Previous Post Imagine that some of the great writers of the past were alive today and wanted to work in the comic-book industry. Which work-for-hire mainstream titles would you put them on? (And no, you can’t put Robert E. Howard on Conan, for example, cool as that would be; it has to be something they’ve not done before) Here’s the talent pool to deploy. Say where you’d place them and what their first story arc might be: Dashiel Hammett (Sam Spade etc) Howard Phillip Lovecraft (Call of Cthulhhu et al) Edgar Allen Poe (Murders in the Rue Morgue et al) Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan, John Carter etc) Frank Herbert (Dune etc) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes, The Lost World etc) Sheridan Le Fanu (Carmilla (the vampire) and lots of other ghost stories) Robert E. Howard (Conan, Solomon Kane etc.) Charles Dickens (A Tale of Two Cities, Oliver Twist et al) J.R.R. Tolkein (The Lord of the Rings etc) William Shakespeare (Macbeth, Hamlet etc) And just to make it interesting, what other writer who was born before 1920 would you pick to write: New Avengers Captain America Superman Astro City Star Wars Buffy Pet Avengers

I'm going to retype my answers to the bottom, and then I may deal with the top half of the topic once I find more time.



And just to make it interesting, what other writer who was born before 1920 would you pick to write:

New Avengers: H.G. Wells (War of the Worlds, The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The Island of Dr. Moreau). Obviously, I'm looking to fulfill the promise of the New Avengers as the catch-all for adventure in the Marvel universe. Skrulls invading? Kang conquering? Mutants running amok? Scientists causing strife? Go to the source, I say.

Captain America: Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Planet, Jeckyll & Hyde) I felt like I should name an American author here, but really what I want most out of Cap stories are high adventure, and Stevenson brings that in spades. (Actually, my second choice was probably Alexandre Dumas (The Three Musketeers), so forget the American thing all together.)

Superman: I can't think of a great Superman choice right now. For "Batman", however, I'd go with Mary Shelley (Frankenstein). A dark genius driven by a personal loss to defeat an abstract enemy that preys on humanity (crime/death)? I think she can get into that head... as well as the understanding the obsessive relationship between Batman and the Joker.

Astro City: Jules Verne (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days). Average citizens finding themselves swept up in the adventures of godlike characters and madmen? Society leaping forward with new advances while struggling to understand them and the impact they may have? Verne's the man. (Also my top choice for "Fantastic Four".)

Star Wars: George Orwell (1984, Animal Farm). Who could better make the Empire all that George Lucas dreams it could be?

Buffy: Jonathon Swift (Gulliver's Travels, A Modest Proposal) Buffy needs to be written by someone with a satirical eye and a knack for casting traits of everyday social pressures into fantastic creatures and set-ups. Swift has that down pat. Plus, Spike could really make an excellent case for eating babies.

Pet Avengers: Jack London (Call of the Wild) Probably self-explanatory.