Michael Uslan (2015)

Yes! My wonderful partner, Benjamin Melniker, who just turned 102 this week and is still sharp and vibrant. Ben is a legend in the movie biz and, I think, may be the only one in its history to have worked actively in nine different decades, as he started at MGM in late 1939. Ben was Exec VP at MGM in its glory days and all divisions reported to him. He put together the deals for Ben-Hur, Dr. Zhivago, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Gigi, and the list goes on and on. He also helped Hanna-Barbera get their careers started and later their own company started. With the other studio heads and President LBJ, he was one of te founders of the MPAA.

I'm happy to say I've been privileged to write many comic books and several graphic novels. My latest g.n. goes on sale Wednesday (unabashed plug!) from Dynamite and is "Justice, Inc."... the first ever team-up of The Shadow, Doc Savage and The Avenger! I also wrote the hardback g.n. "Batman: Detective #27," "The Shadow/Green Hornet: Dark Nights," and "Archie Marries." What I love about the g.n. format is that I get to structure it like a three act screenplay and often have over 100 pages to tell my story... as opposed to the 22-24 in a normal comic book tale. This allows for more textured, layered characterizations and character arcs and sub-plots, which I enjoy.

Back in the 1930's-50's, African Americans in comic books were often portrayed in a way that mirrored the biases and prejudices of American society. Characters were often in the Steppin Fetchit mold. Comics were not the only pop culture doing this, it seemed they all were: movies, minstrel shows, radio, etc. It really wasn't until the mid-1960's when things began to change... slowly. I look at Sgt. Rock's Jackie Johnson ("What Is The Color Of Your Blood?"), The Black Panther, The Falcon, Luke Cage, Black Lightning, John Stewart as being game-changers for the industry. I think the seminal game-changing moment came courtesy of Denny O'Neil in Green Lantern/Green Arrow #76 when GL is confronted by an older African American man demanding to know why the hero has done so much for the purple people of one planet and the orange people of another planet, while nothing for black people in America.

Yep! Take a look at late 1940's issues of "All-American Comics!" And Rex the Wonder Dog had his own comic book. This was all a result of popular TV shows like Lassie and Rin Tin Tin... and Roy Rogers' dog, Bullet. Dell was putting out lots of TV comics including those based on the above properties.

Comic books are, to me, our modern day mythology. They are the descendant of oral tradition and stories from The Bible to The Odyssey to Beowulf, et al. In addition, the graphic story-telling marriage of words and pictures provides a unique entertainment experience.

I love Scott Snyder's work. Anything he does on Batman is of keen interest to me. Of all time, my favorite Batman story is "Night of The Stalker" from Detective Comics back in the 1970's. Batman doesn't say one word, yet it is, to me, the most powerful Batman story ever written. Other favorites: Batman #1, "Night of The Reaper," the Steve Engelhart/Marshall Rogers run, especially "The Laughing Fish," "Robin Dies At Dawn," everything Denny O'Neil wrote and Neal Adams drew, especially the initial Ras Al Ghul story arc.

In my sole, fanboy/comic book historian opinion (not my Hollywood producer opinion), there is a huge seminal difference between the Marvel Universe and the DCU, which has a bearing on how they play out on the silver screen and the TV screen. The Marvel Universe was co-created by one writer who was also the sole editor. As a result, it was a single unified vision from the start, determining all the rules, the tone, the settings, what would be the future or what exists under the ocean or among the stars or via different dimensions. Having that consistency from inception is awesome! At DC starting way back when, there were a number of different and very strong editors, each of whom had their kingdom of characters they personally controlled in terms of tone, characterization, settings, etc. So if you read Aquaman, you saw one version of Atlantis back then, but if you read Superman, Atlantis was a domed city of mermen and merwomen. For a kid like me in the 50's and 60's, that could be confusing unless you just read each on its own. Also, Batman might be written for an older comic book audience, while Teen Titans might be written for tweens. So I think it's a grand idea for the studios to be growing these universes both on TV and in the movies (as well as in videogames), different as they may be.

Hi Everybody! The Exec Pro role varies completely from project to project, as does the producer role. Many times I've done the exact same thing and based on contractual negotiations, gotten Exec Pro credit and Producer credit. In television, the proliferation of producing credits has been amazing to see! There are Exec Pros who are money people, others may be attached to an IP or to a specific director or star,,, I like to consider myself as a creative Ex Pro, although I also have a legal/biz background.

I think there's a missing link. How can millions of people go to an "Ant Man" movie yet the comic book not sell over 25,000 copies (that would equate to selling 500 copies per state in the US). By the way, this is not a real example, I'm just using Hank Pym as a hypothetical. How can San Diego and New York Comic Cons get 150,000 fanatical fans, yet a typical super-hero comic can't sell over 50,000 copies in a month? A link needs to be found to unite the movie, TV, animation and videogame fans with the comic books themselves. I would LOVE to hear all your ideas as to how best to accomplish this goal!

Answered this in another question. Check it out.

One of the hinges is believability. That created the environment of The X-Men forsaking the comic book spandex uniforms for the leather look, which was ground-breaking for the genre of films based on Marvel or DC characters.

You might want to start them in an unusual way by letting them read reprints of Joe Kubert/Bob Kanigher Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace stories. The depth of character brought to these battle-worn WW2 heroes was powerful.

My parents, Lil and Joe Uslan, supported their uniquely quirky sons in every weird interest we had. In an era when other parents were forbidding my friends to read comic books or bring them into their homes, mine read them, found nothing wrong with them, and allowed me to read and collect them. My Dad worked six days a week his whole life as a stone mason. He only had Sundays off. But he and my Mom would drive me and my friend, Bobby, to interview comic book creators in NJ and NY, or take us to the first comic cons ever held, and my Mom would take us into NY to go on the DC Comics tours back then and even, when I was 11, take us into the City to try to find the Baxter Building (unsuccessfully, I might add, but it did lead to my first meeting with Stan Lee!) Also, great teachers can be our real-life super-heroes. I had two English teachers in 7th and 8th grade, Mrs. Stiller and Mrs. Friedman, who convinced me I was creative and had a writing ability and could make this my future work. They then taught me the skill-sets and attitude I needed to succeed in life.

This SO depends on a reader's age and interests. Hmmm... I think you have to start with "The Watchmen." Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" is a contender. Anything by Will Eisner is a contender. And for non-super-hero readers, I'd suggest the Pulitzer Prize-winning, "Maus" by Art Spiegelman.

The best path to success for any comic book movie franchise is to find filmmakers who are passionate about a character, have an understanding of the character, have a vision for it on screen, and have the ability to execute that vision. Tim Burton, Chris Nolan and Zack Snyder each have had all of the above, although their cinematic interpretations may be as different as night and day. Luckily, Batman is open to many interpretations as the comic books have shown over these past 75 years.

Oh! There's plenty of mention of them. Make sure you view all the lessons/videos!

Marvel: Three of the X-Men films; the first two Spider-Man films; Guardians of the Galaxy; Iron Man.
DC: Batman; The Dark Knight Trilogy; Mask of the Phantasm
Also: Road To Perdition; The 300; A History of Violence; American Splendor
And others!

Hang on! They're coming in the context of the 60's and 70's.

Buying Google and Apple stock. And copies of Action #1 and Detective #27.

Hi Jeff... Studios and production companies have strict policies on not accepting or reading unsolicited manuscripts. The world has become too litigious. So my advice is only write ORIGINAL content and characters that will best show off your writing ability. That is what will lead you to then gaining REPRESENTATION... the most important thing for a writer looking to access Hollywood companies.And don't forget to first copyright your work before submitting it to anyone! Go to the Library of Congress web-site, Registrar of Copyrights, fill out form PA, and send it in with your check and a copy of your work.

Go to Edx.org and failing that, write an impassioned email to the Smithsonian Institution. (Kidding...) I'm not sure, actually. Do note that we have students registered in the course from 160 different countries!

I'm off to my comic book store after this to check these out.

I grew up on Harvey Comics: Casper, Wendy, Little Dot, Baby Huey, etc. and Sugar & Spike, and Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica. Take a look at the independent comic book companies and some of the great titles from IDW and LionForge Comics.

It wasn't me. It was the filmmakers who made the new Mad Max movie more about Charlize than Tom. I was following her story. But that's just my opinion and I may be wrong.

You always have the luxury of waiting for the trade paperback collection or go digital and read the older issues on-line.

I believe in comic book writers and would like to see more of them transition to film and TV. Who is better at visual story-telling than writers trained in comic books?

I'm hooked. Let's give a tip of the hat to the comic book editors, writers and artists who bring us back every Wednesday with creative takes on stories and characters that continue to bedazzle us!

To me, the genius known as Christopher Nolan invented the modern-day reboot. After him came James Bond Begins (Casino Royale) and Star Trek Begins, and new versions of Hulk, Spidey, Daredevil, and Superman. I think personally, the prime example of origin fatigue occurred on Spider-Man. Sometime you just need to believe that a character is sufficiently engrained in the world culture and jump into the story with both feet and no origin or origin re-cap. In order to keep any genre fresh, I think you need two things: great creativity, especially in the writing (it's all about six things--- story, story, story, character, character, character); and avoid over0-saturation? ("Danger, Will Robinson!")

I do a lot of public speaking and over the years have spoken at about a hundred colleges and universities. Everywhere I have spoken since "The Dark Knight" came out, people tell me of the deep emotional impact they experience during the scene on the boat where a decision must be made as to whether you blow up the other boat full of people to save yourself or not. Chris Nolan posed the question to audiences, "What do you do when you must make a moral choice and the choices are bad and worse?" So many people told me that in the darkness of the theatre, they came to terms with what their own personal choice would be. Beyond that, I loved when many critics, both on the right and left politically, called Chris' Dark Knight Trilogy the most important post-9/11 movies to date. For a comic book movie to have that sort of impact with such strong thematic power, that was, to me, a bar raiser for the entire genre and disproves your professor's narrow-minded response.

Outside of Batman, currently I follow books from most of the publishers big and small. What I don't at all like or read (and I'm prepared to accept that this may simply be "Old Fart Syndrome") are comic books that have maybe 5-20 words on a page, showing how the writer has abdicated the creative process to the artist. This now for $4.00 provides an entertainment experience of 2 minutes. These are called "comic books",,, that's half "comic" and half "book." I want a marriage of the written word and the artwork in a more equal partnership of graphic story-telling and a significantly longer entertainment experience.

Scott Snyder, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid are three of my personal favorites today. But there is so much great talent out there, it's stunning.

I think women are terribly under-represented today in the talent pool, whether we are talking about comic books or movies. Look at the brilliant work of Gail Simone. We NEED more of that. The history of comic books is that they were originally geared to pubescent boys and servicemen. Today, we all need to present the diverse world in which we live accurately and I think that applies also in terms of the physical representation of many females in the super-hero world. I have felt that for too many years, American comic books turned their backs on females and that contributed to the huge rise in popularity of manga and anime through which American and European female readers, young and older, could find vibrant and powerful and smart female protagonists. The comic book industry is standing up to this responsibility and I think positive strides are taking place but we all need to push. In film, it's crazy not to have movies with strong female protagonists. In fact, I really was expecting (SPOILER ALERT!!!) in the latest Mad Max film that in the end, "Max" would be revealed to be Charlize ("Maxine") rather than Tom.

In the Golden Age, it was an era of the great Depression and World War. The artists were working desperately and feverishly to put food on the table and a roof over their families' heads. There was little to no thought about "the art-form" or the mythology of what they were creating. older pages of Original art were often used to soak up spilled ink and crush cigar butts. Today, they are often like rock stars when they appear at cons and their originals are hanging on the walls of galleries, universities, and museums. It is totally different.

My favorite characters of all-time: Batman; The Spectre; Captain Marvel; The Spirit; The original Sandman; Captain America; The Shadow; Doc Savage; Sugar & Spike; Archie; Richie Rich; Little Max; Mr. Justice; The Hangman; the original Fly; Spider-Man; the original X-Men; The Hulk as portrayed in "The Incredible Hulk" #6; Dr. Strange; and THUNDER Agents.

Impress them with your professionalism and intelligence. It works.

No question. Batman. Because he has no super-powers and everyone around the world can identify with him. He transcends borders and cultures. He has the most primal origin story, the best rogues gallery of super-villains, and has... the car! His impact is hard to measure globally.

Show up if you can afford to at the bigger comic cons. Each comic book company normally provides time and a forum for prospective artists to show their portfolios to editors and for writers to meet and establish a relationship foothold with editors. Network at every opportunity!

This is a challenge faced by book publishers, newspaper publishers, and the world of print. The answer will probably be a combination of audiences who will be comfortable with the digital reading experience of comic books, and those of us who still want the tactile experience of holding them and collecting them on our bookshelves. We as an industry have an obligation to explore new paths in technology to expand the reach of the comic books themselves. Today's young talent pool and fans consider this "The Modern Age" of comics. I think that's broad enough to capture what is.

This is a challenge faced by book publishers, newspaper publishers, and the world of print. The answer will probably be a combination of audiences who will be comfortable with the digital reading experience of comic books, and those of us who still want the tactile experience of holding them and collecting them on our bookshelves. We as an industry have an obligation to explore new paths in technology to expand the reach of the comic books themselves. Today's young talent pool and fans consider this "The Modern Age" of comics. I think that's broad enough to capture what is.

I have fought against (unsuccessfully three or four times over the years) changes merely for the sake of change. I don't like the notion of ignoring decades of history just to create a character out of whole new cloth while using a brand name. I, for example, was an avid reader of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. So to me Sherlock Holmes was very cerebral, not an action hero. That said, I had to acknowledge that action sells movies today. I remember when Tim Burton had Jack Napier as the guy who would kill Bruce's parents. I was very concerned about this change and campaigned long and hard to make sure there was someone with him who, at least in my own mind, was Joe Chill. I also recall going to see Bob Kane and asking him about this change. Bob said that as far as he was concerned, if The Joker had been created back circa Detective Comics 27-32, he would have preferred to see it happen this way. That's when I accepted what was.

The villain was a cloud of gas.

Ultimately, I believe it is the super-villain who defines the superhero, so the yin and yang must be fully explored.

I concur with you that these are essential, important issues.

I loved that book. Michael did a superb job! I know or knew many of the characters (or composite characters) portrayed in that book. And, yes, I think it accurately reflects the immigrant experience in the creation of the industry and the super-heroes in the era of the 30;s and 40;s.

I might like to tell my own personal story of my journey though life... inspired by Harvey Pekar and Stan Lee.

Totally agree!

I think it's also connected to the building interest in the upcoming new "Star Wars" movies.

Excellent feed-back! Thanks!

Check out the section on the 1970's. I'm not a trained educator so you'll have to bear with a guy who is simply crazy passionate about comic books, comic book characters, and their creators, trying to impart a life-time of accumulated knowledge in a sharing experience. If it is, indeed "stilted," do know that I was a huge fan of "The Stilt Man" in Daredevil.