Comics Question

[snurri]

Lately I've been thinking about comics. I've always wanted to write a superhero comic, and I hope that someday it will happen. Maybe something with Green Arrow, maybe something team-related. Marvel or DC, it doesn't matter. And I'm curious; how many of you think about the same thing? If you're a writer--assuming you're a comics fan--what characters would you like to play with? Alternatively, if you're not a writer, what writer(s) would you like to see take a crack at which character(s)?

Comments

[gregvaneekhout.livejournal.com]

I always bought into the notion that the best way to break into comics was to write a character whose title doesn't sell much, giving you the freedom to do almost anything you want, since nobody will much care. So, Alan Moore got to do cool stuff with Swamp Thing, and Frank Miller got to play with Daredevil. I always imagined myself writing an obscure character like Man-Bat or Dr. Midnight or OMAC or Red Tornado. But I would love to do Green Arrow or Superman. Or, hell, X-Men, why not?

[jennreese.livejournal.com]

I wrote a comic book with my friends in high school. It's one of those huuuge groups with like 18 members or something. I still think about the characters I created. In fact, I still have the pencilled, partially inked and lettered pages!

I guess I really only want to write my own characters. Writing for someone else's characters has always paralyzed me -- I've never been able to write fanfiction for the same reason. I really admire people who can do it, like my friend Shelley who writes tv shows (on spec).

If I had to pick, though, I'd say Nightcrawler. A nice, swashbuckling romance with Nightcrawler and either Amanda or... Mary Sue. ;)

[michaeljasper.livejournal.com]

John Constantine, totally.

[rudi.livejournal.com]

Like Greg, I'd love to do something to reinvent a less-well-known / less-big-selling character (in the footsteps Moore's Swamp Thing, Gaiman's Sandman, the James Robinson Starman...) Maybe Kid Eternity?

(Speaking of which, you know Alex Irvine is doing Satan's Son for Marvel? See http://alexirvine.blogspot.com/ And he's got a (non-comic) Batman novel coming out in a few weeks.)

Given a choice, though, I'd probably rather do something non-superhero, since there's lots of interesting territory in fantasy and sf that hasn't really been done that much in comics. I actually worked on some sample scripts and started sending them around a few years back, but it seemed like getting established in prose writing and then moving over to doing a bit of comics work looked like a better path. (Who knows if I was right.)

[jonhansen.livejournal.com]

I always wanted to do something with Doug Ramsey. I know they did that Douglock thing, but I was thinking about the original Doug. The X-Men had that two-part annual with the New Mutants where both teams ended up in Asgard, and Doug was a scullery lad, being non-combatty and all. I always thought that Doug should've ended up there for his afterlife, but worked up something about his mutant power of being able to read any language allows him to read the runes that gave Odin his magic, according to the sagas, and he becomes a sorceror of note. Liked the idea of doing it as a four-ish miniseries, with him getting a regular title of his own if it sold sufficiently.

Not that I've been thinking about this or anything.

[readingthedark.livejournal.com]

[I think I just posted this to the wrong one, so I'm putting it here..]

Perhaps I shouldn't admit this publicly, but -- sometimes, in the cockshut hours -- I wish that destiny would swoop in and let me bring back Ilyana Rasputin (Magik aka Darkchilde.)

I was so utterly obsessed as a kid. When she died, I didn't read a comic for almost three years. (Yes, I was one of those children who cared about comics and D&D characters more than "reality." And, no, I didn't hurt anyone but myself.)

And I'm aware that the Marvels that Be have dabbled with the idea, but I mean back; returning alive and monthly. I guess my perfect little dream would be to do a tie-in novel, but I'd be willing to give up a lot to play with in the sandboxes of those storylines.

(No one other than Magik is as important to me. Someday I might even get a tattoo.)

[squirrel-monkey.livejournal.com]

I would like to do despicable and painful things to Frank Miller. Does that count?

[jennreese.livejournal.com]

(We should start posting journal entries in INTERLAC.)

(Also, this entry made me happy. Thanks.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_stranger_here/]

Black Canary.

I think it could be interesting to take Cloak and Dagger and write them from scratch, or even just pick up in the middle, but as a intense and serious story instead of clean-teen style. I'd like to see the artwork be photorealistic or otherwise painted to break the standard Marvel frameset, for example the way Bill Sienkiewicz did in his gorgeous work on Elektra:Assassin.

And it would be tremendous fun to play with the characters Grant Morrison created for Doom Patrol, especially Crazy Jane.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

What are these "comics" you speak of?

[lonfiction.livejournal.com]

I would have said Moon Knight, but they're reviving him already (jury still out, alas.) Perhaps ROM? How much more retro '80s kitch could you get than ROM?

Hmmm... who else? I'd have a lot of fun writing Dr. Strange, methinks. Oh, and Jonah Hex. And The Haunted Tank. And Iron Man. And if Dark Horse ever gives Solomon Kane as respectable a treatment as they have Conan, oh yeah! Count me in.

OK, so I'd be happy writing just about any single hero comic. But no groups. I work alone, doncha know? :)