Welcome to the 5th edition of Ask Me Anything. After taking December off this monthly feature returns and new editions can be found on the first Monday of every month.
Use the comments section to ask me anything you want and I will strive to answer them either in the comments section, or in more elaborate posts throughout the month.
Please take the time to view the previous questions so that we don't wind up with a lot of repetition. You can see the previous questions here, here, here, and here. Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month.
Now ask away.
Do you know the way to San Jose?
ReplyDeleteHow many roads must a man walk down before you can call him a man?
What's new, pussycat?
What's so great about "Brides of Dracula" anyhow? (I have already enjoyed Mad Scientist #22; I'm setting up a plug.)
ReplyDeleteDid anyone find J.J. Birch? Is anyone looking? Your comment in "Ask Me Anything #3" freaked me out.
Do you have the freedom in Xombi to work in other Milestone characters, if you want to? I mean, not that there should be a Kobalt guest-appearance; just wondering how much room you've been given to play.
ReplyDeleteMJ - What many people do not realize is that those are all portions of zen koans and cannot be answered in a traditional manner.
ReplyDeleteBen -- Now that you've read that article you know the answer. I could probably say something I didn't in that article, but I think 12 pages on a single movie says plenty. Scroll back a few posts to find out how YOU can order a copy of Mad Scientist #22 which also features on of my monster collage portraits.
I have not found J.J. Birch, nor does anyone I've asked seem to know where he is. All I know is that he ended up with some health issue and moved in with his mom for a while, but as I said, being a luddite in a digital age makes it really hard to reconnect with someone. He wasn't the kind of guy who was suddenly going to change his mind about owning a computer and getting email either. I'd love to know where he is.
MM - So far as I know, I can use any characters I'd like to, though characters that weren't originally mine I'd ask Dwayne about first. No restrictions were given to me. You will see at least on supporting character from the original run of XOMBI in the new series. I had always planned to use at least one character from Kobalt in XOMBI, though I'm having second thoughts about one particular story line that would have done so, and may scrub the inclusion of the other one in favor of a DCU character, or someone brand new altogether. I'm not at a point where I need to worry about it yet, but my decision will be determined by how much I feel it will fit into the overall feel of the series.
I plan to treat the DCU much like I did the Milestone Universe in the previous incarnation. XOMBI was definitely set in the same universe as Icon and Hardware, but other superheroes were more ambient than present in Xombi (except for the crossover issues, which while using characters closest in feel with Xombi, still felt out of place in the series to me). Cheryl Saltz, a supporting character in Hardware frequently appeared in Xombi (well, twice) and David Kim appeared in hardware during my brief time on that title and Catholic Girl appeared in Kobalt once, but they were sweet, short appearances. David Kim's new life in the DCU will be treated similarly. There isn't likely to be a cover with guest star Batman or Superman, but two DCU characters appear in issue #1 in a manner that gives a good indication of how I'm going to approach guest characters.
Nice non-answer to a non-question.
ReplyDeleteWho/what is your favourite rabbit?
Hands down, Bugs Bunny.
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I was hoping you'd say in response to my question. Thanks! Cannot wait for #1.
ReplyDeleteFavorite created or co-created Kirby villain? Mine should seem obvious, but I was just curious about what you thought was the zenith in King Kirby badness.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'd have replaced the Bumble with the baby new year from "Rudolph's Shiny New Year," just for continuity's sake.
ReplyDeleteMM - Let me correct that by saying the DC characters appear in issue #2 not issue #1. Anne Francis makes an appearance in issue #1, written well before she died.
ReplyDeleteRP - I suspect your favorite and my favorite will be one and the same, but I'm going to give my answer a full post just because it will be a fun excuse to post images of some of Kirby's best bad guys.
Baby New Year creeped me out as a kid. At the rate I'm going, by the time I get around to changing my banner and avatar I might want to think about Irontail.
The comic gets better and better and the first issue hasn't even come out yet.
ReplyDeleteHow could you bring back Xombi before I've managed to complete my run of the first series!?
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though, I am overjoyed at the news of Xombi's return.
I'm glad you're looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteThe new series was approved solely to motivate you into completing your run of the original. Now's probably a good time to fill in what you are missing. I think all issues are available on ebay now and still pretty cheap. There's only 21 issues + issue #0 (which is not really necessary).
The new series was approved solely to motivate you into completing your run of the original.
ReplyDeleteSounds like I need to buy Filthy McMonkey a drink.
Sadly, I only need two more issues to complete the set, so I don't really wanna buy a whole run just for the two I need.
ReplyDeleteIs this a sort of soft reboot, where we pretend the old stuff never happened? Or is the first series something that happened, just on DC Earth.
I was given the option to start over from scratch if I wanted to. I opted not to because I felt what already existed was still pretty solid, and there wasn't anything I really wanted to change about the concept in itself, or where the story had been heading. Besides, I had a direction I was trying to take the series before it came to an end. My goal with the new series was to, hopefully, get to where I wanted the series to go all along.
ReplyDeleteThe new series essentially picks up before the final two pages of issue #21. Everything that happened in the original series still counts, and there's really nothing if you look back that counters the idea that it took place in the DCU all along.
Having the original run and rereading them before issue #1 hits stores next month could possibly make the new series a more nuanced and rewarding reading experience for you, but it's not really necessary to do so. The first story arc was designed to be a good jumping in point if you knew nothing about the previous series, and hopefully more than satisfying if you do.
You have written over 95 stories for "Scooby-Doo!" by DC Comics. What stories stand out for you now as the best? Do you have any trivia references or in-jokes that I could post on scoobydoo.wikia.com? Will you continue to write for the new "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?" series?
ReplyDeleteEven more than 100 stories.
ReplyDeleteI'd really have to go through what I've done to give a definitive answer, but off the top of my head I really liked the multi-part "The Dragon's Eye" and "A Wolf in Creep's Clothing" set at the horror convention. I also really enjoyed the short educational bits, especially "Velma's Monsters of the World."
The stories I wrote are full of in-jokes and references of one kind or another. I've been planning to document them on this blog for a while now, and have begun gathering material. Hopefully I'll get that ready before too much longer -- say the end of the Summer. Check back periodically and you'll find far more than you probably want to.
I would love to return to writing more Scooby-Doo, so we'll see.