Kurt Busiek facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kurt Busiek |
|
|---|---|
Busiek at the Stumptown Comics Fest 2012
|
|
| Born | September 16, 1960 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Area(s) | Writer |
|
Notable works
|
Astro City The Avengers Thunderbolts Marvels Superman |
| Awards | See below |
Kurt Busiek (born September 16, 1960) is a famous American writer of comic books. He has created many popular stories for well-known characters. His work includes the Marvels series and his own series called Astro City. He also wrote for The Avengers, Thunderbolts, and Superman comics.
Contents
Early Life and Comic Beginnings
Kurt Busiek was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in different towns around the Boston area. In Lexington, he became friends with Scott McCloud, who also became a comic book creator.
Discovering Comics
When he was younger, Kurt did not read comics because his parents did not approve of them. He started reading them regularly around age 14. He picked up a copy of Daredevil #120 in April 1975. This comic was part of a story with many connections to other series. Kurt liked how much history and cross-connections there were.
Throughout high school and college, Kurt and Scott McCloud practiced making comics. They also wrote for comic fan magazines like Comics Feature.
A Fan Theory Comes True
Kurt often had his letters published in comic book fan sections. He came up with a theory that the character Phoenix was a separate being. He thought Phoenix had pretended to be Jean Grey, meaning Jean Grey had not really died. This idea spread among comic creators. It was eventually used in the actual comics.
Kurt later said that he told comic writer Roger Stern his idea. Stern had said it was a pity there was no way to bring Jean Grey back. Kurt replied, "Sure there's a way, there's always a way."
Kurt Busiek's Comic Book Career
During his last year of college, Kurt sent some sample scripts to DC Comics. They did not buy his scripts, but they invited him to suggest other ideas. This led to his first professional work. It was a short story in Green Lantern #162 in March 1983.
Early Challenges
After writing a few issues of Power Man and Iron Fist, he was given the series as his first regular job. He liked the previous writer's fun and humorous style. He copied this style, but the editors did not like it. They had removed the previous writer for the same reason. Kurt was also removed from the series after only six issues. In 1985, he wrote a Red Tornado limited series.
Creating Famous Stories
In 1993, Kurt Busiek and artist Alex Ross created the Marvels limited series. This series became a famous masterpiece. It also inspired many other painted comics.
Kurt and Pat Olliffe started the Untold Tales of Spider-Man series in September 1995. Kurt also created the Thunderbolts. This was a group of super-villains pretending to be super-heroes. The first issue ended with a big surprise: the Thunderbolts were actually the Masters of Evil. Marvel kept this twist a secret.
In February 1998, he started writing The Avengers vol. 3 with artist George Pérez. He also started Iron Man vol. 3 with artist Sean Chen. Kurt and Carlos Pacheco worked together on the Avengers Forever limited series in 1998–1999.
Continuing Success
Kurt continued to write The Avengers until 2002. He worked with artists like Alan Davis and Kieron Dwyer. His time on the series ended with the "Kang Dynasty" storyline. In 2003, Kurt worked with George Pérez again on the JLA/Avengers limited series.
Kurt has worked on many different comic titles. These include Arrowsmith, The Liberty Project, The Power Company, Shockrockets, Superman: Secret Identity, JLA, and his award-winning series Kurt Busiek's Astro City. In the 1990s, some of his more challenging projects, like Astro City, were sometimes delayed. This was due to health issues.
Later Works
In 2004, Kurt Busiek started a new Conan series for Dark Horse Comics. In December 2005, he signed a special two-year contract with DC Comics. After DC's "Infinite Crisis" storyline, he worked with Geoff Johns on an eight-part story called "Up, Up and Away!". This story appeared in both Superman titles.
He also started writing the DC title Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis. Kurt became the main writer for the Superman series with issue #654 in September 2006. Carlos Pacheco became the artist for the series. Kurt and Pacheco created a long story featuring Arion fighting Superman.
Kurt wrote a 52-issue weekly DC miniseries called Trinity. It starred Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. Most issues had a main story by Kurt with art by Mark Bagley. They also had a backup story co-written by Kurt and Fabian Nicieza.
Kurt teamed up with Alex Ross again for Kirby: Genesis in 2011. This was their first big project together since Marvels 17 years earlier. The series featured many characters created by Jack Kirby. Alex Ross helped plan the story and designed characters. Kurt wrote the script.
In June 2013, Kurt relaunched his Astro City series as part of DC's Vertigo line. He said Astro City was for more thoughtful readers, which suited Vertigo. The Astro City series finished with issue #52 in 2018.
In April 2022, Kurt Busiek was one of many comic creators who helped with a special book called Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds. The money from this book went to help Ukrainian refugees. Kurt and Brent Anderson created a new Astro City story for this book.
Awards and Recognition
Kurt Busiek has won many awards for his work in the comics industry.
- He won the Harvey Award for Best Writer in 1998 and the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 1999.
- In 1994, his series Marvels won the Eisner Award for Best Limited Series. It also won the Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series.
- In 1996, his series Astro City won both the Eisner and Harvey awards for Best New Series.
- He won the Eisner Award for Best Single Issue/Single Story three years in a row (1996 to 1998) for Astro City. He also won it for Conan: The Legend #0 in 2004.
- Kurt won the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series in 1997–1998.
- Astro City also won the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story in 1996. It won the Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series in 1998.
- He received the Comics Buyer's Guide Awards for Favorite Writer in 1998 and 1999.
- In 2010, he was given the Inkpot Award.
Personal Life
Kurt Busiek is married to Ann Busiek. In one of his comics, Marvels #3, Kurt and Ann were drawn by Alex Ross as people reacting to a big event in New York City. Kurt was also used as a model for another character in the same comic.
In June 2022, Kurt Busiek shared that a new series, Arrowsmith: Beyond Borders, would be delayed. He explained that he had been having bad headaches for over a year. He was getting treatments to help, but they affected how much work he could do. He was looking for a hospital that could help him more.
See also
In Spanish: Kurt Busiek para niños
