The New 52 has quite a few books revolving around its dark corner of the universe and JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK is at the center of all that mystical madness. Back on issue #15, Ray Fawkes began co-writing the title with Jeff Lemire (GREEN ARROW, ANIMAL MAN). DC Comics was kind enough to let us chat with Ray for a bit about what the future holds for this title.
Comic Vine: With things being set up between the Justice League and Justice League of America, could we see the Justice League Dark team get involved?
Ray Fawkes: Yes. That is my full and final answer.
CV: Will we see any changes in the roster anytime soon?
RF: Also, yes. There’s people who will leave, people who will join, and people who will come back.
CV: At the conclusion of issue #18, A.R.G.U.S. seems to view JLD as a potential threat. Because of this, will we see these two groups go at it?
RF: Yes! Steve Trevor’s a military man. He looks at the Justice League Dark as a collection of people with access to powers he doesn't understand, so he wants to have at least some kind of control over it. When Constantine says they don’t take orders from him, it really becomes a you’re with us or against us situation – they become a potential threat to Steve. He now has to view them as a collection of powered individuals he has no control over and it’s makes him really nervous.
CV: This last arc ended with the JLD parting ways with Timothy Hunter and his father. What can we expect from this character, in future issues and story lines?
RF: Well, Tim and his dad are off on another planet essentially being Gods. If we do see them again, they’re going to be real different from the way we last saw them – they’re going to be rebuilding this planet and ruling it.
CV: The Dark Books (JLD, CONSTANTINE, ANIMAL MAN, and SWAMP THING) are all in their own pocket within DC. Do you think this strengthens the books because you can spend more time building and focusing on ideas and characters or hurts it since adding more popular characters to a book tends to lead to more readership?
RF: I think the books really benefit actually from grounding them in the rest of the world, showing how they’re different. And when they encounter the rest of the world, it gives you a chance to see what the dark characters think of people like Green Lantern and Flash… and it gives a chance to see what people like Green Lantern and Flash think about dark characters. I think that makes the whole world sort of mature, fuller and more interesting.
CV: What has it been like to jump head first into the New 52's mystical side of things?
RF: A total blast. I love the mystical side of stuff. It’s where the collection of freakiest and weirdest characters all lie and that’s where my inclinations lie. I love the brightest of the heroes and the guys who have very clear objectives but there’s nothing more fun to me than people who ride the line between good and evil and the people who do what they do sometimes because it helps the world and sometimes because it helps themselves. It’s fascinating to me.
Like when one of these really weird characters – someone like Frankenstein – jumps in and starts hacking away at something and you’re not even exactly sure if it’s a good thing he’s doing which to me is totally compelling. I want to know what this guy’s doing, what he’s all about, why this is happening.
CV: If you could add any DC, Wildstorm, or Vertigo character to the JLD roster, who would you pick and why?
RF: If I had the chance, I would, for some limited amount of time, put Lex Luthor on the team.
CV: How do you find the time to write all of these books?
RF: Well, I basically don’t do much else. I don’t go to the movies and I don’t sleep. I've always wanted to be a writer and I really do it as much as my free time allows – I’m reading and I’m writing all of the time, as much as I can for as long as I can.
CV: Thanks, Ray!
The next issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK will hit the stands April 24th.
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