Hey, Let's ask Kurt Busiek questions!

[marvell2100]

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

I liked the rebooted older Legion which unfortunately weren't the real Legionnaires.

Hey Mr B me again, you've used many classic Avengers foes and created some pretty powerful new ones during your run. Which of these villains did you really get excited about writing? Personally, I liked your use of Ultron, Kang, Nefaria and Lord Templar.

[Kurt Busiek]

(sorry about asking DC questions :P)

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

I'd rather you didn't ask me about stuff that hasn't been revealed yet. That's a spoiler -- in this case, it's one I'd already encountered, but I might not have (and I doubt everyone else here has). I'd prefer to read the stories as an ordinary reader, not be told the surprises ahead of time.

And in any case, there's no way I'm going to critique a story element when I haven't read the story it appears in.

That said, it's not what I would have done, but if Brian and Cliff can get a good story out of it, then I'll likely enjoy the story.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

Hey Mr B me again, you've used many classic Avengers foes and created some pretty powerful new ones during your run. Which of these villains did you really get excited about writing? Personally, I liked your use of Ultron, Kang, Nefaria and Lord Templar.

I had fun writing all of them, but probably had the most fun with Ultron and Kang.

kdb

[FiddleFaddle]

Kurt sorry if this has been asked:

If you were writing X-Men

Who'd b on your team?

[Kurt Busiek]

If you were writing X-Men

Who'd b on your team?

I don't know.

I'd figure that out if I was doing the book, but I'm not, so I haven't thought it out.

Can't really go wrong with the original five, though. Actually, that'd be a fun book to do -- the original five X-Men (plus Alex and Lorna, maybe), not as members of any X-team, but just as old friends, scattered around the world, living their lives, but in touch with each other and helping out as needed.

kdb

[Ari Gold]

I'd rather you didn't ask me about stuff that hasn't been revealed yet. That's a spoiler -- in this case, it's one I'd already encountered, but I might not have (and I doubt everyone else here has).

Yeah, I hadn't yet. Actually been working pretty hard on avoiding it . . . oh well.

[Expletive Deleted]

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.

Do you ever get the urge to write prose?

[Alex Dragon]

Hey Kurt...

How do you write? When you're figuring stuff out or putting it together in your head are you usually in front of your computer or do you do your thinking elsewhere and don't get in front of your computer until you're ready to put in on "paper"? Do you or can you work stuff out while you're doing other things?

[Alex Dragon]

Hey Kurt....

You're given the power o go back in time to any period of your choosing to work with any editor on any book with any characters you wish for 6 issues. Who'd you most like with and on what book?

[Kurt Busiek]

Do you ever get the urge to write prose?

You bet.

I've written a little, want to write more.

kdb

[CyberHubbs]

This question might come off as fanboyish, but I can't help but be curious since reading one of your earlier comments.

Is there a reason you don't think MACHINE MAN works in the MU? Or just don't like the character concept?

[Kurt Busiek]

How do you write? When you're figuring stuff out or putting it together in your head are you usually in front of your computer or do you do your thinking elsewhere and don't get in front of your computer until you're ready to put in on "paper"? Do you or can you work stuff out while you're doing other things?

I come up with ideas all the time. When I'm taking notes, I'm much more likely to be doing so with a pen and paper, on a couch somewhere, than at my computer -- I tend to hit the computer once I get past the outline stage.

You're given the power o go back in time to any period of your choosing to work with any editor on any book with any characters you wish for 6 issues. Who'd you most like with and on what book?

I don't really have much of a wish to go back in time -- it sounds fun until you start thinking about racism and sexism and less-advanced medicine, and so on. And then, closer to home, there are the teeny-tiny page rates...

And as I've mentioned a few time, these days I'm more itchy to work on stuff I start up myself rather than someone else's projects, so it's not like I'd want to go back in time to work on Dr. Strange or the FF or Green Lantern. I expect that'll change, but not right now.

There aren't a lot of editors of the past I'd seek out, either -- Archie Goodwin, maybe. So if I wanted to go back in time, it'd be to work with people like Jack Kirby or Alex Toth or Don Heck or Frank Robbins or someone like that, more than any particular characters.

But I expect I'd rather bring them forward, so we could take advantage of better deals for creators -- do a nice self-contained graphic novel we could own ourselves, something like that.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

This question might come off as fanboyish, but I can't help but be curious since reading one of your earlier comments.

Is there a reason you don't think MACHINE MAN works in the MU? Or just don't like the character concept?

I think the character concept is just fine, and I like Machine Man a lot.

But I think he's best off in his own world, not in a shared universe that already has the Vision, Ultron, the original Human Torch, Jocasta and others in it. I think he plays better as the first self-aware robot in the world, not as the latest one to join the crowd.

I could have fun doing a MACHINE MAN series where he was unique and striking -- more like Paul Chadwick's Concrete than a superhero in a crowded superhero world. But then, if I wanted to do that, I don't need Machine Man. I could make up my own intelligent robot, as dozens of writers have done before me.

kdb

[Alex Dragon]

Hey Kurt...

Do you think there are "dated" concepts/charcters that just don't work or have the ability to excite people anymore?

Do you think there are any characters in the DC or Marvel universes that would greatly benefit from not being part of the those universes and being in their own universe like the early DC books were?

[Kurt Busiek]

Do you think there are "dated" concepts/charcters that just don't work or have the ability to excite people anymore?

Sure. Used to be, daring pilots were popular, and there was a slew of pulp magazines about aviator heroes. But that was because airplanes were fairly new and still romantic. Characters like the BLACKHAWKS and AIRBOY and SMILIN' JACK cutting edge heroes on a new frontier.

And now, well, it's hard to get modern readers excited about airplanes.

DC's just launched a new BLACKHAWKS series, and I haven't read it yet, but it doesn't seem to be built around the planes any more. So they seem to be swapping in a different concept, to keep the name alive but focus on something else.

Do you think there are any characters in the DC or Marvel universes that would greatly benefit from not being part of the those universes and being in their own universe like the early DC books were?

I'd just been mentioning Machine Man and the Eternals, so yes.

I think the X-Men could work on their own, in a world with no superhumans but mutants in it -- it'd be a different focus, but it'd bring out the strengths of the series in a different way. It works within the universe, bout it'd stand on its own just fine, too.

I'm sure there are others -- one that comes to mind is a Keith Giffen creation called VEXT, that I thought was a wonderful idea. But it's a narrow-focus idea, the story of a minor god downsized out of heaven, making his way in the world of mortals. As a series on its own, that's a cool idea, and I think it works very well. But the minute you stick him in Metropolis, the idea all of a sudden seems so much smaller, because he's not the coolest thing on the stage any more. It's not even his stage. He's just a minor character in a big sprawling world full of bigger characters where every reader knows he'll never make a difference.

If VEXT had been a Vertigo book, where the lead character is the focus of that universe, the main attraction on stage, then I think it'd have worked very well. As a minor side-character in the shadow of Superman and all the others, he just seemed lost, and the series didn't last.

kdb