Earlier this week, DC Comics released a teaser for an upcoming Green Lantern event - Lights Out. The only information released along with the teaser was it would begin in October. In order to find out more, we asked GREEN LANTERN writer and GREEN LANTERN CORPS co-writer, Robert Venditti, some questions.
Comic Vine: How long will this story/crossover run?
Robert Venditti: The primary villain, Relic, will be a feature of one of the Villains Month issues in September, but the crossover itself will run during October. The entire “Lights Out” story will take only one month.
CV: Can we assume this is a 'family' wide crossover with the other GL books? What about other titles?
RV: It starts in GREEN LANTERN #24 and runs through GREEN LANTERN CORPS, NEW GUARDIANS, and RED LANTERNS. No other titles will be taking part (aside from the aforementioned Villains Month issue and GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #2, which will also be hitting this October).
CV: What exactly can you tell us since DC hasn't said much about it? How does it end?
RV: “Lights Out” will tie together every Lantern of every Corps that has ever appeared in any comic book. Ever. It’s an ambitious story, and we’re going to take some risks. All the Corps will leave the crossover differently than when they went in.
And since you asked, the story ends at the Battle of the Black Gate, where Hal and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps defeat Sauron and the forces of Mordor. And there will be giant eagles.
Wait, that’s been done already?
CV: Seriously, are you planning on things getting brutal, hence the bloody ring in the teaser image?
RV: There will be plenty of action. In one way or another, each Corps is going to pay a price.
CV: How does it feel knowing you have the power in your hands to unleash evil things upon the Green Lantern characters?
RV: I don’t know if “evil” is the term I’d use. Evil is kind of one-dimensional. It’s, you know, evil. I prefer villains who, while their methods may be questionable, they remain at least in some way sympathetic to the reader. That’s certainly the goal with Relic.
CV: Will this story be the result of Villains Month or unrelated?
RV: It’s a story we already had in mind, and Villains Month offered an opportunity to expand on it by using September to tell Relic’s origin story. So it all came together rather fortuitously.
CV: Can you tell us where this takes place? On Earth, Oa, Space?
RV: In space, on Oa, and on some other familiar planets as well. But there will also be locations that haven’t been seen in the New 52 yet, and some new locations that have never been seen before.
CV: Am I the only one that started thinking of Peter Wolf's "Lights Out" from 1984?
RV: I certainly hope so.
Thanks Robert. We'll all have to be on the lookout for Lights Out in October in the GL titles as well as the GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL.