THE JIM SHOOTER AVENGERS INTERVIEW (Page 2 of 4)
--A WONDER MAN: COOLER THAN SUPERMAN EXCLUSIVE--
INTERVIEWER: MITCHEL
8-Even though you didn't wrote issue 157, The Ghost of Stone, its continuity fits tight in-between your issues so you might be able to answer a question that have been plaguing Avengers fandom for a while. Whose is the robotic arm that animates the Black Knight statue in that issue? It has been theorized that it was Ultron in order to provide the destruction on the Mansion necessary for the Reaper to get inside, other people say it was Thanos since Ultron doesn't have those powers. Do you remember this plot?

The robotic arm was a typical Gerry

Conway riff-throw in something intriguing or mysterious and figure out what it means later. It was non sequitur-and, therefore, ignored by later writers, including me. As clever as Gerry is, I don’t doubt that he would have come up with a brilliant meaning for that scene that would have looked as if he’d planned it all along, if he’d stuck with the book. I’m not sure, but I think “Ghost of Stone” was a fill-in, an inventory story, that Gerry wrote, which we chose to use at that point, by which time Gerry had gone back to DC. I wrote around it, if memory serves.
9-In Avengers 160 Wonder Man's costume gets trashed by the Reaper's scythe. Instead of getting it back the next issue he is sporting a new one made by the Beast (George Pérez). Why the change in costume?
Because George wanted to do it, and George is both irrepressible and too talented to argue with.
10-After "The Trial" you gave us another classic in "The Bride of Ultron" in Avengers 161 & 162. I have read other Ultron’s stories but this one really made him look scary since we thought a bunch of Avengers have been slain by him in your first chapter. The stuff going between Hank & Jan made the whole situation seem more urgent, more desperate and uncomfortable throughout the story. What made you decide to reveal Jan & Hank’s marriage as a troubled one? What are your thoughts about these two characters? Did you like them as a couple? Most of your Avengers second run centered around these two and your changes seemed to mature the Wasp to her current status but at Hank Pym’s character’s expense.
I’m one of those types that does the research. I read, or reread, every story ever done that included Hank and Janet before I started on that arc. Think about it: Hank created the Ant Man and Wasp powers for himself and Janet, had some (very) minor
super-heroing successes, then…nothing but trouble. He created Ultron, one of the most terrifying monsters in history. He tried several different super-hero iterations-and usually was the first to fall, the first captured, the one
who got to big, got dizzy and collapsed, etc. He gave up super-heroing several times, having accomplished nothing useful, went back to the lab and invented nothing useful. He was a loser. Meanwhile, Janet decided that she wanted to be a fashion designer and was instantly successful. Janet got a chance to lead the Avengers and did very well. Janet was immensely wealthy-having inherited the van Dyne fortune-and was supporting Hank all this time. Think also about the stories by Stan, in which Jan is always flirting with Hank, building him up, flattering him, etc., and he’s always dismissing her.
I happened to be seated next to a psychiatrist on a five-hour flight to L.A. when I was coming up with the Hank/Jan
story arc, and I ran it by him. He said that my take on their relationship rang true-husband feeling inadequate, wife constantly deferring, propping up his ego, etc. I went ahead with the story. I got hate mail for “destroying one of the longest standing relationships in comics,” etc. It worried me enough to ask Stan about it. He said, “How are the sales?” I told him they were going up about 10,000 copies per issue. He said that it reminded him of the early days of Spider-Man, where he would get angry letters about Peter Parker’s troubles, but sales were skyrocketing. He advised me to press on. He said that if people care so much about the characters-especially characters that had previously been so minor/peripheral-it meant that that story resonated and that they loved hating it. My intention at the time was to drag Hank and Jan through Hell and later redeem
Hank. I left the series before completing the arc, though.
P.S. The issue in which Hank leaves the Avengers was drawn by Bob Hall, who did a good job. After it was published, Bill Sienkiewicz came to me and told me he wished he had been allowed to draw that issue. He apparently had knowledge of or experience with the subject matter close to home and knew exactly what the characters were feeling and how those feelings should have been depicted graphically. No offense to Bob, but I think Bill had special insight that would have brought greater depth and intensity to the key scenes with Hank and Jan. It was a highlight reel moment for me, hearing Bill describe how the story touched him.
11-There is a scene in 161 that caught my attention. When the ants, directed by Hank Pym, are attacking the Avengers right at the beginning of the story you have the Scarlet Witch be especially defenseless at this attack. In that sequence you
show Wonder Man desperate to find a way to help her while Vision’s priority is putting out Hank Pym to end the threat from its source, ignoring Wanda’s plea for help. The emotion and desperation of that scene is further
highlighted by Wonder Man screaming at Vision "Damn your cold logic" while at the same time Wanda is so desperate she starts calling out for "Pietro", her absent brother and previous protector. It always seemed to me your take on Wanda was that of an often ignored and taken for granted wife. Vision’s logic often made him seem like an absent husband and something was lacking for her in this relationship. Am I right to read this as your interpretation of their relationship?
You’re good. There has to be a downside to a relationship that involves an utterly logical partner. Did I really use the word “damn?”
12-You also established in this same story Wanda as the one Avenger Ultron fears the most because her hex power is capable of disrupting his indestructible adamantium body. Why Wanda who had been an often not so powerful character and many times the damsel in distress?
I find that often the character that seems weak in one instance has a unique ability to save the day in another instance. Who picks the kid with the pocket protector first when you’re playing softball? But when your PC goes blooey…
13-I thought it was great the way you had Ultron use Hank & Jan, his "parents" in a very Frankenstein monster way to create a bride for himself. The way you had the Wasp dialogue throughout the creation of Ultron’s mechanical bride start coming from Jan and end up
coming out of the metallic female robot next to her was wonderful and creepy at the same time. When you created Ultron’s bride, Jocasta, did you intended her to be a one story character or you were planning on making her an Avenger all along.
Was George responsible for the "Metropolis" look on Jocasta or was it something you had specified? Were you happy with George’s design?
I thought Jocasta could be a significant character. George did the design for the character with no more direction than that she should be appealing. George is great.
14-Have you read Ultron Unlimited in Avengers volume 3 by Kurt Busiek and George Pérez? If so how do you feel on them expanding on the Ultron myth? How do you feel about the revelation that Hank Pym used his brain patterns in the creation of Ultron?
Sorry, didn’t read it. Sounds good.
15-How do you feel about "The Bride of Ultron" as a story? How do you feel about the way Michelinie focused on Jocasta during his run and her relationship with Vision and the rest of the cast?
I thought “The Bride of Ultron” came out pretty well. Dave didn’t do anything the way I would have done it, but what he did, I thought, was damn good. Dave is great.
16-You and Michelinie made of Jocasta one of my favorite Avengers. Why did you let her go at the beginning of your second run? I feel Jocasta could have been used instead of Tigra as the group’s rookie in your second run. Did you have further
plans for Jocasta? After Michelinie and Mantlo she has pretty much been ignored by the writers that followed. If you had gone for a third run as Avengers writer would you have had interest in this character?
I had ideas for Tigra and I played them out. If I had stuck around, I would have used Jocasta. So many characters, so little time…
17-Have you kept current with the character of Jocasta? If so how do you feel about her loosing her metallic armor body in favor of something more humanoid looking similar to Vision’s body in recent Iron Man stories?
I haven’t kept up. Sorry.
18-During "The Bride of Ultron" you started a subplot were Wonder Man starts getting afraid of dying and questioning if he is fit to be an Avenger. It is surprising to see him at the beginning of the story breaking equipment in frustration and thirst for action and once he confronts Ultron he is surprised and ashamed for feelings of fear of dying in action. Did you intended this stage fright to be a defining trait with the character of Wonder Man or should it be something left behind and writers should develop this character in other directions? I thought after facing this fear at the end of the Korvac Saga, your closing story, this subplot would be over. Why do you think other writers continued using this phobia or a lack of self confidence for some time after your story? At the time you were writing him, dying and coming back was a rare occurrence in the Marvel Universe; nowadays there are many characters that have gone this way so it kind of cheapens Simon’s trauma.
As I said before, someone who is a legendary hero, for good reason, like Cap, is ahead of the curve compared to a relative newcomer, no matter how powerful, like Wonder Man. It can’t be easy being faultlessly brave. It must
be a process going from mortal man/industrialist to fearless super-hero warrior. Not all heroes are equally brave. To understand who Cap is, and how special he is, you must be privy to what goes through the minds of Wonder Man and Tigra when they face the likes of Ultron and the Molecule Man. I intended the final issue of the Korvac saga to be a watershed for WM, after which he would be over his residual “human” fears and on his way to being a hero worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with Cap. I suppose that other writers liked the lack of confidence angle, and chose to keep milking it-or, possibly, they missed the point.
19- I asked David Michelinie when he did his interview for our site why did he decided to get Wonder Man into an acting career, something so out of character for the introverted ex-engineer that was Simon Williams and he said he was following the direction you had set for this character before
giving the book to him. Now I ask you, why acting and not back to being an engineer like
Tony Stark?
Hmm. I think what I was after was revealing new aspects of his character. I’ve known successful investment bankers who wished they were jazz sax players, builders who wished they were chefs and
licensing magnates who wished they were singers. Hell, Michelinie wishes he was a ballerina. Just kidding. Anyway, I wanted him to be a deep, rich, real character. Dave made it happen.
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