The man
behind DC Comics recent storylines, Geoff Johns recently sat down with IGN to
talk about what comes next for the publisher now that Forever Evil has ended.
"IGN: Forever Evil is over. What
can you tease about the next big event you'll be writing, assuming you are
writing another big event?
Johns: Well, I'm writing Justice League,
which a lot of the stuff that happens in Forever Evil continues in Justice
League. Lex Luthor is a part of the team fighting alongside Superman and Batman
and Wonder Woman, reluctantly on their parts. We're about to do a storyline
this October called The Amazo Virus that really delves into Luthor trying to
put the past behind him. But because of all the things he's done, the past
catches up with him, and the Amazo Virus is one of those things, but also
there's someone trying to kill him. He doesn't know who it is. All these things
he's done that he thought he could shove aside and erase, it's not as easy as
he thinks it is. So the ramifications of that are really explored in the Amazo
Virus.
At
the same time, on the plot side, the Justice League is getting ready and
getting prepared for whatever destroyed the Crime Syndicate's Earth, which is
on its way here, from Forever Evil. We know that Darkseid's returning to the
Justice League too, and those two are set on a collision course. So we're
essentially building up to a big storyline next year called the Darkseid War
that will kind of be the end cap to the first big chapter of the New 52 Justice
League. Out of that will be -- that's going to be a pretty massive storyline,
and that's Darkseid versus the Anti-Monitor with the Justice League caught in
between, which is a pretty big story.
IGN:
I saw you tweet that, The Darkseid War. Is that the name of the next big event?
Johns: No, it's a Justice League event.
It's in that book.
IGN:
Okay, so it's not an event book like Forever Evil?
Johns: No, it's going to be a Justice
League storyline -- but it's a big one.
…
IGN: I saw a
cover for Justice League #36 and it had Power Ring along with the rest of them.
Is she a part of the Justice League now?
Johns: She will be brought into the Justice
League, yes.
…
IGN: I've got to ask about Green
Lantern Simon Baz. Are there any plans for him?
Johns: Yes, there are plans for Simon.
He's a great character, and I have a lot of plans for him moving forward. I
hinted at Jessica and Simon's relationship in Green Lantern #20 a long time
ago, and that will develop into something with Justice League as Simon comes
into his own a bit more as Earth's Green Lantern. I don't want to spoil what
happens, but, yes, he'll be a very prominent character in the book.
…
IGN: Very cool. You're doing
Superman with John Romita Jr., and we've seen the alternate/analog/opposing Superman
a lot over the years. How did you decide to make your take on that concept
unique and different from what had come before?
Johns: Well, the take on Superman,
really, it came out of -- we've seen the analog Superman, I guess, before in a
lot of different ways, since Superman existed. But this started out as a
character story. I went back and read every issue of Action Superman in the New
52, since it started, and kind of got a perspective on what they were doing and
where they had taken the books and the character and what I was thinking about
doing with Clark, Lois and Jimmy. I really thought that there was an
opportunity to put the spotlight back on the human side of Clark. In order to
do that, I wanted to find a character that would connect with that side of him
and really explore the isolation I felt that Superman had been put in with the
introduction of this take on him in the New 52 and the fact that nobody really
knows he's Superman outside of some other superheroes and that his parents
aren't with us anymore.
I
wanted to introduce a character that could let me explore that isolation and
see him connect with somebody, because I think that's a huge part of the
character -- Clark connecting with other people. I think we've seen it in every
iteration of Clark and that he struggles to do it, because he can't quite be
himself when he's Clark Kent. He's more than what people assume, and, for me, I
needed to explore that and introduce a character who he could connect with on a
level that's so deep and so, in an ironic way, he's more human than Ulysses is
because this character Ulysses was a baby who was born on Earth and sent away
and came back now and is experiencing Earth for the first time. He's human, but
he doesn't even really consider himself human or understand what it is to be
human -- and to have Clark show somebody else how to integrate into Earth and
how to connect with him and how Ulysses doesn't sleep; he doesn't dream. Clark does sleep; he does dream.
There's
a lot of parallels to their journey, and there's a lot of differences too, as
we move ahead. But front and center, I wanted to slow the pace down and spend
some time with the character, with who he is and who Clark is now, and just
open that back up a little bit -- then also put some more of the inspiration
and a dash of Boy Scout back into Superman. Like, it's cool that he's a fighter
and he's tough and he's younger and whatever they want to do, but for me, I
need just a dash of that Boy Scout. I need the "What would Superman do?"
and it's unquestionable, you know what Superman would do. So Ulysses allows me
an opportunity to explore that, "Who is Superman?" and impart some of
his morality upon him.
…
IGN: Before we end here, is there
anything else you'd like to add?
Johns: I do want to say one more thing
about the new artist on Justice League, Jason Fabok. He's coming on issue #36
with part one of the Amazo storyline. Issue #35 is a prologue to it. I can't
wait for people to see his pencils. I tend to work with the same artists a lot,
because there's nothing more important than a collaborator when you're working
in comics. To be able to work with someone like Jason who's this quickly rising
star -- his work, his detail, his character stuff, his scope -- it's so
amazing, the passion he's putting into it. He loves comics as much as I do. I
think it's going to be really fun to see this new era of Justice League.
IGN:
Yeah, he's killing it on Eternal.
Johns: Oh, he's killing it. He's killing
it -- and wait 'til you see this stuff. It's out of control. The Amazo Virus
storyline explores, again, some things that are skeletons in Luthor's closet,
that get out, and this virus attacks Metahumans. It's really creepy. It's
intriguing, and he manages to capture all that and make it a big action
storyline at the same time. But yeah, he's such a guy to look out for."
Source - IGN
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