Christopher Priest On Why "Deathstroke" Brought Him Back to Comics: 'He Wasn't Black'

[Kaled]

He also wrote Spider-Man as Jim Owsley ....I think he wrote both Spectacular Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man at one point. I know he edit one during his early time at Marvel because Peter David has talked about his leaving the Spider-Man books because of Priest. I think it had to do with what to do with revealing Hobgoblin's identity after Roger Stern left. I did not know when I was reading his Black Panther series and later his Captain America and Falcon series that this was Jim Owsley. To me there seemed to be a very big difference in his writing and yes it was better writing. The 2 part Wonder Woman story he wrote was great and I think he was asked to finally solve the Fury/Wonder Woman connection during the short lived Legends of the DC Universe series. But what I can remember of it he never gave a definite answer about their connection. I loved the Green Lantern book Trilogy he did. I have only read one issue of Q&W....at the time I was not impressed because at the time it seemed the same as Black Panther. I remember his Deadpool run at the end of the first series and it was good. Not great. I think I have Batman: The Hill in my collection but I am not sure. My all-time favorite story of his will always be the Spider-Man/Wolverine one-shot he did. Spider-Man kills, I think for the first time, and has to learn how to deal with it as the story closes.

[Nick Miller]

I'm a bit disappointed that Priest is doing Deathstroke. He's an excellent writer and I wish he was doing a book with a character I cared about. I don't know about you guys but i'd like to see Priest write Batman

The first arc Slade goes to gotham, so we will see priest write bats.

Bennett and carlo. Powerhouse superhero artists. I am ready.

[earl]

I'd say the Spider-man Versus Wolverine one-shot from '87 written by Jim Owlsey is one of Priest's better known early comics he did with Marvel. I'd say alot more people know this issue than really who made it.

[Tony]

That book is so good. found it at Half price books for a dollar a few years ago, totally holds up.

[phantom1592]

True.

It's kind of a catch-22.

People clamor for authenticity: black characters written by black writers, females written by females...

But those writers have more than one story to tell and shouldn't be limited to only writing a character based on their own race or sex.
Otherwise, we'll eventually have a Justice League or Avengers team full of one race and one sex or we'll see six or seven writers on the book at the same time.

A writer is a writer, foremost.
They transcend above such human boundaries, anyway.
It's in their nataure.
Suits just don't understand.

As you said... it's not just the suits. It's 'people clamoring for authenticity'. They foolishly see this as 'progressive'. Somehow white people can't write about black people... and all you end up with is more segregation and glass ceilings. Saving all the black writers to only write black characters??? How does that seem remotely 'right'?? Women can write the girl characters... Black people write the black characters... It's just like all those people decades back who didn't want minorities in 'their sports' so they gave them their own leagues...

Boggles my mind to hear people ask for that.

Bendis (a white guy) did more to elevate Luke Cage to at least a B-list character then anyone else ever did.

I love seeing interviews with people who are actually involved in these games throwing off those stereotypes.

[ed2962]

True.

It's kind of a catch-22.

People clamor for authenticity: black characters written by black writers, females written by females...

But those writers have more than one story to tell and shouldn't be limited to only writing a character based on their own race or sex.
Otherwise, we'll eventually have a Justice League or Avengers team full of one race and one sex or we'll see six or seven writers on the book at the same time.

A writer is a writer, foremost.
They transcend above such human boundaries, anyway.
It's in their nataure.
Suits just don't understand.

It more complicated that a lot of people realize though. Of course white people can write black people and men can write women, but not everybody has in depth knowledge about certain life experiences. I think most of us can think of times when even talented people fel back on stereotypes in a story or two. Conversely, there's been times when certain a writer outside of a specific demographic was able capture the nuances of that community. I think there'd be less of an issue if there were women/minorities in writer and editorial positions, then there wouldn't the situation where the one black guy or whomever is regulated to be the only voice of authenticity

[armlessphelan]

I like Priest's comments here. I like them a lot. This thought process that only X can write X is just ghettoization of nonwhite and female talent. And that so many people are happy to have it that way bothers me. Remember the days when Ann Nocenti could write Daredevil or Louise Simonson could write Superman and it was just a woman doing a job? About the only woman writing now who enjoys that kinds freedom is Gail Simone. And when it comes to nonwhite writers working now, I think Greg Pak has the most diverse writing library. How much would it suck if he were only allowed to write Asian characters?

[Outside_85]

I like Priest's comments here. I like them a lot. This thought process that only X can write X is just ghettoization of nonwhite and female talent. And that so many people are happy to have it that way bothers me. Remember the days when Ann Nocenti could write Daredevil or Louise Simonson could write Superman and it was just a woman doing a job? About the only woman writing now who enjoys that kinds freedom is Gail Simone. And when it comes to nonwhite writers working now, I think Greg Pak has the most diverse writing library. How much would it suck if he were only allowed to write Asian characters?

Bold: I would kinda disagree with that. Due to how the vast majority of her work is female centric, like Swords of Sorrow, Red Sonja, Batgirl and Secret Six and the Movement were both (more or less) lead by female characters. And that's fine and Simone appears to love it as it is for her. Last I actually recall her being attached to a male solo-character was the lamentable Firestorm solo book from the New 52 launch.

However I could argue that Marjorie Liu has the freedom you mention, since she appears to be getting both female-focused books like X-23 and Monstress, team books like Astonishing X-Men, and is now the writer of the Han Solo solo book (couldn't resist). And say what you will, but Han Solo is pretty much a male power-fantasy character.

[Rene Narciso]

As you said... it's not just the suits. It's 'people clamoring for authenticity'. They foolishly see this as 'progressive'. Somehow white people can't write about black people... and all you end up with is more segregation and glass ceilings. Saving all the black writers to only write black characters??? How does that seem remotely 'right'?? Women can write the girl characters... Black people write the black characters... It's just like all those people decades back who didn't want minorities in 'their sports' so they gave them their own leagues...

I agree that the "solution" of having people that are X writing characters that are X is simplistic and in many ways a false solution. Even more wrong-headed is the notion that a person that is a minority is automatically better able to write all minorities, when everybody's experience is unique. We should be celebrating empathy and imagination, and not saying that "you will never be able to understand what is like to be me."

But the "problem" that this false solution is offered for is a real one. Characters that are not white and male are still written a little stereotypically, particularly women (though I agree that this problem is lesser now than in the past). And white guys are disproportionately represented in the ranks of comic book writers and editors. Christopher Priest is very much an exception, being one of the few non-white writers/editors that have deep experience in the big publishers. Getting more diverse writers (writing white or non-white characters, male or female) is a good thing.

[phantom1592]

I agree that the "solution" of having people that are X writing characters that are X is simplistic and in many ways a false solution. Even more wrong-headed is the notion that a person that is a minority is automatically better able to write all minorities, when everybody's experience is unique. We should be celebrating empathy and imagination, and not saying that "you will never be able to understand what is like to be me."

But the "problem" that this false solution is offered for is a real one. Characters that are not white and male are still written a little stereotypically, particularly women (though I agree that this problem is lesser now than in the past). And white guys are disproportionately represented in the ranks of comic book writers and editors. Christopher Priest is very much an exception, being one of the few non-white writers/editors that have deep experience in the big publishers. Getting more diverse writers (writing white or non-white characters, male or female) is a good thing.

This is a fact here. Not everyone's experience is the same. That's why there is no 'black experience' or 'woman experience'. What some people have experienced is NOT the same for everyone. There are a lot of black people who have fought long and hard to be treated the same as everyone else... but when a black character is treated that way... the writer obviously doesn't 'get it'... If they try to aim for the persecution and downsides of a culture... they get pigeon-holed as being a stereotype. It's really a lose/lose situation.

Just imagine the chaos that would happen if a black writer or Asian writer was told he couldn't write Spider-man or Batman... because he could never 'get' white characters... It's insane.

[Kaled]

Outside_85 posted:
"However I could argue that Marjorie Liu has the freedom you mention, since she appears to be getting both female-focused books like X-23 and Monstress, team books like Astonishing X-Men, and is now the writer of the Han Solo solo book"

I kind of agree with you on that but she has made a name for herself as a novelist before writing comics and some of those novels where written using Marvel's character's like the X-Men. I have heard she has some very strong pull in the novel world...so that pull may have transferred to the comics she writes.

[Nix Uotan]

I'm looking forward to this new run of Deathstroke as it seems to be everything I wanted. Inverse Batman, Rose being his Robin, Wintergreen as support, Slade's family etc etc.

[J. D. Guy]

I'm looking forward to this new run of Deathstroke as it seems to be everything I wanted. Inverse Batman, Rose being his Robin, Wintergreen as support, Slade's family etc etc.

I wonder if Jericho will be having a substantial role is this, or a role period, and not just the seeming default of Rose.

Not gonna lie, I miss Jericho.

[Crazy Diamond]

This is a fact here. Not everyone's experience is the same. That's why there is no 'black experience' or 'woman experience'. What some people have experienced is NOT the same for everyone. There are a lot of black people who have fought long and hard to be treated the same as everyone else... but when a black character is treated that way... the writer obviously doesn't 'get it'... If they try to aim for the persecution and downsides of a culture... they get pigeon-holed as being a stereotype. It's really a lose/lose situation.

It wouldn't be a lose/lose situation if Marvel and DC would actually go and look for Black talent. Then again, if you can self-publish and have full control of your work, why would you want to work for Marvel and DC?

Just imagine the chaos that would happen if a black writer or Asian writer was told he couldn't write Spider-man or Batman... because he could never 'get' white characters... It's insane.

That already happens. Look at the history of Spider-Man and Batman. How many of those writers were Black or Asian? The only one's I can recall are Christopher Priest and Larry Hama respectively. There's also Glenn Luen Yang writing Superman and Super-Man. It's just that instead of saying "Oh you don't get white culture" they'll say "Oh, we already got someone for that" and that someone will probably be one of their trusted writers or a friend who they hired.

When white is considered the default and neutral, the expectation is everyone should know about that culture. But when it comes to white writers, the reverse isn't always a guarantee. That's how you end up with lists like this:

https://goodmenproject.com/uncategor...gin-algorithm/

That's why some readers may say "Hey, let's give a Black writer a shot at writing John Stewart." At the least, he won't get wallpapered or treated as inferior. Then again, Dwayne Mcduffie and Christopher Priest both wrote the same character and with different results.

[Agent Z]

It wouldn't be a lose/lose situation if Marvel and DC would actually go and look for Black talent. Then again, if you can self-publish and have full control of your work, why would you want to work for Marvel and DC?



That already happens. Look at the history of Spider-Man and Batman. How many of those writers were Black or Asian? The only one's I can recall are Christopher Priest and Larry Hama respectively. There's also Glenn Luen Yang writing Superman and Super-Man. It's just that instead of saying "Oh you don't get white culture" they'll say "Oh, we already got someone for that" and that someone will probably be one of their trusted writers or a friend who they hired.

When white is considered the default and neutral, the expectation is everyone should know about that culture. But when it comes to white writers, the reverse isn't always a guarantee. That's how you end up with lists like this:

https://goodmenproject.com/uncategor...gin-algorithm/

That's why some readers may say "Hey, let's give a Black writer a shot at writing John Stewart." At the least, he won't get wallpapered or treated as inferior. Then again, Dwayne Mcduffie and Christopher Priest both wrote the same character and with different results.

Priest wrote John Stewart? May I ask when this was please?