It’s All in the Scars

My horoscope for today: “Someone who once wronged you is coming back — try to keep an open mind about them.”

Oh joy.

20 Responses to “It’s All in the Scars”

  1. Charles Bryan Says:

    Marvel’s calling?

    Sorry, couldn’t resist. I’ll treat your horoscope as mine and take a shot at myself in return:

    “Hey, you get to see your ex again!”

  2. Brian Spence Says:

    Good one, Charles! You get the requisite “LOL” for that one.

  3. Rachel Says:

    I’ll keep an eye on things locally. I’d kind of HOPE it’s Marvel, all things considered. 🙂

  4. Chris Power Says:

    Uhhhhh .. you didn’t reply to my last post. You have wronged me sir!!!! I demand satisfaction!

  5. Dwight Williams Says:

    Whoever it is, may you benefit immensely by that visit, and soon.

  6. Steve Gerber Says:

    Marvel actually got in touch a number of weeks ago with some pretty exciting news. Well, it excited me, but of course it doesn’t take much to accomplish that these days — a wink here, a nod there, a poof of oxygen in the ear, or the occasional “yes, please”, and I’m reduced to jelly…

    But I digress.

    Anyway, I’m not sure I’m authorized to talk about the Marvel news yet, but I’ll go out on a limb and drop this hint. It has to do with the completion of a project that was written almost twenty years ago. It’s a story I’ve wanted to see in print since then, and now, finally, there’s a real chance it could happen.

  7. Micah Says:

    ….not Void Indigo…not the Duck…Foolkiller?…

  8. Bart Lidofsky Says:

    BTW, if you want a full horoscope, just give my your birth date, time, and place.

  9. Matt Maxwell Says:

    They couldn’t have changed their minds about Omega, could they…?

    Foolkiller or Man-Thing?

    Man, and I’ve got this lovely Man-Thing pitch percolating right now, too.

  10. berk Says:

    I wish it was Omega, but that would be 30 years or so ago. Void Indigo would be my other choice, though!

  11. J. Alexander Says:

    I cast my vote for Void Indingo only based on the 20 years remark. I remember being really upset when this series was cancelled after one graphic novel and two issues.

    But as for the fortune cookie, my guess is that Jim Shooter will be giving you a call as wasn’t he the one who ended up cancelling the book?

  12. Steve Gerber Says:

    The ending of Void Indigo was never written, except in synopsis form. In this case, the entire script was completed almost twenty years ago.

  13. Charles Bryan Says:

    There’s probably not much point in digging for the nature of the project, so I won’t (except in that passive-semi-aggressive way that I just did), but here’s my question: Are they going with the script as written, or are you going to do some rewriting?

    I’m guessing it didn’t feature Captain America. But I wonder if it might feature characters that named their ship (IIRC) after the Good Captain? (I only write that so I can publicly demonstrate what a bad guesser I am.)

  14. David Allen Says:

    My guess is Kevin Nowlan’s Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man II. Joe Quesada was asked a few weeks ago on Newsarama about a rumor that Nowlan was virtually finished with the art:

    ”Ralf Haring” – Kevin Nowlan has an unfinished Man-Thing story written by Steve Gerber from many years ago that is very far along, something like 50 of 62 pages inked. Any chance of Marvel putting that on the schedule?

    JQ: This project has been the subject of ongoing conversations in our offices since I first became E-i-C. While I would love to see nothing more than this 15-plus year old project come to fruition, there are still pages remaining to be illustrated so there’s much more involved than just compiling it and sending it off to press. Perhaps some day.

  15. Rodrigo Baeza Says:

    David Allen’s guess seems to be correct. From a recent Kevin Nowlan interview:

    http://www.collectortimes.com/Clubhouse.html

    Jamie: In your Modern Masters interview, you mentioned wanting to do a complete Graphic Novel. Are you any closer to doing that?

    Kevin Nowlan: I hope so. The Man-Thing graphic novel is back in my hands now and I’m hoping I can clear my plate and finish the remaining pages later this year.

    Jamie: Was that supposed to one of those thin 80s Graphic Novels with Steve Gerber?

    Kevin Nowlan: Yes.

    Jamie: How many pages are left to do?

    Kevin Nowlan: Twelve — fifteen at the most.

  16. Steve Gerber Says:

    Since Kevin’s already spoken about it publicly, I suppose it’s okay for me to confirm that, yes, that’s the project.

    I remain skeptical, of course, but Kevin says he really wants to finish the book and that he and Marvel have finally settled whatever issues existed between them, so… we’ll see. I hope this comes to fruition, finally, because the artwork is just gorgeous. It’s an interpretation of Man-Thing unlike any you’ve seen before. And, having recently reread the script for the first time in more than a decade, I have to say, with all due modesty — the story’s pretty damn compelling, too.

  17. Starocotes Says:

    This could be a reason for me to buy a marvel book again (I’m not counting Ray Feists Magician adaption).

  18. David Allen Says:

    Steve, you won’t remember this, but I interviewed you by phone for CBG circa 1988 about your (ahem) return to Marvel and you described this project. My recollection is that you said this song-cry’s theme was the animation industry, which you were leaving.

    Speaking as a fan who bought Man-Thing 12 (at age 10, yet!), the sequel’s concept and its relation to your own career certainly piqued my interest, and still does almost 20 years later…

  19. Scott Andrew Hutchins Says:

    I am really looking forward to this one. I love your work on Man-Thing in the ’70s (though of course I read it much later). I hope this is on that level. Elements of Terror was good, but perhaps a little too Un-Men/Swamp Thing.

  20. Dan Coyle Says:

    Wow. I could have sworn that it was reported about six years ago that someone at Marvel during the bankruptcy period accidentally threw out the pages, thus scuttling any chance of it being completed. Well, I hope it comes to fruition.