Who can save Superman now? KURT BUSIEK!

[Kurt Busiek]

Kurt, should Superman be just another super-hero, the premiere, legendary iconic DC super-hero, or somewhere between these two extremes, in your opinion?

Leaning toward the latter, at least.  The most important hero, the top of the pyramid.

Would you try to make him the first super-hero, chronologically, in the DCU again if you had the chance?

I actually have ideas on how to do that without messing up continuity, but they may be too messy to work.  But I may figure out how to un-messy them.

In short, though, I'd like him to be the first, but I don't think I'd necessarily try to make it happen, unless I could figure out a way that didn't cause lots of problems along the way.

kdb

[Captain Kal]

Thanks, Kurt!

I'm happy to see that you share the sensibilities of much of superfandom on those questions.

And it's also very refreshing to see someone considering the consequences of what he's writing instead of being narrow-mindedly fixated on just the current story.

I won't mention any of the writers -- one in particular! -- who don't give a hang about consequences down the line.

[Captain Kal]

Of course, there's the overly-popular reboot/retcon/reset switch that's used far too often.

The fact that the esteemed Kurt Busiek never even considered that ill-considered option is very heartwarming and reassuring.

[Gary]

Even if you did use that option, you'd have a hard time arranging it so that Superman predated all of the "golden age" heroes. What would your options be? (1) erase those heroes from continuity; (2) let there be two Supermen, as there were pre-crisis; (3) let the current Superman be 80+ years old; (4) say that Supey somehow got transported from the WWII era to the present, a la Cap'n America. None of these seem like very good options.

[Captain Kal]

You're not thinking big enough, Gary.

Recall the great Crisis and overall reboot of the entire DCU in 1986.

For writing it's the same as computer programming: Any novice or hack can rewrite the thing from scratch.  It takes skill, experience, and talent to take something existing and work with that to make something new.

The great guest of this thread has proven amply he falls into the talented category esp. by refusing to consider the reboot option.

A certain talentless hack has already proven -- repeatedly! -- that he can do nothing without seeking to rework and redefine whatever he lays his paws upon.  And even then, he couldn't keep things straight even with himself.

[Kuuga]

Hey Kurt. Good to see you here.

I was just wanting to ask you, if you were on All Star or mainline Superman title, what artists do you think you'd like to work with for such projects?

[Kurt Busiek]

Hey Kurt. Good to see you here.

I was just wanting to ask you, if you were on All Star or mainline Superman title, what artists do you think you'd like to work with for such projects?

I can think of lots, from guys I've worked with a lot before, like Carlos Pacheco, George Perez, Stuart Immonen and Brent Anderson, to guys I've worked with less but want to work with more, like Jerry Ordway, Alan Davis and Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, to guys I hain't worked with at all, like Mark Silvestri, Lee Weeks, Leonard Kirk, and on and on and on.

kdb

[Kurt Busiek]

You're not thinking big enough, Gary.

Maybe so, maybe no, but Gary's just articulated my problems with a reboot clearly and concisely -- I wouldn't know how to do it without causing more problems than it solves.

I wouldn't have that big a problem with some minor continuity-massaging, and wouldn't refuse to consider it by any means.  But there's a difference between considering something and figuring out a way to make it work...

kdb