EXAMINING THE AMERICAN WAY WITH JOHN RIDLEY

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

It's 1961. The middle of the Cold War. The Bay of Pigs invasion and Russia's successful Sputnik launch are both recent embarrassments for the United States that are hard to forget. People everywhere are fearful of the arms race and the threat of communism.

But the one thing that American citizens can look toward with pride is their patriotic and invincible superheroes.

In The American Way, the acclaimed 2006 comic book series by novelist/screenwriter John Ridley and artist Georges Jeanty, the Civil Defense Corps is a group of super-powered heroes who protect the shores of America from threats like aliens, Nazis and those scary communists. Their successes inspire the country, and tales of their impressive heroics instill a sense of pride in America at a time when its citizens are searching for something to believe in.

But behind the group's shiny, red-white-and-blue exterior is a darker truth that has been hidden from the public all these decades.

It's all fake.

The fights are staged, the superpowers are either government-induced experiments or high-tech frauds, and the personalities behind the costumes aren't nearly as endearing and heroic as they're portrayed to be.

As if that weren't enough potential for trouble, now the Kennedy administration has come up with another controversy for the CDC -- they want to add a black hero to its ranks. And when an outsider named Wes is hired to help sell the whole idea of integrated superheroes to the American public, a story unfolds that explores government conspiracy and racial tensions during the civil rights movement -- all through the fantastic world of superheroes.

As The American Way is released in collected trade format by Wildstorm this week, Newsarama talked to author John Ridley about how he came up with the premise behind this unusual story, why he chose to explore a story about race by using superheroic characters -- and why he's scared to read 52.

Newsarama: For someone who's never heard of The American Way, how would you describe the overall story?

John Ridley: The idea is that there had been this long-running supergroup that had been put together by the United States government -- not as an evil conspiracy, but as an inspiration. It was the '60s and people were afraid of the Communists and the Russians and whether America had a long-term place in the world, and this group was really just to inspire people.

NRAMA: The battles were staged, right?

JR: Yeah. It was a big version of wrestling. You know, big fights and all that, but they were doing it to inspire people.

Then when the Kennedys come into office and take over this government organization, they decide that something better can be done than just fooling people, even if it is for a noble purpose, and they decide to integrate this formerly all-white supergroup, because they think it will help alleviate racial issues in America. And of course nothing is ever that easy.

NRAMA: Having read this series, it's almost impossible to categorize it. There are a lot of things going on here -- it deals with a real period of American history and aspects of the government, but it's all about superheroes; it's sometimes a fun, battle-filled story with quirky superpowered personalities, but it also goes down a dark, even disturbing path; it's part larger-than-life fantasy, yet it's very much grounded in reality.

JR: It's an examination of history and government and society, but done in a fantastic way -- I don't mean fantastic in the sense that my writing is fantastic, but, you know, how do you make these sort of mundane and painful topics inspirational and give them a different spin? How do you make 1961 relevant for people who were born in the late '80s who might be reading this book now?

NRAMA: Let's talk about this government-sponsored group of superheroes -- the Civil Defense Corps, or CDC -- and how they respond to the idea of integration. The superheroes seem to each represent an attitude that was prevalent among the population during that time in history. There are a few who are reluctant to allow it, some who really don't care and just go along for the ride, some who feel strongly about it one way or another, and many feelings in between. While the team ends up divided over the issue, the lines between "factions" in this story are blurred, much like America was.

JR: The set-up is that there are Southern heroes and Northern heroes -- and the easy thing to do would have been to say, "OK, the Southern heroes are all bigots and the Northern heroes are all very heroic and liberal." But the reality is that race relations are far more complicated than that. And the nice thing is, coming into this book -- aside from the superheroics and those kind of things that make graphic novels and comic books so much fun -- the idea was figuratively and literally to have heroes that are different aspects of America.

NRAMA: So each hero kind of personifies a segment of 1961 American society.

JR: We even have names like Amber Waves and Ole Miss and Muscle Shoals -- you know, these names that are kind of funny, but are also evocative of different areas and parts of America. Even the East Coast Intellectual [laughs], which was my favorite name and was kind of a joke, but that's the way people get labeled now, almost in a derisive way -- "Oh, they're an East Coast intellectual." But within those individuals, who now represent all of America, it's not just that some are blind racists and some are altruistic liberals, but you have those who are sort of ambivalent about race relations and those like Muscle Shoals, who was poor and white and grew up really understanding that bigotry can be aimed at anyone and is not just about race. And on the Northern side you have X-15, who is sort of my version of the Flash, who wasn't an altruistic liberal but was like, "Well, if you pay me enough, I'll work with this guy." [laughs] So it was really about trying to introduce all these aspects of showing the difficulty of race relations and the gray areas in the story.

NRAMA: There is even a difference of opinion among the black characters in the book. The center of attention -- the "New American" -- is himself reluctant take the position as the one black hero on the team.

JR: The New American comes into it and is like, "I don't really want to stand up." Which I think is an aspect of black America. You know, those who will sort of mouth off and complain, but do they ever really take a stand? Do they ever really stand up for anything? And that's his hero's journey, being a self-reliant black man. Also, it was very important for me to put into this story.

NRAMA: For the overall message of the story?

JR: Well, it's great fun and it's a great opportunity to write any comic book. But when you have this opportunity, maybe once in your life, to do something really special and different ... I really wanted to use it as a velvet hammer. I wanted people to enjoy the book, and not feel like they're getting a finger wave in the face, but for the individuals who read it to say, "Ah, OK. There's more going on here."

NRAMA: Yet it is very much a story about superheroes. We're talking about race in this interview, but that wasn't the obvious theme of the comic when it came out. It's a superhero comic with a twist -- that the superheroes work for the government in more of a PR role than anything else. The first issue didn't even deal with the subject of race, but instead focused on this fun group of superheroes and all the personalities within the story. When you conceived the idea for the story, were you wanting to write a book about the issues of that time period and later decided to use superheroes, or did you want to write a superhero book first and then come up with the story?

JR: That's a great question. That is a really good question. With a lot of things that I write, I start with little good ideas. You know, here's something that's interesting, here's something that's interesting. And I wanted to do a superhero story that wasn't front-loaded with the heroes -- like Astro City or Marvels, where it was a little behind the scenes of the superheroes. Which is the Wes character being the "everyman" who is involved with this group. I always liked that sort of take on superheroes.

NRAMA: It's as if the story is from our perspective -- through the eyes of a "normal" guy like us.

JR: Yeah. As much as readers enjoy comic books, we don't have superpowers. So there's that escapist fantasy, but it's always a little bit difficult to relate to the heroes because they're different from us. So that's the reason people read comic books, but that's also the reason we feel separate from them.

I also definitely wanted to do something with a black character, but to just shove one in there and not have much of a story, how is that different from most of the minority characters that are out there? In my opinion, they tend to be, while not literal sidekicks, sidekicks in stories. It's rarely about them as individuals or about them having a unique perspective.

And I wanted to do something about a government conspiracy, but not the same old "the government is pure evil" thing. You know, I think there can be bad people in government, but I think there are bad people in all kinds of businesses, so what's the different take on that?

NRAMA: So you had the basics for what you wanted to do, but no story yet.

JR: I knew I wanted to work on those ideas, but then I was watching this documentary on the Kennedys. I was working on this movie that came out, "Bobby," which is about Bobby Kennedy. So I was watching this documentary, and there was something about Lyndon Johnson, and he said that when he was vice president and Kennedy was president, he had hoped one of the original Mercury astronauts had been a black man. Of course, he used the word "negro," but he said he was hoping there had been a negro, because he thought that would really help inspire Americans. The whole thing about the space program was catching up to the Russians and America trying to regain its dominance and all that. So he thought, what a great way to alleviate racial tensions if one of these new heroes had been black.

So I thought it would be great to make that idea the centerpiece of all the other ideas I wanted to put together. When I put that in there, I was really able to develop The American Way and make it different -- to have all those elements of superheroics that I love, but to make it about something a little bit more.

NRAMA: The other comic book tactic you utilized in the series, besides all the fun action and fantasy of superheroes, is the traditional comic book cliffhanger. I won't spoil it, but just as an example of what I mean, there's a last page related to an axe that just blew readers away. As a writer who has written screenplays and novels, how important was it to you -- and how difficult was it -- to divide this series up into a series of issues with those jaw-dropping endings?

JR: I've read comic books since I was a really little kid. Since before I could read, my parents got me comic books. I've read them; I've loved them. And while I've been fortunate enough to write in other areas, writing comic books is not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Other writers in other areas who kind of look down on comic books -- which is a lot of people. Even people look at me and go, "Oh, he's a Hollywood writer who just wants to write comic books because it's just a way to make money or a chip or whatever." It's a really tough kind of writing! And it involves a lot of skill sets. And one of them, as you say, is getting that serialized fashion -- giving the reader a reason to come back in the next issue. Besides it being really interesting, being able to hit those eight climaxes and really hitting readers on the head and getting them back.

So for me, I almost started backwards. In the outlining process, it was really about picking those seven climaxes -- the eighth climax, obviously, you know what that's going to be, and it happens a little early because you have a bit of a coda -- but picking those seven big events where this is the point where you have to get to in each issue. And as you said -- and I don't want to give it away either -- but one of them was the axe falling, so to speak. But once you get those seven events you have to reach, you have to make sure in these issues that you tell the entire story that you want to tell, and still hit that mark. You've only got 22 pages to do it in. That's where it gets really, really difficult. And it becomes about the economy of storytelling, or maximizing your storytelling. It's really hard.

NRAMA: Hearing you describe it, it sounds almost impossible!

JR: Yeah, and doing it in eight issues is hard for me. So you get these writers -- you know, your Geoff Johns, your Grant Morrison or whomever -- who do it constantly over 12 issues, 24 issues, 36 issues, and keep these stories interesting. I have nothing but respect for these guys. And when I was young, you know you have this writer that you really love and they do 12 issues and leave a book and you get really angry -- "Why are you leaving? You're a great writer and you're doing such a great job!" Now I get it. Because it's really exhausting to try to stay with these characters and make them really powerful week in and week out. And everything else I did -- it certainly didn't prepare me for writing sequential storytelling.

NRAMA: How was it working with artist Georges Jeanty on the series?

JR: I can't say enough about how great it was. Everybody talks about this book, and I'm really grateful people like it at all, but I'm at the point where I'm almost jealous -- and I say this jokingly -- because Georges has almost exploded in the art scene, coming off of this book. I have to say, his art was amazing. It had this sort of simplicity that aligned itself to the 1960s, but a complexity that really fit in with modern comic book artwork. He was also a real partner in this. He was great to discuss things with, and he had a really good head for comic books. His work was just amazing.

NRAMA: Let's follow up on something you said earlier. You grew up reading comic books. What were some of your favorites as a kid?

JR: You know, it changed a lot over the years. The weird thing is that when I was a kid, I never read Marvel. It was always DC. And even to this day, I'll read some Marvel -- like, I'll read Civil War, I'll read Marvels, I'll read Ultimates -- but I'm still more of a DC guy. Definitely more of a Wildstorm guy.

The comic book that changed my life to a degree -- or at least my comic book life -- was in the mid-'80s: The Question that Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan did. I thought it was an amazing comic. I have all 36 issues now. I hold them dear to my heart. It's one of the few complete collections that I have.

NRAMA: What was so special to you about that series?

JR: It was just real, adult, gray-area storytelling -- very esoteric. The artwork was very minimalistc, very interesting. It really sort of bridged that divide for me between being a kid and just kind of liking comic books because they're fantastic, and being an adult and realizing there can be adult storytelling -- I don't mean sex and things like that, but adult concepts and very gray storytelling. And it's not always that I have to be a hero in the end, but really about the hero's journey and discovery and things like that. So for me, it's a seminal series.

And I liked the mid-'80s Legion of Superheroes and other things. And it was the same time Dark Knight came out and the original Crisis on Infinite Earths. And obviously, Watchmen is in there as well. Comics were taking a step forward.

NRAMA: It's interesting you bring up Alan Moore's Watchmen. A lot of readers, in their discussion of The American Way, have compared it to Watchmen -- not only in the shared theme of superheroes involved with the government, but they are both very much based in a realistic world, with more well-rounded heroes and all the problems that come along with the real world. Even The Question had more of a realistic edge to it.

NRAMA: Do you prefer that realistic type of storytelling?

JR: In terms of reading, I still like the fantastic superhero stories. The storytelling has obviously grown -- as has every aspect of comic books, from the writing to the artwork to the graphic design -- the storytelling has just matured over the years from when I was a kid reading to being an adult now, still reading them. But I think in terms of my ability to tell stories, where I'm better at telling stories is in things that are grounded in reality and things that have a particular perspective and point of view. They tend to be darker. They tend to be a little bit noir-ish. And of course, this is having written two other series and having to wrap them around characters that were not original. For me, discovering my strengths as a writer and where I'm going to go from here, it's definitely going to be more grounded in reality and more gray areas. In terms of my novel writing, it's where I excel. And in terms of graphic novels, it's where I excel as well. You know, they say you write about what you know, and I think I can relate better to a story that is at least following some rules of the real world.

NRAMA: Since you're such a big fan of the Question, are you reading 52?

JR: I started reading 52, and the Question was the primary reason, but with everything I'm doing, with two kids and everything, it's hard for me to get to the comic book store every week. I mean, I'm still two issues behind on Civil War. So I haven't been reading 52 for awhile, and I was thinking they'll collect it at some point. They are going to eventually collect it, right?

NRAMA: The first collection comes out in May, right when it ends. As a Question fan, you might want to check it out. That's all I'll say -- no spoilers.

JR: Well, I saw the picture online -- that DC promotional picture that I think is connected to World War III? And The Question looks ... unhealthy. Please tell me ...

NRAMA: You just need to read the story.

JR: You're scaring me.

NRAMA: [laughs] Don't be frightened.

JR: [laughs] OK, I'll definitely read it when it's collected.

NRAMA: So, John, if someone is reading this article and they're all about superheroes, as most comics readers are, but maybe they're not sure about this idea of a comic with a message, or they're reluctant to try something off the beaten path -- what would you say to them that might make them pick up this trade?

JR: Well, you want people to pick it up and read it for the exact reason they would pick up any other book. If they're just a pure, "I-like-superheroes" kind of fan -- this is a comic that starts with an alien invasion of New York City and a supergroup that is one moment winning and then they're losing, then their greatest hero, Old Glory, is standing on top of the Chrysler Building with the American flag and saves the day. Or if you want something slightly subversive, as you said, people have compared it to or at least put it in the same vein as Watchmen, you know, behind the scenes of the superheroes and a little bit of conspiracy and things like that -- it's got that in it as well.

Or just Georges Jeanty's amazing artwork -- that's the other thing about it. The art is just so good and so unique, so it's like my 6-year-old son who, like me when I was a kid, just being able to flip
through it and look at the spectacle of it. And for my dad, who is 70 and lived through the Civil Rights era, I'd love for him to read it and read about things he knows. You know, a lot people don't know who Robert Williams was. A lot of people don't know little things in the Civil Rights movement. This is not a full discussion of the movement, but there are a lot of elements in there that people will recognize or people his age would remember.

So for me, it's whatever reason people come to comic books. This story has a little of all that going for it.

NRAMA: Will we see more of John Ridley's writing in comic books anytime soon? And is there any chance of more American Way stories?

JR: You know, my editor at Wildstorm, Ben Abernathy, has been very supportive, and we've done two other projects together. The American Way has done really, really well for us, but I'm going to step away from it for a little while. It's one of those things where, in your heart, you can't possibly think it will be successful enough that people will want to see more of it even though there's part of you that wants that. So I wrote it and planned it to be eight issues and that's it. Now that it's turned out to be kind of successful, the question is, do you go back to it? Or do you let it be and let it breathe? So we're going to something totally different next. But down the line, we'll see if there might be more of this in sort of an Astro City fashion, where it may not be the same story, but The American Way perhaps in another decade. Even with the other stuff I do as a writer, I'm really thankful to be writing comic books, so if I have the opportunity to do more, I'll definitely do more.

[Matthew E]

I remember a little while ago I was reading Ridley's novels Those Who Walk In Darkness and What Fire Cannot Burn, and around the same time I was rereading Crisis on Infinite Earths, and in one of the letter columns, there was a letter from a guy named... John Ridley. And I was all, could it be the same guy? Could it not be the same guy?

[AlterEgoComics]

Great article. This series is one of those MUST READS you hear people talking about.

Jason

[AlexLothos]

Cool interview. Can't wait to check out the trade.

[MatthewSmith]

An amazing book! One of the best stories I read last year.

Do yourself a favor and buy the trade, folks!

[jedifish]

I'm skipping the interview until I read the trade, but I've heard pretty good things, so I'm jumping off my normal DC/Marvel path to check this out tomorrow.

[FallenFate]

"Those Who Walk in Darkness" and "What Fire Cannot Burn" are brilliant novels, and "American Way" is just as brilliant. John Ridley is a genius and I look forward to anything he does in this genre. If you haven't read those books, go out and buy them...you won't regret it. They would make excellent movies as well, and since Mr. Ridley is also a professional screenwriter, I'd love to see him adapt them for the screen.

[Lincoln Cole]

Agreement all around. For me, this is right up there with ABSOLUTE DC: THE NEW FRONTIER as the best of '06. I think it's that good.

Here's some fun links of John Ridley talking comics. From NPR (it's a few years old, but it's still kind of funny).

- LISTEN to John's piece about confronting comic book fans at their notorious L.A. hangout.

- CONSIDER John and Adam's complaints about the recent group of superhero names.

- GET THE DIRT on the latest marital woes of Lois Lane and Superman. And you thought your husband was out at all hours!

- MEET the women of the superhero world: John and Adam discuss Back Seat Driver Girl, Whiney Woman and the status of female superheroes.

- QUESTION: Why is it so hard for superhero guys to get chicks? John and Adam discuss.

- BREAK the Justice League's glass ceiling! Hear John and Adam lay out the closed network that is the JLA.

- SCREAM "Batman!" What else can you do? John and Adam on the Dark Knight.



*****

And for something a little more political:
The Manifesto of Ascendancy for the Modern American N*gger

-Linc

[TheTourist]

I was going to pick up the trade this week, but then I saw my LCS was selling all 8 issues together for 17 bucks, so I bought those and saved three bucks. I was really looking forward to reading this series, but now that I have I'm actually a little disappointed. I had no idea what it was about except that was about Cold War-era superheroes. I didn't know about the racial angle or the "superheroes as government propaganda tools" angle. So even though I was pleasantly surprised to see there was more to the story than I thought, I was also a bit let down by it. *****SPOILERS AHEAD***** By the end, it almost seemed as if the moral of the story was that the civil rights activism of the 60s was futile and hollow, and that the nuclear paranoia really was more important (after all, the government deals with the CDC infighting by nuking them), but mainly that Northern whites didn't actually care about Southern blacks at all, that they were more concerned with re-fighting the Civil War than with ending segregation. Maybe I was reading it completely wrong and that wasn't the point at all, but that was my first impression of the story as a whole. Even though I disagree with that viewpoint, it's definitely an interesting (if overly-cynical) way of looking at history. I'll definitely go back and read it again, and maybe I'll like it more next time.

[BruceWayneJr]

A bold effort and a solid premise, but the book is not without its' flaws.



Man, adding up all those name drops, he sure does like Kurt Busiek.....

[Xero]

One of the best series to come out last year.

[Joe Henderson]

A fantastic book--I recommend anyone who hasn't read it to pick up this trade!

[Gonzogoose]

I absolutely agree, one of the most enjoyable books of last year and an all around great read.

[William Harms]

I highly recommend Stray Dogs. It's an awesome novel.

------------
www.impalercomic.com

[j3h]

The comic book that changed my life to a degree -- or at least my comic book life -- was in the mid-'80s: The Question that Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan did. I thought it was an amazing comic. I have all 36 issues now. I hold them dear to my heart. It's one of the few complete collections that I have.

NRAMA: What was so special to you about that series?

JR: It was just real, adult, gray-area storytelling -- very esoteric. The artwork was very minimalistc, very interesting. It really sort of bridged that divide for me between being a kid and just kind of liking comic books because they're fantastic, and being an adult and realizing there can be adult storytelling -- I don't mean sex and things like that, but adult concepts and very gray storytelling. And it's not always that I have to be a hero in the end, but really about the hero's journey and discovery and things like that. So for me, it's a seminal series.

*COUGH*
hey DC, how about collecting THE QUESTION series in some trades?

The Question run by Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan needs to be on bookshelves!

Please....

[rabbi vic]

Pick this trade up, folks! It was one of my favorite titles of the past year! Ridley knows how to write and Jeanty's art is a pleasure to behold!

[ShinAkuma666]

I have never heard of this title before (I stopped buying th Previews for a while) I dont know anything about the creators but thanks to the very interesting premise and great article, I have just pre-ordered it.

I was sold when I read:

But behind the group's shiny, red-white-and-blue exterior is a darker truth that has been hidden from the public all these decades.

It's all fake.

This looks like a great read, thanks Newsarama ! (This site is anything but free, I seem to discover a new title every week at least !)

[Kolimar]

Good interview with an interesting writer.

[Kolimar]

Comic book creators and their work in other fields. What do you think?

[vfxdammerung]

Just finished reading it myself, and unfortunately, I seem to be in the minority here in terms of the quality of the story. Don't get me wrong, the series' intentions and motifs are all in the right place, but it was the execution that seemed a little too forced. It's usually weird for me to say that by having a lot of stuff happen in a single issue is a bad thing. But in this case, it's true.

Too much happened too fast. Especially after issue 2. Before the reader can discern what has happened, something else totally off-tangent interrupts the flow of the core plot, leaving the reader a bit confused. The introduction of the New American made sense, but out of nowhere comes Hellbent? He didn't fit into the story at the time he was introduced, but it seemed like everything that came afterwards was rewritten so as to squeeze him into the overall story. Even with the Secret Agent's brief "H" paranoia, It just didn't seem well planned. The brief explanation behind his origins/objectives seems again, forced and illogical (psychosis can't be the way out everytime). How about Chet? There's a deus ex machina for ya. Sure, there is the "tying up loose ends" in issue 8, but it just wasn't very satisfying. Overall, I think the story could've been expanded to 12 issues, and the pacing could've been slowed down a bit to allow for some concept digestion.

[Humphrey Lee]

Originally Posted by vfxdammerung

Just finished reading it myself, and unfortunately, I seem to be in the minority here in terms of the quality of the story. Don't get me wrong, the series' intentions and motifs are all in the right place, but it was the execution that seemed a little too forced. It's usually weird for me to say that by having a lot of stuff happen in a single issue is a bad thing. But in this case, it's true.

Too much happened too fast. Especially after issue 2. Before the reader can discern what has happened, something else totally off-tangent interrupts the flow of the core plot, leaving the reader a bit confused. The introduction of the New American made sense, but out of nowhere comes Hellbent? He didn't fit into the story at the time he was introduced, but it seemed like everything that came afterwards was rewritten so as to squeeze him into the overall story. Even with the Secret Agent's brief "H" paranoia, It just didn't seem well planned. The brief explanation behind his origins/objectives seems again, forced and illogical (psychosis can't be the way out everytime). How about Chet? There's a deus ex machina for ya. Sure, there is the "tying up loose ends" in issue 8, but it just wasn't very satisfying. Overall, I think the story could've been expanded to 12 issues, and the pacing could've been slowed down a bit to allow for some concept digestion.

That is probably the only complaint I had of the series as a whole, but I still think it's the best book no one read last year. The thing you have to take into account, is that seriously, this book sold dick all. I'm sure they had to do a lot of deliberating just to make it an eight issue series, let alone twelve. There was just no money to be had here. I think the most it ever sold was that the first issue pulled down 12K, so this was pretty much a risk for them. I think it paid off though, and I think this might be the best thing I read all last year not called PRIDE OF BAGHDAD.

[EmeraldGuy32]

American Way was really one of those books that just caught me off guard by how good it was. The art, story concept..it had it all. I highly recommend it to everyone.

[FallenFate]

And for those who have never read "Those Who Walk in Darkness" or "What Fire Cannot Burn" the plots of the two books are thus:

In "TWWID" the government has banned super powers after a fight between a superhero and his archenemy destroys San Francisco. An elite police unit has been set up that hunts down super-powered beings. The book is the story of a new recruit to the MTAC unit named Soledad, who designs a gun with the capability to take down just about any super-powered "freak." Until a telepath seeks revenge on MTAC.

In "WFCB", Soledad is training a new recruit when there seems to be a super-powered serial killer killing other "freaks."

Both books are full of twists and turns and are incredibly excellently done. John Ridley is a master at these stories and I would very highly recommend them to anyone who loves superheroes, Watchmen, or who would like to see what a post Civil War Marvel might actually have looked like in the real world done long before Marvel had the idea of Civil War.

[kingofcities]

John and George had an amazing synergy on this book. I hope they get a chance to work together again in the future, especially on more of the American Way-verse characters. I'd love to see a spotlight on a new decade.

[NickVinson]

Originally Posted by j3h

*COUGH*
hey DC, how about collecting THE QUESTION series in some trades?

The Question run by Denny O'Neil and Denys Cowan needs to be on bookshelves!

Please....

I Agree!
That book NEEDS reprints. NOW!