Darkseid War has done some crazy things to some of the members of the Justice League. Many of them have gained the powers of gods and are more powerful than every imagined before. Coming out on November 11 are two new books that take a closer look at members of the league and how the event has affected them: SHAZAM, written by Steve Orlando with art by Scott Kolins, and GREEN LANTERN, written by Tom King with art from Evan Shaner.
We talked to the writers of the two books over the phone and started the conversation with Steve Orlando.
COMIC VINE: What's going on in this story?
STEVE ORLANDO: DARKSEID WAR: SHAZAM is all about the fact that as you left the latest issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE, you saw some new voices in Shazam's head. Darkseid's death sent a shockwave that causes a momentary disruption to his pantheon. We see, in that moment, some new gods move in, and all of the SHAZAM issue is about understanding and finding out that he was powered by gods, which he wasn't really sure about, but now he has to deal with all these new ones. Maybe some of them have their own plans for what Shazam means to them and it's more of an opportunity to them.
We give Shazam all new, all different, all weird powers. He's going to fight to take control of them against various people in his head and they're trying to break out.
CV: What are some of his new powers that we'll be seeing?
ORLANDO: You'll see from almost page one he has a new offensive ability. He has a speech balloon that has flames around it, so there's probably going to be something to do with some new fire powers that he has, but at the same time, some of his powers are more subtle. People think of Shazam as a brawler and magic user but some of his powers like wisdom, they're a little more subtle. We've done a bit of restructuring of what his powers do to his personality and that has to do with some of the brand new DCU gods that are going to be giving him these powers. Maybe he's looking at things in a different way. Maybe he's going looking at situations in a different way. It's not all about the fact he can shoot new things. He's got people in his head from all different walks of life. All different pantheons. Things that are older than the New Gods. Things coming from all parts of the DC Universe. He's looking at his life and the world in a whole new way.
CV: Billy has the voices of the gods in his head. Mentally, how is that going to affect him in this story?
ORLANDO: It forces to think out what Shazam really is. Because certainly it's about how gods perceive us and how they want to use us and if they get a chance. Gods are boastful and have egos. They spend a millennia being worshiped, and so the new voices in Billy's heads have an effect on him. He's got to assert himself. He's a teenage kid from Philadelphia that has to find a way to tame these insurmountable, cosmic egos.
CV: Billy isn't a weak character, but he's still a kid. How does that come into play?
ORLANDO: It's a fine point. He's not in any a weak character, but he's still a kid and he get scared and confused. At the end of the day, especially Billy, he doesn't like being used and doesn't like being told what to do. When you're a kid, you almost don't realize what you're saying when you react. You don't think about who you're talking to. You just say things. I think it's perfect for him to be who he is right now, for this story. He's talking back and talking down to people. He has no business giving them attitude. They're older than the universe, but when you're a kid and rebelling, you're full of this youthful idealism and you think you're the most important thing and maybe you are the are. I think a lot of characters would react differently to these gods. Billy says what he wants to say and doesn't like to be pushed around and he doesn't care who he says it to. I think that's what teenage life is like and it's a perfect starting point to get the story going.
Next, we talked to Tom King about his DARKSEID WAR: GREEN LANTERN book.
CV: What's going on in this story?
TOM KING: When Darkseid died all these parademons they fled the planet and they were attracted to the most powerful planet around and that was Oa, the home of the Grene Lantern Corps. They terraform it. They kill all the Green Lanterns. They kill John Stewart, Kilowog, Tomar Re. They're looking for the energy on the planet and they realize that the Green Lanterns' willforce is without precognition without consciousness, so they need a god to guide their new way. They literally need to find new gods and that's when Hal Jordan arrives. It's about Hal Jordan making a choice whether or not to become a god. It's a 22-page character piece about that decision and who Hal Jordan is and what it means to be a god and what that means to him as a person. It also deals with faith and other issues.
CV: That's a big thing you explore in this issue. This does delve into faith within Hal's past, as a child. What can you tell us about that scene and putting it into this book?
KING: As a guy of mixed faith, I'm half-Jewish and half-Protistan and my wife is half-Jewish, half-Catholic, it was very nice to emphasize that Hal Jordan is mixed-faith, with is father being Jewish and his mother being Catholic. It was already hinted at a bunch of times, but I wanted to solidify that and what that means to a person and what God is and what God makes you do in the clash of your upbringing. It's a pretty deep issue for a super-hero book. We start out with Hal sort of being this character that's from two different religious traditions is being asked to create his own religious tradition.
CV: Within "Darkseid War," Hal has seen his friends get powers from the gods. Where's Hal's mindset during this? Does he have ill-feelings towards those close to him with all of this?
KING: Hal is the most fun character to write in the DC Universe and I say this as the guy who writes Dick Grayson. Hal is so confident and so cocky. To me, he's like Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek series. He's the guy who can look gods in the eyes and say "no." Hal is a pilot and every test pilot has a god complex. He already thinks he's a god, he's just missing the powers. To him, it's not as impressive as it is to everyone else. Hal's the only one that doesn't seem afraid to Batman. I feel that same way about the gods. He sees right through them. To him, it's not as a big of a deal as everyone else, and he sees more of the moral conundrums that come along with it.
CV: Current continuity Hal Jordan is in a very different place than the Hal Jordan we see in JUSTICE LEAGUE. How did the version we see come to be?
KING: I'm a huge fan of Robert Venditti is doing. He's a buddy of mine and helped me in the industry. People should read GREEN LANTERN now. It's brilliant and beautiful. Basically when I came to the project, Geoff Johns was the showrunner of this. I ask Geoff which Green Lantern fits into his story. He said, "This is the Green Lantern," and I just went with that. I think Hal Jordan in Venditti's run would be just as fun to write. Those were just the parameters I was given and went from there. However, Doc Shaner draws his so classically here.
CV: It's great to see not only Doc Shaner on Green Lantern but also Scott Kolins on Shazam. Those are two artists I feel we don't get to see enough.
KING: Yeah! I agree with you. Doc Shaner should draw all the comics, but he's real lazy and draws just one at a time. [laughs] He should do more.
ORLANDO: This was a great opportunity to work with Scott, as a guy growing up reading his runs on FLASH. Beyond that, having Scott to design some of the DCU Cosmic realm that we're putting in through this book. They're brand new in the DC Universe and Scott's so spot on with all the weird stuff I send him and the strange images that go into my reference file. He still brought that classic Kirby power that I think makes the designs timeless. It's an insane opportunity. Thank God I got it. He did an amazing job and brings an energy to the book that works with the Fourth World stuff.
Thanks to Steve Orlando and Tom King for chatting with us and make sure to check out JUSTICE LEAGUE: THE DARKSEID WAR: SHAZAM and GREEN LANTERN when they hit stores on Wednesday, November 11.