Who are some of your
other favorite comic book characters?

I also feel compelled to mention Stephanie Brown – AKA Spoiler, AKA Robin, AKA Batgirl. Maybe I’m
just caught up on the Steph bandwagon since I wasn’t even aware of the
character for most of her history, but what I read of the character in Bryan Q.
Miller’s Batgirl series quickly made me a big fan of her and her undying, perky
upbeat optimism.
Other characters I have a particular fondness for include
Taskmaster, Beta Ray Bill, Komodo, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Who is your favorite
comic artist?
If there’s one artist that makes me particularly happy to
see comic art from, it’s actually two – the Japanese duo most frequently known
as Gurihiru. Their art might not be
as realistic or complex as other artists, but what it most definitely can be
described as is something that I think is an essential quality for comics that
far too many seem to forget about these days – fun.
In what is no doubt not a coincidence, whenever I see their
name attached to a project, I generally feel safe in assuming that whatever the
book is I can expect to enjoy myself reading it, and I’d feel little concern
about having to defend or wave of concerns of questionable elements while
handing it to a new, potential comic reader and telling them “this is why I
love comics.”
Since your last
questionnaire, who has been the most fun to write & which of the scripts
you’ve written is your favorite?
How can I possibly pick? There have been so many fun
characters to write and so many scripts that I love – Peanuts, Dr. Dinosaur,
Deadpool, and more.
But if I were to pick one that stands out, I’d choose the
unlikely pairing of heroic man and villainous ape known as Baker & Grodd.
They’re a duo that I first put together during Animal Man week, then
unexpectedly made a return for Planet of the Apes, and in both instances
proved to not only be a fun pairing, but very well received by the readers as
well.
Odds are that they’ll make a return sooner or later.
Potentially when you least expect it.
At the very least we’ve still got a Gorilla Grodd week that’s
yet to be utilized, and it would darn near criminal not to put these two back
together when that time comes around…
This could probably vary from week to week based on my mood
(last time I named the Animaniacs and Freakazoid!), but these days I think I’m
currently feeling partial to Nintendo’s Mario
or Samus Aran. The real Samus Aran, mind you, not the
imitation wannabe from Other M.
Not that I’m expecting to ever get the opportunity, Nintendo
being who they are, but I think it would be especially fun to try the challenge
of writing an all-ages style Mario comic that maintained his trait of hardly
ever saying anything the audience can actually understand.
Which character, if
any, do you most wish you could re-write your script for?
If I make it easier by counting only the scripts written
since officially becoming part of Thought Balloons!, I’d love to take a re-do
on my “What If…?” script. While I
love to be able to write my scripts as thought they were part of a larger story
that could theoretically be taken out of or put into a full 20/22/whatever page
comic, I think that this opportunity was one instance where trying to write
that way backfired on me.
It’s particularly disappointing on a personal level for two
major reasons – one, because it was during a week that I myself choose; two,
because it was based on a continuation of both one of my favorite one-shot
comics and actual “What if…?” issues, the Newer
Fantastic Four. So aside from it being a sub-par script, it also feels like
a bigger let down because of what it came from.
Which script(s) have
been your favorite on the site?
Aside from the scripts I pointed out since the last questionnaire I wrote from this site, the new additions I’d add to my favorites
written on this site include:
* J.D. Coughlan’s “Pugilarchy” from Wrestlemania, due
to a small part of me wishing it was a more accurate representation of real
politics than it is;
* Shaun Richen’s “Contacts” from Peanuts, due to how
much it read like a genuine Peanuts script;
* Ben Rosenthal and Rol Hirst’s script from the Christmas
2011 North Pole Week “Luke Cage’s Sweet Christmas” (Part I & Part II), a two-part script written
in the vein of Twas the Night Before Christmas which provided me a second
prompt for the week when I felt compelled to write a Part 3 conclusion;
…and…
* Matt Duarte’s “Elseworlds” from the special DCnU Pitch
week, because I’m jealous for not having thought of it myself.
Any lessons you’ve
learned while writing at Thought Balloons?
One thing I’ve learned is that giving feedback and criticism
is sometimes harder than you might think. Especially if you’re trying to give
meaningful feedback.
It’s one thing to read a script and just say “Nice job”.
Most the scripts that show up on this site are decent at the very least, and a
majority of those are even better. Saying nothing more than “Nice job” is
something that can just as easily be accomplished with the use of the stars.
But to actually think of something meaningful to say that’s not being pulled
out of nowhere, that takes more effort.
It’s especially true when – as seems to be the case for a
lot of scripts I read – what I’m aiming for in my scripts and the style/tone I
write with is different from what other people are aiming for. And you can give
absolutely the nicest piece of feedback/criticism in the world, but if it
completely divorced from what the author has tried to write, it isn’t worth the
words it’s made up of. It’s one thing to point out where someone can make an
improvement, it’s another to suggest they go a direction with their writing
that doesn’t suit them.
It’s all a tad regrettable, since the amount of feedback I
give on other people’s scripts these days (or lack thereof) makes me feel like
I’m slacking in my involvement in the site a lot of the time.
What do you think has
been your biggest improvement while writing at Thought Balloons?
While I think everything has improved at least a little, I
think the part that’s gotten the biggest improvement has been the pitch and
submission process. I’d already had experience writing scripts - comic and
otherwise – prior to learning about Thought Balloons!, even having developed my
own scripting style, trying to sell people on what I’d written was a skill I
was effectively clueless on.
Since then, I’ve managed to see some great examples, get
some great feedback from other Thought Ballooners, and all in all I think I’m
leaps and bounds above where I used to be in this area. While I’m certain my
pitch skills could still use some improvement, at least I’m not nearly as
clueless about it as I used to be.
I completely agree with you about giving feedback.
ReplyDeleteIt can be very hard to be constructive. You don't want to be replying from a "Here's what I would have done..." point of view.
Often though, it is nice to highlight what particular parts of someones page made it work for you.
Nice job.
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, I agree with that point. Writing criticism, whether good or bad, is much harder than writing fiction, in my opinion.
Also, flattered to be mentioned in another one of these. Thanks.
Just wanted to say thank you for everything this past year. Your example has been especially helpful on my "writer's block" weeks, especially with your frequent off-center crossovers; they are great examples of taking characters out of their comfort zones.
ReplyDeleteSammy Hagar Thor salutes you.
It means a lot that you picked out my Peanuts script and gave it such high praise. Your feedback is always helpful and welcome so thank you sir.
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts on feedback and criticism are spot on. I'm often guilty of coming up dry on leaving useful feedback ("solid script" etc).
ReplyDeleteGood criticism and feedback are quite similar to the scripts themselves. Some weeks you're able to kill it, cutting to what makes a character tick or what does and doesn't work about a script. Other weeks it just isn't happening.