fate is that DC, unlike Marvel, has a lot of interesting heroic magicians, from Fate to the Spectre to Zatanna to the Demon to Baron Winters to Traci 13 and on and on, and Fate doesn't seem to connect to those guys very often. I think it'd be interesting to set Fate up as an important member of a mystic community, rather than a lone gunfighter. Again, not sure where I'd go with that because I haven't thought about it much, but I think that might help make the character feel like his own thing, and less like Dr. Strange with no expressions.

kdb

Thanks for your insightful look into Dr Fate and I would love to read a "round table" of magic users by you Kurt! Bring it on!

P.S. I also prefer the Dr Fate power-house, not the newbie Green Lantern!