JOHN OSTRANDER: Genius and Barbecue

John Ostrander

John Ostrander started his career as a professional writer as a playwright. His best known effort, Bloody Bess, was directed by Stuart Gordon, and starred Dennis Franz, Joe Mantegna, William J. Norris, Meshach Taylor and Joe Mantegna. He has written some of the most important influential comic books of the past 25 years, including Batman, The Spectre, Manhunter, Firestorm, Hawkman, Suicide Squad, Wasteland, X-Men, and The Punisher, as well as Star Wars comics for Dark Horse. New episodes of his creator-owned series, GrimJack, which was first published by First Comics in the 1980s, appear every week on ComicMix.

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5 Responses

  1. Richard Pachter says:

    Nice story, Johnny O. The power of barbecue is awesome, to be sure!If you ever make it to Miami, check this place out:http://wordsonwords.com/reviews/Peoples.html

  2. Vinnie Bartilucci says:

    Del was a genius. And no matter what any scientists say, that's his skull they use for Hamlet. Even if it's not his skull, it's his skull.My wife is writing a novel (two of them actually) and she had a comedy relief character in one scene. I showed her how to make him into a running gag in the book, bringing him back twice for a classic comedy Triple. When she needed a name for him, I immediately suggested Harold, for Del's long-form improv fomat that features, among other things, a joke, punchline or character being used three times in the show.In her second book, there's a schnook named "Delbert Farr".

  3. Marilee J. Layman says:

    Geez, I was thinking "Del is dead and he doesn't know it" but then I got to the bottom. Whew.

    • Mike Gold says:

      Yep, I added the post-mortem because of my J-school training. For John and the rest of us who worked closely with Del, he's still there with us. His presence will be felt in every panel of Munden's Bar – even, I'm sure, the ones John doesn't write.

  4. Adriane Nash says:

    So very well planned out there John, putting Del in our thoughts & knowing what was coming in this week's Munden's. Kudos!