What, if any, opinion do you have of the place of MARVELS in the history of super-hero comics? I mean, there are some camps who consider it a "deconstructionist" work, like DARK KNIGHT or WATCHMEN, while there are others who credit it with heralding the "reconstructionist" period of the mid-to-late Nineties. Where does your assessment, as author, fall?
I don't know that I'm the guy to judge -- creators create, and we leave it to others to review the work, and to decide its place in history, if any.
That said, I think MARVELS is more "reconstructionist" than "deconstructionist" -- in fact, I think I coined the term to describe it. My feeling was that the value of decontructionism is that you get to take a genre (or whatever) apart to see what makes it work. But once you've done that, you've got to put it back together again and see what you can do with it, now that you understand it. I think that's what makes MARVELS strike a chord with readers -- we put the sense of wonder back while still hanging onto the humanity, and that turned out to be something readers were hungry for.
How did your collaboration with Alex Ross work on the book? Was this a "Marvel-Style", plot-art-script production, or a full-script endeavor? Or something else entirely?
It was a full script. I don't know that Alex has ever worked plot-style.
But we talked through the story from the start, and I did a series of outlines (all of which are in the 10th anniversary collection) so Alex knew what was coming even before I started scripting. And we both felt free to critique the work as it was being done -- Alex challenged me on the scripting, and I challenged him on the art, each of us asking for changes where we thought it would make the book better. And I think it did.
That was one of the most fun parts of doing MARVELS -- that we were both committed to doing as good a job as we could, and would spend hours talking over the smallest details, just to make it all as strong as we could manage. We hashed through everything down to what kind of fabric the FF's uniforms must be made of, to get those big Kirby wrinkles in 'em and translate to Alex's more realistic-oriented art while still looking right. We came up with denim, by the way.
Can you tell us about some of the extra goodies in the 10th anniversary book?
I don't know if I have a complete list, but all four of the proposals are there, as are all of the scripts. Plus, we went into the story and dug out all those teeny-tiny newspaper articles, blowing them up (and sometimes writing them from scratch) to give people the ability to read them without eyestrain. That was a lot of fun, and I think readers will enjoy the results. Add to that behind the scenes art and more, and it's a pretty impressive package. I can't wait to see a finished copy.
It was reported some time back that you were working on a MARVELS sequel with Jay Anacleto. How's that coming along?
It's coming slowly. Jay is meticulous, which means the pages don't exactly come in in a flood. But when they do, they're stunning. So it'll take a good long while to get it all done, but it'll be gorgeous when it finally comes out.
Anything else you'd like to say to TalesOfWonder.com readers?
I'd just like to say thanks for buying so many of the comics I write -- it's a cliché to say it wouldn't happen without you, but it's literally true. Without an audience, I've not only got nobody to tell my stories to, but nobody would pay me to write 'em. So thanks for twenty-plus years of support, letting me keep doing the best job I could ever imagine having. My wife, daughters and mortgage broker appreciate it too.
And there'll be more stuff coming, as long as you're there to support it...!
TalesOfWonder.com would like to thank Kurt Busiek for taking time out of his busy schedule to visit with our readers. The MARVELS 10 th ANNIVERARY HARDCOVER features never-before-seen bonus material – including Kurt's original series proposals, scripts to all four issues, sketchbook material by painter Alex Ross, an introduction by Stan Lee, and special commentary by Busiek, Ross, John Romita Sr. and Scott McCloud. This keepsake volume collects MARVELS #0-4, and clocks in at a whopping 400 pages.
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