Showing posts with label Red Lanterns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Red Lanterns. Show all posts
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Monday, February 3, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Green Lantern Day Charles Soule Signing And Live Q&A
Did you know that this February 8th is 2.8.14?! (And according to Green Lantern 2814 is Earth's sector). Well we can't let this go by without celebrating it as Lantern Day!
And since the Red Lanterns current patrol 2814, we'll have their scribe, Charles Soule, here! Guy Gardner will be here too! The first 28 people to show up will get a free Green Lantern/Red Lanterns #28. We'll have other raffles and door prizes too (including an all-the-damn-books-Soule-wrote-this-year prize pack).
At 2PM we'll be doing a live interview and Q & A with Soule hosted by Nerdy Show! We've got some surprises in store and if you've seen the Nerdy Show Live Pilot you might have an idea of the kinds of things we're going to get up to (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeUpfsQY_VU). Soule writes seven freaking books a month. He's also a lawyer, so have some legal questions ready.
Soule writes: Red Lanterns, Superman/Wonder Woman, Swamp Thing, Thunderbolts, She-Hulk, Inhuman, and Letter 44! He also did the crazy awesome 27 and more! Get some stuff signed!
It happens at The Geek Easy, check out the Facebook page here.
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Guy Gardner And Red Lanterns Visit Earth In Red Lanterns #27, Preview
Writer Charles Soule puts a 'Sons of Anarchy' vibe on his rage-fueled crew of loose cannons.
Look out, Earth: Guy Gardner is coming back home.
The cocky former Green Lantern returns to his home planet with his crew and their new assignment in Red Lanterns No. 27, out from DC Comics on Wednesday and featuring artwork by Alessandro Vitti.
Writer Charles Soule joined the title with issue 21 and a pitch to essentially make them an outer-space biker gang full of loose cannons — an intergalactic SAMCRO from Sons of Anarchy, if you will — and Guy seemed like a great fit since he was already an angry Lantern.
"He comes with decades of great stories behind him, so some of the heavy lifting has already been done for me because there's already a lot of goodwill toward that guy," says Soule, a fan of antiheroes who's been using Clint Eastwood, Lee Marvin and Steve McQueen as archetypes for his characters' mind-set.
"At its heart, Red Lanterns is going to be a really hard-boiled revenge story about finding yourself."
Since former Green Lantern scribe Geoff Johns introduced the rage-fueled Red Lantern Corps in 2007, the crimson-ringed group have been rivals to the Green Lanterns, a much larger team of space cops that patrol different sectors in the universe.
Hal Jordan was the Green Lantern in charge of Sector 2814, which includes Earth, but recent events have seen him and his Corps hand over the sector to the Red Lanterns.
"Now the only thing standing between Earth and various cosmic menaces out there are a band of angry red alien people and Guy Gardner," Soule says.
The other Reds aren't as impressed as Guy is with Earth, so while they go off on their own adventures, Guy seeks out his former love, the superheroine Ice, to show her how much he's changed. That includes, Soule says, his longer hairdo and "this amazingly sweet" and luxurious biker handlebar mustache.
They really fit the character well, the writer adds. "Guy Gardner has had a lot of crazy hairstyles over the years, and this is just one more to add to the list."
The Red Lanterns will be spending three issues on Earth, including No. 28, a flipbook with Robert Venditti's Green Lantern series that introduces the newest Red, Supergirl.
Soule isn't spilling any details yet on how she gets her red ring, but he thinks bringing in new blood will mix up the dynamics of the Red Lanterns significantly. While Kryptionian teenager is still young and looking for a place to belong, it remains to be seen if her new team will want her around for the long haul.
"Some teenagers might go through a goth phase — this is Supergirl's Red Lantern phase. How long it lasts, what happens to her, we'll have to see," Soule says.
There is another Earth-born member of the Red Lanterns, the furry blue feline Dex-Starr, but instead of coming home, the fan-favorite cat has his own mission in deep space: rehabilitating his monstrous master, former Red Lanterns leader Atrocitus. Guy pretty much beat him to death, so when back to health, Atrocitus is going to return in a seriously bad mood.
While the Red Lanterns won't exactly have the same sense of duty in terms of protecting their new sector as, say, the Green Lanterns would, what will start to show in upcoming issues is a growing sense of personal loyalty to one another.
"They're a gang so they want their turf. They've got their turf, and damn anyone who tries to take that away from them."
One of the aspects that Soule has enjoyed tackling with his take on Guy Gardner is that for the longest time, the character couldn't have his own identity because of the glut of Earth-based Green Lanterns and he was never able to just be himself.
"He thought that being part of the Reds would be his chance to not be so directly responsible, he could make his own choices and define himself a little more thoroughly," Soule says.
But he's discovering that responsibility finds him wherever he goes, choices he's been making since he joined the Red Lanterns are starting to spin out of control, and even something as presumably cool as protecting the Earth from bad things isn't all it's cracked up to be.
That said, Soule adds, "it's neat to be able to see him in a freer way where he can be himself and be the crazy hothead he likes to be, but also underneath it he has a very strong and heroic core. He very much wants to do the right thing, and the away he does it in this book is a little different but is still very fun to watch and read."
Bedard Explains Secret Origins, Red Lantern Supergirl
In April, Tony Bedard is writing his own "fresh" take of Supergirl's origin— one he's hoping will make her even more "proactive" and "positive," while giving her a unique motivation for becoming a hero.
The new, monthly Secret Origins series launches in April with an issue that includes origin stories about Supergirl (by Tony Bedard), Dick Grayson (by Kyle Higgins) and Superman (by Greg Pak). The debut issue features art by Paulo Siqueira, Will Conrad and others.
Bedard, who's also the new ongoing writer on Supergirl, has already been shaking up Kara's story by uniting with Red Lanterns writer Charles Soule to make Supergirl a member of the Red Lanterns.
Newsarama talked to Bedard about Secret Origins — and although Bedard and Soule have explained the story reasons for Supergirl to become a Red Lanterns (and the change appears to be temporary, since she's on the cover of April's Justice League United in her normal costume), Newsarama gave Bedard one more chance to clarify what readers can expect in Supergirl during the "Red Daughter of Krypton" storyline.
Newsarama: Tony, we've seen a lot of Supergirl's origin over the first couple years of her series. From what angle is this story told?
Bedard: Secret Origins will definitely be a new-reader friendly series, covering the basics of each character featured, but I also wanted to get something fresh in the Supergirl story, particularly because her origin had been revisited a few times recently.
So we'll cover the stuff you'd expect to see — Kara on Krypton, Zor-El sending her to Earth, how she got her costume, what her powers are, etc. — but we're also going to learn more about her mother Alura and how her actions motivate Kara to embrace her role as Supergirl.
Since coming on the Supergirl series, I've been very keen to make Kara more proactive and more positive. Working on this origin story has helped me realize how we can get her there.
Bedard: While we definitely see Zor-El in this tale, I'm trying to keep the focus squarely on Kara. So while I do want to revisit the fact that her father was turned into Cyborg Superman, that's something we'll need to get to in the regular monthly book. And it will be epic when we do.
Nrama: How many pages is it? And was it a challenge to put her origin into that small a space? Are you able to include much of it?
Bedard: This is a 12-page story, and there's a lot to pack in there: who Kara was before Krypton blew up, how her father tricked her into that rocket, the nature and variety of her powers, the origin of her costume, and how she's a fish out of water on Earth.
Nevertheless, this little 12-pager is what helped me crack open my approach to Kara's motivation. It was a real Eureka moment, and I think we have something that really makes her stand on her own, not just follow in Superman's footsteps. Check it out and you'll see what I mean.
Nrama: What's it been like getting to put your stamp on Supergirl's story – not only in this Secret Origins story, but also in the series so far?
Bedard: it's kind of like being allowed to handle some priceless, delicate artifact. It's thrilling and yet you're constantly aware that you have to honor the thing in your grasp. That's what it's like having stewardship of Supergirl, even more so than writing Green Lantern characters or any other monthly book I've done. There's something that borders on sacred about the Superman characters and I just want to do justice by Kara Zor-El and make her someone readers look forward to spending time with.
Nrama: What do you think of the Secret Origins comic — the idea behind it? Why do you think something like this makes sense?
Bedard: Ever since I was an editor, the importance of giving new readers a jumping-on point has been paramount. And now that we're a couple years into the New 52 Era, it's more important than ever to give longtime readers a simple and comprehensive reference point to remind them what's currently in continuity and what isn't. So, yeah, I'm glad we're doing this. I mean, even as a regular DC writer for the last few years I find myself wondering what's the current state of play for this character or that. I'm looking forward to seeing what Greg Pak does with his Superman origin, for example.
Nrama: I know we talked recently about Supergirl's upcoming time as a Red Lantern. But now that fans are aware of Supergirl getting a Red Lantern ring, is there anything you want to clarify? Anything we should notice about what's coming for the character?
Bedard: Personally, I'm excited to be working with Charles Soule on this moment in Kara's life. He has really made Red Lanterns all his own and it's fun to cross over with that cast of characters. But I think there are some Supergirl fans out there that wonder if giving Kara a red ring is a mistake. I want to tell those fans that this is more of a turning point. This is Kara working through her anger and resentment and realizing Fate handed her an opportunity to become the greatest ever daughter of the House of El.
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Red Lantern Supergirl Soule, Bedard Explain
According to new Supergirl writer Tony Bedard, Kara is going to evolve from an angry, resentful Kryptonian teenager into a grown-up, heroic woman of Earth…
But first she's got to get over all that whiny, teenager rage.
In the DC Universe, the words "anger" and "rage" mean one thing — Red Lanterns. And just when the Red Lanterns are taking over from the Green as the protectors of Sector 2814 (which includes Earth), Supergirl is getting a Red Lantern ring.
As a result, readers will get to read about Supergirl's adventures in Red Lanterns by Charles Soule, as well as the Supergirl storyline, "Red Daughter of Krypton."
Newsarama talked to Soule and Bedard to find out more about what readers can expect from the surprising mash-up between their two titles.
Newsarama: Tony, we talked a couple months ago about your plans for Supergirl, but now that we've read your first issue, it's clear that you're utilizing the emotional roller coaster that Kara has been on, yet pointing her in a new direction. Is that how you'd describe it?
Tony Bedard: I know where I'd like the character to be, but I'm trying to get her there in a way that respects the previous issues and isn't unrealistically abrupt.
What it boils down to is that Kara's life has been one disaster after another since arriving on Earth. As she reacts to this the way any teenager would, she can come across as angry, mopey or whiny. I want her to be a positive, likable character who embraces the responsibilities that come with her newfound power. So I'm trying to use this encounter with Lobo and her moment in the Red Lantern Corps as a pivot point to work through her anger/resentment and emerge as the Supergirl we'd all like to see.
Nrama: Before we get to the Red Lanterns, I'd like to follow up on Lobo's appearance in Supergirl #26. At the end of the issue, it looked like Lobo was dead. But Lobo being Lobo (albeit a new version of him), he tends to come back to life. Without completely spoiling the next issue, is there more to the ending of #26 than Kara realizes?
Bedard: Of course there is! Lobo wants to get inside The Block to learn from Dr. Veritas where he can find the "other" Lobo — the one he claims stole his name. Supergirl has unwittingly given him a ticket inside, and the Block is about to find out there's nothing more dangerous than a dead Czarnian.
I won't spoil all the fun, but I do want to mention that one of our priorities in Supergirl right now is to build up Kara's supporting cast and rogues gallery. Getting Lobo, Shay Veritas and the Block in on the action is part of our effort to expand Kara's world. And there's more to be mined with The Block and its commander Dr. Veritas. Internally, we sometimes refer to Veritas as the "New 52 Professor Hamilton."
I think it's a good way to look at role in the Superman Universe, though I think Shay has even greater potential as a character.
Bedard: Yeah, the fight with Lobo leads straight into the Red Lantern storyline. Without giving away too much, this new Lobo is one wily dude. Where the old Lobo was a bull in a china shop, this Lobo relies more on cunning and an array of really cool tools. He's still super-strong and able to take grievous damage, but he's closer to the original, early Lobo appearances where the Last Czarnian was just as likely to prevail through wits and willpower.
Anyhow, Lobo quickly realizes that going toe-to-toe with a Kryptonian is a losing proposition, but that Kara's vulnerabilities are in her head. So he does everything he can to push her buttons, to make her so irrationally angry that she can't fight effectively. Unfortunately, this uncorks a volcano of rage in her that acts like a magnet to one of the new red power rings Atrocitus created back in Red Lanterns #21.
Nrama: Charles, how does the addition of Supergirl to the team make sense with the mission of the Red Lanterns, now that they're in charge of Sector 2814?
Charles Soule: Well, one thing to remember about Red Lanterns is that the Reds themselves don’t choose new recruits. The rings pick them, based on the criteria of looking for people capable of great rage. So, the Red Lanterns (I hesitate to call them a Corps, since that isn’t really how they see themselves) didn’t have anything to do with Supergirl joining the team, and the fact that she hangs out on Earth isn’t really related either. Supergirl attracts a ring because she has some unresolved anger issues — to put it in as therapy-centered terms as I possibly can.
So, SG on the team doesn’t make sense from a 2814-perspective, it makes sense because she’s capable of attracting a ring, and there’s a good story to be told. That’s all it takes!
Nrama: So if the Reds don't "choose" the rings, than that means Guy's not recruiting new members and handing out new rings?
Soule: No, Guy doesn’t even realize this is happening. That said, the answer to the “why” of all this was seeded almost a year ago (or it’ll be that long by the time the issue hits), and it all makes sense with the larger picture of what’s happening in the book.
Bedard: I view it as a chance for her to grow. She has a lot of good reason to be angry, and she desperately wants a place to belong. For a moment she'll feel like the Red Lantern Corps is actually a good fit for her. But what she'll come to realize is that Rage and Revenge only take you so far. She's better than that. Along the way, we'll introduce another new villain with unexpected ties to her roots. I know it's easy to see this Red Lantern thing as making Kara even less likable, but I see it as a great opportunity to deal directly with her anger and have her emerge as someone worthy of the "S" on her chest.
Nrama: With Supergirl possessing Kryptonian abilities, will the red ring react differently to her?
Bedard: Yes it will, starting with some of the characteristic Red Lantern attributes. She'll have her own version of that Napalm-blood spewing thing. She'll hold her own against her rather unsavory teammates. And she'll find that some of the other Red Lantern rules and limitations don't apply to her. But you'll have to check it out to see what I mean.
Nrama: Charles, you're also utilizing Superman in the March issue— further making good on your promise to me last month that the Red Lanterns would encounter Earth heroes. What does Superman think of this situation?
Soule: In the New 52, Superman and Supergirl aren’t incredibly close. Nevertheless, Superman still feels very responsible for Kara, as she is his cousin, and one of the few surviving Kryptonians. I don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but Superman doesn’t know much about the way Red Lanterns work, and the little he does know comes from Hal Jordan. Which means, in other words, that pretty much everything he knows is bad. As far as he’s concerned, Guy and the other Reds have turned his poor, innocent cousin into some sort of slavering rage monster. Not a great place for Guy and the Reds to be, if you ask me.
Nrama: How has it been working with Tony on the story, and working with Supergirl as a character?
Soule: Tony’s awesome – I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. His Exiles work for Marvel is one of the main things I’d single out, but I’ve liked a lot of his work. So, it’s great to be able to talk story with him – we’ve had a number of discussions and conferences with respect to how to break the story between Supergirl proper and Red Lanterns. It’ll work out nicely – we each get fun beats to play.
As far as Supergirl herself, well, she’s an icon, isn’t she? This story is about putting her through a pretty significant character arc that will end up with her in a solid place for stories going forward. I realize having Supergirl as a Red Lantern is a bit unexpected, but isn’t that part of the fun of comics? Anything can happen.
Nrama: Then to finish up, Tony, how would you describe the road ahead for Supergirl in 2014, particularly after her experience being a Red Lantern?
Bedard: When I pitched my Supergirl outline to the editorial department, I described Kara's character arc as going "from angry, whiny teen to self-possessed hero." I don't mean that as a knock against anyone else's stories, but as a declaration of my intention to make Supergirl someone to look up to and someone you'll look forward to spending time with every month. And not because she's trying to live up to Cousin Kal, but because she is awesome all on her own.
New villains, stronger supporting cast, and a new outlook. That's where Kara Zor-El is headed, and she's going to pass through the crucible to get there. It's what this character deserves and I hope everyone reading this will come along for the ride.
Monday, December 23, 2013
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