Ahh, five hours of fitful sleep interspersed with bouts of uncontrollable, painful coughing. Just what a fellow needs to meet the day. Well, as long as my brain's foggy and concentration ain't happening, let me guzzle herbal tea, slurp delicious homemade soup, go through several tissue boxes and answer the blog mail.
From MARK:
Do you have any memories of Uncle Elvis at the Dream Factory or in letter hacking in general?
I don't think I ever met "Uncle" Elvis Orten, Mark. I've heard he worked at the Dream Factory, which for years was my local comics shop and a favorite hangout, run by the gregarious and enthusiastic Mike Raub. The Dream Factory was also where Ann was working when we got engaged—we'd known each other in college, and she'd gone to work for Mike when she was back home in Connecticut, and I'd drive up to the Dream Factory on Friday nights to get the week's comics and meet up with Ann, and after closing up she'd drive back to her parents' house, switch over to my car and we'd go out to dinner or to the movies or something.
In fact, I almost proposed to her in the Factory—I had a big bouquet of flowers in my car, and was planning to wait until closing time and propose in the store, when we were alone. But Mike, who knew I was planning to propose but didn't know the details, wouldn't take the hint and leave. He decided he'd close up that night, to give us more time with one another, and not all the "No, no, don't bother, it's fine"s would get through.
So we weren't alone, Ann drove back to her parents' house and switched to my car—which had a very large and fragrant bouquet of flowers in it, hard to miss—and said, "What are those for?" So I wound up proposing in her parent's driveway.
Ah well. It worked.
But Uncle Elvis's time at the Dream Factory must have been post-1990, after Ann and I moved out to the Pacific Northwest. I have no anecdotes, aside from reading his letters. Sorry.
From TORSTEN:
Longtime comic book fan from Germany. We've crossed paths at Comicboards a few years ago when JLA/Avengers came out (has it really been that long?). I've been one of the guys defending you over that dreaded Superman/Thor matter, and we ended up making fun of the complainers together. (I also bombed you with dozens of detail questions about the comic.) Still have all my various copies of JLA/A (US singles, US singles signed by Tom Smith, German singles, German variant cover singles, US hardcover).
I can't believe you're still getting angry comments about the Superman/Thor fight. I said it then and I say it again: I don't care about superheroes fighting each other. I want to see them work together. The occasional conflict is okay as long as it comes from the story and isn't just there for its own sake. "Who will win the fight?" got old when I was 17 or so. Was the first kind of topic to annoy me when I started posting on internet boards. So while I still liked the pairings in JLA/A #2 (Wonder Woman/Hercules, anyone?), I was even more happy to see less confrontative interactions in issues 3 and 4.
Anyways, I mostly dropped out of "mainstream" comic books around the time JLA/A came out. Too many retcons, reanimations, character regressions and multi-mega-giga-crossovers for my tastes. Only reading creator-owned and crossover-free stuff like Rising Stars, Supreme Power (yes, I know, it's followed by Ultimate Power. I'll ignore that one.) and Astro City these days.
Yes, Astro City. If I ever get around to do my own comic, Astro City will be one of the main inspirations (though I plan to keep the character focus a little more consistent). You've probably already heard all the praises I could think of, so I'll give you a very minor bit of criticism instead: The ever-changing character focus makes it difficult for me to actually attach to any of the characters. Yes, it's all very nice, but I still sorta miss the feeling of getting to know a character for a significant part of his or her life, like on ongoing character-specific titles. It's all just glimpses here and there.
But, as I said, it's a minor complaint. I've read Astro City through two German publishers (both of whom eventually discontinued the series), and I've resorted to English trade paperbacks now. Dark Age 1 was great, looking forward to part 2 and Shining Stars.
Thanks, Torsten.
When it comes to ongoing-character stuff in Astro City, my feeling is that, if I did a lot of that, I wouldn't be able to do the other stuff we do—look how the focus on Charles and Royal left us not getting to see into the lives of most anyone else, during that run—and there are a lot more sources out there for ongoing character drama than there are for shifting-spotlight stuff.
But you will be seeing some recurring background characters—plus the return of some established characters you probably never expected to see again—as the series takes a (slightly) different focus in coming issues. Won't be the same as following a single core cast in every issue, but then, if it was, it wouldn't be the same as other stuff you like.
From ADAM:
I am a huge fan of your work: Marvels, Astro City, and Superman: Secret Identity is one of my favorite story arcs of all time.
Due to my work schedule, responsibilities as a parent, and geographic location it is nearly impossible for me to make it to any major comic book conventions.
I would absolutely love to get your autograph on my copy of Astro City #1
Is there any way that I could mail it to you and you could sign it and send it back to me? I would be willing to pay ALL shipping costs.
Alas, I hate saying no to this sort of thing, but here's the problem:
We lose things.
I used to sign comics by mail, back before we didn't have any kids and the house wasn't a wreck, and if we're ever organized again (something I suspect won't happen until at least a decade from now, when the girls are both in college), I might go back to it, but in the meantime, mail comes in and a certain percentage of it gets lost in the drifting piles of paper that seem to fill the house unbidden.
Almost all my business correspondence happens online, and things like checks, contracts and Amazon packages get dealt with instantly when they come through the door, but envelopes with a single comic or two get lost in the drift, and may never be seen again. Sometimes I never see them at all.
[We had a recent episode—I have to/get to join the WGA as part of working on the Astro City film, and we talked with the Guild and e-mailed them things that indicated I'm qualified to join, and they sent off an application package. And a couple of weeks later we had a round of "Did that application package from the WGA ever show up?" "Oh, sure, it came in a few days ago. It's...somewhere." And it took three days to find it.]
Not the best way to go through life, but we haven't found a working alternative yet, or at least not one we seem to be able to manage.
So after someone sent me a comic to sign, and I didn't see it for over a year—and the guy who sent it was very patient and never complained, but still—I decided it was perhaps for the best if I stopped doing that for a while.
Thus, my apologies. I don't mind losing stuff I paid for (or at least, I bear the responsibility for it, and if it's important I can be dragged away from work to help search), I hate losing stuff that someone else paid for, and really doesn't want lost. If comics could be sent for signature via e-mail, it'd be different.
But if we ever get organized around here...
From DAVE:
Hey Kurt, I'm a big fan of your work in general, and I have a quick question. I am really interested in getting the Astro City books in hardcover, I want to upgrade from my trade paperbacks, but to get the earlier books now is a fairly expensive endeavor and as a teacher I've got to watch my shekels. My question is, do you know if there are any plans to do nice new hardcovers, similar to what is being done with Y, Powers, Preacher, Fables, etc?
Thanks a lot buddy, and for all the years of great writing!
And thanks for the kind words, sir! No current plans to do new hardcover collections, though I'd certainly love to have them. And they've been discussed, at least. Maybe once (a) we're back on a dependable ongoing schedule, or (b) the movie's imminent, or (c) both.
But it'll be DC who make that decision, and they'll do it based on costs and terms like "sales velocity" and such. I've never understood fully how the process works, not since Superman: Secret Identity was changed from a hardcover to a trade paperback and moved on the schedule because another book had "fallen through."
From DAN:
I recently bought the entire run of the 1980s fanzine Comics Feature via eBay. What struck me immediately as I recently began reading the set from the first issue was that you were apparently an early (and extensive) contributor. Seeing your name really excited me. I have been a fan of Astro City since the original limited series, which I picked up (like so many other people I assume) because I was so blown away by Marvels.
I'm not sure how long it's been since you've had occasion to revisit your early work in Comics Feature. But in case it's been a while, I thought you might enjoy that:
1. In issue 9, you wrote a 'year in review' of X-Men in which you characterized the Dark Phoenix Saga as an example of "bad writing," and a "silly mess" with an "embarrassing ending." (I actually agree with that assessment, and never fully understood the reverence with which many held that storyline at the time. But given your professional reputation today as an online 'peacemaker' among pros and fans, I thought that these youthful 'harsh words' were notable and sort of funny.)
2. In issue 8, you wrote of Bill Sienkiewicz' run on Moon Knight that, "As an Adams rip-off, Sienkiewicz isn't even a particularly good one... Moon Knight should never stand a chance in the market." (I never read Moon Knight myself. So I don't have an opinion that. But I thought it was sort of funny for the same reasons.)
In conclusion let me be the millionth person to congratulate you on the Astro City movie deal. I really hope that comes to fruition.
Best of luck and best regards from a long (long) time fan.
Thanks, Dan. I still have copies of those issues of Comics Feature (and its sister magazine, LoC) somewhere in the basement, but I'm sure it would take weeks to unearth them. They were edited and packaged by Richard Howell and Carol Kalish, and I was assistant editor on them for a summer, some of the last work all of us did on the fan side of the industry before Carol got a staff job at Marvel and Richard and I broke in as freelancers a couple of months later, selling a story to DC.
As I recall, I also predicted the certain and imminent failure of this just-debuted New Teen Titans thingie from Marv Wolfman and George Pérez, which shows just how good I was at prognostication. But back then, as a reviewer, my job was to make an analysis and support it, not be a peacemaker. So that's what I did. I did positive reviews, too—of Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan's Tomb of Dracula and Jo Duffy and Kerry Gammill's Power Man and Iron Fist, to name two—but as with most things, it's the negative remarks that live on.
It was a treat to work on those magazines, and to get to do things like transcribe a long and genial interview with Don Heck, get a look at Joe Kubert's samples for a proposed revival of Terry and the Pirates or have the inside track on the announcement that there was going to be a JLA/Avengers crossover, and George Pérez would draw it. And for the record, I think that Sienkiewicz guy got a whole lot better when he started experimenting and finding his own voice.
•
I'll also note, as long as I'm here, that I've updated the "Find" section of the site with several upcoming conventions I'll be appearing at, in Columbus OH, Portland OR and Memphis TN.
I'll also note that that bit at the end where it says to sign up for the newsletter to be informed of future appearances is, well, optimistic. I've got a long list of names and e-mail addresses to send the newsletter to...once there is one. But we haven't gotten that far in the process, yet.
I should mention that I'm just back from three and a half days in bustling Chicago, where I met with artist Alex Ross, publisher Nick Barrucci and editor Joseph Rybandt to discuss our plans for the upcoming Kirby: Genesis project, building and launching a world of characters and concepts that comics great Jack Kirby created and kept the rights to.
I'd worked up an extensive list of characters we could use, from well-known heroes like Silver Star and Captain Victory to lesser-known concepts such as Galaxy Green, and even ideas and designs that have never appeared on the comics page. The Phantom Continent! Space Guardian! The Sorcerer's Book! And lots, lots more, down to cool-looking characters Kirby tossed off in the background of a commission drawing, and the like.
And I'll tell you, it's fun to find yourself saying things like, "That floating brain—that's never appeared before, right? So Kirby owned it and we can use it, right?"
I'd also roughed out a storyline that would bring a lot of this material on stage (and set up for more of it), in the course of telling a self-contained and hopefully very approachable story about ordinary people caught up in a world of wonder, fantasy and danger. We spent the last few days hashing over which characters were the most compelling, which we should introduce where and how, ways to flesh out unnamed characters or provide a proper context for interesting designs, arguing about what the very ordinary human lead should look like, where the instigating event should happen and the like.
It was a very enjoyable trip, and we got a lot done. To my surprise, most of my outline stayed the same as I'd written it to begin with, with only a few characters changed and structural elements shifted around. I think it's going to be an enormously fun series, and the world it sets up is bubbling over with potential for exciting comics.
I should note this sort of thing more often on the blog, rather than just mentioning it on Twitter. So now I guess I have!
Plus, a warning to floating-brain fans. The floating brain in question will in all likelihood only appear in one panel of Kirby: Genesis. So don't get all worked up that your dreams of floating-brain stardom are about to be realized. Still, he/she/it is part of something that could well support its own mini-series or ongoing series. So you never know.
My mother in law was recuperating from surgery. For what, I didn't know. But she'd chosen to recuperate from surgery in a theme hotel in southeast Portland, Oregon.
What the theme of the hotel was, I wasn't sure, and I'm not sure they were, either. The hotel itself was an old Victorian building, practically an Addams-Family-style mansion, but it had seen better days. The halls were dingy and dark. The wallpaper and carpets were grubby. The walls kind of leaned in, like the hotel was thinking of entering its German Expressionist phase. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years.
My mother in law was upset with the place, not because it was so run-down and ominous, but because the brochures she'd gotten that sold her on the place promised the entertainment of Harvey Korman, and all they had was some crappy, grainy, black-and-white bootlegged VHS tapes of some of his comedy routines. This was an unacceptable bait-and-switch, she felt.
To make matters stranger, the staff of the hotel—this was all part of the theme, whatever it was—were dressed as Vegas showgirls, but they were all mannish pre-op transsexuals. The service, aside from the grubbiness of the hotel, seemed to be fine, and the staff was attentive and professional. The feathered headdresses and the spangly brassieres were a little strange, but that wasn't the issue. The issue was the inadequacy of the Harvey Korman videotapes.
Despite her need to recuperate, my mother in law wanted to leave, to find someplace that didn't lie about the on-site entertainment. But one of our relatives there was John Ritter—he was not a direct relative, but was someone's brother in law—liked the place enormously, and didn't want to leave.
I have no idea what this dream meant, or whether it's relevant that both Korman and Ritter are no longer with us. I just report it because it seemed memorable enough to share.
As long as I'm not getting much done today, let me deal with some blog e-mail. First up, from a reader named Paul...
I've collected comics for a number of years now and Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero. Unfortunately, unlike with Batman or Superman (and maybe I'm alone on this), I feel the character has strayed the furthest from perhaps what was the creator's original intent. I mean, look at Batman now and when he was first conceived and he's essentially unchanged. Take Spider-Man from now and place him next to his 60's adolescent counterpart and...yeah.
Which saddens me, but more or less brings me to my point.
The other day I was fingering through a rough stack of my old comics and pulled out some Spider-Man books I snagged during the 90's (ugh!). Of these, only one took notice: Untold Tales Of Spider-Man #1.
I quickly thumbed to the first page...and again I was hooked!
It made me wish for something more. And I couldn't help thinking, oddly enough, of a graphic novel I'd re-read recently: Batman: The Long Halloween. And how it garnered such critical acclaim by stripping the character to its earliest roots, telling a story in-continuity, but expanding upon it, while giving the reader something new.
And then the other day I stumbled upon your site...
I think by now you probably know where I'm going with this. But really the main reason I'm writing to you is:
1) To give my unyielding appreciation to the stories that infected my youth (I was first introduced to both the Avengers and Iron Man during your runs. BTW loved, loved, loved Avengers Forever! And Superman: Secret Identity! Although I think you hear that one a lot.); and
2) To ask if you'd ever consider doing a Spider-Man graphic novel in the vein of Untold, with the only difference being that it wouldn't be a series in the traditional sense and would have a definite beginning, middle and end?
I know it's a little early for Christmas (and you probably have more than enough on your plate as it is), but you can't begrudge a guy for trying. Besides I can still dream, right?
Um...right?
You can always dream, Paul!
I think I'd disagree with you that Spider-Man's farther away from his roots than Batman and Superman—things got pretty strange during the 90s for a while, but I've liked a lot of what I've read recently, and think Dan Slott's upcoming bi-weekly run on the book should be something to see. And my memory of Batman: The Long Halloween was that it wasn't so much a return to his roots as a sprawling thriller set the early days of his career as largely defined by Miller's Batman: Year One.
Still, a Spider-Man maxi-series in the vein of Long Halloween, set in his younger days? That sounds like it could be a lot of fun, and something I'd enjoy doing. I'm way too busy with other stuff right now, but someday? I'd be interested in doing that someday.
Next up, Edward asks...
This new project you're teaming up with Alex Ross. Is he going to be doing the artwork as well? Or is he just going to be co-plotter and cover artist?
Alex will do some of the interior art for Kirby: Genesis, Edward, though how much and in what way, we're not prepared to announce just yet. But there'll be lots more information coming, as the series moves toward becoming a reality, and I'm sure that'll be part of it.
On to Andrew...
Not sure who this will reach but I'm hoping for some help. I love Astro City—it is simply the best comic I've ever read. It's like a great album you listen to—every time you listen to/read it again you appreciate another level, a different nuance—something new every time to appreciate.
Anyway, I'm having a terrible time verifying whats out there and what I need. I'm a TPB reader but it seems there are a number of one shots I've messed and unfortunately it seems very hard to get information on the TPBs—what's out, when they'll be out, etc. Is there some kind of definitive listing on the published Astro City material I can use as a checklist? Also some board that will give me a heads up to upcoming TPB releases (as opposed to shot in the dark Amazon searches)?
Astro City is everything I've ever loved about comics - I don't want to miss a page!
Glad to hear it, sir.
I'm not sure what to advise you—announcements as to what's coming up is the sort of feature we really should have going at our sister site, The Astro City Rocket, but frankly, we get so swamped we don't keep up. (As witness, the latest issue listed there is Dark Age Book Three #3.)
Going to the home page for Wildstorm and searching on "Astro City" will keep you posted on graphic novel publication dates—for instance, it says there that the next hardcover, Astro City - The Dark Age 2: Brothers in Arms, will be out this October.
And the fine volunteers over at Herocopia, our other sister site, keep an updated list of Astro City publications, so that'll list anything you're missing. And they're way less lazy there than we are here!
If there's a better way, someone let me know on the message board or in an e-mail, and I'll do an update.
For the record, though, the current list of book collections is:
1. Life in the Big City
2. Confession
3. Family Album
4. The Tarnished Angel
5. Local Heroes
6. The Dark Age 1: Brothers & Other Strangers
7. The Dark Age 2: Brothers in Arms (forthcoming)
My publishers would probably prefer that I sell a few more copies of those specials by not mentioning that everything but the Visitor's Guide will be in the next book collection, Shining Stars. But I hate to be incomplete. Still, you might want to track down the Visitor's Guide; we haven't collected that yet and I'm not 100% sure when we will.
Next? Nikko!
Congratulations! I just heard about Astro City getting optioned for a movie. I know these things can change in the blink of an eye but I really hope this goes forward. Please please please keep us updated as often as possible on this (and any plot points would be really awesome). Best news I've heard in a while.
Anyway, that's all. I'm looking forward to the Silver Agent conclusion. Keep 'em coming!
That's the plan, Nikko.
I don't think we'll be able to keep you too updated—movie companies don't like to share the development process publicly, and I can't really blame them. Who wants the audience to wind up saying things like, "Aw, they didn't even get their third choice for the role" or "I liked the earlier plot better." For that matter, I'm notoriously close-mouthed about the stories I'm working of in the comics, even—I want it all to be as fresh as possible when you actually see it. But we'll see what can be said, and when!
[Oh, and just to note: Just this minute, my in-box pinged, and there was the very last page of Silver Agent #2 from Brent. And it's gorgeous! Plus, it's a fine resolution and a new mystery, all at once!]
Next up, we hear from Talon...
Hiya. Just wanted to say that how you came up with the original resurrection of Jean Grey was and is amazing! (Even though it was a little confusing at first.) And I am a big Iron Man fan.
So anyway, just wanted to say that I love your work and hopefully you'll be writing some more X-Men.
Thanks for the very kind words, Talon.
No X-Men for me in the near future, at least. But in the long run, you never know.
Next up, a note from André...
Eu estou escrevendo apenas para dizer o quanto admiro seu maravilhoso trabalho. Todos os gibis que eu leio, escritos por você, são simplesmente fantásticos. Sou fã incondicional de Marvels, Marvels II, Conan, Homem Aranha Ano: 1, entre outros.
Você é o meu roteirista favorito! Parabéns!
Google Translate tells me this says, "I'm just writing to say how much I admire your wonderful work. All the books I read, written for you are simply fantastic. I am an unconditional fan of Marvels, Marvels II, Conan, Spider-Man Year One, between others. You're my favorite writer! Congratulations!"
To which all I can say is "Muito obrigado, André. Espero que você gosta do que está chegando, também!" and hope Google got the sentiment across, even if it probably did so awkwardly.
Next, Ken writes to say...
I am not your biggest fan. But I am a fan, and deeply appreciative of the things you've done, the insights you've shared, and the characters you've brought to life.
Thank you for the hours of thought provoking entertainment.
My pleasure, Ken. I'm glad of all my readers, not just the biggest fan, whomever he or she might be. So I'm glad you've enjoyed what I've put out there, and hope we both keep it up.
Next up, a letter from a reader I won't name...
How's it going? I was just checking out your comic work and writings for the Green Hornet. Very cool! Man you have to have a creative mind to come up with this! hahaha...I love it!
I was wondering , I'm a model and have some photos that are comic geared. Would you know how to use me as a character so that Alex Ross can illustrate me? Not sure if I'm making any sense. Bottom line is I'd love to be one of your characters somehow. If you want to talk, email me back.
He included links to a self-published book about his modeling career.
Sorry, guy. But even if I did write Green Hornet, I'd just as soon let Alex find his own models, and would rather not create characters based on real people. Best of luck, though!
And lastly, Corum has some thoughts on a familiar subject...
Let me first off say that I love your writing, every story you write is brilliant.
Secondly, I am a fan of Superman, but I'm also a fan of Thor. I read JLA/Avengers about one or two years ago (I've just now built up the courage to type this) and loved it, but after thinking about it and talking with some fellow Thor fans (who are well versed in the Superman mythos) I've come to the conclusion that you must have not done your research because there's no way Superman could have beaten Thor at full power.
I've heard that you thought Thor wasn't bullet-proof and I almost believed it simply because you said it but then I found this video reminding me that wasn't true.
[Here, he links to a YouTube video presenting a case for Thor being bulletproof.]
I'm not saying you should apologize, I just think that you should let the fans know that you're not an expert on Thor and that JLA/Avengers is not a reliable source for gauging power levels.
So it's not that you want me to apologize for writing a story that didn't operate on the premise that there's no way Superman could have beaten Thor at full power, a position that's hardly unanimously held—you just want me to announce that I'm no expert, and that fans engaged in "battleboard" arguments should scrap JLA/Avengers as a reference?
I think the battleboarders are going to have to manage without me on this. For one thing, I don't have much interest—I'm delighted that those who engage in "who'd win" discussions enjoy them, but I prefer not to participate, and don't want to referee them even to the extent of declaring what is or isn't a reliable source. And for another, whether Thor's bulletproof or not is irrelevant, since Superman didn't shoot him.
[Thor's durability to being punched real hard is a different matter, since he's a mythic character, and not subject to consistent physics, even moreso than most comic book superheroes. He comes from a setting in which, after all, Balder was rendered near-invulnerable when his mother made everything in the world promise not to hurt him (though she forgot mistletoe, with tragic results). In a context in which rocks and plants can make binding promises, physics doesn't stand a chance.]
I will note that everyone involved in JLA/Avengers thought that was a reasonable way for the battle to go, so even if I declared myself "not an expert," you'd still have to get similar admissions from Tom, George, Dan and Mike. As an alternative, I'd suggest that if there's a fight you don't like in a comic, well, that's par for the course. Enjoy the ones you like and move on. You don't need a ruling from an author to disregard a scene you don't care for, and neither Thor fans nor Superman fans are ever going to prove to the other side's satisfaction that their guy's better.
That said, I'm glad you like my writing, and even loved JLA/Avengers overall. And I hope you enjoy what's coming up, none of which, at present, involves either Superman or Thor. Well, not Marvel's Thor, at least...
It doesn't include pamphlet/floppy/single-issue comics; those are stacked elsewhere. It doesn't include GNs and TPBs I want to get to but know I won't be able to get to anytime soon, so I shelved them with the rest of the collection for "someday." It doesn't include everything (there are a few stacked on the bedside table) and doesn't come close to including all the prose, even if you don't count the fifty-some books on my Kindle.
It's just what's there in the "Read This Soon" category, at present.
Click to see it larger, if you like, but you won't be able to make out everything anyway.
[Excerpted and substantially expanded from a lettercolumn I just wrote...]
As I write this, I'm still getting over an enjoyable but exhausting San Diego Comicon. The big Astro City announcement there was that Working Title Films, who've made such terrific movies as O Brother Where Art Thou, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Billy Elliot, Shaun of the Dead and more, has optioned Astro City and is developing it as a feature film. It's a long process, and we're right at the beginning of it—and it feels very strange to type that, considering how long ago this whole journey started.
It was in 2002 or maybe even earlier that a young screenwriter named Jonathan Alpers contacted me about turning Astro City into a movie. I told him what I'd told everyone else who'd called: I wasn't interested, I was happy to have the book remain a comic book as it was intended to be, and I had severe doubts that the series could successfully be translated into movie form at all.
[To give you an idea how long I'd been saying that, at one time I had a little patter worked up, where I pointed out that what's important about Astro City are the characters, the relationships, the emotional connections of the story. The big superhero action and explosions and such were important too, but they were the context, while the humanity of the characters was the real meat of the story. So you'd be telling a story that's all about relationships and emotion, but you still have to pay for all those special effects. "Basically," I'd say, "in Hollywood terms it's a $200 million chick flick. No one's going to make one of those." And then Titanic came out and I had to stop saying that.]
Anyway, I told Jonathan that I wasn't interested, but unlike everyone else, he wouldn't go away.
He kept calling, talking me into the idea, getting me to see how Astro City might work as a movie after all. And he introduced me to legendary producer Ben Barenholtz—who, among other things, produced the Coen brothers film Miller's Crossing, distributed Eraserhead and Return of the Secaucus Seven, brought John Woo's The Killer to the US and even appeared in Night of the Living Dead (as "Cowboy Hat Zombie Hit by Sledge"). And Ben did the rest of the convincing. I remember sitting in his living room, talking about story structure, and saying, more or less, "No, no, if you took this issue, this issue, these parts of that issue and wrapped it all up like this, you'd...hey. You'd have a workable movie, wouldn't you?"
And once we got there, we were at the beginning of the journey. The second beginning, actually, since the first beginning was Jonathan not taking no for an answer.
And we started talking to people—to agents, to producers, to studio heads, to writers and more, and there was discussion of changing our ideas to make it an ongoing TV series or an HBO mini-series or an animated project, and every other different way you can imagine to approach it. And I found myself doing things I'd never once expected to be doing—pitching to Dawn Ostroff, getting a phone call from Ethan Coen, talking story with James Yoshimura (of Homicide: Life on the Street), touring Johnny Depp's office (it's nice!), making TV execs late for a meeting with Lisa Kudrow, having lunch at Bob's Big Boy with Frank Marshall (and snagging the check!) and on and on. It was all a bewildering experience, but Ben kept us focused, moving forward when that was the right way to go, backing out to try something new when that was smarter.
And there were two, maybe three more beginnings in there, somewhere.
Last year, in the wake of Watchmen underperforming and studios suddenly getting skittish about superhero movies (right up until an Iron Man or Spider-Man movie changed their minds again), I was thinking maybe I'd been right the first time and was perfectly content to go back to the idea that Astro City is a comic book, and that's what it should stay. And that's when Ben, on the advice of the Coens, showed Astro City to Working Title Films, and they liked it a lot.
In September, I met with Eric Fellner and Evan Hayes of Working Title in Los Angeles, and I'm not sure how much I can say about the meeting, because the contracts I've signed seem to value confidentiality a lot, and hey, it's not like "wait and see" isn't one of my favorite phrases anyway. So I won't tell you much of what we talked about, except that I liked them, they liked me, and we apparently said the right things to each other to make us all think going forward was the right thing to do. And after mulling it over for a while, and talking with Ben, they said yeah, let's do this.
And off it went to the hands of agents and managers and lawyers (notably the charming and ineffable Nick Harris of Mosaic Media, on our side), and nine or ten months later, here we are, at the beginning again. The fifth beginning at least, maybe the sixth. It all depends on how you count.
[I get the impression moviemaking is an ongoing series of beginnings. You winch yourself slowly, slowly up the hill to the top of the roller coaster...and then whoosh, calloo callay!, you're headed off on your ride very very fast, and there are no safety rails and most of the time you crash spectacularly. But some of the time you make it through, to the bottom of another steep steep hill, and you start winching up, slowly, slowly...
[Make it through enough times and you wind up with a movie. Crash along the way and you join the majority of attempts, and if you can, you pick yourself up, go back to the beginning and start up that first hill again. I admire the people who do it for a living, and it's been a thrill so far, but I'm not sure I could stand it full-time.]
Anyway, here we are at the beginning again, and I couldn't be more jazzed about it.
The people at Working Title are smart and visionary and their movies are built outward from character far more than from spectacle and action—which is one of the things we talked about at that meeting; I don't think anyone will mind if I let that slip—and I think that's just the right approach to Astro City. I'd been saying all along that what we needed was moviemakers who were great at character drama and emotion, and could add spectacle to the mix, as opposed to someone who was great at spectacle, and might not realize that character and drama were even necessary.
The next step is to work out what the story will be and how best to realize Astro City up on the big screen. And that falls to me, at least to begin with—I'm starting work on the initial treatment, and as I type this, am scheduled to have my first serious creative meetings on the matter next week.
And I've got several different versions of that outline we worked up years ago, but now that we're actually digging into it and there are real people on the other side of the table, everything's wide open again, too. Is this a multi-narrative film like Pulp Fiction? Is it skewed toward adults? Teenagers? Strong central adventure plot or a mosaic approach? Dreamlike with surface metaphors, or more realistic with the metaphors solidly buried? Can I do something with Mike Tenicek and the Hanged Man from "The Nearness of You?" Ben Pullam and his girls, from "Welcome to Astro City?" Brian Kinney and the Confessor?
[And hey, since Queer As Folk nicked Brian Kinney's name, would we need to change it?]
So right now, my mind's all full of, "Can we get the Hanged Man and Shadow Hill in there? Is animating Looney Leo too big an expense for a cameo appearance? Can I have Samaritan fly around buck naked in his dreams? Who's our viewpoint character? How do we keep it grounded in real human emotion?" and all kinds of other stuff.
And swirling around in all that are images from John Sayles and Marc Forster movies and Roches songs and bits from Breaking Away and Lord of the Rings and even the opening credits of Angel, and none of it's going to stop swirling until we have those first meetings and I have some solid ground to stand on and can start building a story that'll suit the terrain.
And I know this is only the beginning, and there's a long long road and a lot of high hills and roller coasters with no safety rails between here and your neighborhood multiplex, and the odds are that we're gonna crash, maybe several times.
But everyone faces those odds, and most of them don't do it with such intelligent and capable people at their sides. It's been a series of interesting beginnings so far, and here we are at a taller precipice, and steeper ride. Whatever comes, I'm sure it'll be a fascinating experience.
So that's what I've been doing, behind the scenes. Wish us all luck, will you? This is, after all, only the beginning.
[And let me say, just to wrap this all up, that for all the major reasons I'm happy we're working with Working Title Films, I'm also, in a very minor way, delighted to be in business with someone whose company acronym is "WTF." It adds a certain absurdity to the memos that reminds me to keep things in perspective.]
[Oh, and click on the picture at the top of all this for a much larger view. This isn't an image that's been seen much, but I think it's one of Alex's best.]
Yeah, I know I haven't been blogging much, and I should post something about the Astro City movie deal. But I'm still recovering from San Diego. What a fun—but exhausting—convention!
In the meantime, since Tom Brevoort just told me, I'll tell you: Next February, Marvel will collect Thor: Godstorm, the mini-series I did with Steve Rude and Mike Royer, in a spiffy hardcover! I'm very pleased—I'm proud of the book, it looks gorgeous, and it was well-received. It'll be nice to have it on the shelf. So thank you, Kenneth Branagh and Marvel Studios, for creating a situation in which more Thor collections in bookstores sounded like a good idea!
[And thanks to Tom and whoever else at Marvel chose this one.]
It's a series of interlinked stories—one from the era of myth, one from Thor's early days with the Avengers and one from then-current "Jake Olson" era—as an ancient mythic threat rears its head in multiple forms, goaded on by the machinations of Loki (who else?). Steve Rude set out to channel the spirit of Kirby, and did so really well. Tom tells me the story will be backed up with a 10-page "Tales of Asgard" story by Tom deFalco and Mike Mignola. So it ought to be a nice package.
Okay, back to digging out. Only 77 e-mails to go...
There's a new interview with me up at Comic Book Resources, along with a 5-page preview of Astro City: Silver Agent #1.
It's a pretty good interview with non-formulaic questions, and the preview looks great—Brent, Alex Sinclair and J.G. all did an excellent job—so I figured I'd link it here.
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