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Post by Admin on Sept 2, 2008 17:23:50 GMT -5
 Please let us know what you think! |
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Susan Hillwig
Staff 
I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested.
Posts: 1,612
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Post by Susan Hillwig on Sept 4, 2008 17:49:10 GMT -5
Well now, ain't this a change? Somebody else is drivin' this here book and I'm just a passenger. Can't complain one bit about the ride, though. I think Don gave us a great intro to Johnny Thunder, certainly better than what I would've come up with. He cares about the character and the way he's presented the same way I care about Jonah Hex, and after he told me what he had in mind, I gladly let him step up to write this tale. I'll take a turn at Johnny eventually as well, but for the most part, he's in Don's hands...and they're darn good hands to be in. While the story was simple, there's a lot packed in here: we get a run-down of his origin, a look around Mesa City, Johnny's relationship with his father (both in and out of the mask), and an intro to a fiesty redhead (or is that a blonde bombshell?) who will figure heavily into Johnny's future. My favorite scene is when Johnny (as John Taine) tries to talk with Jeanne Walker, but this normally-brave gunfighter can't seem to work up the nerve -- reminded me of a scene in the first "Spider-Man" movie when Peter Parker gets similarly tongue-tied around Mary Jane. Five stars (make that sheriff's badges!) for our guest writer, who's welcome back any time!  |
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Post by starlord on Sept 11, 2008 20:32:46 GMT -5
Taken me a bit to get to this, but I'm really glad I took the time. Excellent piece of work. You kept the tradition of great story telling up to the standards that they have always been, and that's no easy feet.
I will have to say that the story moments with the father were my favorite as well. Some beatiful character work there.
Excellent cover, too, by the way. All in all, 5 stars, just like this title has always been. Great work everyone.
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Post by lissilambe on Sept 15, 2008 11:51:44 GMT -5
Thanks a lot, you two. This was a fun, fun story to work on, even if it was a lot of hard work, crafting everything that was needed to flesh Johnny and his world out in such a limited space. So many things to touch on, that the storyline at first, needed to be rather simple. But then, many of the best western stories (comics and books and films) are simple at their heart...it's the characters that make them complex. I took that philosophy, felt better about a rather simple kind of plot and villain, and ran with it. And I guess it worked  Thanks in particular, Brian, for the spotlight you throw on the relationship with John and Bill, his father. THey're a large heart of the Thunder story, and it was important to me that I carry that across in their few scenes. It's a complex relationship, and one with lots of intricacies I hope to play up a bit more in my next installment. For the record, a lot of how Johnny talks, and the relationship with his father was inspired (among real world sources) by Frasier and his father from the television series. There are many similarities in there, I think. And yes, Susan picked out some of the most fun for me to write. Making John all tongue-tied and every bit as nerdish as he pretends to be as John while around Jeanne was so much fun to set up and write. A lot of the classic "Hero-fumbles-around-girl" inspired that scene: Peter Parker and MJ from the movie, the beautifully captured Clark Kent and Lois Lane scenes from teh first Superman movie, Clark and Lana in the initial episodes of Smallville, Scott hovering around Jean in beginning X-Men...yeah, definitely. Glad it worked. And this was my most nerve-wracking writing job. Stepping in to get to drive Susan's Ferrari of a series? Scary stuff, living up to one of the best writers on the site. Thanks for the chance, Susan, and glad I didn't crash the car on you. I'll be back to read, of course, and hopefully, and I'll be glad to pick up more Johnny in the future. Take care Don |
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