Ask Kurt Busiek

[Omega Alpha]

Do you find it hard to read and keep up with characters you wrote once you're done with them or you have no problems?

[Kaine322]

Pardon me if you've been asked this somewhere in here and I simply missed it, but I really liked what you did with the Kirby characters from the 80's and 90's at Dynamite a while back. Do you think you'll ever be following up with those storylines again?

[DrNewGod]

I can't speak to the more recent AVENGERS, since I haven't read much of the series since I left.

But classically, at least, the Avengers is a team. They live together (for the most part), train together, work together as a team. The JLA is a league -- they're all solo heroes who generally act as solo heroes, with their own territory and concerns, but they come together as needed to deal with major threats. They're solo stars who cooperate when times call for it, rather than a structured team that works together on an everyday basis.

So the Avengers is like whatever baseball team wins the World Series, and the JLA are like the All-Star team. The best team versus the best individual players.

They aren't always like that, but that's the classic model for both, as I see it.

Thanks. I see it in a similar way to you. I've sometimes thought The Avengers should be midpoint between the Doom Patrol/X-Men and The Justice League.

[Kurt Busiek]

Do you find it hard to read and keep up with characters you wrote once you're done with them or you have no problems?

I find it hard, so mostly I don't do it, unless I need to for professional reasons.

Pardon me if you've been asked this somewhere in here and I simply missed it, but I really liked what you did with the Kirby characters from the 80's and 90's at Dynamite a while back. Do you think you'll ever be following up with those storylines again?

Thanks, it was a lot of fun to do that project. The idea was to set it up for other people, though, so I doubt I'll be returning to that world.

But I guess you never know for sure.

kdb

[Comic-Reader Lad]

Here's some questions I hope haven't already been asked...


(1) Of the comic book movies that have taken over Hollywood beginning in 2000 (with X-Men), which comic book movies from Marvel and DC have you loved?

(2) Which post-2000 comic book movies have disappointed you?

(3) Which characters or titles from DC and Marvel would you like to have a nice, long run on (30+ issues) that you haven't already done a significant run on? (you can define "significant run")

(4) If you were an artist, which characters would you most like to draw and why?

[Kurt Busiek]

Here's some questions I hope haven't already been asked...


(1) Of the comic book movies that have taken over Hollywood beginning in 2000 (with X-Men), which comic book movies from Marvel and DC have you loved?

I've liked a lot of them, but I really liked the first AVENGERS movie and the first AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. And Captain America: WINTER SOLDIER was pretty sharp, too. Oh, and INTO THE SPIDERVERSE was amazing. And LOGAN.

Over at the DC end, I think I'd pick WONDER WOMAN, and SHAZAM was a lot of fun.

(2) Which post-2000 comic book movies have disappointed you?

I generally go in with fairly low expectations, so I'm not disappointed all that often. But I thought the Zack Snyder trilogy was a misfire, and SUICIDE SQUAD and GREEN LANTERN didn't do much for me.

Over at the Marvel end, the WOLVERINE: ORIGINS was blah and DAREDEVIL wasn't much.

But then, there are a bunch I wasn't interested enough in to actually go to, so who knows?

(3) Which characters or titles from DC and Marvel would you like to have a nice, long run on (30+ issues) that you haven't already done a significant run on? (you can define "significant run")

I don't know if I'm going to be doing 30+ issue runs on existing series any more -- I've got lots of my own stuff to do, or new ideas.

But to pick a few:

WONDER WOMAN, OMAC, THE DEMON, LEGION OF SUPERHEROES, FANTASTIC FOUR, X-MEN, DOCTOR STRANGE, THOR, and if I could do the characters as they existed in the late 70s/early 80s, I could have a lot of fun with GHOST RIDER, WORLD'S FINEST and DAZZLER.

(4) If you were an artist, which characters would you most like to draw and why?

I don't know. I like writing them; the idea of taking a whole day (or more) to draw a single page has very little appeal for me. If I was going to have to take that kind of time to do something -- basically, writing and drawing one book would fill my working hours -- I think it would have to be something creator-owned.

kdb

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

You've ALL Been Sleeping On ASTRO CITY!

Astro City a world populated by interesting heroes, villains and civilians.
Story by Kurt Busiek http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....y_kurt_busiek/ Art by Brent Anderson.

[Marvell2100]

Happy birthday!

[AHRNIHAL]

Can I get your avatar 616MarvelYear is LeapYear?

Also Happy Birthday Kurt Busiek.

[K7P5V]

Heroes Return was a great time to be a fan of Marvel.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Busiek.

[Hybrid]

Happy birthday!

[GenericUsername]

Happy Birthday!

[Knightsilver]

Happy birthday!

[Vibranium Weave]

Happy Birthday Busiek,

I have read Avengers Forever, The Kang Dynasty, and Ultron Unlimited and I must say you did a superb job on the Avengers! My favorite was Ultron Unlimited followed by the Kang Dynasty! I feel that your run on the Avengers really informed who they were as a team. In the Endgame movie when Stark says, " We are the Avengers and not the Pre-vengers, we do our best work after the fact." I instinctively thought of The Kang Dynasty and Ultron Unlimited!

When it comes to Avenger's Villians, I am not much of a Thanos fan ( probably because you did write him as a main antagonist lol). I prefer Kang & Ultron ( I hope Kang is the next Thanos level treat in the MCU & that they base it on the Kang Dynasty).

I am a huge Black Panther fan (could you tell by my name lol) and I really liked how you used T"Challa in Ultron Unlimited. Thanks for the Wakandan Design Group.

I am curious, was your use of T'Challa and reference to his run in The Kang Dynasty and Ultron Unlimited out of respect & friendship to Christopher Priest?

[Kurt Busiek]

Thanks for the very kind birthday wishes, all!

I have read Avengers Forever, The Kang Dynasty, and Ultron Unlimited and I must say you did a superb job on the Avengers!

Thanks very much -- I'm glad you liked it.

I am a huge Black Panther fan (could you tell by my name lol) and I really liked how you used T"Challa in Ultron Unlimited. Thanks for the Wakandan Design Group.

I am curious, was your use of T'Challa and reference to his run in The Kang Dynasty and Ultron Unlimited out of respect & friendship to Christopher Priest?

Not specifically -- I like Priest just fine, but I've liked the Black Panther even longer. So we used him in AVENGERS here and there because he's a cool character who has a long history with the Avengers and he's fun to write, so he should crop up from time to time.

kdb