Ask Kurt Busiek

[Kurt Busiek]

Any memorable moments with the legends; Stan Lee, Kirby, Infantino, Siegel /Shuster, etc.

Memorable to me, at least. I had a phone conversation with Kirby, and met him at San Diego. I talked with Stan a few times, worked on a book for his Excelsior Comics line that never came out, had lunch with him once. I met Carmine at a San Diego Con.

If I met Siegel or Shuster it would have been at a crowded DC holiday party, but I don't think I did.

kdb

[Zelena]

They just don't come to life for me. I read them, and my general reaction isn't to get caught up in the story, but to think, "Well, that's not what I would have done," or to want to reword the dialogue or something. I'm stuck in writer-mode, not reader-mode.

And that's not a legitimate reader reaction, and it's not all that entertaining either.

kdb

Hello,

I suppose it's also the same when you have read stories written by an author you liked very much.

You think: he/she would have done it differently, the characters are not the same anymore, only the appareance remains…

I'm more for new stories with new characters…

[Malachi]

No offense to anyone working on the books -- I recommended Fabian for the job, and didn't read most of his run until I co-wrote some T-BOLTS with him, then didn't read the new stuff afterward. I wish anyone doing it the best, but I'm not really the readership any more.

Thank you for that! Both the work and recommendation to have Fabian continue Thunderbolts. It's one of the most seamless transitions I have read. It respects the characters and furthers many stories in a way that feels in sync with what you did.

[Kurt Busiek]

I suppose it's also the same when you have read stories written by an author you liked very much.

You think: he/she would have done it differently, the characters are not the same anymore, only the appareance remains…

Not as a general rule, no.

If I read stories by someone I think a lot, I'm still in "reader" mode. So when someone else takes over, I may like it, I may not, but it doesn't require a change in how I approach the book.

If I wrote the stories for an extended period, though, I'm not in "reader" mode any more, like I said at the beginning of all this.

That's different. It's not unique to me, either -- I hear it from a lot of writers.

kdb

[X-Ion]

Greetings, Mr.Busiek! I've got some battle-boardish questions for you :

1.) In your Avengers run, ion-form Wonder Man was incapable of breaking through Doctor Spectrum's field, whereas in JLA/Avengers crossover, he no-sold all of Kyle Rayner's attacking attempts and could've beaten him if not Superman's intervention. Was this intentional to establish Spectrum as a superior combatant/more powerful than Kyle?

2.) How fast is Hyperion compared to his original counterpart? As in reflexes and punching speed.

Thanks in advance.

[Matt Parker]

Hello, Mr. Busiek. I want to preface by saying I'm a big fan of your work. Untold Tales of Spider-Man is one of my favorite runs on the character, and your Avengers run is the definitive version of that team for me. Astro City also rules.

Anyways, as a big fan of your Spider-Man work, I have to ask, what are your thoughts on the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies? I know they're kinda controversial with Spidey fans due to the big role Tony Stark plays and a lack of overt references to Uncle Ben, but others feel like they authentically capture the spirit of the Lee/Ditko Spidey days very well. What camp do you fall into and why?

Thanks again for all your awesome work and I appreciate you doing threads like this!

[Kurt Busiek]

Greetings, Mr.Busiek! I've got some battle-boardish questions for you :

I won't have satisfying answers, sorry -- I don't think there's anything wrong with battleboard stuff for those who like it, and back when I was a teenager my friends and I had lots of fun arguing over who'd beat who, and such.

But as I became a comics writer, I realized a couple of things, the first being that we rig the fights, so the answer to any "who'd beat who" question is "whoever the writer wants to win, so that it serves the story well." Because we're not in the business of refereeing combat, we're in the business of telling stories.

The second was that power stats are inevitably flexible -- characters do things that feel emotionally right, and look cool. Whether it's Colossus picking up a 747 with firewalled jet engines when he (a) shouldn't be able to lift something that heavy according to his stats, and (b) isn't heavy enough to stop it form simply taking off with him hanging onto the bottom, or Spider-Man _not_ juggling Buicks even though his power stats suggest it'd be easy, what's important is how it feels, not whether it matches the numbers in a Handbook. I don't think they should ever have published those power stats in the first place, honestly.

And the third, stemming from these: I think fans and readers should have fun arguing about this stuff like I did when I was a teenager, but I don't think pros should referee those discussions. The fun of them is the argument, not the answer. Besides, I have no authority to establish anything -- I might have when I was writing AVENGERS, but I'm not any more, so the editors and writers of those books have more say than I do.

1.) In your Avengers run, ion-form Wonder Man was incapable of breaking through Doctor Spectrum's field, whereas in JLA/Avengers crossover, he no-sold all of Kyle Rayner's attacking attempts and could've beaten him if not Superman's intervention. Was this intentional to establish Spectrum as a superior combatant/more powerful than Kyle?

Of course not. The intention was to do fun action scenes, not to somehow transitively establish power stat facts about someone not even in the scene.

2.) How fast is Hyperion compared to his original counterpart? As in reflexes and punching speed.

Beats me. He's very impressive, but I don't see much point in establishing stats about it. And, for that matter, normal people's abilities fluctuate from day to day (and even minute to minute, depending on any number of factors from hydration to other things), so I figure super-abilities fluctuate too.

Like I said, not satisfying answers, but I'm just not a battle boards guy. Sorry.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Hello, Mr. Busiek. I want to preface by saying I'm a big fan of your work. Untold Tales of Spider-Man is one of my favorite runs on the character, and your Avengers run is the definitive version of that team for me. Astro City also rules.

Thanks!

Anyways, as a big fan of your Spider-Man work, I have to ask, what are your thoughts on the Tom Holland Spider-Man movies? I know they're kinda controversial with Spidey fans due to the big role Tony Stark plays and a lack of overt references to Uncle Ben, but others feel like they authentically capture the spirit of the Lee/Ditko Spidey days very well. What camp do you fall into and why?

I've enjoyed 'em, so far. They're not faithful to the Ditko material, but they're an adaptation, so they don't need to be.

I think they've been fun movies, with lots of personality, humor, action and style, and I'm looking forward to the next one.

I think they've done some things for convenience's sake -- the lack of Uncle Ben seems like a reasonable way to avoid retreading ground that two previous movie series already covered pretty strongly, for instance. They could bring him up in a later film, if they like, but I don't think most viewers wanted to see the origin yet again, as of the first of these.

And I think they've done some things that work well in film even though they're not in the comics -- the hi-tech suit, for instance, gave him someone/thing to talk to, which provided for a similar kind of patter (in a different way) to the classic thought balloons we used to get in the comics. It gets Peter's voice into the action scenes, even when he's alone.

That's not something I'd do in the comics, but I think it worked for the movies. And I like Happy and May as an awkward maybe-romance.

So, are they comics-accurate? No, not much. Are they fun and well-crafted? Sure.

I'm good with that. If, ten years or more from now, someone takes a completely different approach to a Spider-Man movie, and it's good too, I'll probably like that fine, too.

kdb

[danielsan52]

Hello Mr. Busiek,

If you were asked to write Sharon Ventura, what would you do with/to the character?

[Kurt Busiek]

If you were asked to write Sharon Ventura, what would you do with/to the character?

I have no idea, offhand.

I'd have to think up something, and if I didn't come up with anything that interested me enough to make me want to write her rather than the many other characters I'd like to write, I'd turn the offer down.

But she'd need a new name. And I could see doing something that connected her up to Songbird, because I like Songbird and they both have a wrestling background.

Other than that, though, I don't know. A series about someone who's lived through a lot of trauma, who's trying to cope with life in the superhuman world without actually being a superhero or a supervillain, while taking care of her mental health? Someone who gets involved in adventures but doesn't actually seek them out?

Or maybe something else. I haven't given it any real thought.

kdb

[Wall-Crawler]

I was just about to ask you some "who would win in a fight" questions between Avengers members, now I'm not so sure haha.

[Kubert]

Can a thread like this be created a la DC Comics section?

[danielsan52]

I have no idea, offhand.

I'd have to think up something, and if I didn't come up with anything that interested me enough to make me want to write her rather than the many other characters I'd like to write, I'd turn the offer down.

But she'd need a new name. And I could see doing something that connected her up to Songbird, because I like Songbird and they both have a wrestling background.

Other than that, though, I don't know. A series about someone who's lived through a lot of trauma, who's trying to cope with life in the superhuman world without actually being a superhero or a supervillain, while taking care of her mental health? Someone who gets involved in adventures but doesn't actually seek them out?

Or maybe something else. I haven't given it any real thought.

kdb

Thanks for answering! I never considered a Songbird team-up. Hopefully Dan Slott will unmutate her. I thought about her being a latent Inhuman that can change to various "Monstra" forms.

[Kurt Busiek]

I was just about to ask you some "who would win in a fight" questions between Avengers members, now I'm not so sure haha.

Whoever the writer wants to win, honest.

We rig the fights.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Can a thread like this be created a la DC Comics section?

I don't know for sure what that means, but assuming it means "Can a thread like this be created in the DC Comics section," then anyone can go ahead and do it, sure.

kdb