Ask Kurt Busiek

[Kurt Busiek]

Hi! Long time fan first time caller...

How do you like to read comics? Are you on tablet now? Traditional issues? A nice trade/hardcover collection?

Thanks for all your work.

I read most comics either as single issues or in book form. I read some online or on my iPad, but the majority of what I read is on paper.

When I read prose, more and more of it is via an e-reader, but not all of it. So I expect comics may eventually follow along.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Hi,

I finally gave Astro City a try and received my copy of the first volumen this morning. Wow, why didn't I read it before?! The first story (In Dreams) is my favourite, it's sooo fantastic! It's been a long time since a superhero comic moved me that way.

I'm going to buy a new volumen every month. Awesome stuff.

Very glad you liked it!

kdb

[IfThisBemyDestiny]

Hi Kurt,

Just want to ask:

Thundra and Arkon. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????!!!!

[Darrell D.]

I am in the process of going through Astro City from the beginning (yeah, I know, better late than never, though, right?).
Very well done. You are building a world with fully realized characters, and these are some of the best super-hero stories I have read in years.

[Pat Thomas]

I am in the process of going through Astro City from the beginning (yeah, I know, better late than never, though, right?).
Very well done. You are building a world with fully realized characters, and these are some of the best super-hero stories I have read in years.

I only started it myself last year, and I've gotten so far behind in my reading that I don't know if I'll ever catch up. But I still buy every new issue because I trust
that it's going to be worth it whenever I do get to it. The series has such good word of mouth that it should be a top seller. That said, I wonder why DC doesn't
push it, since it's a Vertigo book?

[Darrell D.]

I only started it myself last year, and I've gotten so far behind in my reading that I don't know if I'll ever catch up. But I still buy every new issue because I trust
that it's going to be worth it whenever I do get to it. The series has such good word of mouth that it should be a top seller. That said, I wonder why DC doesn't
push it, since it's a Vertigo book?

Vertigo seems to be in a weird place right now; weren't a lot of books cut back in the line?

[Pat Thomas]

Vertigo seems to be in a weird place right now; weren't a lot of books cut back in the line?

I know they operate more like an Independent, but they are still under the DC banner. The crazy thing is that little things like a label can automatically stop
readers from trying a book like this, because it's unfamiliar and not part of the main universe. But it sure is good. Somehow, more people need to give it a shot.

[Kurt Busiek]

Just want to ask:

Thundra and Arkon. WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?????!!!!

I don't even know what the question means!

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

I am in the process of going through Astro City from the beginning (yeah, I know, better late than never, though, right?).
Very well done. You are building a world with fully realized characters, and these are some of the best super-hero stories I have read in years.

Thanks!

kdb

[IfThisBemyDestiny]

I don't even know what the question means!

I meant why did they die in JLA/Avengers?

[Kurt Busiek]

I meant why did they die in JLA/Avengers?

Because Krona was destroying universes, and he got to theirs.

They got better.

kdb

[victorxd1999]

Dear Mr. Busiek,
How would you divide the history of comics into "ages"? There is a lot of different opinions on when the Golden age/Silver age tc. Started and when tehy ended. Some even add a "copper age" between the Bronze and modern age. Do you have a solid opinion on this. Considering your love for Silver age comics, in waht year do you think the various ages begin and end? Thanks!

[THANOSRULES]

Kurt,

What do you think of Genis Vell and what has become of him? Did you have any plans for him back then that never happened?

Did you ever read Annhilation and what did you think?

[Kurt Busiek]

Dear Mr. Busiek,
How would you divide the history of comics into "ages"?

I figure the Golden Age starts with ACTION #1 and ends, more or less, when ALL-STAR COMICS stops telling JSA stories.

The Silver Age starts with SHOWCASE #4 and ends somewhere around the time Stan stops being Editor at Marvel, Kirby leaves, CONAN launches, around there.

The Bronze Age starts whenever the Silver Age ended, and ends with CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.

After that, I don't worry about it. If someone comes along and makes an argument for there being an age in there somewhere, and a beginning and end point, fine, but so far I haven't seen any really good ones. It's mostly people wanting to divide up the time periods into something with a name, regardless of whether something unifying is going on or not.

But overall, I think:

1. Not all time periods need a name. I don't think the period before the Golden Age or between the Golden and Silver ages need names; they're not all that coherent anyway.

2. Ages don't start and end on a specific date. The month SHOWCASE #4 came out, it was probably the only Silver Age book. The rest of the comics industry was still whatever-came-before. Individual books joined the Silver Age (or, later, left it) at different periods. It's not like the Silver Age sensibility took over the whole industry at once, or stopped all at once.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Kurt,

What do you think of Genis Vell and what has become of him? Did you have any plans for him back then that never happened?

Can't say I ever had all that much interest in him, aside from when I was writing AVENGERS FOREVER, and Tom Brevoort suggested we use him and set him up for a new series. Doing that was fun, and I thought we built a set-up that had a lot of potential -- but then most of the stuff we set up for the new series was scrapped almost immediately by Peter David (and hey, it was his series to write, so he gets to do that; it's part of the game), so aside from the Rick Jones connection, little of what I'd set up survived.

I have no idea what's become of him; I'm out of touch with that sort of thing.

Did you ever read Annhilation and what did you think?

See earlier responses for my approach to "what did you think" questions.

But I haven't read it, so I have no particular opinion, in this case.

kdb