Ian Rankin's Constantine: Surely this CAN'T be good...

[Zarjazzer]

J.Michael Straczynski he of Babylon 5 fame wrote for DC -Teen titans,Rising Stars (was that Image?) and several Marvel titles I believe. Indeed Red 5 comics are now only interested in writers with a TV/film background. I think pretty much the same is beginning to happen at the big two and Dark Horse whatever they may say on their web sites.

Josh Whedon creator of Buffy and Serenity also wrote comic books of both those series and stuff for Marvel.

"Pure" comic book writers seem to be less in demand.

[House of Usher]

Greg Rucka, crime novelist, on Batman.

[Emperor]

I'm not sure if I'm being too literal here but the answer is: Since the late 19th century:

I didn't express myself well enough there: I mean when did John Constantine become an "occult detective"?

He always has been. He is more than that of course (he is very much a conman - using confidence tricks at least as much as he uses magic) but he has always been in that literary tradition.

[DavidXBrunt]

Can anyone think of examples of writers in other media taking on comics?

There have been quite a few recently, mostly through D.C.

You have the John Cleese scripted Superman Elseworld that got buggered up, allegedgly, by the artist. I'd mention him but he's been discussed at length elsewhere...

Popular yankee novelist Jodi Picoult was a decent choice for writer on Wonder Woman. Nick liked her story, at any rate. She at least made the trains run on time, unlike her predecessor Allen Heinburg.

He's a telly writer with a list of credits liek Sex and the City, Greys Anatomy and general chick friendly telly. He was so late completing the relaunch story for Wonder Woman they had to skip the conclusion, carry on with the next story, and publish the last part as an annual months later. Ooops.

Kevin Smith is an obvious one. Spiderman, Batman, Green Arrow, the list goes on. He's been prone to delays, as has Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof with the muy, muy delayed Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine.

Gene Simmons, of Kiss fame, has written some comics but for real Rock to funny books success you'd have to mention My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way, who created the Umbrelle Acadamy, which has had various mini-series so far. They're astonishingly good.

Micheal J. Stracvynski, or however that is spelled, has written plenty of comics since completing Babylon 5. They tend to be solid, dense, slightly old fashioned reads rather than anything spectacularly astonishing but that doesn't mean they're not worth checking out.

Brad Meltzer was a best selling novelist before he started writing big continuity affecting stories for D.C. He's now one of their big guns but, you know, I'm not really sure why.

Bringing it back full circle...Patton Oswald, stand up comic and King of Queens star, wrote an eccentric JLA special that showed the team from the perspective of an everyman watcher. It was funny, clever and he earned extra points for claiming, in publicity interviews, to have been inspired by John Smiths Constantine does the laundry issue of Hellblazer.

And there's the Shaun of the Dead tie in from 2k, years ago. It surprises me that Simon Pegg hasn't been offered, or if he's been offered, not taken more comic scripting work.

Oh, and whilst I was checking the issues of Wonder Woman that Picoult wrote I found this article...

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article3209943.ece

[Daveycandlish]

To get back on track -it's a pretty good tale. I bought Hellblazer for years and have a few of the more recent trades, and this fits in quite well with them. I actually haven't read any other Rankin but he seems to have made a decent fist of Constantine. The only thing thats lets the book down is some of the art - I don't know the artists work from elsewhere but I do feel it's a bit too cartoony at times and in some frames it's difficult to work out what he's depicting - which is annoying.
Overall - worth picking up and reading. Is it worth the £15 asking price? Maybe not. Borrow a friends or get it from the library. Try buying it from Amazon or somewhere cheaper if you must own a copy, or wait for a softback version

[Dandontdare]

You have the John Cleese scripted Superman Elseworld that got buggered up, allegedgly, by the artist. I'd mention him but he's been discussed at length elsewhere...

I've previously mentioned that this (Superman: Truer Brit) is truly pants, but I hadn't heard this - I had no problems with the art, just the inappropriately humorous' script!

Guy Ritchie (The mockney formerly known as Mr Madonna) co-wrote a pretty poor revenge thriller called the Gamekeeper with Andy Diggle. Mr Diggle made a decent fist of a rather thin idea, but it still came across as a GN version of a straight-to-video movie.

To get back on track -it's a pretty good tale. I bought Hellblazer for years and have a few of the more recent trades, and this fits in quite well with them. I actually haven't read any other Rankin but he seems to have made a decent fist of Constantine. The only thing thats lets the book down is some of the art - I don't know the artists work from elsewhere but I do feel it's a bit too cartoony at times and in some frames it's difficult to work out what he's depicting - which is annoying.
Overall - worth picking up and reading. Is it worth the £15 asking price? Maybe not. Borrow a friends or get it from the library. Try buying it from Amazon or somewhere cheaper if you must own a copy, or wait for a softback version

I got the wrong end of the stick - I thought this was a Constantine NOVEL.

[Emperor]

Can anyone think of examples of writers in other media taking on comics?

There have been quite a few recently, mostly through D.C.

Indeed - one of the big current trends in comics is getting screenwriters in to work on their titles (at Marvel and DC). So many I'd struggle to come up with a comprehensive list but it includes writers from Lost, Fringe, Smallville, etc.

This has gone on for a while as Michael Moorcock had a lot of comics out back in the day and it runs all the way up to China Mieville having a story in the Hellblaser Xmas special (he actually has a comic story in in his small story anthology, illustrated by Liam Sharpe, who introduced him to DC).

[O Lucky Stevie!]

This has gone on for a while as Michael Moorcock had a lot of comics out back in the day and it runs all the way up to China Mieville having a story in the Hellblaser Xmas special (he actually has a comic story in in his small story anthology, illustrated by Liam Sharpe, who introduced him to DC).

God forbid anyone being talented at more than one thing, the jammy bastards.

Both Lydia Lunch & Nick Cave* have also written comics.

*yeah, Stevie knows that Mr Cave hasn't recorded a decent album in nigh 20 years, but that doesn't invalidate the argument

[Trout]

*yeah, Stevie knows that Mr Cave hasn't recorded a decent album in nigh 20 years, but that doesn't invalidate the argument

Noooooooooooooooooooooo! I quite liked all the Grinderman stuff, plus bits of various recent albums.

- Trout

[SmallBlueThing]

*yeah, Stevie knows that Mr Cave hasn't recorded a decent album in nigh 20 years, but that doesn't invalidate the argument

Noooooooooooooooooooooo! I quite liked all the Grinderman stuff, plus bits of various recent albums.

- Trout

How long ago were Boatman's Call and Murder Ballads? I've been deeply dissappointed by everything he's done since. I used to be a major admirer of Mr Cave- but recent efforts and interviews have revealed that he's actually a bit of a twat.

Steev

[I, Cosh]

*yeah, Stevie knows that Mr Cave hasn't recorded a decent album in nigh 20 years, but that doesn't invalidate the argument

Noooooooooooooooooooooo! I quite liked all the Grinderman stuff, plus bits of various recent albums.

- Trout

The Abbatoir Blues half of that double set is brilliant and every other album has a clutch of great songs on it.

Regarding other writers trying their hand at comics, DC's short-lived Helix imprint had another Michael Moorcock title and Vermillion by sci-fi/horror writer Lucius Shepard. It was far too wordy, as if Shepard didn't really believe the pictures could fill in enough of the story, but zombie fans would still be well advised to pick up a copy of his novel Green Eyes.

[I, Cosh]

And I've just read that Scott Ian (of Anthrax and, thus, "I Am The Law" fame) is writing a Lobo series!

[SmallBlueThing]

Am I the only one who is actively turned off by writers from other media suddenly trying their hand at comics? Like Alan Moore "writing songs", it's a red-headed stepchild at best.

I have little time for Ian Rankin- my elderly mum reads him and says he's "lovely", which tells me all I need to know really. Constantine has had his day- the most recent stuff I've read has been pure pastiche- and not even good pastiche at that. Everything you need to read was published by the time Ennis left.

What next? Dan Brown writing Swamp Thing?

Or maybe I'm just SPECTACULARLY grumpy today...

Steev

[House of Usher]

*yeah, Stevie knows that Mr Cave hasn't recorded a decent album in nigh 20 years

Poppycock! What about No More Shall We Part? That was 2001. Highlights include:

Fifteen Feet of Pure White Snow
As I Sat Sadly By Her Side
God Is In The House
Oh My Lord

What more do you want??

[House of Usher]

Just giving it another listen now. I'll add The Sorrowful Wife to that list.