About this Colleen Doran Interview
Painstakingly transcribed from the pages of Wizard Magazine issue #140, Colleen Doran sat down with the comic book journalists at Wizard Magazine for their May issue in 2003. For 5 questions about Colleen Doran’s personal story behind Orbiter, a hardcover one-shot published under the Vertigo imprint, and with the involvement of Warren Ellis and Dave Stewart.
Here’s that interview – with a few SEO changes to make sure someone actually sees it.
5 Questions with Colleen Doran
Growing up a few miles from where the original Mercury astronauts trained, writer/artist Colleen Doran (A Distant Soil) jumped at the opportunity to pencil DC’s hardcover one-shot Orbiter, the tale of a doomed space shuttle written by Warren Rllis (Planetary). However, after the Space Shuttle Columbia accident in February killed all seven astronauts aborad, Orbiter ran the risk of being shelved. DC Decided to move forward with April’s Orbiter launch, with a new foreword by Ellis.
How much research did you put into this project?
Colleen Doran: I’ve been a lifelong space program enthusiast. I’ve been collecting memorabilia since I was a little girl. I still have the “Man on the Moon” live broadcast album that my parents bought me when I was just a few years old. I grew up a few miles from Langley, where astronauts trained. Some of my best friends growing up were people that worked for NASA.
Where were you when you first heard about the Columbia?
Colleen Doran: I was doing the Creation Convention in Pasadena. Whoever was in the hotel room next to me never turned off his television and I didn’t get any sleep. It was 6 a.m., and I was going, “I’m gona kill this guy if he doesn’t turn off the TV.” I overheard the words “space shuttle” and “NASA.” They never talk about the shuttle unless it’s bad news. I just sat there for hours watching the news.
How did you react when you saw that was going on?
Colleen Doran: I just sat there with my mouth hanging open going, “Oh no, those poor people.” I just thought, “Man, I hope it was quick.” Then I thought, “Jesus, their families are waiting for them, I wonder if they even know?” It should’ve been the happiest day of their lives.
How important is Orbiter in lieu of what happened?
Colleen Doran: Orbiter is about that sense of wonder, about hope. People who enjoy their cable television and their Doppler radar weather and all these wonderful technologies – we take for granted these things came from space program research. People don’t understand that the space program returns $3 to the economy for every $1 invested. I’ve never had any doubt since I saw the first broadcast from the moon, I just knew it was something wonderful and if I could understand that as a toddler, I don’t understand why adults can’t quite get it.
How important is Orbiter to you personally?
Colleen Doran: I was about 10 years old and an astronaut came to our school. He asked for questions, and I raised my hand and asked my question, then he’s like, “Anybody else?” I raised my hand again, and did it over and over until somebody else raised their hand, and ya know what their question was? How do you go to the bathroom? I was asking about psychological tests, claustrophobia, training, G-forces – I was totally into this stuff.
At that moment I knew that I got it. I ended up applying for the civilian space shuttle program when I was 20, and I could never pass since I have the world’s worst eyesight. I just wanted to be an astronaut so bad when I was a kid, and I just hope that this book is inspirational.
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