WONDERCON '08: BILL WILLINGHAM SPOTLIGHT

[MichaelDoran]

Report by Graeme McMillan

"Enunciate well and speak from the diaphragm."

Strange words to start a panel at a comic convention, but that was the advice given by Bill Willingham to those asking questions during his panel, the first at this year's WonderCon. Questions were necessary because, as he admitted first thing, Willingham didn't really have anything to talk about: "We could fill an hour talking about fun stuff about Fables," he said, "but they're having a Fables panel tomorrow, and I'm not sure I have two hours of fun stuff about Fables to talk, so we're just gonna wing it."

Promising honest answers to anything asked over the hour-long session, Willingham ended up talking about his start as a writer, previously-secret projects and tax dodges, admitting that at least one of those may get him kicked out of comics.

Perhaps to be expected, the majority of questions centered around his Vertigo series, Fables. He explained that the characters age normally unless they fall into one of two categories - Whether there's some story reason for them not to as dictated by the original story, or whether there's some story reason for them not to as dictated by him. An illustration of the earlier category was Pinocchio, who wished that he could be a real boy, and so would always be stuck at that age (Little Boy Blue does age, albeit slowly, he admitted, and there would something of an explanation for his boyishly good looks in the next issue of the series).

"The real answer is, we have worked out some rules [about aging and the passing of time]... unless something really fun comes along to break them," Willingham said, before admitting that he'd kept Snow White pregnant for fourteen months just so that he could have the "March of The Wooden Soldiers" storyline start in the calendar month of March.

Asked about reference used for the series, Willingham said that he's been reading fairy tales all of his life, and that they've been sneaking into his work for years even before he started the Vertigo book. Even now, he said, he'll be reading something and find material that he'll want to use: "I'll find a story or character I like and plan to use that character in something." He admitted that the definition of what makes a Fables character is somewhat vague, and that the best he could come up with was "What's in the public domain that I want to use," although he wants to steer clear of religious figures. "There's a fuzzy line there between folklore and mythology, and an even fuzzier one between mythology and religion, and I don't really want to go there."

That said, he said that the majority of Fables characters were religious, because they'd met gods in their original incarnations: "It's like, 'Of course I believe in God, he lives down the lane."

When asked whether he plans to expand the Fables universe, he said that the answer was yes and no; while there will be more characters coming in from folklores outside of Western mythology, there won't be any more monthly series to accompany Jack of Fables: "Two a month is about right."

He then went on to admit that there would be more books similar to the 1001 Nights of Snowfall OGN, and that the plan was that there would always be a special book in the works in addition to the ongoing monthlies. A second OGN is being worked on right now, but he didn't want to say too much about it because DC wanted to keep the announcement under wraps, and that he wasn't supposed to reveal too much about it.

Following audience pleas to not be a tease, he hinted that the book will answer one of the most asked unanswered questions from the earlier "Burning Questions" issue, "Why do the Fables call themselves Fables?" and then reminded the audience that he promised to give an honest answer to any question he was asked. Of course, the next question asked was "Why do the Fables call themselves Fables?"

Joking that "If I'm kicked out of comics for this, God knows I deserve it, but I will be blaming you," Willingham then went ahead to answer the question by reading from the script of the upcoming, unnamed OGN ("I'm not going to tell you the title, because that would give away stuff," he explained). Following the applause when he finished reading, he added "I'm probably in a lot of trouble now. If there are DC people in the audience, look at these faces. How can you say no?"

And, no, we’re not going to tell you what he said. Sorry.

In response to a question about his start as a writer, Willingham said that his dream since childhood had always been to be a comic book artist, and that writing kind of happened by accident. When art samples to independent publisher Noble Comics led to a penciling gig, the publisher asked for him to write and draw a book based upon the generic characters that starred in his samples: "The one thing I was not going to do was admit that I did not know what to do," he said, and so he lied and said that he'd had a complete story arc in mind. "I sort of became a writer of comics to provide myself with something to draw."

He said that he now prefers writing, due to his feelings about his artwork. Drawing comics, he said, was "emotionally and physically exhausting and it never ends. It's a soul-numbing experience on some level, so you shouldn't waste that on bad stories... As an artist, I've become glacially slow, to the point where I'm not sure I've got more than one big story in me before I check out." He does know what that story is, and he is currently working on it, although he wouldn't reveal what that story was. He did say what it wasn't, however; he won't be providing any art for his upcoming House of Mystery series.

"As an artist, I'm a good bricklayer," he continued, "I'm getting slower rather than faster as I get older and more particular about what I let out under my name." When a fan asked if that meant that he became a writer because he was too slow to illustrate all of his own ideas, he laughed and said that that sounded much more noble and would be the reason he gives from now on: "I became a writer because I had so many ideas that were crying to get out on the page... I did it all for you," he exclaimed with mock sincerity.

The best part of being a writer, Willingham revealed, was that everything could be used for material, and the unintended benefits that that brought. His tax returns were "the most creative writing I do every year," he said, because of what he can attribute to writing research. "Every movie I attend, every comic book I buy, every book I buy, I write them all off." Looking around the audience, he added, "If there are any IRS officers in the audience, my name is Kurt Busiek."

Closing the panel by thanking everyone for reading Fables, he took a quick straw poll of everyone in the audience who didn't read the book. To those people, he offered a particular variation on the money-back guarantee: If you bought the book and didn't like it, Willingham's friend (and Sequential Tart writer) Adrienne Rappaport will come to your house and wash your dishes for the week. Amid applause and Rappaport's sarcastic yells of "thanks a lot, Bill," the hour finished with Willingham asking everyone to stay in the room for the next panel starring everyone's favorite tax dodger Kurt Busiek.

[alaska1125]

Fables is great!

[Curious Wanderer]

What ever happened to the Madame Xanadu series that was announced last year?

[samnoir]

So for anyone who was at the panel...
Why are Fables calling themselves Fables?

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[Reaper]

That's a GREAT cover by James Jean.

-Tim

[AbacusComics]

Cool. A lot of Willingham's work can also be found on WOWIO.COM for FREE!!!

Darn, wish I could have gone to Wondercon this year... That's my 'hometown' con.

[xrcst]

Im calling you out Graeme McMillan


What kind of shoddy reporting is this. Hey.. im going to talk about a panel, but not give you the interesting tidbits.

So much for newsarama bring us the news for those people that couldnt be here.

Yeah, I'm sure I will find the information out. And I will do it on another website.

Way to go Graeme drive traffic away from this site to another one.

[Hoggoth]

Originally Posted by xrcst

Im calling you out Graeme McMillan


What kind of shoddy reporting is this. Hey.. im going to talk about a panel, but not give you the interesting tidbits.

So much for newsarama bring us the news for those people that couldnt be here.

Yeah, I'm sure I will find the information out. And I will do it on another website.

Way to go Graeme drive traffic away from this site to another one.

I have to agree here...now I am going to another site to find this out. You shouldn't have mentioned it to begin with if you had concerns.

[Hoggoth]

Why are Fables called fables?

And here you are. Don't click on the link below if you don't wanna know, but honestly, it's not a big surprise:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/ne...m.cgi?id=13094


Interesting answer.

[Kerouac]

Originally Posted by Hoggoth

I have to agree here...now I am going to another site to find this out. You shouldn't have mentioned it to begin with if you had concerns.

I was thinking the same thing. It's almost like being encouraged to go to another site...

[Human Bong]

The two writers just each chose to focus on different aspects of the panel. This article has a lot of quotes and captures the fun nature of the panel, the article on CBR just focused on what happened in a step-by-step manner. Two styles, each well written in their own way.

[PeterPopper]

That is bad reporting. A real journalist would report the WHOLE story.

[NorthstarX]

Thanks Hoggoth! I'm really glad you posted that link because after reading that article I was pissed. The reason I read this is because I thought it would give me insight into the book and all that the above article did was make me wish I'd never clicked on the article to begin with.

[mccauley76]

I want to know why Bill Willingham isn't writing Salvation Run anymore seeing as Matthew Sturges wrote issue number 4 of the series........

[Hoggoth]

Originally Posted by mccauley76

I want to know why Bill Willingham isn't writing Salvation Run anymore seeing as Matthew Sturges wrote issue number 4 of the series........

From what I read it was due to his health and he needed to drop some of his work load. I believe it is mention on his forum site fabletownforums.com . You may have to google it, but I think that is the correct site address.

[SledgeHammer]

Originally Posted by mccauley76

I want to know why Bill Willingham isn't writing Salvation Run anymore seeing as Matthew Sturges wrote issue number 4 of the series........

Actually if you were paying attention he wrote issue 3 as well...

And yeah, it was due to health reasons apparently.

[marquisd]

Why are Fables called fables?

And here you are. Don't click on the link below if you don't wanna know, but honestly, it's not a big surprise:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/ne...m.cgi?id=13094


Interesting answer.

I read that before coming here still don;t see what the answer is. It doesn;t explain why they call themselves Fables.

I also have to complain about the the we know the answer but were not going to tell you report.

[Stephanie]

Originally Posted by xrcst

Im calling you out Graeme McMillan


What kind of shoddy reporting is this. Hey.. im going to talk about a panel, but not give you the interesting tidbits.

So much for newsarama bring us the news for those people that couldnt be here.

It's hardly shoddy reporting, Graeme is being a professional. In journalism, there is a code of ethics reporters follow that dictate they DO NOT repeat anything that was specifically asked not to be repeated.

[xrcst]

Originally Posted by Stephanie

It's hardly shoddy reporting, Graeme is being a professional. In journalism, there is a code of ethics reporters follow that dictate they DO NOT repeat anything that was specifically asked not to be repeated.

O give me a break....A code of ethics?

That only applies if it was said in a private conversation or asked to be "off the record"

This statement was made in a panel, which hardly gives anyone the right to expect something is going to stay private.

The fact that he didnt report a story because he left out a key WHAT.. A thing that was probably the most interesting thing at the panel. And Came here with a.. "Hey, there's this cool thing.. but I'm not telling na-na-na-na"
This makes him not a reporter but a fanboi tool that thinks he is cooler than everyone else because he got to be there.
Im off to the other website to get the story and probably click on some banner ads there...

And the only banner ad on the page for me was a suicide girl ad.. lol. Looks like i Know what Im doing with the rest of my day...

[eelnats]

so why are they called fables? it dont say why on the above mentioned link.

[Big Bad Icon]

Originally Posted by Stephanie

It's hardly shoddy reporting, Graeme is being a professional. In journalism, there is a code of ethics reporters follow that dictate they DO NOT repeat anything that was specifically asked not to be repeated.

OK, as a reporter I have to step in on this.

A reporter's ONLY obligation in writing a story is to report the story. Once a reporter has been identified as such, ANYTHING the subject says or reveals is fair game. Anything said from that point on is on the record, even if the subject says those seemingly magic words "off the record."

If the reporter decides to make an allowance and not report something that was said by the subject, it had damn sure be because it doesn't relate to the story, not because someone let slip something they didn't mean to and are now asking for special treatment. Saying "off the record" before or after a statement does NOT automatically cancel out a reporter's right to print facts.

Besides, ANYTHING said in a public forum is more than fair game. So if you want to get technical, Graeme McMillan did have an obligation to report the secret of the Fables calling themselves "Fables." But who cares?

[DaveofThune]

Mr. Willingham made us promise not to tell anyone. He thinks it's more special if only the people who attend his panels and hear from him firsthand get to know.

Wait a little while and the piece he read to us will be released and then you'll know. Waiting sucks, but that's the way he wants it.

All I'll tell you is this: "Fables" is short for "The Fabled People."

[JK Parkin]

All has been revealed:

http://blog.newsarama.com/2008/02/24...aeme-mcmillan/

[Bugaboo-X]

Originally Posted by Stephanie

It's hardly shoddy reporting, Graeme is being a professional. In journalism, there is a code of ethics reporters follow that dictate they DO NOT repeat anything that was specifically asked not to be repeated.

Oh, baloney.
An "off the record" contract (usually verbal) is of no use if there anyone else around. In this case, the source spoke in front of dozens of people in a public venue. There's no expectation of privacy; no agreement.

[Jason A. Quest]

I think it's kind of sad that a reporter is being yelled at for... respecting a creator's request to keep something off the record. I'm all for an adversarial relationship between the media and their subjects, but this isn't government misconduct we're talking about. It's spoilers. And the fanboy entitlement mentality that demands them like this is just... sad.