Chuck Austen: Lionheart
By Markisan Naso and Tim O'Shea
Last October X-Men writer Chuck Austen gave up on interviews. The decision was an impulsive, but understandable reaction to the vicious and constant criticism he received from internet comic fans. No matter what site you visited it seemed someone had something negative to say about Austen’s work.
Seven months later, despite the fact that negativity still lingers on message boards, Austen has boldly returned to the internet to talk about his upcoming and current comic book work. SBC interviewed Austen about his experience on Avengers, Marvel’s new code, how Superman should be written and what it’s like to again face the “Seven Deadly Trolls.”
MARKISAN: Brian Bendis will soon be taking over writing chores on the Avengers. Was your run on the book supposed to be this short?
CHUCK AUSTEN: Bendis is taking over with issue 500, which is in four issues. My time wasn’t intended to be finite, but I didn’t feel I was giving Tom what he wanted as an editor, so I asked off the book. I had ideas going off into the next couple of years — especially as regards Hank and Jan and Cap and She-Hulk, Scarlet Witch and the new Captain Britain, but sometimes the fit isn’t right.
MARKISAN: You’ve said that the main themes you want to explore in Avengers are heroism and stardom — what it’s like to be elite superheroes in a world that loves superheroes. How does your take differ from other books that explore superhero fame, such as X-Statix?
AUSTEN: The difference is, these are Marvel’s “A” list characters. They’re the heroes everyone knows and they have a ton of respect and goodwill in the world for all they’ve done. X-Statix is all new people, and it’s a mostly satirical look at various elements of stardom. Avengers was intended to be played straight — as if this were the real world and really happening. Paparazzi, internet rumors, Enquirer stories, rumor rags, Superheroes Tonight! Photos ending up in public of embarrassing moments, secret identities exposed. You could see some of that coming in the conversation between Martin, the little boy, and Hawkeye, when Martin knows Hawkeye was Goliath. But it never came to be, so it’s all a moot point, now.
MARKISAN: One of the challenges to writing Avengers stems from the fact that many of the characters also star in their own books. Typically, significant events in the life of Thor happen in Thor, a new love interest for Captain America is introduced in Captain America, and so forth. I know you pride yourself on being a character writer, so how is your writing affected by the presence of these other titles?AUSTEN: When Joe first asked me to write the Avengers, I said “no” for exactly that reason, because you can’t explore the emotional sides of Cap and Thor and the rest, and the emotional side is what I’m all about. But Joe told me he wanted me to bring that in when I took over the book, to make it the premiere book that led the rest, and promised me I’d be able to alter the characters to make them work in a team dynamic, and have relationships. That proved more difficult than I realized, for a lot of reasons, and ultimately it’s why I left the book. Altering characters to improve the dynamic means upsetting other writers, long-term fans and sometimes editors (laughs) — even if the dynamic now is — at least to me — more interesting and in line with the original concepts, pretty much from the time Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver came on board.
If you look closely, you can see threads of where I was going with things. I had someone very specific in mind for Captain America, and to me it reads like a sledge-hammer in the face in the first issue — the 50 cent issue — and yet people came away with the idea that I was implying Cap was Gay (laughs)! Just goes to show, fans sometimes miss things in their mad rush to the internet.
MARKISAN: In the current issue of Avengers you introduced a new, female Captain Britain. What role will this character play in your last issues and what effect will she have on the team?
AUSTEN: She was intended to play a significant role in the series. Being a new hero, she would be the eyes and ears of the new reader, experiencing things for the first time, seeing the relationships, the set-up, and the toys. She was intended to show the women’s side of things more, something I’d always been curious about, as she befriends Jan and Wanda and the three learn to trust and like one another, and we would get to see how they feel about the men in the group. Really feel.
Captain Britain was also intended to help Jan through the difficult times she was about to experience when she finally rejected Hank for the last time, and opened the door for other relationships. Again, all moot. She’ll likely be dead in Brian’s first issue (laughs). First page, panel one, actually (laughs). Obviously I don’t know that. That’s a joke. In fact, I know nothing about Bendis’ intended run, other than it will sell better than mine (laughs). I didn’t want to know. In fact, I didn’t learn Bendis was the new writer until someone called me after seeing it on the net. I had become too attached to the characters and didn’t want to know who was replacing me. Especially if they were better than me (laughs). But I love the characters. Especially Jan. I wound up adoring her. So fun. I miss her terribly.
MARKISAN: Given your interest in character writing, what kind of romantic groundwork did you want to establish for our heroes in your first Avengers arc?
AUSTEN: Romance, as I said, was intended. People’s heads are going to explode in the first issue of the second arc (laughs). Some things begin happening there that were intended to lead to — oh, let’s call it a “Big People Smackdown.” Man, that was going to be fun. But it is not to be.
TIM: You've been a mainstay in the industry for a number of years. Are you astounded when your name is misspelled like in Avengers #77?
AUSTEN: (Laughs) No. Not at all. Happens so often, I no longer get annoyed by it. Even long time friends get it wrong, and people who love my work and have been reading it for years send me e-mails saying “Mister Austin, I love your work!” Or better yet, “Didn’t you used to ink John Byrne?” (laughs). That’s my favorite.
People often misspell the seemingly easy names because they assume the spelling. The hard ones they know they might get wrong, so they double check.
TIM Was it difficult to tell your own tales and establish your own tone on Captain America, given a great portion of your run was spent resolving plots created by John Ney Reiber?
AUSTEN: I didn’t tell my own tales. I finished Reiber’s. I would never have done Cap that way. I was just doing Joe a favor and helping him out of a jam, while trying to make it as good a story as possible using what Reiber had begun. It was the hardest writing I’ve ever done, working in someone else’s tone, with their established pages of story and art, and trying to make sense of their beginning without knowing where they intended to go, because we never spoke. And his stuff is so unique, so evocative, it probably would have been better had he been able to finish it himself. But given that, I was fairly proud of the work, in the end. Had some very interesting bits in it. Cap’s “romance” with Hana. His dream life in the Interrogator’s embrace. Some of what Inali had to say, some of the revelations in ICE, I really enjoyed writing. Inali’s take on America being taken from his people. Baron Blood.
MARKISAN: In an interview a while back you said you’d like to write Cap as a soldier. You talked about having Cap use more military equipment and creating a small strike team to aid him in missions. Is this still an idea you’d like to pursue and why?
AUSTEN: I’m not sure. I mean, yes, I would love to do that, but the fact is — this is a tough one to answer. Basically, the situation is: Marvel’s got new policies in place to make their stuff skew younger. A new “Code,” if you will. They’ve described it as “playing it safe” I think, elsewhere. I feel that precludes the kind of approach I was attempting.
My take was very Tom Clancy, adult action-star oriented, and very violent. But I was talking to Pat Olliffe, who’s become a very good friend since we worked together on The Call, and he told me he was drawing an advertisement with Cap, where Cap’s cutting a kid’s hair with this new shaving product. And I thought, “I can’t do my take on Cap! He needs to be able to cut a kids hair, not go around shooting terrorists!” And its true! Marvel needs to keep these characters appealing to kids, not doing an adult take on them. The money from that stuff knocks comics on its ass, right now.
I’ve said it before, and I still feel it’s true — maybe now more than ever with Marvel’s policy change — as adult fans we have co-opted superheroes for our own needs. But they’re really for kids. Bright colorful costumes, and cutting kids hair! So Marvel’s new policies are the right direction, I think, but tough for a writer like me who has a hell of a time skewing young. It’s what became a sticking point on Avengers, and it’s making things challenging on X-Men, as well. Maybe too challenging.
MARKISAN: With Avengers, you got a chance to write Cap again. Was there a difference in the way you approach Cap on Avengers?
AUSTEN: Absolutely. As I said, I would have written very different Cap stories if Reiber hadn’t led the team on that. But it doesn’t make much difference, ultimately. I shouldn’t be writing Avengers OR Captain America. They’re for kids. Really. I should go back to television. Especially now that “Tripping the Rift” is a hit on Sci-Fi.
TIM: Do you think many folks reading your Avengers or your Uncanny X-Men realize you're the same fellow who wrote adult comics in the eighties/drew Miracleman?
AUSTEN: A lot do. It’s not a secret. I don’t keep it a secret. I’ll probably be publishing a trade of my early work in the very near future. My work history is all over the boards, and I make no bones about it. Occasionally someone comes by and mentions it at a con.
TIM: In tackling the many icons of Marvel, you take a different tack and go in directions other writers clearly have not considered.
AUSTEN: Which amazes me. This whole Giant Jan thing seemed so obvious to me. Why am I the first one to think of it? Where do Paige’s “husks” go when she throws them away? I think it may be because I left comics 15 years ago, and came back with a different worldview. More of an outsiders worldview, coupled with my old love of comics. It makes me think outside the box, a bit.
TIM: In doing so, you've received the scorn of some consumers..
AUSTEN: That’s an understatement (laughs). I also get new readers — a lot who have never read comics before. So I’m reaching beyond the existing marketplace, which Marvel said they wanted. But some trolls and die hard fans do hate it. Or seem to. The jury’s still out on that, as far as how many actual haters of my work there are, and how there may be only seven deadly trolls who run around using multiple screen names. It would be hard to imagine the sales keep going up on books if the hatred were that genuine.
TIM: But how much of the creative direction should be placed on your shoulders and how much of it should be shouldered by Marvel editorial, who is most assuredly seeking if not mandating the kind of stories you write?
AUSTEN: Sounds like you’re trying to give me an out with the trolls for my work. Won’t help, trust me (laughs). Besides, ultimately the responsibility lies with me. It’s my name on the books, so on some level I’m agreeing with the editorial changes and mandates. At least for now.
This is a very interesting question, though, and a good one. But one that’s tough to answer. Left to my own devices, things would be very, very different, to be sure. And yet very much the same. I know that’s not really an answer.
Here’s the situation. When I came to Marvel, there was very little editorial interference on my work. US War Machine had one editorial note in ‘“ issues. They let me run with that, entirely. The Call had very few notes. I had only two or three notes on Ultimate Gambit. I had quite a few on the first issue of Uncanny, and then very few for a very long time, and then the notes got progressively heavier. Avengers had a lot of notes, mostly having to do with the characters actions and voices. Tom was in there fighting the good fight for the die-hards and continuity buffs, but I insisted on things like Cap saying the dead woman did something “stupid,” and Hawkeye getting his ass kicked, Jan and Hank getting into it again, and much more to come that will make people’s hair stand on end and their skin flake and fall off.And yes, Marvel asked me to do those other books because I made each book I worked on sell better. Uncanny X-Men, sales went up. Exiles went up. Eternal sold very well by comparison to a Vertigo book. Around 25,000. US War Machine in the 30s. And on Avengers the belief was I could do what I did on X-Men and make Avengers, at the very least hold the line at where Geoff had lifted it, or at very best get it into the top ten. That implies letting me make the adjustments that fans hate, sometimes. But …
Let me explain the process, so everyone understands, at least where I’m coming from. This is such a good question that it deserves a longer answer, so let me ramble a bit.
A writer vacates a book for whatever reason, and either Joe or the editor has an idea to use me. Generally they want the books to sell better, so they go to a writer who they believe strongly can help them pull that off. There’s no point in offering a book to someone if you think the sales are going to go down (laughs), or hire someone just to piss of fans. That’s NOT a realistic motivation, no matter what the seven deadly trolls may think.
As an example, Joe contacted me about doing Avengers. My first response was “no.” I write personal stories, and I felt the characters were too well established, and secondary to their main books, where all the good stuff happens, just as you said. The belief was, you cannot affect them emotionally, so I didn’t think the book was right for me.
Joe said Tom had asked for me for just that reason, and Joe, himself, wanted someone to affect the characters emotionally. He thought my take might be the only difference in getting sales higher than where Geoff Johns had gotten them, since Geoff was never given that latitude and he did amazingly well. My approach was one of the only things left to try. Bendis sounds like he’s come up with an awesome new take, but this was the direction decided at the time. The thought was that since I had increased sales on X-Men with some soap, I should inject a little of that into Avengers — see if we could make it a top 10 book. So it was part of the request that I go this route, and I wanted to. This goes directly to your question: The creative direction on my Avengers run should be shouldered by both Marvel and me.
Obviously I would take a different approach to this book than something like, say, Eternal. Eternal is never going to sell X-Men or Spider-Man numbers, and since it’s assumed it will sell lower, you take that understanding to go places that are newer and potentially more creative or provocative. Definitely more controversial. But with a title like the Avengers, it’s all about bigger sales, more numbers, and greater audience. That means less risky, more going toward a centrist, populist theme, and making relationships prime. Relationships sell. From Friends, to E.R., to Ally McBeal, to Sopranos, to West Wing, it’s the relationships — the soap — at the core that makes a series work. So I had to look at the Avengers and see if there was something I could do to make the relationships between these disparate characters more involving.
Once I had my marching orders and understood my goal and approach, I then went back into my collection and re-read every Avengers I had, and all the Essentials. This led all the way through to Kurt’s most recent run, and into Geoff’s take. I thought Geoff had an incredible handle on the book, and wanted to keep that flavor, but I definitely saw the need for some soap.
All the characters in Avengers had evolved from their creation through the ensuing 40 years, in some ways too much. Hawkeye had run the Thunderbolts, etc., and was now pretty capable and boring when he’d once been fun and a bit unstable. He never misses, and he’s frickin’ perfect. Cap has always had a bit of a stick up his butt. I felt we needed to re-humanize these characters and make them fallible, give people a way to connect with them, and screw with their relationships — but do it with the backing of continuity and logic, which Tom wanted, obviously. The characters, in my opinion (and that’s the opinion Marvel was paying for) were no fun for new readers, and had lost older readers because of their perfection, I felt, and if I was going to increase sales, I needed new readers. If I wanted new readers, I had to make some choices about the characters not always taking the high road, or making all the right decisions, or always getting along.
Could I do it without alienating older, die hard readers? Only time would tell. But I felt strongly about it, and off we went.
As I went through reading and digesting the previous series’, a rather uncomfortable turn appeared, Hank and Jan being the most prevalent example. A horrific thing had been set up and dropped — that of Hank being a wife-beater. There were other examples of uncomfortable ideas that had surfaced and then been scrubbed, but this was the most searing, and the most often recurring, having resurfaced as recently as Geoff’s last couple of issues. It existed, and was part of the characters continuity, and I felt it had to be dealt with and finished responsibly, especially since it kept reappearing and had left an ugly stain at the heart of the series. Hank’s one messed up dude. He needed to be fixed, made evil, or killed. The half-assed approach was a failure, in my opinion.
Throw into that, Hawkeye never dealing with the death of Mockingbird, Tony’s alcoholism and once trying to date Jan, Hank’s pre-family history never being revealed other than that he had an ex-wife, everyone wanting Scarlet Witch at one point, She-Hulk being a bit confused, emotionally and sexually, and suddenly I had some germs for great soap, I thought, and for some internal conflict that would make things interesting. It meant bringing the characters back to a place of tension and challenging their heroism, which is where my first arc came from: Violence against women, and the call of heroism. Who is a true hero? The uberman who faces another uberman? Or a defenseless woman who fights against unwinnable odds for a stranger? All with an undercurrent of psychological issues, new and uncertain powers, Giant Jan, Hank’s subtle, and not so subtle abuses, Wanda’s power, compassion and serenity, Cap’s aloofness and exposed identity but hidden feelings, Tony’s turbulence and alcoholic mentality, which means he’s stopped drinking, but has he finished dealing with the parental abuse issues that contributed to his drinking and is that why he never objected to Hank’s abuse? There’s complexity and subtlety in that first “Lionheart” arc that I’m still proud of, and will be for a long time, and more in the “Invaders” arc.
Add into the mix some sudden editorial changes due to shifts in ratings policy, and the Avengers becomes what it is under my hand, and ultimately it’s my responsibility because I fought hard for the things I did.
So, in a nutshell, that’s the genesis of being offered and taking over a book. They think you can increase sales. You research continuity like hell, spend hundreds of dollars on books because Marvel doesn’t provide research materials, and you can never find it all. You come up with a take that interests you, and you hope interests readers and can increase sales. There’s a notes stage, and ideas from the editor. You go about your business, turn in scripts, more notes, some continuity clean-up, the script goes to the artist, you adjust your script to artistic changes and flexible internal policies, it gets lettered and colored — and five months later, trolls accuse you of hacking it out (laughs).
Make no mistake, though. The strong impetus is always, higher sales. The Seven Deadly Trolls think sales mean to them, specifically. It doesn’t. It means to the millions of readers who never said a word on the internet — they just went away quietly when they thought the stuff sucked and found better entertainment. Hopefully you can appeal to both segments, the fans and the casual readers. But if not, higher sales is the only measuring stick. If you can get higher sales, you’re gold — no matter what the seven deadly trolls think of your approach. If you can’t, you’re done. Simple as that.
So if you think we’re ruining your favorite characters just because we’re heartless bastards, you’re incredibly naïve. Most of us need these jobs and can’t afford to be blasé about screwing with stuff, so we do what we hope will work, and if it worked before, we keep it. If it didn’t, we change it to make it more popular. Like it or not, it’s a business. No one gets an exclusive contract or bonuses for getting books cancelled. Just because it worked for you, doesn’t mean it “worked.” Every cancelled show had its fans. This is, ultimately, a business.
On Avengers, it may not have been all my idea, but I feel there was some great stuff. Tom deserves a lot of credit, too. So, actually, if you liked it, Tom did it. If you didn’t, it was me (laughs).
I honestly gave things like Hawkeye a lot of thought. Hank and Jan. Hawkeye is a man who was with a woman’s children being light and flip while she was dying. He lost his own wife to violence and never dealt with it that I could find. He has a close friend on the team who was a victim of violence by her own husband’s hand. In fact, no one’s caught it yet, but Cap and Hawkeye’s conversation was specifically designed in the beginning, not only to show that they’re friends, but to be ironic counterpoint to the fact that it is Clint who reacts most strongly to men harming women in this arc. He’s the only one who says something to Hank. The only one who ever has, to my knowledge, other than a minor question from Thor that was near neutral. Hawkeye may tell Cap “you never hit a supervillainess” but he wouldn’t himself, and hates Hank for having done what he did to Jan.
To me, this in no way invalidates that Hawkeye gave Hank a chance in West Coast Avengers after all that crap happened. I’ve given friends who made mistakes a break, but still resented them for what they did, and had it flare up later. Again, trying to humanize these people — which die-hards hate. Like it or not, Hank beat Jan, and it’s never been dealt with responsibly. I think that’s wrong. It’s wrong to deal with these subjects and have everyone happy in the next issue. Hawkeye’s wife dies — is murdered — and – what? He anguishes for a half an issue?
In my opinion, the Hank and Jan abuse problem needed to be closed, once and for all, on camera. I have very, very strong feelings about that particular subject matter, for personal reasons. Some fans disagree, but on this I can say they are unequivocally wrong. You can’t just ignore it and not “dredge it up.” Ignoring spousal abuse is part of the problem with spousal abuse. And this attitude by certain fans that it should be dropped amuses me to no end, because they give me such grief when I seem to ignore continuity, and yet they happily dismiss stuff when it’s convenient — or uncomfortable. But this kind of abuse — go back and look at the issues, it’s horrifying and in print — would not and should not just go away. Not if “continuity” is a priority. Not if responsibility to readers and the truth of “reality” is important.
Or, maybe in the grander scheme of things, I’m wrong. Maybe fans are right. Captain America needs to cut a kid’s hair. He needs to be shallow and one-dimensional. And I’m not being sarcastic. I’m dead serious. Marvel needs to protect its interests. Hank should not abuse his wife. Never should have. Maybe it should be dropped and forgotten.
Superheroes should never be spousal abusers. I considered making Hank a villain for the team, actually. He would have made an awesome villain. I had this cover image in mind, of him in his Yellowjacket costume, grinning darkly and sitting in a throne around the dead bodies of the Avengers. The Seven Deadly Trolls would have been livid. And yet they have no problem with the fact that he blackened Jan’s eye to the point where it swelled closed, and tried to smash her with his fist when she was Wasp sized. You think Millar pulled that out of his hat? “Oh, Hank got over that.” Um, no he didn’t. If I didn’t see the therapy sessions, ripping up childhood issues that led to him becoming a wife-beater, see him apologize and make amends, he didn’t get over it. And if it’s in continuity, it should be finalized, in some fashion. Either he works it through, or he goes bad. He would have been a great villain. Or a great recovering abuser, because it’s like alcoholism. It never goes away. But I never had to make that choice.
As a victim of abuse in my own life, I found it disgusting and reprehensible that Hank had just sort of wandered around the Marvel U and was considered “cured,” and I thought, “I can’t live with this. You guys are always saying you want continuity, that Marvel is set in the ‘real’ world, well here it is. This needs to be properly expunged. Let’s open this festering wound and irrigate it.”
But maybe not. Leave festering wounds alone. How many people remember Hank hitting Jan, anyway? How many people remember reading it? I did, and it’s one of the reasons why it’s stuck with me all these years. But maybe we should let these things go. Pretend it never happened. I can’t, as a writer with a conscience and a moral standing that precludes forgiving abusers who won’t seek treatment. So, in the long run, it’s best that they get another writer.
In the end, I loved the way my run on the Avengers turned out, however the arcs were built and designed. Tom helped make things better, which is what an editor is ultimately supposed to do. New readers and old fans who had dropped and then came back to the book tell me they loved it. Sales dropped in some stores, and increased in others. A random sampling of the five stores near me shows an increase of about 10 percent or more, with one store dropping considerably and bringing down the curve. Overall, a stronger increase on a local scale than I had on Uncanny. But the final numbers are Marvel’s, and as I said, Bendis will sell even better. He’s an awesome writer, and I wish him well. At the end of the day, all I can do is make myself happy, and I was, with the Avengers, for the short time I had them.
So the brief answer is: A little of both editorial and me. That’s how it is on the top of the line books. Superman’s somewhat like that, too.
Whoo! You can talk now (laughs).
TIM: If you had to do it over again, would you have done the PULSE interview from last year with the same tone? As I read it, while I appreciated what you were saying, I sometimes felt like the interviewer (Jen Contino) caught you on a bad day.
AUSTEN: Yeah, she definitely did. And she was also trying to establish that she could ask some hard questions, and I felt I should answer them out of respect for her trying to step up to the plate. Silly, but I’m oddly supportive, that way. I always try to help people when I can. But it was the end of a terrible, terrible week, I was exhausted and had been spending way too much time on the internet, mostly reading troll comments. It had taken it’s toll. I have since given up the internet except for research and ordering books. I only know what people tell me they read. I’d rather they didn’t, but I still hear some of it. It really no longer bothers me. It’s actually amusing that so many people waste so much of their lives anguishing over me.
Funny, this goes to what I was saying about Hawkeye earlier. That week, I did that interview, and I had also gone off on another internet reporter. Nothing horrible, just told him I never wanted to talk to him again because of something a friend told me he’d done to them. Again, being supportive of friends, and at the same time, this particular reporter and I had history as far as his being — well, let’s just say overzealous — on a previous Marvel project to the point of really irritating me. So there was some history, there.
So I tell my friend I just told this reporter never to contact me again, and my friend says, “well, maybe I was wrong …” (laughs). The reporter gets back in touch with me and proves he hadn’t done anything wrong, and I feel like shit. I apologized and hoped it was over. It wasn’t, there were repercussions, and that’s life. I am a fairly stable, easy-going guy who’s lived long enough to have learned from some of his mistakes. I’m older than Hawkeye by any measurement, and I still, given the situation and right volatile circumstances, went off on someone stupidly. It happens. It’s not out of character, although there are people who would say they wouldn’t believe I could ever do such a thing. “He’s such a nice guy!” But we’re all capable. It’s what makes us human. And interesting.
It’s part of my belief system of the world. This place tests you, and sometimes you fail. Hawkeye, in my story, found his set of circumstances that made him fail, and he’ll feel stupid in the morning. I stand by my choice to do it, and everything else I did in that book.
TIM: Also you were at a disadvantage taking trolls to task in an interview format (message board news presentation style) where the trolls, not surprisingly, went off dissecting the interview?
AUSTEN: In retrospect, I wouldn’t have done the interview at all. Not because I didn’t feel justified saying what I did, but because I spoke in anger and with the hope of educating people who had been gleefully and without consequence assaulting me online.
I didn’t want to do this interview, if you’ll recall (laughs). Trying to communicate online is a losing proposition with the Seven Deadly Trolls, and it only generates more hatred and anger, even when I’m being calm and reasonable (laughs). But especially when I — or anyone — lashes out. You think you’re being funny, that people will read it and say, “Hey, we’ve really been mistreating this guy. He has a right to be angry. Let’s cut him some slack and back off.” But that’s never going to happen.
These are the same, socially inept people who come up to me at cons and say “I hate your writing on X-Men. Will you sign this entire run of your work?” (Laughs). And then dump 40 issues of War Machine, Exiles, and Uncanny X-Men in front of me and want it signed in three different colors of ink. I used to get e-mails from people denigrating my work, and then asking for favors getting jobs in the industry. “Hi, I’m just being honest. I’m not a fan of your work, I think it’s a sell-out, and trite compared to what you used to do. But can you tell me which editor is looking for pitches …” They think that by being “honest” it somehow elevates their status above the boot-lickers who ask for favors but disingenuously tell you they’re “fans.” It doesn’t. It makes them opportunists who are arrogant and thoughtless.After enough of that, you lash out. And that just makes them angrier, and then they lash out, and then you lash back, and on and on and on. It never ends. Until you cut the cord and ignore it. Stay off the internet. Then it becomes a tempest in a teapot on the other side of the world.
Aaahhh. Serenity.
And that’s why I don’t consider myself at a disadvantage in that interview presentation style. Their replies only have meaning if you read them, and I never did. Not now, not then, not if I can avoid it. I never read anything on the internet unless someone sends it to me — and sometimes not even then. So as far as I’m concerned, I got the last word (laughs).
But you know what? Trolls are entitled to their opinion, and in some ways I now agree with them. Not that I write badly (laughs). They’re still wrong about that. But that the characters and continuity should be inviolate, and someone else should write these books besides me. But it also means that these trolls should give up comics and find a more constructive hobby. Captain America needs to cut kids hair! I shouldn’t be coming in, trying to make him human, trying to hook him up with different characters, showing superheroes in bed together, cheating on each other, trying to make them accessible to adults. This is children’s fare — people in brightly colored spandex — and will be again. And should be. Marvel’s right to ratchet back its ratings system.
TIM: What can you tell folks about your Humanoids project, Flywires? Have you gotten a chance to see any of Matt Cossin's pencils? If so, what do you think of what you've seen so far?
AUSTEN: I’ve seen some of Matt’s finished color, actually. I’ll check with Paul Benjamin and see if you can post some. It’s stunning. One of my favorite things I’ve done in comics so far. A great piece of work by Matt. He’s incredibly talented, and I’m so proud to be working with him. People will be quite impressed.
TIM: What's the status on World Watch with Tom Derenick? Will you be proceeding with any creator-owned work in the near to long term?
AUSTEN: The first issue ships in July. There are four issues finished, and seven in the first arc. It’s astounding. Tom’s an awesome, and highly underrated talent. It’s creator-owned, and I’m really looking forward to it. Superheroes for adults (laughs). Ironic, is it not? Looking back, would I still have done it? Probably not. But it’s not intended for the Avengers trolls, or kids. It’s about “real” people in costumes, in a world that is more like ours. Violent, sexy and wild. I love this project, and Tom’s having a blast, too.
Pat Olliffe and I also have a project we’re putting together. It’s all intended for self-publishing, eventually. I want to own what I work on. I always prefer that, and I like working without notes.
TIM: The Eternal was supposed to be an ongoing series but was cut short at six issues. Did you accomplish what you set out to do with the story?
AUSTEN: God, no. (Laughs). I pitched Marvel on the second arc, and they wanted me to go back to the beginning and tell the first story, of how Ikaris was born. And put naked slave girls in it because it’s in the MAX line (laughs). Which, being a bit of a perv, was not a problem for me (laughs). But the story I really wanted to tell, was the next arc, where we really get into it, and the Celestials return to judge mankind, and find it wanting. Ikaris tries to save the world, but can he? It’ll never see the light of day. Unfortunately, neither will a trade paperback of the first six.
TIM: Does your writing process differ for mature reader books?
AUSTEN: Only in that I have to think less. (Laughs). Writing mature books comes more naturally to me. Everything else is me scaling back.
MARKISAN: Your first issue as ongoing writer for Action Comics will soon be on stands. How much responsibility and or pressure do you feel to make a great Superman book?
AUSTEN: None whatsoever. I feel a responsibility to stay employed (laughs). All I can ever do is write what I like and want to read, and hope others will, too. It’s how I approach everything, and seems to be working so far. I figured out what made Superman work for me, and fortunately DC is interested in letting me do it just that way. Time will tell if the readers and fans agree, and sales stay up. I think they will. It's a fun book.
MARKISAN: Although you are now the ongoing Action writer, you’ve been working on Metropolis and you’ve also penned two fill-in issues for Superman. How have these other Superman books helped prepare you for the regular assignment?
AUSTEN: They helped prepare me to be comfortable with my decisions on the character. Eddie liked what I did right away, and saw potential in my interpretation of Superman. So going from “I like this a lot, and it’s just a fill-in” made the transition to being the regular guy smoother.
MARKISAN: Originally you turned down the Superman gig because you didn’ tthink you’d be able to write the book the way you envisioned it — more of an original Siegel and Shuster take with a modern slant. What changed? Why did DC finally loosen up a bit?
AUSTEN: I think I slipped in under the cracks, honestly (laughs). DC was getting ready to make some big changes in Superman — return him to their premiere character, and Eddie pushed for me. Thank you, Eddie.
MARKISAN: You’ve said that you want to portray Superman as more of a charmer and a bad ass, punch-first kind of guy, instead of this boy scout persona that seems to always get slapped on the character. Frankly I think it’s about time. AUSTEN: (Laughs). He’s got a sense of humor, too.
MARKISAN: How did Superman become such a pansy?
AUSTEN: (Laughs) Those are your words, not mine (laughs). I wasn’t there, I don’t know what guided Superman in the direction he’s taken until now. Maybe people were trying to write charming and cool, and it just didn’t come off. I don’t know. All I know is that, for me, there was one ingredient that was missing. Fun.
MARKISAN: It seems to me that a lot of readers have a hard time relating to Superman and to a large extent, Clark Kent, because he’s just too perfect. Superman can throw a planet and Clark has this gorgeous wife who just happens to be an insanely famous reporter. And Clark hasn’t done so bad with journalism himself. In the books I’ve read he never truly seems to have problems that he can’t control. Even when he was fired from the Planet it was really just a scam. Is this perfection, something you plan to soften at all?
AUSTEN: Yeah. I think you have to. Byrne, when he re-envisioned the character, was of a belief that, if Superman were as Super as he was, Clark would find a way to be just as cool. Maybe so, in real life. But I feel Superman works best when his alter ego is a schlub, and again, DC is paying me for my opinion. He’s the first, and best, adolescent power fantasy. If Clark is cool, who do we relate to? Who do we hang on to, as a reader, for identification?
Clark can still be “Superman” and have some really bad days. I’m giving him some really bad days. And the interesting thing is: It makes him much more enthusiastic to be Superman. I know it would me.
MARKISAN: You’ve stated a dislike for Lois in past interviews. Have your feelings about her changed since you started writing the book? What kind of role will she be playing in Action?
AUSTEN: (Laughs) The fact is, I grew up with Lois from the television show reruns, and thought she was fine. But you’re always left with the idea that Superman can do better. Why Lois, when there's Lana? Or Wonder Woman? Mary Marvel? I don’t know, Lady Blackhawk (laughs)? Especially with how Lois has so often been portrayed. She married Clark when she always seemed to be in love with Superman, and it makes things — curious to say the least.
The fact is, I can write Lois charming, and likeable, and very sweet and loving. You can do anything with these characters, and make them work. So Lois is what I make her in my writing. If I don’t like her, I have no one to blame but myself. In fact, I wrote a Lois and Clark love story that hasn’t been printed yet — it was a fill-in I did before I got the gig — though it may be done soon. In that story, she is as I would write her in the series. Someone who loves her husband deeply, even though they have occasional problems. Charming and sweet, funny and loveable. Simple and straightforward, and it works great.
MARKISAN: There’s been talk that the big Man of Steel revamp will see Action Comics, Adventures of Superman and Superman existing in different time periods of Superman’s life. What’s the deal? Can you clarify how these books will be approached?
AUSTEN: Actually, I can’t. I haven’t seen any scripts and don’t know what the other guys are doing. I told Eddie, “If I don’t need to know, I don’t want to.” I’m doing my thing, and letting them do theirs. It’s a system that works (laughs).
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