Ask Kurt Busiek

[ExcelsiorPrime]

Mr. Busiek

Astro City Samaritan #1 Special One-Shot circa 2006. Is one of my all-time favorite and best written one-shot's I have ever read. (My Opinion).

Do you have any plans do to anything like that again? Perhaps with Astro-City or your upcoming title Tooth and Claw ?

[Kurt Busiek]

Mr. Busiek

Astro City Samaritan #1 Special One-Shot circa 2006. Is one of my all-time favorite and best written one-shot's I have ever read. (My Opinion).

Do you have any plans do to anything like that again? Perhaps with Astro-City or your upcoming title Tooth and Claw ?

Very glad you liked it!

And I'll keep writing the best ASTRO CITY stories I can, so maybe one of them will strike your fancy in much the same way.

TOOTH & CLAW is rather a different approach, but you never know. I like to experiment...!

kdb

[THANOSRULES]

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.



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

Thanks for answering, As a huge fan of "Forever", I was never satisfied that Genis or Songbird never got those actual 616 big moments. FYI Genis was killed off during the Nicenza Thunderbolts run after yours, been mothballed for years now, and doesn't seem to have any shot of a return. Its kinda sad.

BTW I just bought a stack of old Micronauts comics the other day and smiled when one of them had a fan mail form you (#6)..great stuff..

[Nomads1]

Thanks for answering, As a huge fan of "Forever", I was never satisfied that Genis or Songbird never got those actual 616 big moments. FYI Genis was killed off during the Nicenza Thunderbolts run after yours, been mothballed for years now, and doesn't seem to have any shot of a return. Its kinda sad.

BTW I just bought a stack of old Micronauts comics the other day and smiled when one of them had a fan mail form you (#6)..great stuff..

In Fabe's defense, he did leave a clear way (for me, at least) to bring back Genis-Vell whenever they wanted. Marvel just chose to go in another direction, especially when they decided to promote Carol Danvers as the heir of the Captain Marvel legacy. A shame, really. I'm a big fan of Genis-vell as the sucessor of his father.

Peace

[CSTowle]

Mr. Busiek

Astro City Samaritan #1 Special One-Shot circa 2006. Is one of my all-time favorite and best written one-shot's I have ever read. (My Opinion).

Do you have any plans do to anything like that again? Perhaps with Astro-City or your upcoming title Tooth and Claw ?

Was that the one with the sorcerer where they have dinner and try to convince each other to change their ways? Regardless, loved that.

[THANOSRULES]

In Fabe's defense, he did leave a clear way (for me, at least) to bring back Genis-Vell whenever they wanted. Marvel just chose to go in another direction, especially when they decided to promote Carol Danvers as the heir of the Captain Marvel legacy. A shame, really. I'm a big fan of Genis-vell as the sucessor of his father.

Peace

Agreed, I'm a huge FabNic fan..I don't blame him much. Its just C'mon already lets have him back.

[DrTraveler]

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.

For me, it's "The Nearness of You." I can't talk about that issue without tearing up. Stupid comic. (That's a compliment by the way. It's powerful stuff).

My question though:

I loved "The Kang Dynasty", and it's probably my favorite Avenger's arc. Given where Kang finished in "Kang Dynasty", what would you do with Kang if you'd ever had a chance to write him again? Is there a chance you may one day come back to Kang and finish the character arc from "Avengers Forever" and "The Kang Dynasty"? What do you consider the "Essential Kang" stories?

And one more: As a fan, what can you do to help really promote a book? I'm reading James Robert and Alex Milne's stuff on Transformers: More than Meets the Eye and they are KILLING it, but I can't get folks to even try a book based off a commercial property. Any advice on getting folks to read quality stuff?

[Kurt Busiek]

Thanks for answering, As a huge fan of "Forever", I was never satisfied that Genis or Songbird never got those actual 616 big moments.

Hey, in superhero comics, there's almost always still time.

FYI Genis was killed off during the Nicenza Thunderbolts run after yours, been mothballed for years now, and doesn't seem to have any shot of a return. Its kinda sad.

If I recall correctly, I co-plotted that issue. I had no idea he hadn't been seen since -- that wasn't meant to be nohow permanent.

BTW I just bought a stack of old Micronauts comics the other day and smiled when one of them had a fan mail form you (#6)..great stuff..

Loved that first year of MICRONAUTS...

kdb

[ExcelsiorPrime]

Was that the one with the sorcerer where they have dinner and try to convince each other to change their ways? Regardless, loved that.

That is the one with Infidel vs Samaritan. There are enough stories in that one book for 12 Avengers issues.

I kind of wished Samaritan went at Waid's Irredeemable in a crossover. Mark Waid..Busiek make it happen. lol

Also I am collecting Astro City...managed to fill in most of the issues. Cant wait for Tooth and Claw.

[Marvell2100]

I just want to say that I'm very glad to see that Kurt's work on Avengers is finally being collected into an omnibus. I have his entire run and I'll be more than happy to have it agin in an omnibus. Kudos to Mr Busiek.

Annnnnnnndddddd!!!!! I'll be getting the Astro City collected work as well! It's great for me!!!!!

[Michael P]

Great issue of AC this week, Kurt.

[Kurt Busiek]

For me, it's "The Nearness of You." I can't talk about that issue without tearing up. Stupid comic. (That's a compliment by the way. It's powerful stuff).

Glad you like it!

My question though:

I loved "The Kang Dynasty", and it's probably my favorite Avenger's arc. Given where Kang finished in "Kang Dynasty", what would you do with Kang if you'd ever had a chance to write him again?

I have no idea. If I'd kept writing AVENGERS I'm sure I'd have come up with something, but I left right after finishing a big-ass Kang story, so I hadn't had time to think about another yet.

Is there a chance you may one day come back to Kang and finish the character arc from "Avengers Forever" and "The Kang Dynasty"?

No current plans for that, at least. But I don't think those two stories form an incomplete arc -- they're both complete stories, with endings. There are things a writer could build on to start a new story (like Kang's continuing desire for a worthy heir), but I'm content to let other writers pick that up, if they wish. I don't think there's anything there that particularly needs to be "finished."

What do you consider the "Essential Kang" stories?

My first picks would be AVENGERS #23-24, which first humanized Kang, and the Celestial Madonna Saga, including the "Kang in the Wild West" storyline that followed it.

And one more: As a fan, what can you do to help really promote a book? I'm reading James Robert and Alex Milne's stuff on Transformers: More than Meets the Eye and they are KILLING it, but I can't get folks to even try a book based off a commercial property. Any advice on getting folks to read quality stuff?

Word of mouth -- recommending the book -- is really the best most readers can do, short of buying stacks of a book and giving it away. That doesn't mean everyone's going to listen to you, but that's no reason not to do it.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Great issue of AC this week, Kurt.

Thanks!

kdb

[IfThisBemyDestiny]

Do you go over to some of the character appreciation threads on these boards and read the comments and think "Oh for god's sake the writers and editors are not deliberately trying to screw over your favorite character!" or is their paranoia justified in some cases?

[Ken Ashcroft]

Any plans on working for Marvel anytime soon?