Quotes by Antony Johnston - Page 1

Advertising is a nebulous beast at the best of times.
Antony Johnston /
Advertising
Copy Quote
The biggest problem almost all comics face is not piracy or demographics or any of that nonsense: it's obscurity.
Antony Johnston /
Demographics
Nonsense
Obscurity
Piracy
Almost All
Biggest Problem
Copy Quote
It is easier to rewrite anything - even the worst writing in the world - than it is to write something from scratch.
Antony Johnston /
Rewrite
Scratch
Copy Quote
I like high fantasy as much as the next guy, but I also like a bit of grit and grime with my faux-medieval trappings.
Antony Johnston /
Grit
Trappings
Copy Quote
There are many ways to improve your writing. Here's the bad news: 1.They all require hard work. 2.There is no magic bullet.
Antony Johnston /
Bad News
Hard Work
Magic
News
Work Hard Work Your
Bullet
Require
Copy Quote
Every Shania Twain interview ends with someone asking, 'Which Beatles album have you always wanted to cover, given the chance?'
Antony Johnston /
Cover
Interview
Twain
Copy Quote
Journalists constantly ask Metallica if the success of their new album means they've had 'the call' to record a Zeppelin cover album yet.
Antony Johnston /
Metallica
Cover
Journalists
Zeppelin
Copy Quote
This is absolutely the true answer, no word of a lie, 100% guaranteed: Q: What's the best way to turn my idea into a story? A: Whatever works for you.
Antony Johnston /
Best Way
Guaranteed
Copy Quote
Honestly, dialogue is a weird area for me. It just comes naturally; I know I'm quite good at it, but I can't actually tell you why or how in any detail.
Antony Johnston /
Dialogue
Naturally
Good Me Weird
Detail
Copy Quote
I like SF environments that seem used, and lived in, every day; not just rolled off a props truck. Look around you! Everything is scuffed, scratched, dinged, faded, even rusty.
Antony Johnston /
Faded
Props
Truck
Look Day Every Day
Environments
Rusty
Scratched
Sf
Copy Quote
A lot of young writers ask me about my process. They know what they want to write - but they need to know how. What's the right way? How do the professionals do it? What's the secret?
Antony Johnston /
Right Way
Young Writers
Me Process Way
Professionals
Copy Quote
What works for one writer may not work for another. There are as many methods as there are writers. Were you to live to a grand old age, you would still never have enough time to try them all.
Antony Johnston /
Enough Time
Old Age
Time Work Age
Work Time Age
Grand
Copy Quote
Anyone can sit down and write two pages of a novel, then forget about it, and a week later write five pages of a screenplay, then forget about it, and a week later start another novel... etc, etc.
Antony Johnston /
Etc
Pages
Screenplay
Copy Quote
If you do approach a comics publisher, make sure it's one that publishes the kind of book you want to make. Don't take your literary fiction to Marvel or DC; don't pitch your Spider-Man epic to Image.
Antony Johnston /
Epic
Spider Man
Dc
Literary
Literary Fiction
Marvel
Publisher
Copy Quote
I sometimes see People On The Internet decrying work-in-progress tweets and posts as worthless. 'Measuring output by quantity rather than quality is dangerous,' they say. 'More work doesn't mean better work!'
Antony Johnston /
Measuring
Output
Posts
Quantity
Worthless
They Say
Tweets
Copy Quote
The general public has been conditioned to think 'comics = superheroes' for as long as caped crusaders have been around - by critics, mass media, and Marvel and DC themselves, who have what you might call a vested interest.
Antony Johnston /
Critics
General Public
Mass
Mass Media
Conditioned
Dc
Marvel
Superheroes
Vested
Vested Interest
Copy Quote
I enthuse about Scrivener to all of my friends. Some of them even listen to me and download it. This is often swiftly followed by an email complaining that it's all very confusing, and they'll stick to Microsoft Word, thanks.
Antony Johnston /
Complaining
Confusing
Microsoft
Thanks
Download
Followed
Stick
Swiftly
Copy Quote
My process is kind of intuitive - I think about how a character will speak according to their station and personality, occasionally making notes with guidelines for their mannerisms, and then I just sort of crack on and write it.
Antony Johnston /
Guidelines
Intuitive
Mannerisms
Notes
According
Crack
Occasionally
Copy Quote
Scrivener can be a tricky beast to get your head around. When you do, a bell rings, and suddenly it all seems perfectly clear. But to reach that stage you have to understand what it can do, and try it out for yourself. Which can be daunting.
Antony Johnston /
Clear
Rings
Stage
Tricky
Bell
Daunting
Perfectly
Perfectly Clear
Reach
Suddenly
Copy Quote
Writers are a superstitious cowardly lot, and we loathe learning new computer applications to do something that, let's be honest, we could accomplish equally well with pen and paper - especially when that application is as unconventional as Scrivener.
Antony Johnston /
Accomplish
Application
Cowardly
Loathe
Unconventional
Equally
Pen
Copy Quote
I've always loved 'lived-in' sci-fi. We take it for granted now, but it was a revelation in the late '70s - '80s, when movies like 'Alien', 'Escape From New York', and even 'Star Wars' introduced us to the idea that the future could, in fact, look old.
Antony Johnston /
Granted
Sci Fi
Alien
Wars
Escape
Introduced
Revelation
Star Wars
Copy Quote
The Purple Man helps Matt understand that his powers are unique, and maybe he is cut out for the hero biz after all. And Mr. Fear challenges Daredevil's very philosophy; how does a Man Without Fear deal with a man who induces terror in everyone he meets?
Antony Johnston /
Daredevil
Purple
Terror
Mr
Matt
Meets
Powers
Copy Quote
I'd say 'Codename Baboushka' has been a slightly more difficult process for me, but I think that's precisely because it's quite different to my usual fare. And even then, being difficult doesn't make me prefer it, or not, to anything else. I like a challenge.
Antony Johnston /
Usual
Anything Else
Fare
Precisely
Slightly
Copy Quote
Imagine a music business where all the music press talked about, all day long, was cover bands of old rock and pop groups. Beatles cover bands, Rolling Stones cover bands, The Who cover bands, Led Zeppelin cover bands. Cover bands, cover bands, everywhere you go.
Antony Johnston /
Groups
Music Business
Rolling
Rolling Stones
Stones
All Day
Cover
Led Zeppelin
Talked
The Who
Zeppelin
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Finishing something is the hardest part. You know it's not as good as you hoped. You know there are plot problems. You know that by finishing it, you're saying - even if only to yourself - 'This is the best I can do.' And because it's not perfect, that's really hard.
Antony Johnston /
Finishing
Not Perfect
Plot
Best Good Yourself
Hardest Part
Hoped
Copy Quote
When someone says 'comic book movies', what they inevitably mean is a summer superhero blockbuster, with heavily-muscled and tightly-gluted men (plus the occasional token woman) in tight-fitting costumes punching the living daylights out of one another for two hours.
Antony Johnston /
Blockbuster
Comic Book
Costumes
Occasional
Plus
Punching
Superhero
Inevitably
Token
Copy Quote
So, yes, 'Codename Baboushka' is all-action and over-the-top, at least by my standards. But it also has a complex, multifaceted protagonist, a deep mystery at its core, and a kind of humanity that, through all the bullets and high-kicks, is really the soul of the book.
Antony Johnston /
Bullets
Core
Over The Top
Standards
Multifaceted
Protagonist
Copy Quote
'Daredevil: Season One' is kind of in-between. On the one hand, sure, it's a graphic novel. But on the other, it's beholden to existing continuity, and we're still telling the story in issue-length chapters. So it's not that different to writing a miniseries, and I've done plenty of those.
Antony Johnston /
Chapters
Continuity
Daredevil
Graphic
Beholden
Existing
In-Between
Copy Quote
That's right; I was watching 'From Russia With Love', one of my favourite Bond movies, and suddenly thought that I'd love to see a version of this from Tatiana Romanova's point of view. Or, better yet; what if she was the hero? What if this was her story, and Bond was just a side character?
Antony Johnston /
Favourite
Point Of View
Russia
What If
Love Movies Character
Version
Bond
Copy Quote
Quite simply, we're re-telling the very first adventures of 'Daredevil', as originally seen in DD #1-6, but in a modern style and setting - being faithful without being slavish. And I'm using those adventures as a framework to delve into Matt's psyche a little, as he learns to become a hero.
Antony Johnston /
Daredevil
Faithful
Framework
Setting
Adventures
Learns
Matt
Originally
Psyche
Slavish
Copy Quote
'Codename Baboushka' is an action-packed modern pulp spy thriller, in the sort of British tradition of 'Modesty Blaise', New Avengers and of course James Bond. It's a book about Contessa Annika Malikova, the last of a noble Russian line and an enigmatic, mysterious figure in New York high society.
Antony Johnston /
Avengers
Enigmatic
Modesty
Mysterious
Noble
Pulp
Spy
Tradition
Bond
James
James Bond
Thriller
Copy Quote
The Fuse is a solar energy station in orbit 22,000 miles above the earth. But it's more than just a big solar panel array. The Fuse is also home to Midway City, a technically illegal settlement that grew out of a bunch of engineers who decided they'd rather make a new life in space than return home to earth.
Antony Johnston /
Bunch
Decided
Engineers
Fuse
Illegal
Midway
Miles
New Life
Orbit
Return
Settlement
Life Space Home
Above
Array
Technically
Panel
Return Home
Solar
Copy Quote
A 300pp novel can easily become a 200pp novel by printing with smaller type; a 100pp screenplay can potentially become a film of between 60-140 minutes in length; a 200pp stage play could be performed in anything from 30 minutes to four hours. For all these media, the script length is agnostic to the final work.
Antony Johnston /
Agnostic
Length
Stage Play
Potentially
Screenplay
Smaller
Copy Quote
As we were developing 'Umbral', and I was delving into the mythology and legends, I had a sudden realisation. 'Wasteland' is about people who fervently believe new myths and legends, but they turn out to be false; whereas 'Umbral' is about people who reject ancient myths and legends, but they turn out to be true!
Antony Johnston /
Ancient
Delving
Developing
Legends
Mythology
Realisation
Believe People New
Be True
False
Fervently
Reject
Sudden
Whereas
Copy Quote
'Modesty Blaise' is not well known in the United States, but in the United Kingdom, she's an institution - especially for a comic book reader of a certain age. She's a wonderful creation, and her strip ran in newspapers for a long time. So whenever female spies come to mind for us, they think of 'Modesty Blaise'.
Antony Johnston /
Book
Comic
Comic Book
Creation
Female
Long Time
Modesty
Newspapers
Ran
Reader
States
United Kingdom
Well Known
Wonderful
Certain Age
Institution
Spies
Strip
Copy Quote
Our main character is Klem Ristovych, the most senior detective in the MCPD. Klem's a dinosaur, the oldest cop working the Fuse, and nobody can believe she hasn't retired yet. Hell, she can hardly believe it herself. But what else is she going to do? Sit at home and watch soap operas all day? She'd throw herself out of an airlock first.
Antony Johnston /
Cop
Fuse
Retired
Senior
Soap
Soap Operas
All Day
Detective
Dinosaur
Hardly
Herself
Main Character
Oldest
Operas
Copy Quote
I was wrapping up my stint on 'Daredevil' co-writing with Andy Diggle during the Shadowland story, when Marvel asked if I was interested in doing something else with DD but a bit different. When they explained the purpose of the 'Season One' books, I was intrigued - I'm a big advocate of books for people new to the medium - and said yes.
Antony Johnston /
Daredevil
Intrigued
Wrapping
Advocate
Andy
Explained
Marvel
Medium
Something Else
Copy Quote
When I'm back at my computer, and/or have more time to deal with the project than when I made the initial notes, I transcribe them into a Scrivener document. I create a new Scrivener file for every project, right at the start, and make a folder for these transcribed notes; when entering them, I title each note document according to date.
Antony Johnston /
Entering
According
Time Start New
Date
Document
File
Initial
Note
Title
Copy Quote
Contessa, a.k.a. Baboushka, was a leader in the Russian mafia. Hardnosed, ruthless... very much her own woman. She's a martial artist, marksman, and good with guns and gadgets as any good pulp spy should be. She's supported by her constant companion Gyorgy Gyorgyov, an old friend of her family who was, in fact, her KGB handler and inventor.
Antony Johnston /
Companion
Constant
Gadgets
Pulp
Ruthless
Spy
Guns
Martial
Old Friend
Copy Quote

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Comedian
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Antony Johnston Quotes - Page 1

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