Hey, Let's ask Kurt Busiek questions!

[Kurt Busiek]

Are there any Avengers throughout the years (outside of the Dark Avengers) that you think just never worked or clicked with the team and/or the readers?

I never thought Sersi or Crystal should have been Avengers, because they're not, at their core, superheroes. They're superpowered, but that's not the same thing.

Lots of readers would disagree, which is just fine. But I didn't think they worked.

kdb

[Ben D]

It's been argued that the Fourth World doesn't work in the grand scheme of the DC Universe. Do you agree or disagree?

[Songbird/Diamondback]

Songbird and Diamondback team up.
Awesome idea? Or Greatest idea?

[Nomads1]

No questions at the moment, Mr. Busiek. Just wanted to thank you for all the great work in the last years, and for your courtesy in doing this for us fans. Really appreciate it, and hope to continue to enjoy your marvelous works for many years to come.
Take care.

Peace

[Nomads1]

Thought of a question. You mentioned wanting to write Legion. Which one would you prefer to do? The original (I don't know if you'd consider the last reboot as still being the original), the post-Zero Hour (Archie Legion, DnA Legion) or the Threeboot (Waid and Shooter's "Eat it, Grampa" Legion)? Why?

Peace

[dupersuper]

That would be the "Creature of the Night" book he mentioned earlier. Which I am also waiting for, with bated breath.

Is that in the same little universe as Secret Identity, or its own thing completely?

Thought of a question. You mentioned wanting to write Legion. Which one would you prefer to do? The original (I don't know if you'd consider the last reboot as still being the original), the post-Zero Hour (Archie Legion, DnA Legion) or the Threeboot (Waid and Shooter's "Eat it, Grampa" Legion)? Why?

Peace

No "5 Years Later" option?

[Nomads1]

No "5 Years Later" option?

Sorry. I just consider that so much a Giffen closed project, sort of like Alan Davis' Superboy's Legion. However, consider it included.

Peace

[djsweet]

Still on the way. Just turned in another script a couple of days ago.

We've had a variety of delays related to various business and contract and scheduling and health stuff, but we're stumbling forward, and when we're ready, we'll be there.

kdb

Great! Is the other series "American Gothic" still in the works?

[Kurt Busiek]

It's been argued that the Fourth World doesn't work in the grand scheme of the DC Universe. Do you agree or disagree?

I think it works just fine.

I think it could also work just as well or even better in its own universe as well. But unlike, say, MACHINE MAN or THE ETERNALS, which I don't think mesh well with the Marvel Universe, I think the Fourth World interacts with the DCU pretty well.

Songbird and Diamondback team up.
Awesome idea? Or Greatest idea?

Can't say it does a thing for me, positively or negatively.

Thought of a question. You mentioned wanting to write Legion. Which one would you prefer to do? The original (I don't know if you'd consider the last reboot as still being the original), the post-Zero Hour (Archie Legion, DnA Legion) or the Threeboot (Waid and Shooter's "Eat it, Grampa" Legion)? Why?

Honestly? I'd like to start over, which is why they shouldn't give me the job.

But of existing Legions, I'd say the original -- the one I was reading about when I was a teenager. That's the one that made me want to write them in the first place.

Is that in the same little universe as Secret Identity, or its own thing completely?

Its own thing completely.

Great! Is the other series "American Gothic" still in the works?

Yes. Although it's now called THE WITCHLANDS.

kdb

[highwayguy]

Hello, how are you?

You made Hawkeye a (brief) member of the Justice League in JLA/Avengers. Are there any other characters you would to see cross the divide?

[Predabot]

Thanks for answering mine and others questions, Mr Busiek. =)

I wonder... have you ever worked with an artist that both you and the editor actually knew wasn't ready for a specific book or task, but had to make it work somehow anyway?

If you have, what's that like? Working with someone that isn't really up to snuff, with what you know to be necessary to tell the story you had planned. Do you change the story to try and simplify it, making it easier for the newbie to make sense of it, or do you initially object, demanding another artist, or to table the whole tale, until it can be told properly? If strongly denied, would you ever just throw out a sloppy script, since you know it's going to be drawn god-awfully?

Or is it merely a case of gritting your teeth in silence, and preparing for Armaghetto?

I never thought Sersi or Crystal should have been Avengers, because they're not, at their core, superheroes. They're superpowered, but that's not the same thing.

Lots of readers would disagree, which is just fine. But I didn't think they worked.

kdb

YOU ARE ONE OF MY FAVOURITE WRITERS!!

I think it works just fine.

I think it could also work just as well or even better in its own universe as well. But unlike, say, MACHINE MAN or THE ETERNALS, which I don't think mesh well with the Marvel Universe, I think the Fourth World interacts with the DCU pretty well.

I was a bit perplexed as to why you felt that, at first, but now that I think about it more... the original Fourth World stories where heavily tied into the Superman -mythos, what with the NG title taking place in Metropolis, and Superman being featured in not just the Jimmy Olsen title, which was a 4thWD, but also in FOREVER PEOPLE.

So I do think I agree with you there... Still, it would be cool if they had been their own thing.

kdb

I have to ask... what does the D in Kurt D. Busiek stand for? I see you use it all the time, but it's never really referenced... never in the credits or in the interviews and such.

Is it Donald? Don? Diablo??

[Kurt Busiek]

You made Hawkeye a (brief) member of the Justice League in JLA/Avengers. Are there any other characters you would to see cross the divide?

Not really. I wouldn't want Hawkeye to have stayed a Leaguer, even -- it was a fun gag in a specific story, but not something I'd have done in a vacuum.

I wonder... have you ever worked with an artist that both you and the editor actually knew wasn't ready for a specific book or task, but had to make it work somehow anyway?

Yes.

If you have, what's that like?

Grit your teeth and do your best. Be prepared to "fix" storytelling weaknesses in the dialogue.

Do you change the story to try and simplify it, making it easier for the newbie to make sense of it,

Wasn't really an option, the time I'm thinking of.

or do you initially object, demanding another artist, or to table the whole tale, until it can be told properly?

Neither of those were an option, either.

If strongly denied, would you ever just throw out a sloppy script, since you know it's going to be drawn god-awfully?

Hell, no.

I recall talking to an artist once, who wasn't getting as much work as he'd like. A smaller publisher had offered him work, but at half his normal page rate. He was wondering whether to just slop it out, since they weren't paying him enough to do the best he could.

I advised him to do his best, because the readers don't know how much he's being paid, and the editors who'll see his work and consider hiring him don't know how much he's being paid, so all that would happen is that they'd think he did a bad job. And that'd hurt his reputation and his career.

Always do your best. If your collaborators aren't up to the job, try to overcome their failings. The job is to make a good comic book, after all -- and if you can make a book with not-ready-for-prime-time art readable and entertaining, then you've done a difficult job well. Nobody ever said this job only involves trying hard when it's easy.

I have to ask... what does the D in Kurt D. Busiek stand for?

David.

But Don is my father's name, as it happens.

kdb

[IronMagnus]

Mr. Busiek,

What are some of your favorite sci-fi and/or fantasy novels? Are you a fan of Tolkien? Heinlein? Bradbury?

[Kurt Busiek]

What are some of your favorite sci-fi and/or fantasy novels? Are you a fan of Tolkien? Heinlein? Bradbury?

I'm a big Heinlein fan, and I'd say I'm a Tolkien fan though not to the extent of making it through THE SILMARILLION. I like LORD OF THE RINGS, THE HOBBIT and SMITH OF WOOTTON MAJOR a lot, though.

And I haven't read any Bradbury in years, but I always liked what I read.

I also love the Narnia books (except the last one) and Lloyd Alexander and Peter S. Beagle.

These days, I read far more fantasy than SF -- I like Charles de Lint, Emma Bull, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Terry Pratchett, Stephen King, Jessica Day George, Patricia Wrede, Tamora Pierce, Jim Butcher, Matthew Hughes and others.

I really liked THE MAGICIANS and THE MAGICIAN KING by Lev Grossman.

In SF, Steven Gould's novels are a ton of fun, and I like Tim Zahn's Dragonback and Quadrail novels. And John Scalzi's work.

kdb

[Ben D]

(sorry about asking DC questions :P)

What do you think of Zeus now being Wonder Woman's father in the DCnU?