Column Archives
More that Just Comic Books (But I Do Those Too)
"I believe there's no business like show business, although it you're overpaid for feeding a big, scary monster, then that might be sort of like it." -Chuck Lorre
My redoubtable editor and fellow Psycomic columnist Joe Doughrity says I should write about my experiences in animation and film more often. Normally I'd have no problem with this, as I'm a braggart and an egomaniac. So why the hesitation? Because I'm a dilettante at best and there are two other columnists on this site who are actually successful and prolific creators of film and television.
Me? I'm only in TV so I can get work in comics. It's a new strategy. Before I founded Milestone, most comic book editors thought I was from Ireland, which is close enough to England to get work in American comics. Now that everybody knows I'm from Detroit, I need a new scam. This is it: People think TV and movies are cool, perhaps by virtue of proximity, they will also think I'm cool. Ideally, this could lead to actual comic book work for a company that I don't happen to own. So, as far as I'm concerned, Static Shock, the Kids WB animated series, based on a comic book I co-created and airing every Saturday at 11:00, right after X-Men: Evolution (check local listings, as show times may vary), is little more than an elaborate query letter. It's not working so far, but I'm still hopeful.
With the above in mind, I'm going to tell you about some of my measly adventures in other media.
My first story is one I promised to tell you back in my 10/18 column. You guys know J. Michael Straczynski as the creator of TV's Babylon 5, or of the current comic book hit Rising Stars. Maybe you've even noticed his entertaining and literate Psycomic column, Letters From The Edge, every Monday on this very site? Wonderful accomplishments, all. But to me, he'll always be the guy who kept me from losing a job I had no business getting in the first place. Back while I was in college, through bizarre and un-reproducible circumstances (the only way anyone ever gets a first writing assignment), I found myself talking to the creator/showrunner of several then-current TV shows. I told him an idea I had for an episode of one of his shows. He was intrigued and told me if I wrote up a treatment and got it to him in the next few days, maybe he could use it. "No problem," I told him. Of course, I had no idea what a "treatment" was. Fortunately Herb Eagle, my European Films professor did know and was kind enough to explain it to me. As it turned out, I'd been commissioned to write a prose version of my proposed TV show script. That was the good news, the bad news was that I had no idea what a treatment looked like. I supposed I could have called the guy and asked for one, but I was afraid I'd look like a dope. So I went to the bookstore instead. I bought five or six screenwriting books (there were a lot fewer of them in those days), most of which wanted to explain "plot points" and "rising action" to me. Interesting but not what I needed, just that moment. One of those books, though, was the answer to my prayers. The Complete Book of Scriptwriting, by J. Michael Straczynski had, in addition to solid, practical writing advice, specific examples of plays, teleplays, radio plays, screenplays and, thank God, treatments (I'm pretty sure an updated version of the book is still in print, I'd get one, were I you). Long story short, I cribbed the format, got my treatment written, submitted it and got a check for my trouble. Go, Joe!
Damage Control is a comic book I created for Marvel Comics in the late 1980's. Billed as "A Sitcom Set In The Marvel Universe," it followed the adventures of the Manhattan engineering and insurance firm responsible for cleaning up the rubble left behind after, for instance, the latest Hulk vs. Thor slugfest has demolished most of midtown. It was a fun series that had the unexpected bonus side-effect of infuriating about half of Marvel's editorial staff (and at least as high a percentage of fans). I've never been able to distinguish between good and bad attention. I'll take what I can get.
So last year, I find out that The Hollywood Reporter has a little story about Village Roadshow (the folks who made The Matrix and many other frightfully expensive movies) announcing their intention to make a live-action feature out of Damage Control. While the general rule about these sort of things dictated that no one would ever tell me anything about the movie, this time I had an in. Jim Krieg, my sometimes writing partner, had been asked to pitch the movie. He felt a little weird about it, considering that I wasn't asked. I didn't see any problem with him giving it a shot and told him so. He did and called me a week or so later to tell me about his meeting (he didn't get the job). It turns out that the producer of Damage Control is Barry Levine of Takoma Films, who coincidentally owned the rights to another co-creation of mine, a romantic comedy called The Road To Hell. This was great news! Barry would give me the inside skinny on the movie--maybe I could even get him to let me pitch a story for it. I called him about six times and never got him on the phone, although his assistant did once dutifully report, "He says he's not here." I don't think that guy works there anymore.
Barry recently changed the name of his company and moved. While I can't prove he did that just so I couldn't ask him what was going on with Damage Control, you've got to admit it's suspicious, even if I am paranoid. I'll keep trying, and if I ever hear any more news (like the fact that a team of screenwriters are already hard at work, and that the Squadron Supreme are going to be in the movie, both of which I read in Variety), I'll report it here.
I'm running way long and I haven't even told you any of my Static Shock or Icebox.com stories. Tell you what: I'll come back to this in a couple of weeks and even throw in the story of how I was once hired to work on a script for a Wu-Tang Clan vs. Marilyn Manson movie.
And you think your life is challenging.
Be here next time, as I explain to some of you that I'm not a NASCAR driver and ask you to stop sending me fan mail.
Dwayne McDuffie is the co-creator of Static Shock and Damage Control. His new mini-series, Static Shock: Rebirth Of The Cool, goes on sale November 1st at a comic shop near you. Dwayne is still encouraging people to visit his web site, as he closes in on his dream of getting 10,000 hits by the millennium.
