Following up an eight-year run on a superhero title is no easy task, particularly when that run is Geoff Johns' Green Lantern. But after nearly a decade, Johns is stepping away from Hal Jordan and the Corps, leaving the GL Universe in the hands of current X-O Manowar and Demon Knights writer Robert Venditti as of Green Lantern #21.
I sat down with the writer to discuss his plans for Hal, the Green Lantern mythology, and more.
Robert Venditti: Wait, what? That’s this book? Nobody told me that! Obviously, I’m aware of the circumstances. Geoff Johns is one of the most important comics writers of the last ten years, creatively as well as commercially. You read Green Lantern, and you can’t help but be struck by his command of the superhero genre. I try not to think about comparing myself to any of that. I can’t be Geoff Johns. All I can do is stay true to the kinds of stories I like to tell and hope the readers like to read them.
IGN: Are there any threads that you’ll be picking up from the previous run, or are you starting from scratch, so to speak?
Venditti: We’ll be giving readers a clean jumping-on point, but we’re also building on the foundation Geoff laid down in his run. I think I’ve read something like 200 issues of Green Lantern since I was hired, and there are some things that occurred to me as the next logical steps for the series. To get there, we’ll need to drop the characters into new situations and have them face conflicts they haven’t faced before. After reading the September issue, readers will see the Green Lantern mythology in an entirely different light.
IGN: What interests you most about the mythology? Any plans to expand it even further?
Venditti: I could answer that, but it’d probably give away some of the plans we have for our run. Suffice to say, there are several aspects of the mythology I’m interested in expanding, and our first few arcs will hopefully do just that.
IGN: Will this be a Hal Jordan-centric Green Lantern book, or are we going to continue to see characters like Sinestro and Simon Baz make appearances?
Venditti: Hal will be the focus. He’s one of the most iconic characters in all of comics, so how could I not want to write him? That’s not to say those other characters won’t show up from time to time, but Green Lantern is going to be Hal’s book. Given the events that will transpire by the end of Geoff’s run, Hal is the natural choice for what we want to do.
IGN: For the last year and a half or so you’ve been killing it on Valiant’s X-O Manowar, which was your first monthly book. How did that experience lead you to or aid you in nabbing Green Lantern?
Venditti: I can’t say whether it helped me get the job, but my experiences on X-O Manowar -- which I’ll be continuing to write, for any who might be wondering -- have taught me a ton about writing a monthly. Prior to X-O, I’d only done creator-owned mini-series and graphic novels, which is a completely different style of writing. Not just because the pacing is different, but because X-O was the first established character I’d worked on, too. A lot of people think that’d be confining creatively, but I’ve found it leads to another form of creativity. The constraints of an established character’s history and universe force you to think about a story differently than if you have a blank canvas.
Green Lantern #21 Cover
IGN: What will be the relationship between Green Lantern and the other GL books, if any?
Venditti: There will be common threads running through all the books, but they’ll each stand on their own as individual stories as well. Joshua Fialkov [Editor's Note: This interview was conducted before the departure of Fialkov from his GL titles.] and Justin Jordan always bring big ideas to their stories, and I think readers are really going to love what they have in store.
IGN: Do you plan on introducing any new Lanterns or perhaps bringing back some old favorites? Please say Ch’p, please say Ch’p, please say Ch’p…
Tons of new characters will be introduced, both Lanterns and villains.
Venditti: Tons of new characters will be introduced, both Lanterns and villains. We’ll be looking forward at the outset, but Green Lantern has a long history and rich cast of characters. I have my eye on more than a few.
IGN: You totally dodged my Ch'p question, but I'll let it slide. What does Billy Tan bring to the series? How’s it been working with him thus far?
Venditti: Billy is great to work with. He’s nearly done with our first issue, and every time I see new pages I get excited about what we have coming down the line. He’s able to hit so many different emotional beats. One moment he’s nailing the humor of a visual gag, and the next he’s showing you a double-page spread of some of the most frenzied villains you’ve ever seen. His cover for our first issue perfectly captures one of the main conflicts driving our first arc. He’s an incredibly versatile artist.
IGN: Anything else you’d like to add about Green Lantern?
Venditti: You know, when I stop and think that seven years ago I was an unpublished writer, and now here I am taking over the reins on one of the most recognizable characters in comics—maybe even all of pop culture—I can’t help but think how fortunate I’ve been in my career. Who knows where things will go from here, but I’m going to enjoy the moment.
There, I enjoyed it. Now I have to get back to writing.
Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. If he could, he'd run away to live amongst wild cats for the rest of his days.
Source : ign[dot]com
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