writes nerdy things, celebrates those things as an English teacher, and is the co-founder of the production house ADK MOGUL. He lives in the mountains. Thanks for reading; feel free to leave a message, and please don't ask if he's D(e)Press(e)d.
This comes out today. First of two issues I co-wrote with Kelly Sue DeConnick. Getting the chance to write on something this huge and with such an established and fervent audience of Carol fans was exciting and terrifying and then terrifying all over again. In the end, I somehow managed not to set anything on fire, a feat I am still marveling over (get it? are you sure?).
Anyhow, what I guess I mean to say is I’m really happy how it all came out and I hope you maybe like it too? I mean, you probably will. I’d almost 100% guarantee it.*
True story: I did not think I was going to get the Avengers Assemble gig. I was, in fact—and Bendis can attest to this—*certain* I was not going to get the gig. I just didn’t think I had enough… I don’t know what. Something. But I figured I *had* to pitch, right? To pass on that kind of…
There we go, I can finally talk about this. I’m co-writing two issues of CAPTAIN MARVEL (7 & 8) with the incomparable Kelly Sue DeConnick and, gotta say, I think they’re pretty pretty good. It’s been a roller coaster couple of weeks of exciting and terrifying that I’ll talk about at some point when I’m not supposed to actually be writing.
I don’t really think that I’m a giftless hack (or “giffles shack,” as I’ve come to call it). Or… I know I’m not a hack - hacks don’t care; hacks don’t think; hacks don’t work hard. I care about the work. And I bust my ass. I think… about as well as I can. And I don’t give a shit whether I’m “gifted” or not. I don’t really even know what that means or how it matters. It’s not what you’re born with much as it is what you make of it. John Irving purports to be without natural talent. He’s done all right.
Kelly Sue DeConnick in her post, Giffles Shack. Not to butt into a really important post and you really should read all of it, but there is something (somethings) I’d like to respond to: One, John Irving is dyslexic, and that should say a lot about his level of commitment to succeed as a writer, as well as the inarguable fact that he is one of the best living novelists today. Two, and not as a lesson to you KS, but for others who may be interested in this post, there is something I’ve been saying a lot to some of my students these last two weeks teaching freshman composition who doubt their abilities and work ethic. That is: Doing the work and pushing yourself gets you into extraordinary circumstances, and you wouldn’t have a particular job or be in a class if the people who put you in that class didn’t believe that you could handle it. For me, showing that you’re willing to do the work means a lot more than whether you’re gifted.
So it was just announced at Wondercon that Kelly Sue DeConnick will be writing a new ongoing Captain Marvel (formerly Ms. Marvel) series, with Dexter Soy on interiors and Ed McGuinness on covers. I had the privilege of designing Carol’s new costume. Our idea was to give her a kind of swash-buckling costume that invoked a sense of her history as an Air Force officer. Her hair is slicked back at the sides when in costume - so her Kree-style helmet can form when she needs it.
Can’t wait for the series to launch! I love Carol Danvers, and Kelly Sue is one of my favourite writers. More details here.
I could not possibly love this or Jamie McKelvie more.
I am so happy to hear this. Beautiful work, Jamie, and congratulations KS.
You guys, this is awesome. Kelly Sue and Bendis have scripted an adaptation of a Richard Castle book. If you don’t know, I adore this show. It’s light and the characters are fun and Monday nights are my favorite nights for television. I haven’t read any of the licensed books they’ve put out written by Castle, but Kevin Fanning has and at some point I’ll probably get into them this summer because I need some light summer reading. As it is my summer reading list is rather thick.
