Ask Kurt Busiek

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Jack Kirby at 100: Kurt Busiek on Meeting The King

Astro City's Kurt Busiek recalls the time he met Jack "The King" Kirby, the legendary comic book writer/artist who would have been 100 in 2017.
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....y_kurt_busiek/

[Kurt Busiek]

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

[Kurt Busiek]

Hi Mr Busiek. Any thing new to offer on the movie/TV front about any of your characters? Astro City might be a good idea for Netflix.

There's always discussion (and often more), but I wouldn't announce anything unless it was pretty far down the road, and whatever partners I was working with were cool with announcing it.

[Kurt Busiek]

Do you ever think Marvel will ever allow Captain Marvel (Mar-vell) to return (or Genis for that matter)? While bringing back 'deceased' characters is a very comic book thing to do, Marvel has resisted bringing either character back despite a few red herrings or versions from alternate universes. Is it because of a promise made to Starlin, or a legal editorial mandate? It just has always seemed odd. I find it hard to believe no one has wanted to write Mar-vell since his death in Marvel's first graphic novel.

I have no idea. They brought back Bucky, so I don't think anything's written in stone, but I can't predict what they will or won't choose.

[Kurt Busiek]

This thread is fairly old so i don't know if Kurt still reads this but.

I had no idea it was still going...

I'm a huge fan of your work on the Conan series for Dark Horse. A lot of people have tried to bring Howard's stories into the modern era and put their own spin on them your's was the best IMO.

Cary Nord's art was spot on and that's to be expected for a Conan title. But the writing was so good that it was a pleasant surprise. You did such a good job taking the original stories, which weren't really meant to be closely connected, and made an enjoyable timeline that meshed perfectly.

Were you already a fan of the original stories when you getting ready to plan out the series? Or were you a fan of the older comics and then went back and read Howard's material?

I wasn't a Conan fan back when I started reading comics (I was "sophisticated." I read superheroes), but when I was sick one year and a friend loaned me CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1-100, I quickly became a fan of Roy's run, which led me to reading the Howard stuff and becoming a fan of that.

I wound up getting the Conan gig because Mike Richardson and I went out to dinner to discuss some other project, and he mentioned that DH was about to get the Conan rights. We spent the dinner talking about Conan, past Conan comics, and how a new Conan series could be successfully launched. I think Mike was surprised I knew as much as I did, and had as much enthusiasm for the material as I did.

But hey, it worked out well!

[Kurt Busiek]

Hi, Mr. Busiek. How do you feel about DC's Rebirth? Does it strike any key notes with you? Would you be intrested in taking any character back to its roots (something you are known for doing very well)? Which ones? Have you been ofered to do anything?

I haven't read that much of it, but thought what I did read was pretty well done.

But aside from BATMAN: CREATURE OF THE NIGHT (finally coming this November), I'm trying to focus on creating my own stuff rather than working on other people's stuff.

If I were healthier and had more time, it would be hard to turn down, say, LEGION or WONDER WOMAN, but I'm not, so it didn't come up.

[Jokerz79]

Mr. Busiek just wanted to say thank you for your run on Avengers with George Perez one of my favorite runs of a book period.

[Kurt Busiek]

I am curious to know... Where did the idea or inspiration come from for the comicbook character Carol Danvers aka Warbird to deal with an alcohol problem?

I like Warbird but thought the emotional clog she'd been left with as a result of everything from Rogue messing her up to STARBLAST!, where as I recall she got back all her memories but no emotional connection to them, was a mess that was hard to explain and cope with in a way that didn't involve lots and lots of continuity-reminders.

And I wanted to have some superhero in a position for Iron Man to become their AA sponsor.

So I put the two together, and figured that if Carol's experiences and stress had led to alcoholism, that made it a much more immediate and relatable issue, and would allow an interesting interplay between her and Tony.

I still had a lot more planned, but we never got around to it. Maybe somewhere, in some form.

[Kurt Busiek]

I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you how much I enjoyed reading the "Lover's Quarrel" arc in Astro City (I just recently got the trade). In just three issues, you managed to write one of the most compelling, complex, and real relationship stories between two unapologetically emotionally distant characters. Very well done. Thank you.

Glad you liked it!

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Saw this thread near the top and had to ask this:

Suppose Marvel called up and offered you the chance to revisit any storyline in Marvel history with a Secret Wars one shot tie in. What would you want to revisit, and why?

To clarify: I'm not asking if you were offered a chance. That's between you and Marvel. Just thought you have a fairly encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel stuff and your work has covered a wide variety of heroes and eras at Marvel, so I'd be curious what you'd aim for with a Secret Wars. Would you revisit an older work or aim at something you haven't had a chance to explore?

I didn't read any of SECRET WARS, so I don't know what these revisiting consisted of.

But I expect I'd have passed on such an offer, because I'd rather focus on new stuff, at least at present. No disrespect meant to the one-shots, it's just not where my focus is at these days.

[CuteClops]

Congratulations, Mr. Busiek, and wanted to say thank you for everything. Big fan.

[Kurt Busiek]

Hi Kurt- I am just curious, as the Avengers sequel draws nearer, will you be as disappointed as I will if Thor never says the "Ultron.....we would have words with thee" line? Or are you removed enough from it at this point for that not to matter to you? Or is it just a case of if it's in there, you'd be like "hey, cool" but if it's not no big deal?

As a fan I feel like if it's not in there somewhere, in some way, I'll be disappointed.

Since movie-Thor doesn't say "thee" and "thou," I wasn't expecting it.

But I think they got it into one of the cartoons...

kdb

[Marvell2100]

Happy Birthday Mr. Busiek!!!

Glad to see you pop in the thread again.

Have you worked on your drawing/design skills lately?

[Kurt Busiek]

Have you worked on your drawing/design skills lately?

Not in any significant way.

kdb

[Captain M]

Hey Mr. Busiek. It's amazing to see you here answering questions.

Just wanted to ask a couple quick questions. I know you co-wrote The story of Lego Marvel Superheroes 2 and this is the first time Wasp will play a part in the story. Was that your idea?

Also, do you think Marvel will ever let Janet be in the Avengers again? As you might know, there is a new Waps in the comics that not only got a solo comic book just months after creation whereas Janet never even got a miniseries, but is also an Avenger now, while Janet is lately either in a smaller team, or nowhere to be seen. Lately a promotional shot of Avengers was released festuring most of the classic members like Scsrlet Witch, the founders, Vision, Hercules, Falcon etc but Janet wasn't there. The new Wasp was. Do you think we'll get to see Janet in a prominent role like in your run ever again?