The Tchaikovsky of Comic Books.

I heard that one of my heroes was going to be signing autographs at Midtown Comics Downtown. So, The Illumi-Nerdi ventured to downtown NYC this evening to meet the one and only Brian K. Vaughan. For the few of you that have called your most recent residence “Under A Rock”, Brian K. Vaughan is the absolutely brilliant scribe behind the political superhero Mitchell Hundred in “Ex Machina”, the group of pubescent heroes in “Runaways”, the incredibly touching and heartbreaking story of a group of lions in “Pride of Baghdad” (one of the best single graphic novels I’ve ever read), the fascinating new series Saga, and everything that made me want to write; “ Y: The Last Man”.

I’ve been a fan of BKV since I started reading comic books. To me, he was the one constant in an ever changing medium. So many writers have their hits and their misses. But (for me at least) everything Brian K. Vaughan did was a homerun. He was, and is, the one writer that has consistently kept me turning pages. Say what you will for Alan Moore, Stan Lee,  Mike Mignola, Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns (some of my other favorites) but BKV is one of the only comic writers that can keep me up until 4:00 in the morning needing more. Not wanting more. But needing more. He’s one of the select few that I feel like if I don’t continue reading, something awful might happen to me.

And that’s why I requested off from work all day Thursday so that I could go downtown and shake this man’s hand. And all I can say is: I was not disappointed. I’ve met plenty of other writers in my day as an uberfan. I’ve had some pretty good experiences with the comic book elite (Robert Kirkman was very receptive to my dry sarcasm) and some situations that left something to be desired (Geoff Johns was just looking to move the line along), but BKV was perfectly willing, and genuinely interested in everything I had to say. So often do you hear about people meeting their heroes and being disappointed and upset with their callous attitude and disregard for their fans.  But while I was a shy nerd, Brian Vaughan was asking me questions, more interested in what I had to say than, me, the person saying it. All I wanted to do was say “Thank you for inspiring me to write” but he thanked me for reading and asked me (actually interested) “What are you writing”. Why should he care? He really shouldn’t (I probably wouldn’t if I were him), but he is still unpretentiously interested in what his fans are doing. That’s what makes him one of the uniquely readable comic book writers out there right now.

If you haven’t read “Saga” yet, don’t borrow it from your friend or read it in your comic store. Buy it. Believe me, it’s a series you’re going to want to say you’ve had since issue one. It’s an exceptionally distinct series. And If BKV did nothing but awful stories since Y: The Last Man, or as Zachary Levi called it on the TV series Chuck “the greatest literary achievement of our generation” (of which I wholeheartedly agree), I would read anything he did if only for the fact that he is a supremely nice gentleman.  

The Top 5 TV Shows They Should Totally Do

5. Fables- It has kind of gotten overshadowed by the far less awesome Once Upon a Time but Bill Willingham’s Fables is shockingly addicting. While Once Upon a Time is entertaining, it features one-dimensional characters and no really likable male characters at all. Fables on the other hand is chock-full (yes I said chock-full) of intriguing and interesting characters. Fables offers the character development and dark tone that Once Upon a Time tries so hard to achieve. It satisfies with dozens of storylines each one chock-full bursting with plot twists and nostalgia. The characters inhibit the basic outline of the Brothers Grimm and Disney versions of the characters but take on a whole new progression. I’d love to see these characters go one more step on to the little screen.

4. Harry Potter- Okay, this one will never happen. But it’s only a matter of time before they decide to redo the Harry Potter films in one way or another and I think TV would be a pretty damn cool way to do it. My biggest complaint about the movies was that there was so much left out. It’s nearly impossible to translate a 4000+ page series into 18 hours of movies. This is the problem with most adaptations, too much is changed or just omitted because of time restraints. But if they did it as a TV series, you’d have all the time in the world to make sure each character and each event got its proper screen time.

3. Star Wars Sequel/Prequel- This has to be made. They announced that they were doing a show that would occur between episodes III and IV back in 2005 but it has received very little talk or attention since. While the Prequel trilogy wasn’t the best thing that ever happened, most of that can be blamed on the fact that you can’t really live up the greatest film trilogy ever made (and Hayden Christensen’s uber-annoying performance). I wouldn’t be quite as interested in an in-between III-IV TV series as I would be in watching a show that takes place years after Return of the Jedi. A series chronicling the founding of the New Republic and the new Jedi Academy would be awesome. Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie could all return in supporting roles while the new generation would be the focal point (without it being too much like Saved by the Bell: The New Class). Unfortunately this will probably never happen and all Star Wars nerds have to look forward to is Hayden Christensen quitting acting.

2. The Stand- Stephen King’s magnum opus would translate so well to a TV series. Well, they tried it once but it was so half assed I would barely count it. Gary Sinise as Stu was really good (but he’s always good) and Jamey Sheridan as Randall Flagg was actually pretty terrifying but the rest of the mini-series was terrible. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse of Lost always called The Stand one of their biggest influences and they would be perfect to take this on. It is so episodic already and features so many incredible characters. If it were done like Lost, in a character focused, flashbacks-laden (back to before the plague hit) show, it would be the most addicting thing since and maybe even more than, Lost.

1. Y: The Last Man- This is by far my favorite comic of all time. There have been talks for years of making into a movie but I just don’t see it. There is so much happening in this 60 issue maxiseries, that to do it in one movie (as studios seem to be demanding) would just be awful. They could never do it justice to show Yorick’s development (and certainly Agent 355 and Dr. Mann) in under 2 hours. If Joss Whedon were to do this as a TV series it would be phenomenal. One of the main dilemmas with Y is that there is only one male character (sort of) and hundreds of female characters. It would certainly be difficult to cast but if anyone were up to it, it would be Joss Whedon. He’s already proven that he can do incredible female driven projects (Buffy, Dollhouse, even Alien Resurrection) and write strongly for female characters even when they aren’t the main focus (Firefly). Zachary Levi from Chuck has expressed interest in playing Yorick and I think he’d be perfect. Gina Torres, Zoe from Firefly (even though she’s Cuban, not black) would be a really strong choice for 355.

Gabriel Partridge