Q&A 19: attack the classics
Chris Brogan asks:
"We have seen you do The Bat, Snikt man and Kitten, and now the Barbarian, are there any other comic characters you would like to use in a story or do a story about?"
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Before I answer this question, I ask a rhetorical one of my own: why did I draw those excursions into others' characters? In all three cases, just because I fancied a change from what I was doing.
I thought perhaps these diversions into alien territory would draw in a few new readers. To the best of my knowledge, they did not. Thank goodness for you, my pre-existing readers. Please do not die.
The pleasure of working on someone else's character, absent them having any recourse to tell me that I am "doing it wrong", is that I can impose my customary comic rules upon them. Though rule number 1 in any such case is that when approaching such a property, I must maintain the essence of the original. So Batman, even when drawn into snooker halls, must be Batman. Fortunately, he contains multitudes. The X-Men had to act like the X-Men, Conan must be a proper Conan. Maybe he is a little bit Groo The Wanderer at times but I've tried hard to be true to the original Robert E Howard texts (minus the weird racial slurs and absent most of the nudity so as not to get anyone fired from work.)
I can't draw as good a Wolverine as Jason Latour, but it's inherently funny to me to see him filtered through my untutored approach. And I'm forced to draw things I wouldn't normally, because these stories call for things that fall outside my well-trodden path.
One of the strengths of the scattergun approach of the original Scary Go Round series was that once in a while I'd say: we're going to Romania/an evil island base/a smuggler's cove/etc and force myself to try something new. It didn't always work! I lost that outlet with the more grounded stories that followed, and GDxB/Kit + The Wolf/Conan all feel like a manifestation of similar urges as I cast about for a new, longer term project that continues to elude me.
Conan is a bit of a wild card, as these were ideas that I initially came up with for Warwick Johnson Cadwell, that I selfishly kept back for myself.
So, here are some famous comics I think I could draw at least 22 pages of in a similar spirit. None of these will surprise you.
SHE HULK
Everyone knows that a She Hulk written and drawn by me would be A1. This is the top of the shop. Perhaps she would have to defend Stiltman in court. Stiltman is a superhero whose power is that he is on very very tall stilts. Do not confuse him with the great film director (Barcelona, Last Days of Disco etc) Whit Stillman.
DEATH'S HEAD II
Death's Head II is a big blue Marvel UK cyborg whose head is a gold cow skull, with red dreadlocks made of wires. He doesn't really have much of a personality (unlike Deaths Head I) but I can fix that, yes? He is preposterous looking. My idea is that he has a Clark Kent-style ability to evade detection when wearing a shirt and tie and spectacles. Ah you say, very choice.
SUPERMAN
If there's one thing I know about, it's newspapers. I have a DEGREE in newspapers. And Superman aka Clark Kent works at a newspaper, "The Daily Planet", or he did, I imagine now he works at a thinly disguised Tiktok. Anyway, I love Superman and Lois Lane and would deliver on every level. I would draw Clark Kent as he was imagined by Nicholas Cage in his ill-fated casting. I think about his ideas for the character all the time.
SPITFIRE AND THE TROUBLESHOOTERS
Spitfire and The Troubleshooters was a mid 80s New Universe comic about a lady scientist who has a big robot suit, like Iron Man. She also has a team of sparky assistants in the style of, say, NCIS: New Orleans. The original series was very confused and soon became clogged with spy intrigue. I hate spy intrigue and could unclog it in five minutes flat.
MACHINE MAN
Although he has been despoiled by the touch of W*rren Ellis, I would bring the sentient robot man back to his roots so that he could truly enjoy the 2020s he had such a rotten time in during (personal favourite series) Machine Man 2020.
Comments (26)
I am now enraged that a John Allison She-Hulk comic doesn't already exist.
I'd like all of these actually
You, me, Savage Dragon. 'Nuff said.
The hope there might one day be a John Allison She-Hulk may just be enough to get me through the next U.S. electoral cycle.
My plan: to ignore it throughout in the sure knowledge that I am powerless to affect the outcome. I recommend this approach to almost any modern crisis.
Spitfire and the Troubleshooters! You would absolutely CRUSH this. I would walk over hot coals to get in line to read this book. Marvel needs to ring you up immediately. : )
I’m still not over the Warren Ellis thing. Breaks my fanboy heart.
Marvel Unlimited currently has but a lone digitized issue of Spirfire. Do they fear that given a full supply, fans would clamor for more, forcing Marvel to hire John A. for the title?
She-Hulk‽ Just shut up and take my money!
Thank you for answering my question.
I like Mary Magdalen as Lois Lane to Jesus's Superman. Or maybe Mary Jane to "His" Spiderman? MJ calling Peter "Tiger" was always priceless. We are encouraged to guess the ancient Mary's nickname for her guy. I lean toward "Sport", which would be a saucy choice for one's mutant partner. Can we say Jesus is a mutant? He was, officially, manufactured from David's preserved, er, 'seed'. Maybe that makes him more like Vision?
Any of these would improve the universe!
I FORGOT VAMPIRELLA!!!
You've already got Charlotte!
I'm rarely happy when other writers handle Jack Kirby's solo creations but Machine Man 2020 got it right. So far as I can see, Machine Man is meant to be a new immigrant. He treats others with kindness and greets new experiences with positivity, he wants to fit in and help people...and then he's very hurt to encounter discrimination and hate. He wears his feelings on his telescopically extending mechanical sleeve. Some writers don't have that in their toolbox! I'm not saying you should do a Machine Man story; I'm only saying that if you did, I would read it with confidence you would do right by him.
I love your take on classic characters. Your X-Man take cut so much closer to the heart of Kitty and Logan than almost any other I've read. I have never heard of Death's Head, but I think you could nail a perfect Squirrel Girl strip.
If they'd asked me to draw Squirrel Girl, even for a single issue, after Erica Stephenson left, I would have thought seriously about it. But I couldn't have written it. I think Ryan North is unfollowable on almost any title he writes. He's so much cleverer than me.
I would pay good money for your take on Superman. Especially if you had someone like the Prankster or the non-murdery Toyman as the villain.
I will be here for any and all of these. I will try not to die, but fair warning I am about to go on a bicycle ride so 🤷♂️. Also, please include Paste Pot Pete in your She Hulk run.
Enjoy your ride! I have gone on several multi-day rides, myself, and not dying was a highlight each time.
All very choice, Mr. Allison. I look forward to you becoming the sole writer and illustrator of all the top Marvel/DC/Epic/Dark Horse comics titles.
Thank you for not getting me fired. I love the New Universe, but fear that I love it mostly because it failed so badly, both in terms of sales and in maintaining it’s original conceit. (Which was, if I remember correctly, superheroes, but in the real world. Lol, no).
As a kid I did not have a lot of UK/American comics, but I had one issue which contained a story of Machine Man, and I was mesmerized by it. Maybe because he was kind of similar to Inspector Gadget which was definitely a hit on TV at the time. But I would love to see your take on She Hulk.
Dear Kevin Feige: please hire this man to write a Death's Head II movie. Or TV show, it doesn't matter. I guarantee it will make Endgame's box office look like Heaven's Gate. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO, FEIGE. Give the people what they want... nay, NEED. (Seriously, though, that concept sounds fantastic.)
I seriously would love to see a John Allison She-Hulk book. She's a great character in the right hands and John's are the rightest.
I heartily second this. Would love to see John's take on Ms. Walters, Esq.