Busiek Quotes & Sayings

Have only this consolation
that he was never a fiend or even truly a madman, but only an eager, studious, and curious boy whose love of mystery and of the past was his undoing. He stumbled on things no mortal ought ever to know, and reached back through the years as no one ever should reach; and something came out of those years to engulf him. — H.P. Lovecraft

They never played games with each other, they never had tow worry where they stood, because if either of them had a moment of wavering, the other would say I love you and would mean it and all doubts were forgiven because in this one case it was found that love conquers all. — David Levithan

And is that why we do what we do? For public approval, for fame? Do we help people because they will be appropriately grateful--or merely because they need help? — Kurt Busiek

Jared, thus far it's my understanding that you've been raised by a family of assassins. You've spied on me, stalked me, installed microphones in my bedroom, and confessed to falling in love with me before I could drive. If I haven't left by now, I don't think I'm going to. — Jamie McGuire

That's the way it happens - some characters you set out to use, some are happy accidents. As long as it works, it doesn't really matter how you got them. — Kurt Busiek

The heat is searing and superb. The paddocks surrounding the town are bleached blond. The distant ring-barked gums, mile after mile, wriggle in the heat-waves, and seem to melt like the bristles of a melting hairbrush. The hills turn powder-blue and gauzy. Mirages resembling pools of mica and shallows of crystal water appear at the far ends of streets and roads. Punctually at eleven every burning morning, the cicadas begin to drill the air, to drill themselves also, ceaselessly and relentlessly, to death in one short day after seven long years underground. — Hal Porter

Maybe I had a 'secret identity,' but then when you think about it, don't we all? A part of ourselves very few people ever get to see. The part we think of as 'me.' The part that deals with the big stuff. Makes the real choices. The part everything else is a reflection of. — Kurt Busiek

Even when I retired, there was part of me that didn't want to retire. But once you decide it's time to move on then you have to stick with it. — John Elway

They gave you that trophy so you wouldn't feel bad, not because you deserved it. You should know the difference. — Mindy Kaling

I always figured there would be a kid audience and an adult audience, and there is. That's true for 'Hunger Games' and 'Twilight' and 'Harry Potter.' And 'Maximum Ride,' for sure. In particular what happens is a lot of parents share the books with their kids, and the mom has read it, and the kids, and they talk about it. — James Patterson

Solar power, wind power, the way forward is to collaborate with nature - it's the only way we are going to get to the other end of the 21st century. — Bjork

This was too much. I refuse. I absolutely REFUSE to be an onion. — Louise Fitzhugh

When I realized that people actually wrote comics, that it was a job people could do, I thought, 'Gee, these things are only 17 pages long! I could probably finish one of those and find out whether I suck before I've spent five years of my life on it.' In stumbling into comics that way, I discovered that I loved the form. — Kurt Busiek

I wrote 'Marvels,' which was about a guy who had two daughters, and I wrote 'Astro City Volume 2 #1,' which was about a guy who had two daughters. In both cases, about a year and a half or two years apart. And then after that, I had two daughters, about a year and a half or two years apart. — Kurt Busiek

The most fascinating powers don't mean a thing if the guy's poorly motivated or dull, and the most generic powers won't hurt a well-motivated character. Personality and motivation are what make Magneto, Magneto and not Cosmic Boy. The powers work for him, but it's his motivation that makes him the character he is. — Kurt Busiek

I wanted to be a writer, but the idea of writing novels or movies seemed really intimidating. I never got more than a few pages into one. — Kurt Busiek

I love creator-owned comics. Most of my favorite books these days are creator-owned, from stuff DC publishes, like 'Fables,' to books like 'Saga,' 'Fatale,' 'Hellboy,' and 'Courtney Crumrin.' — Kurt Busiek

Marvel's got a crowded universe, and there are already so many characters hogging the spotlight that it's hard to break through that. First off, whatever character you're creating, odds are, there's already someone similar in one way or another. — Kurt Busiek

I could name you a dozen superheroes whose powers I'd like to have. But if I could have any power in the world, it would be the power to read or watch a creative work and absorb the technical skill of the people who made it. Because then I could have even more fun writing. That's my core identity. I'm a writer. I just love telling stories. — Kurt Busiek

And I saw in them a hope...A hope that it was possible to have secrets, to mask one's true nature...and yet still to walk among men. — Kurt Busiek

I've been getting my reel together. I think they are looking at me more as an actress because I have a lot of potential and a lot of skills. — Serena Williams

In America, as was the topic earlier about polygamy, consenting adults are supposed to do - be able to do whatever they want to each other, whether it's marrying multiple partners, marrying someone of the same sex, prostitution, marijuana. As long as you're not hurting anyone else, it's really none of the government's business. — Max Kellerman

You've got to leave the reader with more than just a name and a costume - they need to know who the character is, what they're like, what kind of attitude they have, what sort of role they play. — Kurt Busiek

What really matters is not how well a character fits a definition, but how strongly he or she resonates. Characters with strong, resonant ideas at their core will have more of an impact on the cultural consciousness than a character who's just an empty collection of attributes. — Kurt Busiek

Dracula, if he could see modern corporations, wouldn't like them much. He took care of his people, at least as he saw it. They had very little freedom, but they had a protector. — Kurt Busiek

When you have a novel set in a fictional history, you still should get your history right. — Kurt Busiek

I don't view Twitter as a promotional tool but as a really, really, really cool cocktail party. — Kurt Busiek

It strikes me that the only reason to take apart a pocket watch, or a car engine, aside from the simple delight of disassembly, is to find out how it works. To understand it, so you can put it back together again better than before, or build a new one that goes beyond what the old one could do. We've been taking apart the superhero for ten years or more; it's time to put it back together and wind it up, time to take it out on the road and floor it, see what it'll do. — Kurt Busiek

He was saving innocents and serving truth. And in the final judgement, what is more important? The burdens we bear -- or the way we bear them? — Kurt Busiek

What followed would inaugurate one of the most spatially astonishing crime sprees in U.S. history. Nineteenth-century New York City police chief George Washington Walling estimated that Leslie and his gang were behind an incredible 80 percent of all bank robberies in the United States at the time, until Leslie's betrayal in the spring of 1878. This would include the great Manhattan Savings Institution heist of October 1878, which netted nearly $3 million from one of the most impregnable buildings in North America. — Geoff Manaugh

Stop it. Seriously. This isn't funny.'
'You're right.' A pause. 'It's pathetic. — Sarah Dessen

The reason I quit being a sales manager over twenty years now is because I hate elevator pitches. I want to write stories and show people what's in them when they read them, not tell them all about it ahead of time. — Kurt Busiek

I created lots of characters in high school and college, and the first character I created in pro comics was Liana, Green Lantern of M'Elu, for a backup story in 'Green Lantern #162,' my first professional sale. — Kurt Busiek

Between 'Avengers,' 'JLA/Avengers,' and 'Trinity,' I've gotten down and dirty in the big universes and had a hell of a time playing in those sandboxes. — Kurt Busiek

If he wasn't careful he'd be "off to the races" again and he could feel the happy little ponies inside him bouncing in delight at the thought. — L.E. Franks

Too many churches have become entertainment halls where star speakers strut and swagger for their fans. For too many houses of worship, the platform has become a performance stage for musicians - and I mean that in the most ignoble sense. Even when they shout and sing the name of Jesus Christ, somehow the focus of attention is upon them and public praise stays with them. — Charles R. Swindoll

Theme is great for people who like to approach stories that way, but it's an organizing principle that helps us write a story that has some weight; it's not something that all readers have to care about. — Kurt Busiek

I tend to think that the best face of humanity is that we learn. We explore, we study, we think. — Kurt Busiek

I like superheroes. I like the drama of it, the stirring, larger-than-life aspect. — Kurt Busiek

At one point, I worked up a list of five requirements for a superhero: superpowers, a costume, a code name, a mission, and a milieu. If the character had three out of the five, they were a superhero. But that's just my definition. — Kurt Busiek

Mainly, what I like to do is keep things varied and not get in a rut, not tell the same stories over and over. — Kurt Busiek