| Author |
|
William Roberge
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 05 July 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 11331
|
| Posted: 21 July 2024 at 5:17pm | IP Logged | 1
|
post reply
|
|
For a daily comic strip?Recently I’ve been reading some comic strips involving other superhero characters and it got me wondering if Galactus is just too grand of a character to fit into a daily three panel story. Do you think his supporting cast of characters could cover the “quiet moments”? What would some of the other roadblocks be to a good ongoing story?
Edited by William Roberge on 04 August 2024 at 11:14am
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
| www
e-mail
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134677
|
| Posted: 21 July 2024 at 5:59pm | IP Logged | 2
|
post reply
|
|
Galactus is too BIG for most contemporary writers. Despite Stan describing him as “above good and evil” there is a need to compress him into standard black/white good/evil paradigms.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
ron bailey
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 October 2016
Location: United States
Posts: 1286
|
| Posted: 21 July 2024 at 6:25pm | IP Logged | 3
|
post reply
|
|
I often wonder what the inspiration for Galactus and the Silver Surfer might have been. Is there a reference to the concept of a herald, for example, in some classical literature?
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134677
|
| Posted: 21 July 2024 at 9:19pm | IP Logged | 4
|
post reply
|
|
As Stan told it in ORIGINS OF MARVEL COMICS his “plot” to Jack was “have them fight God”. When the pages started to come in there was the Surfer. When Stan asked who he was, Kirby’s response was “I figured a character like Galactus should have a herald”.Heralds are an old concept. Armies and ambassadors would often send heralds ahead by way of saying “Here we come!”
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134677
|
| Posted: 22 July 2024 at 3:01pm | IP Logged | 5
|
post reply
|
|
Incidentally, there’s a description/review of ORIGINS on Amazon, perpetuating the myth of Stan the credit hog, despite the presence of items such as what I mention above. Reading ORIGINS for the first time was a revelation to me. It was there Stan wrote about the “Marvel Method” of plot/pencils/script, showing how much he depended on the artists as storytellers. He told the Galactus/Surfer story. And that Steve Ditko was not called in to do Spider-Man until after Kirby turned in pages that didn’t capture what Stan was after. (There’s a subtext to that review that suggests the complaints spring from Stan failing to give Kirby credit for EVERYTHING. Especially Spider-Man!)
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 12954
|
| Posted: 22 July 2024 at 3:33pm | IP Logged | 6
|
post reply
|
|
I very much appreciate how you handled Galactus, JB, especially considering what you said back in 2005 on the forum (when you were a mere stripling of something like 25 years old, wasn't it?)...
QUOTE:
| For most of my career, I have not thought my style was "big" enough for the Thor created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Every once in a while I would find myself thinking "Hmm...maybe now..." and then a Walt Simonson or a John Romita Jr. would come along and show me how it was really done. So, no, I have never pursued THE MIGHTY THOR as an assignment. |
|
|
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Paul Wills
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 18 August 2018
Location: United States
Posts: 933
|
| Posted: 22 July 2024 at 4:40pm | IP Logged | 7
|
post reply
|
|
JB, I really like the fact that Galactus had a different appearance for each different alien race it encounters. Was this concept already realized before you started using him? If not, I'm wondering how this idea came about.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
ron bailey
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 16 October 2016
Location: United States
Posts: 1286
|
| Posted: 22 July 2024 at 5:10pm | IP Logged | 8
|
post reply
|
|
... and then a Walt Simonson or a John Romita Jr. would come along and show me how it was really done ........ If it's consolation, I vividly remember being excited about Simonson taking over Fantastic Four and thinking, "guess it's pretty tough to try to reach a bar previously set so high." Conversely, I believe he did the same with Thor. Maybe beyond talent and hard work, it has something to do with the depth of intangible affinity had for the characters and their history.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134677
|
| Posted: 22 July 2024 at 5:18pm | IP Logged | 9
|
post reply
|
|
JB, I really like the fact that Galactus had a different appearance for each different alien race it encounters. Was this concept already realized before you started using him? If not, I'm wondering how this idea came about.••• Oh, yes!! That was established by Stan and Jack!! (Whisper: actually, it wasn’t. It was all mine, but the fact that it has stuck all these years suggests to me people have forgotten that!)
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31638
|
| Posted: 22 July 2024 at 6:03pm | IP Logged | 10
|
post reply
|
|
Now I’m reminded that Marvel turned down a Simonson/Byrne THOR book a
few years ago. Wankers
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134677
|
| Posted: 22 July 2024 at 6:08pm | IP Logged | 11
|
post reply
|
|
They didn’t turn it down. When Walt suggested me as penciler the assistant editor said he’d have to get approval from on high, and I basically said “Let me make it easy for you,” and stepped away. With Walt’s support.
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31638
|
| Posted: 22 July 2024 at 6:25pm | IP Logged | 12
|
post reply
|
|
What a bozo. Get approval… Pffft
|
| Back to Top |
profile
| search
|
| |
