This Is Not My Column, by John Ostrander

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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19 Responses

  1. Michael Davis says:

    I feel your pain. Perhaps you should look at something on TV that will spark your imagination. I suggest…eh…how about…you can watch…Damn dude, I feel your pain.

  2. Tony Isabella says:

    I have a list of comics industry people who hate me. People who wish I would just die already and never write anything else ever again.When I get blocked, I look at that list.Then I started writing again.Tony Isabella

    • Michael Davis says:

      You have a list? HA! ROOKIE! I have a BOOK of comics industry people who hate me. People who just don't wish I would die but have tried to kill me. When I get blocked I simply walk around the grounds of my vast estate while drinking tea with my pinky out. Then I pick one of those people at random, call them and scream "HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW…B I T C H?"Join me Tony and together we can rule the empire!! By the way I AM YOUR FATHER!

  3. Tony Isabella says:

    That should be:"Then I start writing again!"Oh, for an editing function here.Tony

  4. Glenn Hauman says:

    That’s the joy of self-employment and being your boss, folks – you got nobody to blame but yourself. Bastard.It's also nowhere near as much fun to steal office supplies.I don't even want to talk about the sexual harassment. I swear, if I grope myself one more time…And stop banging your head against the computer. If you break it open and let the magic smoke out of the computer, it won't work anymore.

    • Mike Gold says:

      "I don't even want to talk about the sexual harassment. I swear, if I grope myself one more time…"Thanks for sharing, Glenn.

      • Glenn Hauman says:

        Hey, both John and I have worked for you. Self-abuse is an improvement. I understand Mark Waid still cries himself to sleep at night from the terrors. Of course, John's used to self-abuse, being an ex-Catholic and all.

    • Michael Davis says:

      "I don't even want to talk about the sexual harassment. I swear, if I grope myself one more time…" DUDE!! GET A GRIP. Oh wait you have. DUDE, get a girl!!

      • Mike Gold says:

        Ha! Remind me to introduce you to Glenn's wife, Brandy. THAT thought will keep Glenn busy for a while…

        • Michael Davis says:

          Now that I think about it I do remember that Glenn HAS a girl and I hear what a fine girl she will be. I mean is.

          • Matt Mako says:

            Isn't it What a good WIFE she could be?Good wife – fine girl -Ahh, Another song stuck in my head.Sigh -Hmm hmm hmmm . .. Yeah Brandy used to watch his eyes when he told his sailor's story She could feel the ocean fall and rise, she saw it's raging glory . . .

  5. MARK WHEATLEY says:

    When I can't write – I draw. When I can't draw I compose music. When I can't compose music I exercise. When I have not zee RED I use zee BLUE. But mostly I just goof off. (That's just to reinforce the impression that most people have of us creative types with short commutes.)

  6. Mike Gold says:

    After reading this thread, I turned to doing some editing-stuff (Black Ice, actually) and it dawned on my that this is Friday and I had some deadline stuff to do. Now, that might not be much of a revelation to those of you who work in a real office, but for those of us who work at home, either freelance or in a virtual office environment like ComicMix, sometimes you lose track of the day of the week. For one thing, we tend to work seven days a week.At least.

    • John Ostrander says:

      It's not the day of the week that i lose track of — it's which week of the month it is. Which MAY explain the state of my deadlines.As I recall, Mike, it was you who once called me and informed me I was past deadline and standing in the funeral line.

    • Marilee J. Layman says:

      I tend to completely forget about holidays. Now, since I spend so much time online, I love the few hours a week that I get to work on my art. You guys can see some of it at http://beadwork.mjlayman.com.

  7. Elayne Riggs says:

    Ah, nothing reaps in the comments like a meta-post! Fun essay, John.

  8. Matt Mako says:

    ED — This reminds me of Grim Jack.I just recently had a stream of unconsciousness from this past weeks Manx Cat.John (Gaunt, not Ostrander) had a trippy encounter with a big green caterpillar, sitting on some kind of Mushroom, and the ipod in my head started to play 'White Rabbit.''Go ask Alice' has recently sounded to me like Cialis.Now John writes about CLDE.So Clyde is a better name for limp dick syndrome than Ed?I don't know about you, but LDS makes me think of Star Trek IV.And Speaking of John Gaunt again – what does he think about ED, and LDS remedies, I cannot say I have seen any in Sweet Cynical Cynosure, but a man of advancing age might be inclined to try.OK I might not have writers block but I guess I few readers might wish I did.