46-630: Kurt Busiek ( / ˈ b j uː s ɪ k / BYOO -sik born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the Marvels limited series, his own series titled Astro City , a four-year run on The Avengers , Thunderbolts , and Superman . Busiek was born in Boston . He grew up in various towns in the Boston area, including Lexington where he befriended future comic book creator Scott McCloud . Busiek did not read comics as
92-577: A trade paperback that featured the Human Torch short story (2003 re-release ISBN 0-7851-0049-0 ). For the tenth anniversary in 2004 Marvel released a 400-page hardcover ( ISBN 0-7851-1388-6 ). In 2008 the original was reprinted as a hardcover ( ISBN 0-7851-2784-4 ) and softcover volume (by Panini Comics , ISBN 1-905239-97-1 ) and in 2012 as issue 15 of The Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection as number 13. Marvel later published similar limited series under
138-429: A 12-page story of the original 1940s Human Torch by Busiek and Ross, two text articles, and 18 pages of Ross superhero pinups. The series was later collected into a trade-paperback edition. In 1939, Jim Hammond, the original Human Torch is created by scientist Phineas T. Horton, and the project is considered a success until the android catches on fire when air is projected into its glass chamber, only to go out when
184-475: A back-up story in Green Lantern #162 (March 1983). After writing four fill-in issues of Power Man and Iron Fist , he was given the series as his first regular assignment. He was a fan of the work of his predecessor, Mary Jo Duffy (she wrote Power Man and Iron Fist ) and emulated her lighthearted, humorous approach, not knowing that the editorial staff disapproved of that style and had taken Duffy off
230-525: A confrontation with Spider-Man. Watching their battle through a telephoto lens, Sheldon is certain that Spider-Man will defeat the villain and rescue Gwen. Instead, Gwen is knocked off the bridge and killed , and Sheldon's faith in the Marvels is shattered. He plans to retire, but before he can hang up his camera, he has his assistant take a final photo of himself, Doris, and a "nice, normal boy" — Danny Ketch , who, unbeknownst to Sheldon, will grow up to become
276-552: A large group of Jack Kirby's creator-owned characters, the rights to which were acquired by Dynamite such as Silver Star , Captain Victory , Galaxy Green, Tiger 21 and the Ninth Men. Ross co-plotted, handled designs, and oversaw the series overall with Busiek, who scripted the story. In June 2013, Busiek relaunched his Astro City series as part of DC's Vertigo line. Busiek commented that " Astro City ' s always been aimed at
322-534: A more sophisticated reader, which I think suits Vertigo. Plus our backlist sales are closer to a Vertigo pattern than DCU." The ongoing Astro City series concluded as of issue #52 in 2018. In April 2022, Busiek was reported to be one of more than three dozen comics creators who contributed to Operation USA 's benefit anthology book, Comics for Ukraine: Sunflower Seeds , a project spearheaded by IDW Publishing special projects editor Scott Dunbier , The profits were donated to relief efforts for Ukrainian refugees from
368-419: A mutant girl with a skull-like head. Sheldon sees the importance of hiding this girl, but is worried for his family. Following the wedding, mutant-hunting robots called Sentinels are unleashed by Bolivar Trask during a televised debate with Charles Xavier ; they malfunction and begin rampaging throughout the city. A mob forms in the chaos, attacking and destroying everything in sight, with only Sheldon helping
414-491: A new Conan series for Dark Horse Comics . In December 2005, he signed a two-year exclusive contract with DC Comics. After DC's " Infinite Crisis " storyline, he teamed with Geoff Johns on the eight-part story arc " Up, Up and Away! " that ran in both Superman titles as part of DC's company-wide " One Year Later " storyline. In addition, he began writing the DC title Aquaman : Sword of Atlantis from issues #40–49. Busiek became
460-440: A number of different titles in his career including Arrowsmith , The Liberty Project , The Power Company , Shockrockets , Superman: Secret Identity , JLA , and the award-winning Kurt Busiek's Astro City . In the 1990s, work on some of Busiek's more challenging, less mainstream projects, most notably Astro City , was repeatedly delayed by health problems brought about by mercury poisoning . In 2004, Busiek began
506-918: A picture of Iron Man , Silver Surfer , and Galactus after Silver Surfer convinces Galactus not to devour the Earth. In fall 2019, a radio drama podcast adaptation of Marvels was released with the first season focusing on the aftermath of the Fantastic Four 's battle with Galactus in New York City, New York , starring Clifford "Method Man" Smith as Ben Urich , AnnaSophia Robb as Marcia Hardesty, Ethan Peck as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic , Seth Barrish as Phil Sheldon, Louisa Krause as Susan Storm / Invisible Woman , Jake Hart as Ben Grimm / The Thing , Ehad Berisha as Johnny Storm / Human Torch , Teo Rapp-Olsson as Peter Parker / Spider-Man , and Gabriela Ortega as Charlie Martinez. The adaptation
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#1732783877897552-605: A retelling of the most famous events in the Marvel universe. Marvels won multiple awards and established the careers of Busiek and Ross, who would both return to the "everyday life in a superhero universe" theme in the Image Comics (later Homage Comics and currently DC Comics ) series, Astro City . Warren Ellis 's Ruins returned to this theme in 1995 with a twisted story of an alternate universe in which everything that can go wrong does go wrong, but an actual sequel
598-455: A similar approach to Marvels , following a police officer whose job is affected by the superheroes and villains. Busiek declared he and Ross debated on doing a Marvels sequel, only for Ross to bail out not wanting to draw Wolverine and the Punisher , and once the writer himself left the project, Busiek refitted the intended plot on "The Dark Age" arc of his title Astro City . In 2008,
644-419: A year, for which he was receiving Botox treatments every three months which reduced his productivity. He said that he was searching for a hospital with an advanced headache program where he could be placed. Marvels Marvels is a four-issue miniseries comic book written by Kurt Busiek , painted by Alex Ross and edited by Marcus McLaurin . It was published by Marvel Comics in 1994. Set in
690-574: A youngster, as his parents disapproved of them. He began to regularly read them around the age of 14, when he picked up a copy of Daredevil #120 (April 1975). That comic is the first part of a continuity-heavy four-part story arc; he was drawn to the copious history and cross-connections with other series. Throughout high school and college, he and McCloud practiced making comics. The pair contributed to comics hobbyist publications like NMP 's Comics Feature . During that time, Busiek had many letters published in comic book letter columns and he started
736-527: Is later disgusted by the way the public has again turned on the heroes, with Jameson (now the publisher of the Daily Bugle and Sheldon's most frequent employer) claiming that the Galactus threat was a hoax. Sheldon rages at a crowd carrying on an anti-mutant conversation. In the early 1970s, Sheldon publishes Marvels , which becomes an instant bestseller. He remains dismayed at the public's reaction to
782-534: Is married to Ann Busiek. Both Kurt and Ann were rendered by Alex Ross as New Yorkers who react to the invasion of Silver Surfer and Galactus on page 17 of Marvels #3. Kurt is used later as the model for a wandering drunk on page 33 of the same issue. In June 2022, Kurt Busiek revealed in the final issue of Arrowsmith: Behind Enemy Lines that the follow-up series Arrowsmith: Beyond Borders , would be delayed due to his health. Specifically, he related that he had been suffering from persistent migraines for over
828-414: Is new, appears to help with any civilian casualties. Beth and Jennie ask their father if what occurred was anything like his old job, to which he answers positively, adding: "It's scary. It's exciting. It's thrilling. All of it at once". Having relived the thrill and earning the gumption to write another article, he resists and takes his daughters back home for the night. In 1995, Marvels was compiled into
874-557: Is only when Captain America is unveiled to the world that Sheldon becomes less apprehensive about the Marvels. When World War II begins, Sheldon, Doris, and many others see the Marvels in newsreels joining forces with the Allies , providing public reassurance. After rekindling his romance with Doris, Sheldon hears that the Human Torch and Namor are fighting again, and the battle this time damages several New York City landmarks. During
920-593: Is preparing to write a book called Marvels . New York now has two superhero teams, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers . Sheldon is excited by recent news of the return of Captain America, a hero from his youth, but the public has begun to fear mutants , especially the mutant team known as the X-Men . As he covers an anti-mutant mob that comes face-to-face with the X-Men, he hears X-Men leader Cyclops refuse to engage with
966-687: The Avengers Forever limited series in 1998–1999 which replaced the Avengers: World in Chains series on which the two had previously planned to work. Busiek continued as writer of The Avengers through 2002, collaborating with artists like Alan Davis and Kieron Dwyer . His tenure culminated with the " Kang Dynasty " storyline. In 2003, Busiek re-teamed with Pérez to create the JLA/Avengers limited series. Busiek has worked on
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#17327838778971012-794: The Untold Tales of Spider-Man series beginning in September 1995. Busiek created the Thunderbolts , a group of super-villains disguised as super-heroes, with the final page of the first issue of the series revealing that the Thunderbolts were actually the Masters of Evil , a surprise twist carefully guarded by Marvel. In February 1998, he launched The Avengers vol. 3 with penciler George Pérez and Iron Man vol. 3 with artist Sean Chen . Busiek and Carlos Pacheco collaborated on
1058-714: The DC Comics mini-series Kingdom Come . Phil Sheldon makes a cameo at the superhero press conference held at the headquarters of the United Nations in Kingdom Come #2. He also makes an appearance in the last page of the epilogue in the Kingdom Come trade paperback. He is seated next to the Spectre in his civilian guise of Jim Corrigan and Norman McCay . Phil Sheldon is mentioned in Peter's first scene in
1104-608: The Daily Bugle in Spider-Man: Blue . J. Jonah Jameson requests Sheldon to cover the photo op of Harry Osborn in the hospital. He is reminded that "Phil is covering the Tony Stark trial". In the third issue of Marvels X , the prequel to Earth X , Phil Sheldon is mentioned. Phil Sheldon makes a cameo appearance on The Super Hero Squad Show episode "This Al Dente Earth!", voiced by Charlie Adler . He takes
1150-527: The "Marvels" header, with other writers and painters, though none of these titles were as successful as the original. They were collected in the paperback Marvels Companion . In 1995, Marvel released the darker Ruins by writer Warren Ellis and painters Cliff and Terese Nielsen , which was a two-issue parallel world series in which Sheldon explored a Marvel Universe that had gone terribly wrong. The 1997 miniseries Code of Honor , written by Chuck Dixon and painted by Tristan Shane and Brad Parker , had
1196-487: The 1939 to 1974 time period, the series examines the Marvel Universe , the collective setting of most of Marvel's superhero series, from the perspective of an Everyman character, news photographer Phil Sheldon . The street-level series portrayed ordinary life in a world full of costumed superhumans, with each issue featuring events well known to readers of Marvel comics, as well as a variety of minute details and
1242-812: The Best Continuing or Limited Series Harvey Award, as well as the Harvey Award for Best Single Issue or Story (for Marvels #4) in 1995. In 1996, with Astro City , he won both the Eisner and Harvey awards for Best New Series. He won the Best Single Issue/Single Story Eisner three years in a row from 1996 to 1998 for Astro City; for Conan: The Legend #0 in 2004. Busiek won the Best Continuing Series Eisner Award in 1997–1998, as well as
1288-537: The Best Serialized Story award in 1998. In addition, Astro City was awarded the 1996 Best Single Issue or Story Harvey Award, and the 1998 Harvey Award for Best Continuing or Limited Series. Busiek was given the 1998 and 1999 Comics Buyer's Guide Awards for Favorite Writer, with additional nominations in 1997 and every year from 2000 to 2004. In 2010, he was given the Inkpot Award . Busiek
1334-691: The February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . Busiek and Brent Anderson teamed up and contributed a new Astro City story to the anthology, which will harbor themes relevant to the events in Ukraine . Busiek's work has won him numerous awards in the comics industry, including the Harvey Award for Best Writer in 1998 and the Eisner Award for Best Writer in 1999. In 1994, with Marvels , he won Best Finite Series/Limited Series Eisner Award and
1380-509: The Marvels and is disgusted by Jameson and his screeds against Spider-Man, who has been framed for the death of NYPD Captain George Stacy . Sheldon resolves to investigate the murder and clear Spider-Man's name. While talking to a witness with Luke Cage , he learns that not only do the police believe Spider-Man is innocent, but that they suspect Otto Octavius to be the real killer. Sheldon interviews Octavius, but he refuses to confess to
1426-425: The air is gone. Horton shows his creation to the public, which is met with demands from the terrified civilians to destroy it. A dejected Horton begins to bury the android, but the chamber cracks, allowing in air and enabling the Human Torch to escape. The android describes his appearance as the beginning of a "golden age". Meanwhile, Phil Sheldon, an aspiring photographer, and a young J. Jonah Jameson are shocked by
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1472-533: The demonic hero Ghost Rider . During Christmas time in the mid-1970's, Sheldon is with his daughters in Rockefeller Center when the Sentinels begin attacking. The X-Men, who were walking among the crowd, spring into action with Sheldon and his daughters left in awe at both Banshee and Storm . After the Sentinels are defeated, the cops try to monitor the situation when Nova , who admits that he
1518-603: The fight, the duo come near but do not directly encounter Sheldon; he is knocked out by a small chunk of masonry and permanently blinded in his left eye. Still, he has lost all fears of the Marvels and goes on to marry Doris. Sheldon becomes a war correspondent in Europe, reporting on the Allied Forces and the Marvels as they combat the Nazis . In the early 1960s, Sheldon is now the father of two girls, Beth and Jennie, and he
1564-466: The first featured a 12-page main story by Busiek, with art by Mark Bagley , and a ten-page backup story co-written by Busiek and Fabian Nicieza with art from various artists, including Tom Derenick, Mike Norton , and Scott McDaniel . Busiek teamed with Alex Ross on Dynamite Entertainment 's Kirby: Genesis , an eight-issue miniseries which debuted in 2011. The series, which was their first full collaboration since Marvels 17 years previous, featured
1610-458: The injured. The newly repaired Sentinels stop the mob, but Sheldon returns home to find the mutant girl gone. As the 1960s progress, Sheldon is preoccupied with his work, to the detriment of his family. The news is filled with stories of the Avengers being declared a menace, the law going after Tony Stark , sightings of Spider-Man , and a possible Judgement Day . The Silver Surfer appears to
1656-512: The long-planned direct sequel, the six-part limited series Marvels: Eye of the Camera , began. It returns to Sheldon's perspective, after his retirement. While Ross did not return for this sequel, Busiek returned as writer, with Roger Stern as co-writer for issues #3–6, with artwork by Jay Anacleto. A new series titled The Marvels by Busiek debuted in April 2021. Ross also did the artwork for
1702-586: The mob, saying "they're not worth it" and leaving. Sheldon, unsure of their meaning, finds the words staying with him. Despite the public's distrust of the X-Men, some Marvels are treated as celebrities, as seen by Sheldon at the gala opening of Alicia Masters ' sculptures, where gossip spreads over the upcoming marriage of the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards and Susan Storm . Sheldon leaves the gala and rushes home after hearing about an anti-mutant mob near there, and he finds his daughters hiding their friend,
1748-591: The murder. Sheldon then interviews Stacy's daughter Gwen and develops a friendship with her. Gwen's admiration and trust in the Marvels gives Sheldon a sudden insight: the purpose of the Marvels is to protect innocents like Gwen. On his way to meet her at the apartment of her boyfriend, Peter Parker, Sheldon witnesses Gwen's kidnapping by the Green Goblin . He follows the Goblin to the Brooklyn Bridge and
1794-400: The new X-Men , and he said, 'It's just a pity there's no way to bring Jean Grey back'... I said, 'Sure there's a way, there's always a way.'" During the last semester of his senior year, Busiek submitted some sample scripts to editor Dick Giordano at DC Comics . None of them sold, but they got him invitations to pitch other material to DC editors, which led to his first professional work,
1840-489: The series because of it. He was fired from the series for the same reasons as Duffy, after only six issues as its regular writer. In 1985, he wrote a Red Tornado limited series . In 1993, Busiek and artist Alex Ross produced the Marvels limited series which comics historian Matthew K. Manning noted, "reinvigorated painted comics as a genre, went on to become an acclaimed masterpiece, and spawned more than its own fair share of imitators." Busiek and Pat Olliffe crafted
1886-523: The sole writer of the Superman series with issue #654 (Sept. 2006) and Carlos Pacheco became the series' artist. Busiek and Pacheco developed an extended storyline featuring Arion coming into conflict with Superman. The plotline concluded in Superman Annual #13. Busiek wrote a 52-issue weekly DC miniseries titled Trinity starring Batman , Superman and Wonder Woman . Each issue except for
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1932-540: The sudden emergence of multiple super-powered individuals, whom Sheldon dubs "Marvels". Sheldon is more confused than Jameson by the spectacle and, worried, seeks the support of his fiancée, Doris Jacquet. More unusual beings begin to appear, notably Namor the Sub-Mariner , and fights erupt between him and the Human Torch. Sheldon, feeling it would be irresponsible for him to raise children in a world where these Marvels run rampant, breaks off his engagement with Doris. It
1978-537: The theory that the Phoenix was a separate being who had impersonated Jean Grey , and that therefore Grey had not died—a premise which made its way from freelancer to freelancer, and which was eventually used in the comics. Busiek said, "A couple of years later, after I’d broken in, I attended my first convention as a pro, in Ithaca, New York , and I stayed at Roger Stern 's house... we were talking about how much we liked
2024-408: The world and defeats the Fantastic Four, heralding the appearance of Galactus . With the city in panic, Sheldon believes the Earth will end, and he returns home to be with his family in the final moments. Suddenly, news comes that the Fantastic Four have managed to defeat Galactus, saving the planet. In the wake of the team's victory, Sheldon promises he will spend more time with his family. However, he
2070-415: Was not developed until 2008 with the release of Marvels: Eye of the Camera , but only Busiek was involved. A single issue epilogue was released in late 2019 with both Busiek and Ross returning. Marvels was a four-issue miniseries ( cover dated January–April 1994) by writer Kurt Busiek , with painted art by Alex Ross and editing by Marcus McLaurin . It was followed by issue #0 (August 1994) containing
2116-472: Was written by Lauren Shippen , directed by Paul Bae, with music by Evan Cunningham, and sound design by Mischa Stanton. Stanton was nominated for two 2020 Audio Verse Awards for their work on the podcast. Phil Sheldon appears in Avengers (2020), voiced by Walt Gray. This version is depicted as a journalist rather than a photographer. Alan Davis Too Many Requests If you report this error to
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