Who can save Superman now? KURT BUSIEK!

[Kurt Busiek]

Will the project you're announcing in a month or so take place in the mainstream DCU?

Heck, with Infinite Crisis, will there be a mainstream DCU in a month?    Will this upcoming project be tied into IC or 52 at all?

I'd just as soon not give hints, sorry.

kdb

[Uncle Mxy]

I'd just as soon not give hints, sorry.

Oh well...   was worth a try.  Thanks for the info you've provided thus far, and thanks in general, really.  

I can assume DC-wrelated means "DC" DC, and not Wildstorm/Vertigo/etc., though?  Heck, Astro City could be loosely defined as DC-related.    

(Speaking of which, I am going off to the comic book store to buy Astro City: Local Heroes TPB and PS238 Volume 2 about 5 seconds after I click "Submit"....)

[Super Monkey]

Heck, Astro City could be loosely defined as DC-related.

I hope not. DC has screwed enough creators, lets not add Kurt to that list, I thought we all liked him?  :wink:

I can assume DC-wrelated means "DC" DC, and not Wildstorm/Vertigo/etc., though?

I am sure he will let everyone know as soon as he can. The last thing he wants to do is start hyping something then later it gets cancelled.

There is a certain famous movie director who always talks about films he is just thinking about, but never ends up doing, now his fans never trust his word, and no one wants to be like that.

You can start another thread for Astro City at the Super Friends board here.

I think this one has run it's course.

[Kurt Busiek]

I can assume DC-related means "DC" DC, and not Wildstorm/Vertigo/etc., though?

Sure, why not?

Speaking of which, I am going off to the comic book store to buy Astro City: Local Heroes TPB and PS238 Volume 2 about 5 seconds after I click "Submit"....)

Hope you like it!

kdb

[Rugal 3:16]

Kurt..

How do you feel the Post-Crisis Superman compares to the Pre-Crisis one in terms of being a "Success", Do you think the old-pre-reboot one would have worked today (because business-wise, marketing a character for just a target market i.e. Pre/Post-crisis fans is IMO not a smart thing to do unless it has an "X-Men-Uber-large" fanbase) or does the Post-crisis version really fit better with today's world. Of course you don't have to openly say you prefer something better, but just your thoughts.

[Captain Kal]

Hi Kurt,

You mentioned earlier in passing that sometimes artists might do something not quite what the writer specified.

Which artists do you think best capture your intentions on a book?

Which artists have you found that were adding more value to your work and tended to collaborate more with you in the creative process?

Have any artists gone so far from your intent that you'd rather not work with them again?  Can you name them?

Which artists do you think would work best if you were writing a Superman story?  Does that depend on the kind of story?  Can you see yourself writing different kinds of Superman stories (comedic, cosmic, urban crime, etc.)?

[Kurt Busiek]

How do you feel the Post-Crisis Superman compares to the Pre-Crisis one in terms of being a "Success", Do you think the old-pre-reboot one would have worked today (because business-wise, marketing a character for just a target market i.e. Pre/Post-crisis fans is IMO not a smart thing to do unless it has an "X-Men-Uber-large" fanbase) or does the Post-crisis version really fit better with today's world. Of course you don't have to openly say you prefer something better, but just your thoughts.

If we're talking financial success, then clearly, the Golden Age Superman is the winner.

But I have no real idea if the pre-Crisis Superman would have worked today, better or worse than the post-Crisis one.  It would all depend on how well the books were done.

I will say that I think the biggest loss in the post-Crisis Superman is that great parade introducing Supergirl to the world, and the biggest gain is the Kents being alive.  But I doubt either has anything to do with success or failure with a wide audience -- they're just personal reactions.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

You mentioned earlier in passing that sometimes artists might do something not quite what the writer specified.

Which artists do you think best capture your intentions on a book?

Depends on the book.  I think Neil Vokes did a wonderful job on JONNY DEMON, but wouldn't have been appropriate on MARVELS, while Alex Ross did a great job on MARVELS but wouldn't have brought JONNY DEMON to life the way Neil did.

Different books have different intentions.

Which artists have you found that were adding more value to your work and tended to collaborate more with you in the creative process?

Those are two different questions, of course.  And the range of collaboration is wide -- with Alex on MARVELS and Brent on ASTRO CITY, they not only worked (or work) from a full script, but I got to see the page layouts and make suggestions: Shift this character to the left, change the angle, whatever.  On AVENGERS, George simply drew the story from my plot with very little contact, restaging and repacing as he saw fit, and I'd get the finished pages to dialogue from.  Both turned out to be very effective collaborations, but I doubt it'd work as well to swap the working methods.

My basic rule of thumb is: Change the working method on any job to do what'll make the best comics, rather than bringing the same method to each job, regardless of the results.

The two artists who've come closest to delivering what was in my head when I plotted the story are James Fry (on an 8-page Iron Man short) and Steve Epting (on our two issues of AVENGERS).  But I've been delighted to work with Alex, Brent, George, Carlos Pacheco, Cary Nord, Tom Grummett and many others, and it involves a wide variety of approaches and different kinds of collaboration.

Have any artists gone so far from your intent that you'd rather not work with them again?

Yes.

Can you name them?

I'm not going to, at least.

Which artists do you think would work best if you were writing a Superman story?  Does that depend on the kind of story?  Can you see yourself writing different kinds of Superman stories (comedic, cosmic, urban crime, etc.)?

I think I rattled off a few names earlier in the thread, but yes, it does depend on what kind of story.  And I could see myself writing quite a variety of stuff, were I to write Superman.

kdb