Ask Kurt Busiek

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

"Imagine you could go back to the beginnings of the Marvel universe on earth and photograph it all.
Well, you can't... BUT you do the next best thing and read KURT BUSIEK's classic series MARVELS
and then join us for an amazing interview with the man himself!"

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Kurt_Busiek

[Phoenixx9]

Have a Happy Birthday Kurt Busiek!

[Marvell2100]

Happy Birthday! I hope you're enjoying whatever you're doing!

[JudicatorPrime]

Another year around the sun. Enjoy those cosmic rays!

[Chris0013]

Mr Busiek, Hope you had a wonderful birthday.


With regards to Justice will you be using him in anyway in the Marvels series?

He has always been something of a favorite of mine by being a mutant who unlike most mutants in the X-Books does not have his identity all wrapped up in being a mutant.

He has also had a long history since his introduction being Ben Grimm's 'sidekick' for a while in the Thing series as well as the New Warriors and Avengers. But it has been a while since he showed up...and the most recent mention was being misnamed by the Thing in a recent FF issue as Vance Astro instead of Astrovik.

Just one fan's opinion...but it would be great to get even a brief appearance just to check in on him. Did he get his degree, what's he doing for a living, what are his feelings on Krakoa , etc...

[Kurt Busiek]

Thanks for the kind words, folks.

With regards to Justice will you be using him in anyway in the Marvels series?

Not so far, but you never know.

kdb

[Reviresco]

Happy Birthday, Mr. Busiek!! Hope you had a spectacular day!

[Kirby101]

Happy Birthday Mr. B!

[ImperiusWrecked]

Happy Belated Birthday!

[Drexelhand]

Hi Kurt, I was reading an article on the growth of horror in Marvel Comics in the 1970s and it suggests that one of the reasons it was even able to happen was that authors like Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway knew the audience was growing up and matured the books with it. One of the things the author mentioned was that by 1971, people started dying in Marvel Comics a lot more. Conway had already gotten Dorma killed like he later would Gwen Stacy and in Savage Tales, Conway and Thomas debuted the Man-Thing he brutally killed his traitorous wife's henchmen. Jack Russell also killed his mother's murderer and a homeless man who tried to rob him. What they list as the big turning point, however, is the debut of Morbius.

He lists the kill count of villains in Spider-Man books up until that point as being:

Dr. Octopus: 1

Captain George Stacy – kills him by dropping a chimney stack over him

Green Goblin: 1

Gerhard Winkler – kills him while amnesiac as Green Goblin to save Gwen Stacy

Kingpin of Crime: 1

Frederick Foswell – executed by the Kingpin’s gangsters

Michael Morbius: 8

Ship Passengers – Kills eight people in total: one ship captain and seven crew members are sighted with Morbius later claiming that he murdered them all

His point was that while all those other villains had been called killers by Spider-Man, they had never actually killed and even those that they did kill up to that point could be asterisked (Foswell wasn't by Fisk's hand, Octopus didn't intend to kill Captain Stacy and Osborn was trying to save Gwen, not kill Winkler).

In one issue, Roy Thomas has Morbius just become the Predator and he murders more people than villains had combined in Spider-Man comics. Was this something that had been talked about back in the day and its one of the things that showed how much Marvel was changing in the 1970s?

[Kurt Busiek]

Thanks again!

Hi Kurt, I was reading an article on the growth of horror in Marvel Comics in the 1970s and it suggests that one of the reasons it was even able to happen was that authors like Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway knew the audience was growing up and matured the books with it.
...
Was this something that had been talked about back in the day and its one of the things that showed how much Marvel was changing in the 1970s?

I have no idea what was being talked about back then; I didn't start reading comics regularly until 1974.

But the way it's always been explained to me is that the Comics Code was revised in the early 70s, which made it possible to do horror books again, so Marvel and DC jumped on it.

The Code may also have allowed for more killing.

I don't know that those villains weren't killers, or just that we didn't see any killings as part of stories. Many of them certainly attempted murder pretty often.

kdb

[marhawkman]

Thanks again!



I have no idea what was being talked about back then; I didn't start reading comics regularly until 1974.

But the way it's always been explained to me is that the Comics Code was revised in the early 70s, which made it possible to do horror books again, so Marvel and DC jumped on it.

The Code may also have allowed for more killing.

I don't know that those villains weren't killers, or just that we didn't see any killings as part of stories. Many of them certainly attempted murder pretty often.

kdb

Yeah, a weird side effect of the CC is a disparity between what the story SAYS about characters and what it SHOWS.

One classic example: X-Men: TAS. They talk about how bad getting snickt'd by Wolverine would be... But you never see him actually snikt anyone who'd get seriously hurt by it. Not even people trying to kill him.

[Lonewolf36]

The Marvels #5 was another great issue! Especially enjoyed the international teams taking on the monsters. Where the monsters new or pre-existing characters? This is by far my favorite Marvel series out right now. Keep up the good work.

[Kurt Busiek]

The Marvels #5 was another great issue! Especially enjoyed the international teams taking on the monsters. Where the monsters new or pre-existing characters? This is by far my favorite Marvel series out right now. Keep up the good work.

Very glad you're liking it!

The monsters are new, as it happens.

kdb

[Sutekh]

Love seeing characters like Ace and Dakota North showing up in Marvels!

And, bonus, not just (some) Agents of Atlas and Winter Guard, but also those new kids on the block, the Union! (It doesn't count as nostalgia if they just came out a year or two ago, right?) Love international hero teams. Hope to see some Alpha Flight, China Force (ugh, what a name), Triumph Division, Big Hero 6, etc. again some day.