Inter-Action
"QfK" Archives
Here are Kurt Busiek's answers to questions fans put to him about "Superman #664" and other relevant topics:
Kurt's Answers
Captain Kal (email address withheld by request) asks:Hi Kurt, I'm delighted with your run on Superman so far. (OK, the bit with Arion forcing Superman to do what he wants after Superman predictably decided not to do so I saw coming, but what else could he have done!) Do you have a penchant for ancient characters? We've seen Arion, Khyranna, and Khyber who all have roots running thousands of years in DCU history (albeit the latter two are new creations of yours fitted into said history). Is this your way of showing that Superman's/DC's history has always been richer and more complex than we suspected? Do you have any other objective in crafting stories revolving around 'longtime' DCU denizens? (Hey, let's not forget the New Gods' recently showing in the Arion tale who also are in the 'longtimer' category.)
Kurt: I don't think I have a specific penchant for "ancient" characters, Kal - I like them just fine, but I like other characters too. I have, after all, also used Lex Luthor, the Prankster, Subjekt-17, Neutron, the Auctioneer, the Kryptonite Man and others, along with the long-lifers you mention. So I think it's just a matter of me liking lots of different kinds of characters, and a few ancients showing up in a bunch, like buses.
On the other hand, I do want to write Hercules, Vandal Savage and the Lord of Limbo someday, too. But then, I also want to write Kamandi and the Legion. So go figure.
Satyen Gandhi (satyengandhi@hotmail.com) asks:
Kurt, thanks for taking your time to answer all these questions. My question is hopefully simple, and thus hopefully answerable. Does Superman wear his costume under his street clothes, etc. all the time, or does he just keep it handy to change into via superspeed, or some other explanation?
Kurt: He wears it under his street clothes most of the time, at least. If he's going to the beach or something like that as Clark, he'll have it somewhere handy and accessible, but most of the time it's under his outer clothes.
Just don't ask me what he does with his boots and shoes!
Van Banoovong (vbanoovong@yahoo.com) asks:
Will the two young New Gods stick around after the Arion story-arc concludes?
Kurt: First, we gotta find out if they live through it!
Freddie Crespo (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Superman #664 seems to indicate that no one trusts Superman 100%. Since when? Since the crisis? Or since way before that? And if so, why?
Kurt: People trust Superman just fine under ordinary circumstances, Freddie. But he's extremely powerful, and that makes people worry about what might happen in extraordinary circumstances -- like if he goes crazy, or is mind-controlled, or possessed, or that sort of thing. And since things like that have happened in the past, it's not a merely academic worry -- people want a pragmatic answer to what they might need to do if Superman becomes a menace.
And when something like that happens - or comes close to happening, as in #664 - it worries people, and makes them nervous. They're perfectly happy to trust Superman most of the time, and when they get reminded of the danger if something goes wrong, they get itchy about it.
As for "since when," the answer is likely "Since the first time Superman showed up, and people realized how powerful he is and someone worried about what might happen if he wasn't always benevolent."
TalOs/Zal-Ta (Email address withheld by request) asks:
Kurt, one thing strikes me as being VERY odd during this whole "Camellot Falls" arc of your's and that being WHY specifically is this supposed "Arion" at hand targeting Superman yet NOT too at the same time willing to go after Superman's Kryptonian cuz, (AKA Kara Zor-El) Supergirl? Please, if you could kindly explain as to WHY this "Arion" seems to display double standards when it comes to BOTH Kryptonian Superfamily members and THEIR piticular part to play within "Camellot Falls" continuity really being big pic wise?
Kurt: Arion's just one guy, Talos - he's said all along that he's concerned about all alien presences on Earth, so that includes Supergirl along with the Martian Manhunter and others. But he started with Superman, first in hopes of convincing him of the danger, and that Superman, in turn, would convince others. And when that didn't work, he tried to take over Superman's mind, to use him as a thrall to get the other alien presences off Earth too - he aid as much.
So that's not a double-standard, that's just starting at the top. He never said he wants Superman to quit, but everyone else can stay and do their thing. He's said he wants all alien influences on human destiny to stop. He's simply chosen Superman as the place to start.
And let's face it - if he'd targeted Superman and Supergirl, you'd be asking why he didn't target Power Girl too. And if he's targeted Superman, Supergirl and Power Girl, you'd be asking about J'Onn. Or Animal Man, who has alien-born powers. Or the Green Lanterns. And so on. Or if not you, someone would.
It's a long list, and even a cranky, millennia-old sorcerer has to start somewhere.
Jeremy Adkins (raptureja@yahoo.com) asks:
Kurt, I'm really enjoying your run on Superman so far, keep up the good work. One complaint I do have though in Superman #664 is the whole idea of Squad K and how Batman was trying to come up with a new weapon against Superman. I understand Superman's point of view that it would be good for Squad K to exist if he ever was to be mind controlled again, but it seems it would be more in Superman's character for Superman himself to come up with a weapon that would stop him, and give that weapon to the JLA, or Squad K.
Kurt: Superman's done that in the past - he's the guy who gave Batman the Kryptonite ring in the first place, after all. But that doesn't mean nobody else will come up with anything on their own.
And remember, any weapon Superman comes up with against himself is one that can't be used on him by surprise. So it's probably a good thing for people to have other options.
Captain Kal (email address withheld by request) asks:
How much freedom do you have with what you want to do with Superman? Without giving away any spoilers, do you have any limits or guidelines from Matt and/or the other writers that constrain what you want to do?
Kurt: The short answer is, I don't have any freedom. Superman is owned by DC, so I can't do anything unless my editors approve it - and on big stuff, that approval might need to go to people higher up than Matt and Nachie, the editors of Superman. We have plans to bring Chloe Sullivan into the book, for instance, and that required approvals up through Dan Didio to Paul Levitz and on to someone over at WB Television, I think.
The flipside of that, though, is that while I can't do anything that isn't approved by DC, I can do anything that is approved. So it's not a case of having pre-set guidelines or limits as having ongoing communication with the folks at DC, and discussing ideas as we go. If I wanted to have Clark Kent quit the Daily Planet and go become a Buddhist monk in Bhutran, I can't just up and decide to do it - but if I'm convincing enough, maybe I can do it after all. Not that I'm trying to, mind you.
But everything I write goes to Matt Idelson first - and we've usually talked it over even before then. If there's anything that's a problem, he'll flag it long before the story hits Carlos's drawing table.
Thanks for continuing to answer our questions.
Kurt: My pleasure. And just to prove it, I'll answer a bonus question!
I saw someone in a Comments section wondering why we don't bring Power Girl into this story, given that she's got history with Arion. The answer is that her history with Arion, puzzling though it is, has no bearing on this story, either internally (from the characters' point of view) or externally (from the creators' point of view), so bringing her in to tell people once again how Arion once claimed he was her ancestor but was lying for mysterious reasons would clog up the story with character history that has nothing to do with the story, but wouldn't resolve anything. This Arion is from the past, so he hasn't made that mysterious claim yet, and Power Girl's from the present, so she already knows he was lying, but doesn't know why. I don't know why he was lying, either, and don't want to send this story off onto a tangent to explain away something about a character I'm not the regular writer of. Power Girl does have a "home" book, after all, over in JSA, and its writer, Geoff Johns is the guy who revealed that Arion was lying in the first place. So when and if the story that explains that comes, I'm happy to let Geoff tell it - he's Power Girl's regular writer, after all. If he wants to use Arion in JSA, that's cool by me. And if he wants to bring in Superman, he can do that, too.
But it doesn't affect the story I'm telling - I'm the regular writer of Superman, and if there's big, life-changing or continuity-changing stuff to do with Power Girl, it's not up to me to just up and do it as part of a Superman story.
But I will say that Power Girl will reappear in Superman after this story - she'll be in Superman Annual #12, along with Supergirl, Chris Kent, Krypto and even the Superman Family's creepy uncle, Batman! So hopefully, you'll enjoy that.
"QfK" Archives
You'll find links to our archives of past Questions and Answers on the main "QfK" page.