Brian K. Vaughan Online Comics, Videos, Interviews

[goldenboy]

Y: The Last Man #1, downloadable PDF (http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/1736_1.pdf)


Ex Machina #1 downloadable PDF (http://www.dccomics.com/media/excerpts/2500_x.pdf)


Brian K. Vaughan: 'The Aaron Sorkin Of Comics'? (http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1567786&vid=170587)


Brian K. Vaughan on 'Y the last Man'


BKV, fan interview


Joss Whedon interviews Brian K. Vaughan (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=11765)


Brian K. Vaughan, Pride of Baghdad Audio Interview (http://www.studio360.org/episodes/2006/11/17)


Popcandy Podcast, Brian K. Vaughan (http://blogs.usatoday.com/popcandy/2006/09/new_podcast_y_t.html)

[goldenboy]

A quick interview with BuddyTV.

'Lost' Writer/Producer Brian K. Vaughan Talks Writing, TV, and Getting 'Lost'

September 22, 2007

A few months back we began a series of articles dedicated to helping jonzin' Lost fans find a bit of the show's flavor in lesser known works of Television, Film, and virtually any other entertainment medium. Along the way, we wrestled with decoding just what the 'Lost' sensibilities were. After a while, the notion arose to turn the question of what Lost's recipe contained back to the very people who create it.

The find folks at Lost were all too happy to oblige, so over the next few weeks we will bring you profiles of some of the amazingly talented writers that work behind the scenes to ensure Lost keeps moving to its tell-tale rhythm. In their own words, several of Lost's finest word=smiths will let fans feel their creative pulse as they share what inspires them to write, what they are interested in right now, and what they would recommend Lost fans sample while they wait for a return to “The Island.”

Up first is newcomer Brian K. Vaughan. Vaughan joined Lost during season 3 after establishing himself as one of the hottest, if not the hottest, writer in the comic book scene. His accolades include the coveted Eisner award, and Entertainment Weekly ranked his co-creation ‘Ex Machina' as one of the ten best works of fiction of 2005.

Vaughan's presence was felt almost immediately after he joined Lost as Executive Story Editor with the episode “The Man from Tallahassee.” Brian also penned the pivotal episode “Catch-22.” Now, on to picking Vaughn's brain:

What television show, movie, or book inspired you to write?

Definitely Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen.

When writing Lost, what influences do you draw from, if any?

I suppose I draw more on personal experiences with friends and family than I do from other works of fiction. I hope that helps add to a show I've always admired for being grounded in real human emotion, even when it involves dudes being chased by a smoke monster.

What is your favorite movie?

This week? Miller's Crossing.

What is your favorite comic book?

Chris Ware's Acme Novelty Library and Daniel Clowes' Eightball are the two books I most look forward to.

What is your favorite TV series?

Of all time? Twin Peaks.

If you could recommend one TV series, movie, or book to Lost fans looking for some hiatus relief, what would it be?

Mad Men! It's the very best thing on the air right now, and one of the best-written, best-acted shows I've ever seen. It's obviously a very different kind of show, but I'm confident fans of Lost will love it.
'Lost' Writer/Producer Brian K. Vaughan Talks Writing, TV, and Getting 'Lost'
(http://www.buddytv.com/articles/lost/lost-writerproducer-brian-k-va-11302.aspx)

[goldenboy]

This seems to be an interview Brian had with himself, not sure.

Monday, November 05, 2007

WGA STRIKE: BKV talks Lost, comics, film adaptations, etc.

***Why is the WGA striking?
Because writers believe we deserve a fair share of the revenue generated by the stuff we helped to create, crazy as that sounds.

There's an excellent summary of what I consider to be our very reasonable demands at this blog, which has been a consistently dependable source of good information about the strike: United Hollywood (http://www.unitedhollywood.com/)

But basically, writers are looking to negotiate modest residuals and protections for use of our TV shows and movies on the internet, where most of us will likely be getting the majority of our entertainment from in the not-too-distant future.

We're are also asking for a share of about 8 cents--that's eight stinkin' pennies--for every DVD of our work sold, as opposed to the criminally insane 4 cents we receive today.

I read that Warren Ellis was concerned about possibly being barred from writing for animation (which is largely outside the jurisdiction of the WGA) during the strike, and while I think his concerns were absolutely valid (the strike rules have since been amended), I believe those initial guidelines were born out of the fact that this negotiation is also about fighting to extend the same health benefits, pension, and other protections that writers like I enjoy to our equally important colleagues in animation (as well as those in "reality" television, which employs more writers than you can imagine).

I got to hear firsthand how hard the Writers Guild worked to negotiate a fair deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, but after more than three months of talks, the AMPTP still hasn't come close to even meeting the WGA halfway on its most important proposals.

It sucks.

***Do you support the strike?
Yeah, a hundred percent.

A few months ago, I was thrilled to start my second season as a writer and now a co-producer over at LOST, and have been unbelievably fortunate enough to help write a few scripts for what I think could end up being the show's best season.

And much as it breaks my heart for my colleagues and I to have to walk away from a job we love, we all think it's vitally important to the future of our industry.

At least in the short term, my friends and I stand to lose a great deal both creatively and financially in this strike, but every working writer I've ever met feels a responsibility to help protect those writers less fortunate than we are, as well as the next generation of creators to follow in our footsteps.

These last few weeks have been a real crash-course in unionization for me, and I've come away a bigger supporter than ever.

When we first started talking about a strike, I figured the Teamsters (our faithful truck drivers, location managers, etc.) would hate us "spoiled, overpaid typists" if we threatened their livelihoods with a work stoppage. But instead, they've been incredibly supportive of us at every turn, with many vowing not to cross our picket lines.

I know I sound like a second-rate Norma Rae (or Chief Tyrol from Battlestar for you young hipsters out there), but seeing all kinds of laborers, regardless of our different crafts, treat each other like brothers and sisters during the negotiations with the powerful corporations that employ so many of us has been one of the best experiences of my selling-out time here in Los Angeles.

***What does this mean for your comics work?
Comics are not covered by the WGA.

I'm lucky that my phone started ringing from editors at Marvel and DC as soon as the threat of the strike materialized, and while I've gotten some cool offers to work on existing books, I think I'm going to take however long the strike lasts (which could be anywhere between a day and forever) to concentrate on making Ex Machina kick as much ass as possible as we start to head into that series' final year, and to continue to develop my next big creator-owned projects now that I've finished all my scripts for Y: The Last Man, Runaways, Buffy, The Escapists, Doctor Strange, and the upcoming Logan mini with Eduardo Risso. (Sorry, gratuitous plugging isn't prohibited by the WGA during the strike.)

But this isn't a vacation. I'll be walking the picket line every single day, so if you're visiting sunny Burbank, drive past and honk your support for the pasty bald kid, won't you?

***Does this mean there's going to be a flood of Hollywood writers coming into comics?
Maybe? I know a few creators--and a lot of readers--are sometimes annoyed by carpet-bagging movie/television writers swooping into comics to steal "their" jobs, but film/TV writers have been enormously generous about letting me into their world, and I think we should return the favor. Art is not a competition, and there's always room for talented creators.

That said, no one wants these screenwriters to just try to shoehorn their unsold pitches and scripts into comic form. But trust me, the many writers out here who truly love comics already know that it's a totally unique medium, one that deserves unique stories.

I guess I'd be a hypocrite to completely frown on translating existing movies/shows into comics (I had an awesome time doing that with Buffy) or translating existing comics into movies/shows (happily done it with Y and Ex Machina), but I think what each medium really needs is NEW ideas specifically created to play to the strengths of that particular artform.

***What does this mean for your comic-book movies?
Like I said, I've written adaptations of both Y: The Last Man and Ex Machina for New Line, and while they could conceivably move either or both of those drafts of mine into production during the strike (without any rewrites or other contributions from me), that seems pretty unlikely for lots of different reasons. As with most comic-to-screen adaptations currently "in development," I imagine they'll stay in limbo as long as the strike lasts.

I was also about to begin work on a particularly exciting new comic-to-screen adaptation that I can't really talk about, and while I'm hopeful the gig will still be waiting for me if/when the strike ends, who knows? That's one of the many risks that comes with this very necessary strike.

***Will comic writers ever unionize?
I certainly hope so, though I'm sure that makes many of my beloved employers cringe.

I talked about this when Whedon interviewed me over at CBR a few months back, but I think it's worth repeating here…

When I used the great Cloak and Dagger in Runaways, Bill Mantlo, the man who helped create them, didn't get anything, to the best of my knowledge. Not even a credit. And I'm not blaming my friends at Marvel (or DC, for that matter), all of whom are good people who've always been beyond fair with me. It's just indicative of the broken system, one that I'm very much a part of.

For the record, Bill Mantlo was struck by a hit-and-run driver a few years ago, and now requires expensive daily care that's way beyond what modest means he was left with after dedicating much of his life to our industry. And while things like The Hero Initiative, an absolutely worthwhile cause that I totally support, exist to help comic creators in financial need, THOSE CREATORS SHOULD NOT BE IN FINANCIAL NEED.

I know the Writers Guild of America isn't a perfect union, but I was afforded more benefits and protections in my first few months with the WGA as a work-for-hire screenwriter than I was ever given in a decade of working in comics. And again, I've been treated pretty honorably throughout my career, and have made more money than I ever deserved doing this "job," but that doesn't mean that I can't still be concerned about the generations of writers and artists before and after me.

Anyway, I know that smarter people than I have tried and failed to unionize in the past, so for now, we'll have to help creators like Bill Mantlo by donating directly to organizations like The Mantlo Project, or to the aforementioned The Hero Initiative. But it would be nice to see the day when they weren't necessary:

***I'm not in the WGA, but I support the cause. What can I do to help?
Thanks for asking! At this stage, I suppose the best thing you can do is to think critically about everything you're going to hear regarding the strike, especially because so many of the news outlets we all rely on are owned and controlled by the very people against whom we writers are striking.

None of us wanted this strike, and we all hope it'll be over before any of you loyal viewers even notice we were gone… but in the very likely scenario that this is going to be a long, tough slog, I'll try to check back in with more thoughts.

For now, wish us luck!
Myspace.com Blogs - WGA STRIKE: BKV talks Lost, comics, film adaptations, etc. - Brian K. Vaughan MySpace Blog (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=37507226&blogID=325633175)

[goldenboy]

Y Q&A

November 27th, 2007 · posted by Shawn Munguia

I got a chance to speak with Brian K. Vaughn recently as he drove from his time walking the Writers Guild of America picket line. So as he negotiated the Los Angeles traffic, he answered some questions about writing, names and the upcoming end to “Y: The Last Man.”

The Comic Book Guy: Why do you write?
Brian K. Vaughn: Why do I write? Well I that’s an interesting question. I guess it’s sort of like a compulsion I guess. Ever since I was a little kid. It’s not a career chose. I guess it’s more like writing chose me. I’ve just always had stories in my head and it’s just sort of a compulsion to get them out. So, I don’ know. Its more of an addiction that it is a job. I sort of feel like I have to do it.

CBG: Another sort of weird question I tend to ask writers, Where do you come up with your names?
BKV: “Where do I come up with names?” That’s a great question. You know, for the big ones, stuff like Yorick in “Y (The Last Man)” I spend a really long time thinking of something that’s going to be memorable. I never like names to be too familiar. In some cases it’s my protagonist. There I’ll look all over the place. In the case of “Y” I wanted a good Y name and I knew he was going to be sort of a writerly type so I started looking to Shakespeare names. But more recently, if I’m just looking for sort of supporting character names, I’ve started going to the letters to the editor from Times or Newsweek cause it’s a really good cross section of average Americans. So I’ll steal a first name from someone in Time and then a last name from someone in Newsweek. So that is my secret. If you just want a really need a good average all-American name I get it from there.

CBG: That’s a pretty cool idea actually. I’ll have to write that one down. Well, I guess I have it here. The other question is what’s your process of writing? Do you have a definite story in mind when you sit down or do you just have the general components?
I usually spend a really long time thinking about a story before I even begin typing so by the time I sit down to put pen to paper I usually have a good idea of the beginning, the middle and the end. And then I’ll usually start writing out some pretty broad guidelines for myself. If I’m writing a comic book I usually start penciling into a page. Y’know, page one through three is going to be the opening scene, I know roughly this will happen then this will happen in this scene. Then I go straight to the typewriter and get to work. And in comics I usually do all the dialogue firs since dialogus are always the easy part for me. Then I’ll go back and break up those dialogue sections into specific panels. Some you just spit out fully formed, you just sit down at the typewriter. And some are a much longer process. But, you know that’s usually the process. The thinking, the pencil, the typewriter is usually the way it goes.

CBG: What drew you to comics?
BKV: I was always in love with comics ever since I read my first one as a little kid.

I don’t know, I just love the imaginative storytelling. You can do anything, unlimited by special effects. You’re only limited by your imagination. I fell in love with writers like Alan Moore who really understood the medium and that it was different from books and movies which I also loved. But I liked the idea of taking a medium that sort of had this cult following and really learn to perfect writing for this really small medium.

CBG: What was that first comic, do you remember?
BKV: Probably a Spider-Man book would have been my first. One day when I was home sick from school my parents bought home a Spidey book. So I think early Marvel Comics, superhero stuff was my early exposure to comics.

CBG: So when did you start discovering the more niche markets?
BKV: It was probably in high school I started to get into (DC Comics)Vertigo (Label). You know, Neil Gaiman, Peter Milligan and then, like I said, Alan Moore was my first love. Then I think by the time I got to college I started experimenting … Heh, sounds like I’m talking about drugs. But I started experimenting with “Optic Nerve,” “8-Ball” and “Love and Rockets.”

You know, I’m not one of those guys that fell away from comics and came back. I’ve always loved comics. And I’ve never abandoned superhero comics I’ve always loved them. But I do think my tastes diversified starting in high school probably.

CBG: Who else do you read?
BKV: These days I read everyone. DC sends me everything they publish and I read that stuff but Chris Ware is a big passion of mine. I really love Chris Ware’s stuff, ‘Optic Nerve,’ like I said. But I love mainstream guys too, Warren Ellis (I read everything he writes), Joss Whedon, Garth Ennis is someone I’ really excited about . I read everything.

CBG: Now, what was behind the decision to end Y? I know I read that you’d always envisioned it as a finite story.
BKV: Yeah. From the very first issue I always knew it was going to be a 5-year-run, it was about the last boy on earth becoming the last man on earth and I sort of knew what that story was going to be and what becoming a man was going to be for Yorick.

But yeah, I really like stories that have a beginning, middle and end. I was really influenced by Watchmen and Sandman and Preacher. Much as I love ongoing series I really like watching a story come to its proper conclusion.

CBG: One more name question I just remembered right now. Why Ampersand (for the name of Yorick’s monkey)?
BKV: Why Ampersand? Hmm … I’m trying to remember the origin of that. I mean, I knew that Yorick was going to be an English major geek and I knew that I wanted to give him a monkey and I’m sort of a punctuation nerd. I love obscure punctuation names and I guess because a monkey’s tail looks like an ampersand when it curls up. It just, I don’t know, it felt right I guess.

CBG: I wanted to ask you about, um, you’re going back to (ex) Machina soon. Do you have any definite plans beyond the ongoing stuff.
BKV: Yeah, issue No. 50 is going to be the last issue for Ex Machina. The whole series willcover, roughly in real time, the first four years of Mitchell’s time in office, maybe his last term in office. 50 is the planned ending for that one.

CBG: And Pride (of Bagdad) was really different from almost anything I’d been reading just because of the fact that you had talking animals which was a little off from most comics but it definitely was a good solid story to tell. Where did that inspiration come from?
BKV: I guess at the time there were things I really wanted to do. I really wanted to a talking animal comic just because is felt like a challenge to do something different. And I loved books like The Secret of Nihm. And comics have done talking animal comics so well. Whether it’s “Scrooge McDuck” of “Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles” or “Mouse” comics have always done talking animals well. So I wanted to do a talking animals book but I also wanted to do a book about Iraq. This was 2003 and sort of the beginnings of the Iraq War and I knew I wanted to write about that. And I heard this true story about four lions that escaped the Bagdad Zoo and it suddenly felt like both ideas could combine into one really interesting concept.

CBG: And what was the inspiration behind Y?
BKV: “Y” was really wanting to do a book about gender. It felt like comics had never really talked about gender in sort of a sophisticated way.

Whenever they talked gender it was always like, y’know …, “Should Catwoman’s boobs be smaller?” “should she be called the Invisible Woman instead of the Invisible Girl?” I really wanted to talk about gender and it felt like this was sort of a sci-fi hook that would let me talk about gender.

CBG: One of the things about the book is that a lot of women seemingly moved into traditionally masculine roles. I mean the Amazons are sort of a weird sect unto themselves but did you feel this was a direction you were going to go with these characters?
BKV: I think the direction that Pia Guerra and I wanted to lean was that maybe these aren’t gender roles, maybe they’re just human roles. And if you sort of remove the idea of gender, that doesn’t mean that there’s going to be an end to war. War isn’t a distinctly male pursuit, there have been plenty of female world leaders that have been just as hawkish as the most war-like male leaders. And you know you have female suicide bombers.

It didn’t feel like violence was something that was masculine. That humans are really complicated andn eliminating the men wouldn’t mean the end of things that were associated with men.

CBG: Oh rats, I had a question and I don’t seem to find it right now. Oh well, on the subject of artists, Who do you like as artists operating out there and is there a reason you gravitate toward any of them as far as storytelling goes?
BKV: Well I mean I’m lucky enough to work with some of he best artists in comics but really different artists.

I think Pia Guerra is one of the most accessable people in comics in that she’s a really clear storyteller. If you’ve only read the Sunday comics before, you can follow “Y: The Last Man.” And that was really important, cause we wanted to write a comic for people who maybe hadn’t read comics before.

And for “Ex Machina” I knew I really needed the city to be a character because to have these far-out outlandish stories it still had to feel absolutely real. And Tony (Harris), his work is always really grounded in reality.

Niko Henrichon, for “Pride of Bagdad,” it’s almost impossible to find artists that are good at drawing animals. But he was great at it and he could also have the animals feel lifelike and human without it feeling too cartoonish or Disney.

I like them all for totally different reasons, I hope my stories played to their strengths. They’re all great artists.

But there are plenty of people I’d love to work with. Frank Quitely on All-Star Superman right now, I think is amazing and, well, plenty of people.

CBG: You mentioned that you read lots of superhero comics, which do you just have to read as soon as you get them?
BKV: That’s interesting, gosh. Well, I don’t know if you’d count the Punisher as a superhero but I think Garth Ennis’s “Punisher” is one of the best crime books ever written in any medium. “All-Star Superman” is a big one for me. Grant Morrisons “(All-Star) Batman” has been terrific too, Bendis’s “Powers” I think is an awesome book. But those are just the ones of the top of my head.

CBG: That pretty much covers what I wanted to ask in general. At this point I usually turn over the floor and ask if there’s anything you have to say.
BKV: Well I guess to plug this thing I’ve got coming out, I think in the middle of December. Darkhorse is doing a hardcover collection of this book I did called “The Escapists.” it’s inspired by a Michael Chabon novel called “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay” and I did a mini-series that I’m really proud of that I think a lot of people missed it when it first came out. But, Darkhorse just did this beautiful new hardcover collection. It’s got an Alex Ross cover and Michael Chabon wrote an original short story as an introduction for it and it’s got a cover in it by Frank Miller and James Jean and just a lot of incredible people so I’m really proud of it. It’s called “The Escapists” and comes out in the middle of December so I hope people will check it out.

Also, “Pride of Bagdad” is coming out in soft cover really soon so those are the two things that, if people are curious to check out my work, I’d really recommend.

CBG: Cool, well I have one thing I would like to ask you. What would your dream project be? You don’t have to pitch it, you can just put it out and know it will hit shelves. Existing characters or someone that ou wanted to create, if you have a storyline that you wanted to tell what would it be? If you’re willing to tell.
BKV: Well I guess that’s the thing. I mean I am working on three things now but I haven’t announced them so I guess I’ll just keep the quiet but I will say that they’re all creator owned. And it’s not that I’m a snob about superhero comics but I’ve been doing Marvel and DC characters for almost eleven years and I’ve gotten to do everyone that I’ve ever wanted.

Spider-Man is probably my favorite character. I love him. I love Batman, love Superman, I’ve been lucky enough to write them all so, I think from here on out it’s just going to be creator owned stuff.

At first it’ll probably be more graphic novels like “Pride of Bagdad” but after a little while I might try to do another ongoing series. Something like “Y: The Last Man.” For now I’d be on the lookout for another creator owned original graphic novel, hopefully next year.
Toon Talk A - thev247.com (http://toontalk.freedomblogging.com/2007/11/27/y-qa/)

[goldenboy]

Lost’ and ‘Y: The Last Man’ Writer Brian K. Vaughan on Comics, Time Travel, and the Dharma Shark

Over the past six years, fans of Brian K. Vaughan's comics series Y: The Last Man have followed the adventures of the series' hero, Yorick Brown, and his pet monkey, Ampersand — the only survivors of a gendercide that killed every male mammal on earth except for them. In that same time, Vaughan has gone from a well-liked but little-known comics writer to a star of the comics world, with multiple beloved series and an acclaimed graphic novel (Pride of Baghdad) under his belt. He's also branched out into TV, bringing his well-honed story sense to Lost, where he's now a co-producer. With the final issue of Y publishing Wednesday, and the season premiere of Lost airing Thursday, this seemed like a good week to check in; Vulture spoke to him on his day off from the WGA picket lines.

The final arc of Y has turned the story from a mystery — how were the earth's men killed? — to a kind of extremely charged romance, as Yorick chooses between the woman he loved before the catastrophe and the woman who's protected him since. Did you always intend for the story to go in this direction?
For me, it was never a turn. I've always seen Y as an unconventional romance between a boy and his protector. It was always about the last boy on earth becoming the last man on earth, and the women who made that possible.

A major character was killed off a few issues ago. How hard of a decision was that?
Pia Guerra [Y's artist], who's been extraordinarily helpful every step of the way and totally onboard — this was the one case where she really lobbied for a stay of execution. "Really?" she asked. "Do we have to do this?" And that's the most hate mail I've ever received. But this was always the ending that I had in mind when I came up with the idea, when I was 22 or so. I felt great allegiance to the boy I was when I came up with this idea.

Even though Yorick's experience might argue against depending too much on the person you were when you were 22.
That's true. There were a lot of times when I wondered if I should take it a different direction. But in the end, the big pieces fell into place exactly where I wanted them to. Those who lived were supposed to live, and those who passed away — that was always their fate.

This finale reminds us that there's a lot of story we never saw, back when Yorick, Dr. Mann, and 355 were traveling cross-country. Would you ever consider filling some of that in or continuing the story in some other way?
No. I am truly washing my hands. Unless I'm in really dire financial straits and I have to do an Ampersand the Monkey spinoff.

Whose voice was the most fun to write?
Dr. Mann. Because I brought her along for this journey, and I thought, Oh my God, I've really written myself into a corner, because I'm a semi-literate film-school student, and she's supposed to be the smartest woman on the planet, and I have nothing in common with her. But I like having someone who is there to be constantly annoyed by the protagonist.

Yeah, Y may be unique among comics series in terms of the hero being constantly denigrated and insulted.
I never wanted this book to be about the Über-mensch who survives to save the poor helpless woman. Yorick's always been the damsel in distress.

The final issue of Y features a Vaughan trademark, flashbacks and flash-forwards. Watching last year's season finale of Lost, were we right to see your hand in the flash-forward?
I wish! I would love to take credit for it, but it was entirely Damon Lindelof's genius. I like to think that my being in the room served as the muse to inspire him.

What Would Vaughan Do?
Exactly.

Matthew Fox has hinted in interviews that there might be actual time travel in this season of Lost.
He did?

Seemed like it in Entertainment Weekly. Wouldn't this violate the show's seeming rule that science must explain the island and its inhabitants?
I think if I were to answer too specifically, a future version of myself would appear and assassinate me. But I will say that my only concern, whether it's science or fantasy or magic, is what is the best story. What is the most revelatory about the characters? Whether it's crazy-ass magic shit like Dr. Strange or more hard science fiction like Y.

Obviously, you're not writing at all now because of the strike. But did you write any of the scripts for this first part of the season?
I co-wrote two. The second and the eighth, which I believe is also the last, at least for a while.

How does that eighth episode shape up as a de facto season finale? Will we be happy or unhappy with where it leaves off?
I think every episode is a painful place to end. That’s what makes Lost so great.

Tell us one character who really undergoes something transforming this season. Who should we keep an eye on?
This sounds like a cop-out, I know, but … all of them. In the writers' room we have all the actors' head shots over the door. At the beginning of the season, there was a lot of thought about: We know now we have 48 episodes to go. What is the best possible thing to do for each character? More than any other season, there's more of a focus on keeping a balance and giving each one of them a moment to shine.

Okay, sure, but one of them.
Agh … I guess, um, the Dharma Shark?
Writer Brian K. Vaughan on Comics, Time Travel, and the Dharma Shark -- Vulture -- Entertainment & Culture Blog -- New York Magazine (http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/01/lost_and_y_the_last_man_writer.html)