Fossil Quotes

There’s a new Man of Steel in Metropolis, and he’s ready to take fans up, up and away! With the recent announcement of Starman writer James Robinson picking up full-time duties on Superman starting in June, Wizard Universe took a few minutes to chat with the fan-favorite scribe about his upcoming gig, his plans to tie the book together with Geoff Johns` Action Comics and headbutting the sh-- out of Wizard reporters! So James, it’s been a while since you’ve been in comics. Why did you come back now, and why Superman? Honestly, I have always wanted to work with Geoff Johns. He is one of the greatest comic book creators currently working. And as an old fossil, it’s just nice to be invited to be part of the party. What about Geoff made you want to work with him? Well, if you met him, he’s a genuinely good man that you just want to be around and want to be friends with. So, that’s it. He’s a good man. End of story. How did you get approached to work on the title? Geoff called me up and asked if I wanted to do it. And I jumped at the chance. In fact, if you want to be comic-booky about it, he’s Hal Jordon and I’m Oliver Queen. And that’s very close to the truth. So, I was thrilled to work with him and I am very excited about all the ideas we have. We have so many ideas and hopefully we’ll make Superman less of a putz and more of a book people want to read each month. I’ve been reading Geoff’s stuff in Action Comics, and I love the direction he’s taken the character. What sort of direction will you be taking on your book? Well, I’m wary to tell you. Only because Geoff has a lot of ideas and I’m very much allowing him to run the show. But I will say this: By the end of it, you will care about every major character in the Superman universe. You will care about Superman, you will care about Clark Kent, you will care about Lois, you will care about Jimmy Olsen. It’s going to be a great book when we’re done with it. Actually, that’s a bad thing to say because that means we’d be done and we’d be leaving it. You will love this book while we are writing it. And I honestly see myself on this book for two years. And so does Geoff. So, can we expect more consistency between Superman and Action Comics? More crossovers and such? Yes, you can. You definitely will. This is one of the things we’re excited about. In the past, it’s been broken up. No one cares about Superman broken up. You want consistency. Geoff and I will give you consistency. You will be happy every week a Superman book comes out. I guarantee, once we’re up and running, Superman and Action will be book you want to read. So, it’s kind of like the Batman and Detective Comics stories you did for One Year Later? No, it’s better than that. I would not be doing this if it were just a frolic. This means a lot to me. I want this to be a great piece of work for Geoff and me. Geoff Johns is a fantastic comic book writer. I really believe in him. And I think he and I together can really make Superman into a book...everyone considers this character as superpowered, super-this, super-that, but really boring and not interesting. We will make this character and Metropolis into something you care about. And I’m not somebody that speaks this way with idle threats or boasts—I really am having fun writing these books. So hopefully, you readers will have fun reading what I have done. You mentioned you can’t say too much, but is there anything about character you particularly like? Actually, I can’t say too much more. We have so many plans, that if I say anything, it will ruin it. This book will be fantastic. If you want any indication, Geoff’s run with the Legion of Super-Heroes—that is the smallest aspect of what is planned. Can you talk about any other possible projects you might do? Would you ever go back to Justice Society of America? I don’t need to. I think Geoff Johns is doing a fantastic job and he doesn’t need me to do it. I met Geoff years ago when he was a fan. It’s one of the times when you believe in somebody and they follow through and it’s everything you had hoped for. I’m so proud of him. He doesn’t need my help doing Justice Society. He is solid gold. You mentioned that you met Geoff before and you respect him as a writer. I know for me, I love how he makes each character unique and gives them their own voice. What about how he writes do you like? Yeah, he’s character-driven. I mean, we’re all talking about Justice Society, but let’s remember he did Flash. And he turned that into a fantastic book. I mean, you’re the comic guy, I’m not, who’s the guy who ran Keystone Prison? He was little bit of a Nazi, but he hated supervillains. I can’t believe I don’t think I know this. Oh, you have not been reading Geoff’s work. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Gregory Wolfe is the warden of Iron Heights Prison in Keystone.) Come on man, what are you doing to me? Anyway, my point is, (Geoff) is solid gold in terms of characters. Yet, he knows the world. He knows superheroes. He manages to take reality. Keystone is like Pittsburgh or Detroit—it’s a working-collar place. He manages to take reality, turn it something surreal, turn it into something imaginary, and yet brings it back and makes you believe in it. I enjoyed his run on Flash. I enjoyed his run on Justice Society. And the fact that I get to work with him on Superman and Action is just a big perk for me. I still can’t believe you got me on this Keystone thing. Well, I could quiz you on Starman, and you’d be completed screwed. Am I right on that? (Laughs) See, Starman is a series I’ve always wanted to read but never got a chance to. Kevin, you’re a cool young man. I know that. And you’re getting all nervous. Relax, guy. We’re having fun here. Don’t worry. But yeah, I just finished my introduction to the Starman Omnibus. We’re doing six of them. And all the letters pages and all the extra bits I wrote and added in will all be included. And I actually have to thank the editor for that, who has done a fantastic job of putting everything together. So, where can I read all this? And just because I can get very violent, where do you live? Because if I don’t like what you’ve written, I’m going to beat the sh-- out of you, you know that? (Laughs) I’m not joking. Well, I’m a black belt, so you should be careful. You are a black belt? Well, perfect for you. I can do a devastating headbutt though. (Laughs) Yeah, I’d need to watch out for that. You’re British, correct? Oh yeah. I am very British. I actually have fought black belts before. And I’m not afraid to take a kicking to give one. Not that I think this will come to that. Are you going to be at WonderCon? No, but I will be at New York. Oh. Actually, I just found out I’m going to be at New York. Yeah, I’m going to beat the sh-- out of you. Yeah. That’s when we can have our fight. Bring it on. I’m going to headbutt you all over the place. You’re just going to be aching. I’ll just be punching everyone. So you better say, “Hello” and do so quickly.

For a time I didn`t want to answer any questions about Queen. I`d like to be viewed as something alive and relevant, not some fossil.

There is a reason it is called fossil fuel-it is an outdated method of getting power.

Practically every environmental problem we have can be traced to our addiction to fossil fuels, primarily oil.

Very interesting for an old duffer like me to try his hand at something new. If I don`t do that once in a while, I might just turn into a fossil, you know!

We need a vision that reduces our reliance on fossil fuels. But that`s also public policy, and that comes down to political will, ... It`s the governor and the Legislature saying, `We want to widen our narrow focus on fossil fuels. We want to diversify.`

That`s fossil water and when it`s gone, it`s gone. If you really are glacier-fed in a warming world, you`re up the creek without a paddle, no pun intended.

It`s especially clear that regions in Asia and South America are headed for a water supply crisis because once that fossil water (glacier) is gone, it`s gone.

Here`s what I think the truth is: We are all addicts of fossil fuels in a state of denial, about to face cold turkey.

Trees and soils can absorb carbon dioxide released by fossil fuel burning. It would be great to subsidize responsible farmers and forest managers.

I agree with Gould that the frequency of stasis in fossil species revealed by the recent analysis was unexpected by most evolutionary biologists.

Because of a lack of fossil fuel resources within its borders, Israel has been forced to innovate to maintain a sustainable energy policy.

Since 1850, burning of fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas has increased 100 times to produce energy as the world has industrialized to serve the world`s more than 6 billion and growing population.

The scientists who do climate research understand that much of the ever increasing concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere since 1850 must be attributed to burning those fossil fuels to produce the energy that drives industrialization.

I find it interesting that many of the people who want to restrict fossil fuels live in well-developed countries where abundant and affordable energy is readily available.

There is hardly an activity that a person can think about that does not intrinsically involve energy, most of which is currently provided by fossil fuels.

The sooner we get started with alternative energy sources and recognize that fossil fuels makes us less secure as a nation, and more dangerous as a planet, the better off we`ll be.

In addition to contributing to erosion, pollution, food poisoning, and the dead zone, corn requires huge amounts of fossil fuel - it takes a half gallon of fossil fuel to produce a bushel of corn.

The Europeans had a head start in establishing pilot schemes but they remain academically focused and have been slow to commercialize a resource that can economically compete with fossil fuels as a means of electricity generation.

Our country has been asleep at the switch on these things. The basic economics are that the supply of fossil fuels is limited and the demand is outstripping the supply. It`s a recipe for continued crisis if we don`t start changing our ways.

If America can go to the moon, then in the decades to come we should not ever have to have young Americans sent to any part of the world to defend and die for America`s gluttony on fossil fuel.