When I signed onto 'Superman,' editors Matt Idelson and Wil Moss gave me a rough outline that JMS had turned in for the remaining issues of the 'Grounded' arc, which amounted to a couple of sentences for each issue, spelling out in general terms where the issue would take place geographically, specific guest stars, things like that.
Chris Roberson
If the concept of the Enterprise crew meeting the Legion of Super-Heroes doesn't appeal to you, there may be something wrong with you.
A big part of the fun of working on Superman has been coming up with new characters and concepts to toss in, helping to design their costumes, things like that. And I spent ages coming up with the name 'Fortress of Solidarity,' so I want to get as much use out of it as I can!
I had a great experience working with Dynamite on Masks, and had just gotten started on a stint on The Shadow with them when they floated the idea of a Captain Action series. I've been a little obsessed with the character since I was first introduced to him in the pages of Amazing Heroes back in the early 1980s.
What I find interesting about Captain Action is that he is more an adventurer and spy than he is a soldier.
One of the things that fascinates me most about the toys of the Sixties and Seventies is that they were characters without stories, as such.
I've been a huge fan of virtually every incarnation and spin-off of the 'Star Trek' franchise (don't get me started on 'Voyager,' though), but there's something about the purity of the original series that really appeals to me.
I was able to accomplish pretty much everything I set out to do with my run on Superman, and I'm really proud of how it turned out. I hope that readers enjoyed it, too!
If we're talking about someone creating something new, those rights are fairly well defined (in the United States, at least) under existing copyright law. But then there's often discussion about the rights of people who produce works under work-for-hire arrangements, which can be far more subtle and nuanced.
I was just finishing high school and entering college in 1988, when the Creator's Bill of Rights was drafted, and had already set my sights on building a career as a writer of comics. Discovering the Creator's Bill of Rights - in an issue of 'The Comics Journal,' if I'm not mistaken - I accepted it as gospel.
I think that one of the most useful applications of the Creator's Bill of Rights is that it clearly indicates for creators what rights they have at the outset.
The direct market has evolved into a machine that is very good at selling corporate-owned superhero titles published by two main companies: DC and Marvel.
I'm always really comfortable writing strong, smart ladies. That's kind of my bailiwick.
I'm doing a couple books at Dynamite. I'm writing Doc Savage over there.
Superman has been my favorite character since I was six years old, and I have more comics featuring Superman than any other single character.
Studios might not be able to figure out my leanings, but anyone who visits my blog or reads my Twitter feed or meets me in person will realize right away that I am a huge superhero fan and a fanatic about Superman in particular.
I'm always amused when people point out that Benjamin's naivety about the publishing process is just so unbelievable in Starborn #1 since, of course, no aspiring writer in reality could ever be so naive.
I have consumed so many Weisinger-era Superman comics that they ooze back out through my pores!
I grew up on all of the great spy movies and TV series of the Sixties - not just Bond, but Derek Flint and the Avengers and Modesty Blaise and the Man from UNCLE and on and on. Every time I sit down to work on Cinderella, I'm writing a love letter to all of those characters.
My 7-year-old daughter is not shy of telling me she can draw better than me, and she's right.
Getting the chance at 40 to make up stories that other people would draw and other people would then read is pretty weird.
I started a publishing company just so I could get the phone numbers of everyone that I'd ever admired.
It's hard to point to any single inspiration for 'iZombie' since, in actuality, it's made up from elements inspired by all kinds of different thing all mashed up together.
I grew up in the '70s and '80s, at a time that I'd argue was the absolute golden age of American popular culture. Because not only did we have all of the fantastic new stuff in print and on screens, but we had a constant supply of everything that came before, as well.
There was an enormous revival of pulp fiction that started in the '60s and continued into the '70s, which in large part gave rise to things like 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones,' among others. But I developed an appetite for the original stuff at the time, and that appetite has never really abated.
So many of the fantasy stories I encountered growing up were set in worlds that were largely modelled on medieval Europe in one way or another. Lots of white folks in feudal societies, castles and kings, that kind of thing.
I very much use Bill Willingham's approach on 'Fables,' which is that rather than having an end point to a series, I have an end point for the various story lines.
I think the character of Superman may be the greatest fictional creation of modern times, and working on the book is for me a sacred trust. I'm just doing my best not to disappoint!
