And Now What’s Next?

By Priest June 4th, 2017, under Comics, Writing

It’s interesting that no one is answering my question. I said:

I’m sure many fans gripe about DC or Marvel not listening to them. Well, I’m listening. It’s important to me, to my job, to figure out what fans want and do my best to provide that while not boring them to death by actually giving them exactly what they want.

And what I’m reading is

“You doesn’t get it and you has zero interest in getting it.”

It’s easy to boo from the cheap seats. Here you have someone from the industry asking you what you want, and either nobody actually knows or would just prefer to beat the dead Damian-Wally horse. So, let’s try this again: what do fans want? I’m actually asking. I’m actually listening. Rants about Damian or Wally are now considered off-topic.

And Now More

By Priest June 3rd, 2017, under Comics, Writing

New thread for more comments on “The Lazarus Crucifixion of Priest”

And Now This

By Priest June 3rd, 2017, under Comics, Writing

“Thank you for informing that I never should pick anything that you write in the future. With your understanding of characters, Slade must be your limit.” –Porto

LOL! Well, he’s probably right. The response to my stupid “And Now What?” question was/is overwhelming. I’ve tried to respond to a few comments and am including those responses in this new thread so we don’t all get carpal tunnel from endless scrolling. I really do appreciate every comment, even the ouch ones. Thanks everybody. –Priest

And Now What?

By Priest June 3rd, 2017, under Comics, Writing

So, I’m reading all of this hoopla online about the Titans crossover event and how terribly I handled Damian and OG Wally and why didn’t I know this thing happened on page 6 of Obscure Comics #12 back in 2004. Okay, I heard you.

And now what? So, Damian is (apparently) no longer a little shit. He is thoughtful and more mature and less impulsive, less self-centered. Great. I got it wrong. And now what? What do we do with a character after we’ve smoothed out all of the rough edges and rounded off all the corners?

Wally *doesn’t* have a heart problem. Gotcha. And now what? How do we make OG Wally relevant or even interesting? I’m not trying to pick a fight or insult anybody, I’m really asking: and now what? What do the fans actually want? They seem to want their heroes to be perfect and problem-free. Read the rest of this entry »

Titans Go!!

By Priest June 1st, 2017, under Comics
The Classic Titans meet the Rebirth team

The Classic Titans meet the Rebirth team

Well, Hosun (the real Hosun) hated it.

Overall, I was really happy with The Teen Titans Lazarus Contract Special #1. I thought Paul Pelletier did a fantastic job–most especially with Damian, who all but steals the episode– and I flat out loved inker Andrew Hennessey’s brush work. I thought it a kind of old school romp not unlike the classic Wolfman/Perez days. It was a real challenge with all of those capes and tights running around, but I think it plays well and finishes nicely, with great teasers for all three connected series.

And maybe that’s why self-assessing your own work can be a bad thing. I’m obviously way too close to the material to be objective about it. I found many problems with some of my work published over the past year that fans reacted well to. So here is the reverse. Hope that assessment is the exception and not the rule…