Recent Interviews

Some interviews I missed while slacking off:

Geoff Johns, at CBR on his upcoming DC works (emphasis mine):

In his current arc within the pages of“Action Comics,” Johns has returned the original members of the Legion of Super-Heroes – Lightning Lad, Saturn Girl, and Cosmic Boy – to the forefront of DCU, and readers are loving it. So is Johns.

“When Superman was growing up, he had no friends and finally he got some friends that he could relate too. That’s the coolest thing about the original Legion. But once our Legion arc run is up, it’s not the end of the Legion,” said Johns.

“The entire purpose of this arc is really to introduce the Legion to someone who has never heard of it. And show why they are so important to Superman. That’s why this Legion story works because of their connection to Superman and Superman’s connection to them. There is a really special connection that makes Superman, Superman. He wasn’t Bruce Wayne when he was a kid. Even though he was an outsider, he had friends, friends who were beyond anything that he ever could have imagined. They were just like him. They were aliens, who looked like him, who came to Earth.”

Keith Giffen, at Newsarama on the Legion appearing in the DC/Wildstorm: Dreamwar crossover:

NRAMA: Yeah! Let's talk about you getting back to the Legion of Super-Heroes. Have you started writing their part?

KG: I've written two issues so far.

NRAMA: And how does it feel to get back to those characters? It's been awhile for you, hasn't it?

KG: Yeah, it's been awhile. Legion of Super-Heroes is a concept that always exerts this weird type of siren song to me. I swear, I'm walking around, going "I've got to touch them again." And I wind up back toying around with them. This is something I thought would be interesting to play around with. I haven't dealt with the characters for awhile. This is an opportunity to go in and remind people of my take on the characters without violating anything that's gone on since I was on the book. And that's fun. It's fun to play around with those characters again. I've got a fondness for the concept.

NRAMA: Well, they've gotten a little bit of a resurgence recently, not only with the new version of the Legion in the current ongoing, but with that Action Comics storyline right now.

KG: Yeah, there's Action Comics. There's Jim Shooter coming back to the series -- one of the guys who put Legion of Super-Heroes on the map.

It seems like almost like a comic book reunion with John Ostrander coming back to do Suicide Squad right -- 'cause I sure didn't -- and Jim Shooter coming back to the Legion of Super-Heroes. People who helped shepherd these people through their most popular periods are coming back to play with them again. You know I'm a huge supporter of new talent, but why not have some of these guys give it a shot too? See if lightning strikes twice. I'm kind of pleased by that.

NRAMA: Getting back to the Legion story you're writing within this crossover -- there have been a few different versions of the Legion. Is it safe to assume this is going to be the Legion you wrote?

KG: Uh... nope!

NRAMA: No? Oh, OK. So this is a different Legion?

KG: Uh... kinda. Sorta. Maybe. Yeah. Well, it's a different Legion than I've ever written or I've ever had anything to do with. Yeah. People will have to read the story to find out more about it.

Artist Aaron Lopresti, at Newsarama, who will be doing the fill-in art for LSH #41 before picking up Wonder Woman art reins:

NRAMA: Just to clarify, picking up the art reins on Wonder Woman isn't your first DC work under your exclusive, right? You're doing a Legion issue first?

AL: Although, I realize that there is a strong following for the Legion and that there always has been, it was not a book that I had ever really read. There was a gap in my schedule while I was waiting on the first Wonder Woman script, so Dan DiDio and Mike Marts contacted me about helping on the book. I was very excited to get the opportunity to work with the legend that is Jim Shooter on a series that is very popular.

I discovered very quickly why the book is so popular! It has great characters and the charm of a classic comic. It is so refreshing to work on a book that has superheroes being superheroes. The experience really energized me and got me ready for Wonder Woman. It is only one issue, but I am really glad I got the opportunity to do it.