CUESTIONARIO A JOHN OSTRANDER

Esta es la versión en inglés del mensaje, para que puedan comparar el original y la traducción. Pueden ver la versión en español aquí

I'm happy to answer your questions and those of your friends. Fans and readers have always been very important to me and I appreciate all the support they have given me and my work over the years. I have never and will never take that support for granted. So it seems to me that the LEAST I can do is ask questions put to me. So let's begin.

>> How do you start writing comics, what was your first work and how it was?

I was a big fan of comics for years and was already a playwrite in Chicago (as well as an actor, sometimes a producer, sometimes a director). My friend MIKE GOLD had seen a play i had co-written called BLOODY BESS (about pirates) and was a big fan of it. He was starting up a company called FIRST COMICS which was headquartered in the Chicago area. Their first issue was WARP, an adaption of a local and popular SF/comic book stage play, of which I was also a big fan. They needed a back up story featuring one of the support characters, a woman warrior called SARGON, MISTRESS OF WAR, and Mike asked me to write a plot to see if I could do it. To make a long story a little bit shorter, they liked it, bought it, and put it in the back of the first issue of WARP. The story was called "Rough and Tumble". I did three more back up stories in WARP and then i was offered STARSLAYER, which was coming over to First, after the creator Mike Grell finished writing two issues. That was my first series. In the back of STARSLAYER, I created a character called GRIMJACK and I've been a full time writer ever since.

>> How do you choose the series and miniseries that you write? (question from Kyle_Ryner Green Lantern, one of the members of my club)

Most of the time I look and see what character might be available and think of what story i might like to do with that. Then I write a three page (or less) proposal to the appropiate editor. It then goes through the system and The-Powers-That-Be say yes or no. Once in a while I get approached by an editor to do something. I then work up a three page outline of the plot and, once approved, we go from there.

>> From all the work that you made in the past, what was your favorite collection or issue and why?

I'm proud of MOST of my work(there are a few duds in there, as with all writers and artists) but the ones I'm most proud of are: GRIMJACK, SUICIDE SQUAD, THE SPECTRE, BATMAN: SEDUCTION OF THE GUN, GOTHAM NIGHTS, ORACLE: YEAR ONE and THE KENTS. I'm also very fond of HEROES FOR HIRE. If i had to choose only ONE series, it would be GRIMJACK. That character was my own creation and the layering of meaning, how the story got richer as went on, the types of stories we were able to do all contribute to its special place in my heart. Not a month goes by that people don't ask about GRIMJACK. Almost as popular is SUICIDE SQUAD. I took a concept -- supervillain team-ups -- that people said wouldn't sell and I made it work. I took some class B characters, heroes and villains, and made them compelling in their own right. Anf i got a chance to work, on most of it, with my late wife, Kimberly Yale.That's also what made ORACLE:YEAR ONE so memorable for me -- it was the last collaboration between me and my wife. THE SPECTRE is perhaps THE highlight of my long partnership with Tom Mandrake. We were really able to fuse thematic material to storyline, exploring important questions with an iconic character who we made really work as a solo character for the first time. BATMAN:SEDUCTION OF THE GUN is perhaps the most important single issue I have ever written. It was done on the problems of guns in this country and was used by the Governor of Virginia at the time to pass that state's first gun control law. GOTHAM NIGHTS is aminseries of which I' very proud. I got to team up with the very talented Mary Mitchell and tell a very compelling story about Gotham City in which Batman was a SUPPORT character and the citizens of the city were in the forefront. THE KENTS is a series of which I am VERY proud. I did a great deal of research and was able to do a Western that tied into the DC universe at a time when almost no one else was doing Westerns here in the U.S.

>> How is your work with a character like in Martian Manhunter, who has never his own collection before, and your relation with Tom Mandrake?

Tom and his wife, Jan Dursema, are two of my best friends in the world and I've been working with Tom for so many years now that it is almost TOO easy. We understand and compliment one another so well. I admire that Tom is always tinkering with his pencilling and inking styles, looking to find new ways to do things. Its sometimes very subtle but very real. He is one of the most under-rated artists in the field today. As we left doing THE SPECTRE together, we looked for a new series and we wanted something very different from that book. We settled on the MARTIAN MANHUNTER because a) he was the only member of the JLA who had never had his own book before, b) despite the fact he had been around for so many decades, he was still a very little explored character, and c) he has so many cool powers. We've discovered things about J'Onn J'Onzz as we've worked on the book and I think we're doing our best work on the series right now.

>> Do you choose to work in Martian Manhunter or DC come to you asking about write the tittle?

We chose to work on MARTIAN MANHUNTER and DC allowed us.

>> What are your plans for Martian Manhunter in the next months? Are you planing a great saga for him or something like a year one? What about the message that Antares sent to the stars (sorry if you already solve that plot, but I'm still waiting the past issues of MM that I bought at Mile High Comics)?

Right now we're in the middle of a series we call REVELATIONS, which are single issue stories set (for the most part) in the years between the time J'Onn came to Earth and JLA: YEAR ONE. Each story is self contained all they all add up to an interesting view of J'Onn. The first two are already out and features Superman in one issue and a Green Lantern (Abin Sur) in the next issue. The two issues coming up feature Batman (coming up next) and the Spectre. We wind up this collection with a story from the Justice League International days and the truth behind all those Oreos. After that, we have a three part story called the RENEGADES OF MARS and in it you'll see just what it means to BE a Martian MANHUNTER.

>>I hear that you are going to write a crossover between JLA and the Predators, what can you tell us about that?

The story has been leaked and it IS true but DC hasn't formally announced it yet so I really shouldn't say too much. Graham Nolan is doing the art on it.

Thanks for writing. All the best

 

SEGUNDA PARTE

 

Here's the answers to THIS batch of questions.

>>1. -Talking about BATMAN: SEDUCTION OF THE GUN, that you made with Vince Giarrano at 1993 (I read it in 1995). The prologue says that you was inspired by an attack that one of the sons of Archie Goodwin receive, that cause him the death. When I read that story, I was very impressed, thinking, How could be my country if something like that were happening over here. Well, in the last years the violence has been growing in my city, every time it is less safe, and the young people feel that they have no future. Why do you think that things like that happens?, what do you think about the role of the Politicians on it?, what are the causes that origin this problem in your opinion?

Just to correct something. It wasn't a son of Archie Goodwin who died; it was the son of one of the executives at Warner Brothers. Jeanette Kahn was disturbed enough by this that she wanted some sort of response within comics and this was it. The questions that you ask are very hard to answer and I'm not sure anyone has a complete answer. Social and civil violence may have many causes, including poverty, hopelessness, and so on. Greater gun violence seems tied to greater availability of guns. We seem less shocked by violence; it becomes part of our daily lives not only in reality but in our entertainment as well. Is it a moral breakdown of society, as some people have suggested? Are the causes different in YOUR country than in mine? Perhaps it is the availability of large sums of money that seem to exist.

I'm not sure what role the politicians have in all this. On the one hand, we elect them. On the other hand, there doesn't seem to be much real choice these days. I don't know about the situation where YOU live but some politicians work hard to find solutions and some of them exacerbate the probles,.

The best answer I can come up with is that everyone seems far more SHORT SIGHTED than before. The interest is in what do I gain NOW as opposed to what the repercussions might be later. It also seems NARCISSTIC -- the only thing that matters is what >I< want and what happens to anyone else is unimportant. Actually, that's rather sociopathic. Maybe our whole society is becoming more sociopathic. I don't know.

But I do not lose hope. I have seen, and continue to see, many good things in people. I have encountered too many people who look to do good, to see the right thing done. I have experienced to much love and friendship to have a right to be pessimistic.

I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for these questions but I don't know if real answers exist.

>>2. - When Denny O'Neil come to Chile some months ago to a convention called Fixion 2000, he told us that he was proud about a story, of which he was the editor, who help to change the legislation of the USA about guns. It seems that you are as proud as he is. What can you tell us about the reactions that SEDUCTION OF THE GUN produced (I want to say the past sentence of produce, I don't know how) in your country, and among the youth?

Denny and I ARE both proud of SEDUCTION OF THE GUN. It helped change gun legislation in the state of Virginia in such a way as I see to be beneficial. Because it is a controversial subject, reactions were mixed. Some people -- notably members of the NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION -- hated it. Some people loved it. Some people came up to me and told me it made them think. If it influences people positively, then they will influence others. It is like a pebble thrown in still water; you can see the rings from its impact spread out across the water and lap the shore. And that is the most you can expect out of a piece of work such as this. Art may change someone's HEART and in changing that, you may open up the world.

>>3. - One of the things most impressive for me was the fact of how boys of 15, 16 years have guns, and the reaction that Robin has after the gangs killed one of his new friends. What do you think about influence that the gangs have among the young people?

It depends on the gang, where, and why people join. In many of the porrer sections, gangs provide some sense of belonging and of respect that the member otherwise believes they would not get. Some join because they don't have much other choice; where thjey live, you join a gang or you're maybe going to die. It is fine to say that gangs are wrong and that they do terrible things to the people who belong, all of which can be said, but we must understand the underlying reason of WHY people join gangs in the first place and, I think, it has to do with self-image. If you live in a society that says you aren't worth anything, you got where you THINK you can get some respect for yourself.

>>4. - In Martian Manhunter you have been making a great effort from the beginning of the series to make J'Onn fit into our world, making him live among different people, introducing support characters, but at the same time you put him above them, as if he don't belongs to that place. What is your perception of the place that J'Onn have in the world? Is he like Superman who seems to fit among the humankind, or you think that J'Onn fells that he is just a survivor as Batman told him some times, who just want to keep breathing but fells that, instead of the love that he have for the Earth, he don't belongs to our world?

I think J'Onn loves the Earth and its people but he also knows he is not one of us. The difference between him and Superman is that, while Superman is technically an alien, he was raised as a human, as Clark Kent, with all the attendant values. J'Onn comes from a different society which he experienced die first hand. He came to earth as an adult, not as an infant. He is a survivor but he seems to have "adopted" our planet.

>>5. - Why do you stop doing Suicide Squad?, in fact I just read the first issues (It wasn't my fault atop reading), but I always heard good comments about it (from spain), and about people crying cause there was no more Suicide Squad. What make you left the series?

What made me stop was that DC cancelled the book and what keeps me from starting again is that DC, despite my pestering them, won't let me try again. I LOVED doing Suicide Squad and would love doing it again.

>>6. - Is true that DC COMICS is looking for new artists? How can I contact them to present my work? (Note: Isn't bad to look for a future in this business) - Question by Kyle_Ryner_Green _Lantern one of the members of my
club.

I don't know as they're looking MORE than usual but all companies look for fresh talent. You would send your samples to the art director or to an editor of a specific book that you like. Send only copies so you don't lose original artwork. Allow at least two months; they look at samples in their spare time of which they have practically none.

>>7. - Which is your favorite Character to write? -Question by Robjedi another member of my club?

Usually the one I'm working on right now<g>. Recent faves include the characters in the STAR WARS storyline I did that starts with issue 19. It's a four part story called TWILIGHT and I especially enjoyed a character called Villie. J'Onn is great to write; I keep finding new depths to him. All time favorite? GRIMJACK.

>>8. - When you were working at X-Man how do you feel? And which is your perception of that Character? -Question by Robjedi (again)

Frustrated. It took me almost twice as long to write that book because the X-Office would change their minds or something would happen in another book so I couldn't do it in mine but they couldn't tell me what was going on in the other book. I like what Warren Ellis has done; he's made the character unique and different.

Hope that answers your questions.

All the best

-- John Ostrander

 

 TERCERA PARTE

 

Good to hear from you again and hope your tests went well. As for your request to see a few pages of plot or script from something I do -- that is not something i am comfortable with at the moment. As a rule, I do not do it. I'll think about it some more and perhaps I can or maybe I can work up a sample page or two to show you how I work.

Now for your questions.

>>1.- In Martian Manhunter #20 you introduce to us a new old-team, called Justice Experience. Are we going to see them again?

The Justice Experience first appeared in the comic book CHASE and was created by the writer of that series. I'm simply making use of them. When the story needs it, I will probably use them again.

>>2.- From a member of my club: I would like to know what atracks you from the Spectre and now from Martian Manhunter?.

I would say that they are both green but that is just a joke. There is however something about both of them that attracts me -- both had been around for a long time before I started writing them and had never successfully been in their own books. In the case of the Martian Manhunter, he'd been around a long time but wasn't clearly defined as a characater, I think. Perhaps what they both have in common is that they are older characters who had not been fully realized before.

>> And what is you start point to write a story?

It depends on the story. Sometimes it is an incident within the story, sometimes it is something I read about in the real world, sometimes I want to do a certain TYPE of story. My "starting point" could actually appear anywhere in the story -- sometimes it's an idea that happens at the end of the story and I then structure the story to lead up to that point. Sometimes I have an idea and play it out just to see what will happen with that character. I am always trying to explore and expose the character, to show how they react and enable people to understand why, to get them to question themselves.

>>3.- In an interview that I read of Pasqual Ferry he say that Heroes for Hire begin as a new collection of the Defenders who James Felder was planing. After that the proyect change to Power Corps, and then to Heroes for Hire. Plus first Roger Stern was going to be the writer. How those chages were, and How do you arrive to take on Heroes for Hire?

I'm not aware of how the changes were made. Roger departed after plotting the first issue and it was given to me to script and take on from there. The characters in the team and the name of the book were already determined before I showed up and I'm not privy to how the decisions were made.

>>4.- In Heroes for Hire, you use a very fun style to write, you talk with the reader, and the characters seems to be very happy. It seems that was very fun for you write that comic. How It was?

Oh, I had a LOT of fun with H4H and with the characters and working with Pascual who is so very talented. The narrator just sort of evolved as we went along and the humor went along with it all. I was very sad when the book was cancelled and I'd love to do something like that again.

>>5.- Around the Second issue, you present us the new suit and powers of the Black Knight. How it was recreate him from his "adventures", with the Malibu Comics characters?

I was told to basically ignore the adventures with the Malibu characters and so I did. The Black Knight was someone I wanted on the team but I wanted him with a flying horse and a sword and a shield. My feeling is that if you are going to do the Black Knight, that's what you have to have. So I gave him a magical way to have all those things and it seemed to work out really well.

>>6.- Are you going to launch a new title?

I have some special projects lined up at the moment but no new ongoing titles. I hope to do something about that in the near future.

 

 

CUARTA PARTE

 

>>1.-  I readed at Newsrama about a new proyect from you and Val Semeiks based on the JLA called INCARNATIONS. Can you tell us something about it?, when will it be published, the number of issues, some of the story?

JLA:INCARNATIONS will be eight issues, each issue 38 page of story, and should be out before the end of the year. The entire series will focus on the JLA from around Year One to the present day, with each issue focusing on a particular aspect or incarnation of the League. Each issue will also be a complete story in itself and will also focus on one or two members of the League. Some
continuity questions will be answered, some continuity will be updated. I hope that the entire series will give a broad perspective of the League.

>>2.- I hear that Denny O'Neil is going to the retirement, is that true? what do you think about it?

Yes. In fact, I think it will have happened by the time you read this. Denny wants to devote more time to writing and now will have the chance which is good news for all fans. He has served long and hard as the senior Batman editor and
really put his stamp on the character in that time. Denny is a friend and I regard him as one the legends of comics who still works in the field.

>>3.- Any hopes to a justice Experience One Shot in the future?

None that I know of but, if there was, I think the person who created the Justice Experience should be the one to write it. And that isn't me.

>>4.- Isuue #11 MM, was absolutely great. With a lot of luck I mannaged myself to get MM 1 to 20, it was hard but I'm happy. How do you get with that issue, what inspired you?, and the travel of Swamp Thing is from the Alan Moore run on the tittle isn't it?

Oh my. Issue 11 is sometime back for me (I'm working about on issue 30 now) and I can't really remember what i was thinking about at the time. It was a fill-in issue so i didn't want to do anything with current continuity without Tom and I
remember the readers seemed to like J'Onn in the DC 1 Million story so I thought we would revisit that time. It turned out quite lovely, I think.

All the best

-- John Ostrander