In an interview with Alex Zalben over at MTV Geek, writer J. Michael Straczynski talked about a whole lot of things, as well as addressed some of the critiques about his reputation for not finishing projects. As always, JMS was quite candid. Here's what he had to say on the subject.
Geek: Fans often get critical, saying that you don’t finish series you started, like Supreme Power, The Twelve, and recently Wonder Woman and Superman. I’d love to hear your reaction to this.
JMS: This perception has kind of taken on a life of its own, and it doesn’t seem to matter what the actual facts are. It’s become like those who don’t believe in climate change, you can point to contrary evidence all you want, they won’t budge. In addition to finishing Rising Stars and Midnight Nation, I did eight or nine years on Spider-Man, did such miniseries as Bullet Points, Strange, Silver Surfer Requiem…I’ve written hundreds of published comics. And the lion’s share of it came out on time.
Where were the problems? Let’s take them on straight-up.
Supreme Power: SP got finished. It was only after it got moved out of the Max line and became Squadron Supreme that the book began to falter, and I’ll take the rap for that one. Without the freedom of the Max line I wasn’t able to do the kind of things that had made the book work, and I started to flounder around, it didn’t feel like the book anymore. I told Marvel I was having a hard time. They said keep at it. I said no, seriously, this isn’t working, you should find somebody else. They said keep at it. When I finally said I can’t do this anymore, I’m starting to suck and fall below the standard of quality I think I owe the readers, they said well, we’ll keep it open if you want to come back… and it just sort of stopped rather than being assigned to a different writer.
The Twelve: this was a mutual situation. I hit a busy period on movies, then got caught up and turned in pages but now [artist] Chris [Weston] was off doing movie stuff (Book of Eli and others), then he’d get free and I would be off the grid. I couldn’t get too far ahead of the art because I would always learn something from the visuals and want to incorporate it into the next issue. We’ve been going back and forth for ages on this. I turned in a batch of pages to him over a month ago, and haven’t seen any new art since. So this one is a fifty/fifty. The good news is that it is being finished.
Thor: I loved working on the book. Loved everything about it. We made that book a consistent top-ten book…which attracted the Event Demons, and it became evident that everything I’d been built up in the book was going to be up-ended. I couldn’t go through this again, having had other books derailed by “events.” Again: I won’t let the quality of a book I’m writing drop below the level I think is right for the readers. I owe them no less than my absolute best. So I told them I had to go. Dan Buckley was very gracious in handling the situation, but the downside is that they slowed down the publishing schedule to allow time for other writers and artists to come on board, and I got gigged for the delays.
Superman and Wonder Woman you know. [That he left to work on Superman: Earth One Graphic Novels.]
My feeling is that the only way for me to really do the level of work I need to do is to concentrate on the graphic novels, and on miniseries where – as with Bullet Points and Silver Surfer Requiem – the scripts are all written and most of the art is done before we announce it. That way the books are guaranteed to come out on time, and to be finished.
I also found this bit interesting, especially in contrast to the trend of so many creators lately trashing online comics reviewers in general as worthless and useless. Straczynski is actually quite forgiving to the percentage of quality critics out there.
On the subject of online comics critics or reviewers…in my admittedly subjective opinion, about 80% of them are really helpful. (Readers in general follow a bell-curve: a small number at one end of the bell curve that love anything you do uncritically, an equal portion at the other end of the curve that hate anything you do uncritically, with most falling somewhere in-between. Critics are no different.) When a book of mine comes out, I instantly go hunting the net, not for praise, but for criticism, because that’s how you learn, from people who don’t have to be polite to you. (And I’m sorry, but “it sucked” isn’t a review, and it’s not helpful, you can’t learn from “it sucked.” I much prefer constructive criticism.)
When I was at a Marvel retreat one year, one of the editors passed me at the table during lunch break and saw I was on one of the more toxic websites, where they were just trashing my latest issue of Spider-Man. “You really ought to stay away from those things,” he said…but again, that’s how you learn. As I write this, I listened the other day to a half-hour podcast of guys just dumping all over S:EO, and while I didn’t agree with all their points, there were a number of areas where I thought, they’re right, I can do better in these areas, and by the end I was taking notes. Yeah, it got pretty brutal at times, but I’m a big boy. If you can’t handle the heat, stay away from the bitchin.
So again: 80% of the critics are useful and enlightening. As for the other 20%… Remember those guys in high school who were absolutely convinced that they were right and everybody else was wrong, that they were smarter than everybody else, and went about with the loudest voices to try and show that they were smarter by showing how stupid everyone else was? The guys who never had a conversation with you, they just talked at you? Loudly and abrasively? About some really, really arcane piece of information that they knew and you didn’t and that proves you’re an idiot? A lot of those guys ended up critics in the 20% figure. So I do with them what I did in high school: just freaking ignore them. Even the ones who like my work. Especially those guys.
The man will always speak his mind, and is certainly not averse to sharing it with the public. While I think he downplays the recent habit of walking away from projects, I respect that he at least spoke to it. Finally I also found it intriguing that he made the point to say that he does comics because he wants to, not because he has to. He makes his living from TV and movies, and comics are a project of passion. I suppose that can be interpreted in a number of ways, but he certainly gave us a big look into his mind and processes.
Check out the whole interview, it's long and good.
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U know what they say. Excuses are like ………..everybodys got em. Dude finish your books!!!
There’s an “inconvenient truth” joke here somewhere. . .
I like that one of his excuses is being “off the grid.” I’m picturing him as the main character in Gary Paulsen’s HATCHET.
Seems to me that he’s built more for movies and TV….its ok to pass things off to other people and work on something for weeks and months before it goes into production. It is a much different thing from that of a monthly comic writer. Editors shouldn’t hire him for monthlies if they know thats how he is.
Its interesting that comics are his side job….the thing he does on nights and weekends for fun. I agree that its very cool that he’s willing to talk about it.
At least he addressed the issues instead of side stepping them. I respect that. And looks like he is learning his lesson with only pursueing minis and GN’s from here on out.
Not a big JMS fan (except for The Twelve which was great) but I enjoyed this interview.
His answer reminds me of the Rick James answer on the Chapelle show: “I never grinded my feet into someone’s couch like it’s something to do. Yeah I remember grinding my feet into Eddie Murphy’s couch.”
@PaulMontgomery I pictured Gene Hackman in Enemy of the the State. JMS with a cat in a big metal cage. Now I can’t stop picturing it.
@PaulMontgomery Ha! Even as a sixth grade English teacher, I don’t hear too many connections to Hatchet (though more should be made).
@PaulMontgomery And I pictured him as old Kevin Flynn from Tron. “Hah. Sexy Vampires? I came up with that in ’85”
Even with all the unfortunately dropped projects and some creative missteps, I STILL have respect for JMS left over from Babylon 5.
His Thor run was great SEO could have been better a little too long not enough action, WW wierd but good, would have loved to see what he would have done with that character.
I love that his reason for dropping Wonder Woman and Supreman is basically, “eh, I’d rather write graphic novels.” I’m going to try using that excuse next time I have to do something boring at work.
Would you have been able to ask him the question?
I don’t interview often, but all I could think when I read this was, “I’m not sure I could have asked that question in a way that didn’t end the interview.” Luckily, there is that old chestnut, “Some of your critics say…” “How do you respond to these charges some people make? Not me, of course. Heavens to Betsy, no.”
I truly hope he finishes The Twelve.
Who wants him to finish Superman?
JMS is the man.
His Thor run was building to something amazing but instead had to end as a new status quo for the book.
Still that omnibus is worth a read. Issues 7-600 (renumbered) really takes that run to epic level.
@WonderAli Right?!
But i do agree with his thoughts on the Thor run.
I love his answer on Supreme Power: It did finish…because I stopped writing it.
@Jimski I thought the same thing.
Sounds like JMS would be better off writing for a entire graphic novel rather than for a monthly schedule. Which is why it’s cool that he’s solely doing the Earth One stuff at the moment.
The comments about criticism were very interesting as well.
The first time I ever recall becoming angry at a book/comic book was in his Gwen/Norman Osborn love children arc. In that instant I realized this guy was a lil off his rocker.
dont worry…i have finished lotsa things…egads.
Several thoughts on this: 1) I respect the fact that he answered the questions openly and acknowledged some fault on his part. 2) His excuses for not finishing works because he felt the readers deserved better quality falls flat for me because it seems like a bid for a noble high-art appearance. Don’t fans also deserve to have a story you started (and presumably should have had an ending in mind) finished just as much as they deserved good quality? 3) That was a fairly ballsy question by the interviewer. 4) Really liked his opinion on online critics. 4) JMS looks like a cross between Stephen King and a vampire in that pic.
So JMS doesn’t believe in climate change?
He forgot to mention how he also stopped writing BRAVE AND THE BOLD, which seems to have been delayed to the point of complete cancellation. They didn’t even bother to hand the reins over to another writer. Too bad.
Honestly, he’s finished the four titles I was ever interested in – Rising Stars, Midnight Nation, Strange and Amazing Spider-Man – so I have no beef with him. I haven’t been interested it most of his work, and I sometimes find his plots and dialogue a bit heavy handed, but I do like how he is typically pretty candid in interviews.
I said it when the Thor “controversy” popped up. If you’re working on other people’s properties, it’s not your call whether or not you get roped into something like an event. Someone who gave a damn about their reputation would roll with the punches and prove they could write a good story even under the restraints of the company. If you can’t, don’t write big two comics. It’d be different if he owned a book at Image or something like that and they wanted his book for a crossover. There, he has every right to say, “Sorry, no. I have plans.”
I really liked his Thor run and thought it actually played pretty organically into Siege. I’m curious to hear what his plans were, but I doubt we’ll ever find out. Oh, well.
@Jimski @Paul I give Zalben a lot of credit for how he handled this one.
Ok so the one thing I really got out of this is that JMS needs to write creator owned stuff. He left Thor and SP over fighting with editorial. If he wrote creator owned material he could release it as a GN or in issue in any time frame he saw fit. I like that he holds his writing to a certain standard for himself and his fans but if you are going to commit to something some times you just have to shut up and do it.
I’m glad that he could be this candid but I’m just seeing excuses. I don’t want to sound overly critical, especially because I like most of his work. I just don’t like his lack of commitment. He said above, “If you can’t handle the heat, stay away from the bitchin.” Well, I think that applies to him as well. If you can’t take heat from editorial and give them what they want, then don’t work for them. They pay you to write for them.
I love the unsubtle dig at OMD in the “Reason I quit Thor.” I’m glad to hear something is happening with The Twelve but that ship has sailed. Two years since the last issue shipped (Dec ’08!)
His outlook on critics is highly respectable.
I still go into the comic shop hoping to see a new issue of The Twelve. I really hope they finish it, it was fantastic.
You know as a JMS fan……I agree with a good amount of what he says here. Not all, I think what he says about The Twelve is b.s. I mean yes, doing TV/Film while writing a comic can put a lot of strain. But it’s been over two years now!
What he talks about with Supreme Power, Thor, and Superman/Wonder Woman really makes sense if you think about it. If JMS felt that Supreme Power was going really downhill then I can see why that he wanted to leave. Why Marvel just couldn’t kill that series off is bizarre. To this day I still applaud JMS for leaving Thor and not get bogged down with the events. He was telling a well told and slow paced run for the characters and to have it derailed with SEIGE would’ve killed it. Now Keiron Gillen did a good job with getting that series once he left; but I think it proved that if JMS tried to continue with Seige in the forefront then it would’ve killed the series.
As with Superman and Wonder Woman I like it that he does admit that at this stage he thinks he needs to stick with OGNs. Now I enjoyed his Superman run (probably the only one) but I could definitely tell he wasn’t putting his best effort into it. If he feels that writing OGN’s or mini-series will bring the best of skills onto the page then why not go that route? That and it’s also good that, even though he doesn’t say the nicest things about us sometimes, he does take fans and critics criticisms into being a better writer.
I also would wish to know why JMS couldn’t keep up with Brave and the Bold though. If he wanted to get into OGN’s only then that’s fine. But Brave and the Bold was basically one-shots every month….so it could’ve fit his new mold of thinking as a writer.
@TheNextChampion It sounds to me like he admitted to himself quite some time ago that he should stick to writing just One-Shot’s and Minis, so why accept the WW and Supes gigs at all? Let alone both at the same time?
@MaxPower: Well maybe he had that in his head and still felt he could still do ongoings.
Man that sounds like an excuse for him. But seriously, who knows why he decided to take the jobs when he felt this way about going into OGNs and Mini’s.
JMS wrote one of the best books I’ve ever read (Midnight Nation) so, well, that’s all.
Sometime “It” does just “Suck”.
I loved Supreme Power while it was Max, second it lost that it disintegrated quickly, I really thought that was a great and fun series.
Interesting insight, there. While I commend JMS’ commitment to quality, maybe he shouldn’t quit projects until he’s finished long storylines he’s undertaken.
I enjoyed The Twelve issues we got – I do hope we’re not expected to rebuy those in a graphic novel in order to get the end of the story.
When I read his Supreme Power comments, I just thought “SO TRUE”. Like Crucio above says, that book was declining, he delivered a ton of issues, and I never held it against him when he left. Good for him on that one.
TWELVE just seems sad. You can tell he liked the book, but the collaboration aspect of the book got in the way. I tell you, that was the best JMS work I ever read. I think he thinks so too, because he continues to say it isn’t dead. So again, it is sad and regrettable, but I give him a pass in the way that sometimes things happen. I like the seeming honesty.
As for Supes and Wonder Woman, well, I just don’t see how he isn’t “guilty as charged”. I wish he’d say “Superman Earth One got me so charged up creatively, and the business side of DC as well, that we all decided I’d leave the other books and focus on the GNs. I want to apologize to the fans on that one, etc, etc.”
(I’m speaking from my experience only) Just about everything this man has touched has ended in an absolute train wreck or at least total disappointment. He’s too wishy-washy for me. After the Supes/WW announcement, I think I will intentionally boycott any of his material from here on out.
is it me or did he seem like he was going to explain why this perception is unfair, then go on to demonstrate it is very accurate?
Sure, Rising Stars finished. And almost on time, too. If by that you mean five issues shipped in 2001, four in 2002, ONE in 2003, two in 2004, and the final issue in 2005.
Thirteen issues, five years.
So, basically, it isn’t not untrue.
I dunno. Supreme Power and The Twelve moved me from browser to buyer. Indelible reinterpretations of comparitively lesser known characters whose inherent potential was handled magificiently. Supreme Power/Squadron was finished in a way that reminds me of the time I went in for a tonsilectomy and came out with a gender reassignment. Yeah, the surgery was “finished.” And yeah, I could still sing. But sorry Captain fans. Hope you elike my Tennille.
Anyhooters, guess we’re just lucky JMS’s problems never befell the Watchmen or Sandman. Probably a dumb comparison, maybe the hormone therapy talkin’, but he kinda goes there:
“It’s really important to me to keep growing as a writer, to look for new challenges and be harshly critical of my own work in order to learn and tell better stories. Of my own work in monthly comics, on a scale of 1-10, with Alan Moore being 10, I’ve hit 7 or 8 fairy often, have had the accidental 8-9 on rare occasions, with most being in the range of 6-7, at least in my view. That may seem a bit hard, but again, I need to be harder on my work than anybody else.
I would like to be able to work consistently at the 8 range, maybe hitting 9 more often I have in the past. The only way to do that is to step away from the work and examine it in the harsh light of day. Where did I go right? Where did I screw up? Where can I improve? How can I tell better stories?”
My two peppers on those questions as they relate to projects like SP/SQ and 12: 1) When you started writing the awesome stories. 2) When you didn’t, for whatever reason, give the awesome stories endings. 3) Giving the awesome stories endings. 4) Use endings.