Thursday, January 10, 2013

Newsarama Interview With Scott Lobdell


The Scott Lobdell publicity machine was running on all cylinders last week. Not only did he have an interview on Comic Vine, he also talked up Superman and H'El on Earth on Newsarama. Here is the link:
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/superman-16-lobdell-interview.html

I advise reading the interview in its entirety as Lobdell talks a lot about upcoming plots and his thoughts on characters and their motivations.  Here are some of the questions and some of my thoughts.

Newsarama: Scott, the crossover has provided an opportunity for readers to really see a contrast between the three Super-characters in the New 52. Do you think that's been one of the benefits of doing a crossover, is really distinguishing these characters from each other and showing different facets of their personality as they bump up against each other?

Scott Lobdell: Well, you know, along those same lines but in a bigger way, we have been using the Justice League in the coming up issues of the crossover. And often, one of us will write something about how Supergirl admires Wonder Woman or something like that, and then we have to reel it back and go, wait, you know what? Supergirl's never met Wonder Woman. She's never heard of Wonder Woman. This is her first meeting with her.

I think that Clark can traditionally be a lonely guy, because he's on Kryptonian on a planet full of almost 7 billion humans. What's sad is his cousin finally arrives on Earth, and suddenly, he finds he has much more in common with these 7 billion people he's been with on Earth than he has with his own kin. She spent her entire life on Krypton and he spent maybe, mmm... six months on the planet. [...] at the end of the day, he has no idea what it's like to feel Kryptonian grass under his feet, or to interact with other Kryptonians.

Another example is Superboy. Heading into this story, there have been conversations where someone initially said, "Well, he's going to respect the 'S' on Superman's chest and think that's a lot to live up to." And then it's like, well, actually, no... he's not going to have any of that. As far as he's concerned, that 'S' belongs to him as much as it belongs to this other guy who's running around at the same time calling himself Superman.
So it's just been a lot of fun to not throw Superboy in a situation where he's like, "I have to help save the world," because frankly, in a war between Earth and Krypton, you have to wonder where Superboy's allegiance would be anyway. He doesn't feel himself of either world right now.

Is it me, or do none of these characters sound like they are, in any way, happy?

Superman is lonely ... and maybe a little resentful or jealous of Kara's Kryptonian history.

Superboy thinks the S-shield is his and has no allegiance to Earth or Krypton. No allegiance to Earth despite having made friends with the Ravagers and Titans, despite living the high life on stolen money, despite having been almost killed by H'El? If despite all that he might watch Earth die then he is disturbed.

And I would hope that, eventually, Supergirl does admire Wonder Woman.

Nrama: We just got to see you write Lex Luthor this week, and it's implied that there's an unknown history between the two characters. What was the thought behind including him in the mix?

Lobdell: I think it's interesting because part of the story is Superboy encountering this guy for the very first time, but it's also, really, our first time encountering Lex as a full-blown villain, because the last time we saw him was five years ago in Action Comics. And at the time he was science consultant to Colonel Lane. But now, we see that time has passed and there have been some encounters between Superman and Lex.
I thought it was interesting to allow readers to read between the lines as to what that relationship was.
I think that over the years, Lex has been portrayed as being motivated by insecurities. It started out way back when he was angry that Superman made him lose his hair. And in recent incarnations, he's been a guy who was jealous of Superman's status as the world's most famous man. This Lex who wants to be president and wants to compete with Superman for the title of most popular person? I don't really find that very compelling. I don't have any interest in that version of Lex Luthor. 

I like Lex as a very, very dangerous guy.

While we meet him in prison and it's a prison unlike any you've ever seen, I don't believe for a second that Lex is there for any other reason than Lex wants to be there. So clearly, he's working on something, otherwise he wouldn't be there.

If there is one thing that has stood out in a positive way in Lobdell's brief Superman run, it is Lex. I know he was only in a portion of one issue, but it made an impact. His Lex is smart and crazy. And passionate in his beliefs. And that makes him scary. Scarier than I can remember recently. I am glad Lex is a dangerous character again. And even if he has everything planned, he had a sort of unpredictable feel to him, emphasized by his mood swings. Good stuff.

Nrama: We saw the Justice League show up in issue #15. What can you tell us about how these characters interact with the Super-characters?
Lobdell: There's a fight coming up between Flash and Supergirl, and when it was originally being written, one of the initial thoughts was, well, Flash is a member of the Justice League, so Kara would have to think twice about going up against these powerful heroes. But again, that's just not true with these characters. As far as I can tell, Kara has been on Earth for about three weeks and hasn't met the Justice League. And she sees them as a bunch of people in costumes with kind of limited superpowers. As far as she's concerned, a group of people trying to express authority over her when she's trying to get Krypton back on its feet, she would have no personal regard or even respect for the Justice League.

Supergirl has no personal regard or even respect for the Justice League.

I don't care if she is new to the world. It just doesn't sound right or feel right.

She falls for H'El's lies. She has no respect for the Justice League. She turns her back on Superman. What an awful story this has been and is going to be for Supergirl.

Who is the current editor who is approving this character assassination?


Nrama: You mentioned the end of the crossover, and I know with issue #18, you're kind of bringing Clark back to Metropolis to address some of the things going on with his life there. You've given readers some food for thought about how the "H'el" storyline might have ramifications in late 2013, but what else gets the focus in 2013?
Lobdell: I will tell you that traditionally, the Fortress of Solitude has worked out so well for Superman because no one knew about it. When the entire world, and even more, Earth's entire solar system gets affected because of the actions of H'el at the fortress of solitude, I can tell you that it's going to severely impact on Superman's life, at least short-term. Essentially the entire world knows that he now has this little frozen fortress at the top of the world where he keeps all manner of alien life forms and weapons and technology that a lot of people on Earth would really like to get their hands on.

I can tell you that Clark is going to be going to Lois' housewarming party in an effort to make up for some of the hurt feelings that we've seen so far. And it's not going to go well, but through no fault of Clark's. And no fault of Lois' either. It's just that these things happen when you're a superhero and you're trying to have a personal life at the same time.

And finally, Jimmy is going to get the worst news and the best news that he can possibly imagine. And it's going to get him up off that couch.

So if the world doesn't trust Superman now, how are they going to feel when they learn that he has an ammunition depot in the Arctic? Will they attack the fortress to get their hands on it? Will it put a further wedge between the world and Superman? Will it isolate him more? Do I want to read these stories?

The next big scene for Lois is a house-warming party? Ugh.

And I hope that Jimmy's best news is inheriting Clark's job leading him to become Mr. Action. I hope it is something similar to that. And not something like his girlfriend is pregnant or he is dying.

I am trying to remain positive!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is it me, or do none of these characters sound like they are, in any way, happy?

No, it's not you.  Everyone sounds like they's just miserable, angry, resentful, and bitter.  It's a pretty unappealing mix.

She falls for H'El's lies. She has no respect for the Justice League. She turns her back on Superman. What an awful story this has been and is going to be for Supergirl. 

Supergirl had been going in an interesting direction.  It wasn't necessarily the Supergirl I wanted, but it was a good read.  This sounds pretty awful, but it does sound very much like a Scott Lobdell story.  Supergirl via Red Hood.

Who is the current editor who is approving this character assassination?

Funny how Eddie Berganza gets involved and we're back to this stuff.  I guess we should be happy she hasn't erupted in crystals or killed any classmates yet. 

I think it's odd that while Supergirl was going so well we were seeing regular art updates from Mahmud Asrar and numerous interesting and encouraging interviews with Green and Johnson.  Now that we're into LobH'Ell we're getting this sort of commentary, Green & Johnson's interviews have stopped completely, Asrar has pretty much stopped posting Supergirl art, and Johnson as not only stopped Tweating but his Twitter account (mikecomix) no longer exists.

Dave Mullen said...

I'll take the moderate ground here, step up onto my pedestal, and ask people please don't read too much into these interviews like this!

I've read quite a few creator interviews since the New 52 initiative launched and they all follow the same broad template as this one of Lobdell's does, yes they are usually very informative but above all else they are promotional tools. The equivalent to movie press packages and their interviews with the gushing stars.

The writer/artist is promoting their own work and the directive's of their editor & publisher, so yes there's a lot of stuff being said and a lot of stuff which is either A]Likely to be taken out of the intended context.
B]Deliberately intended as provocative.
Or C]The creator rambling on and saying silly things without meaning to.

One of my favorite such interviews actually came from Tony Bedard promoting his Blue Beetle book, at one point he defends the wiping of Beetle's (somewhat brief) previous continuity as: "..it’s essentially the same character we enjoyed on the last go-round, but more accessible and less convoluted. Which also describes [DC Comics: The New 52]. We’re not throwing out what was great about our universe and our characters. Batman is still Batman, Superman is still Superman. It’s just that after 75 years of stories, we’re just updating and simplifying for a new generation of readers."
...He then enthusiastically goes into some depth about his work on the New Guardians, a book that is undoubtedly one of DCs most convoluted and mythology heavy books... *sigh*

I hope I'm not sounding superior, that isn't at all my intention, but getting so irate about interviews such as this isn't the sensible thing to do in my opinion. It's usually just creators running off at the mouth or pushing a deliberate marketing agenda...

Anj said...

Thanks for the comments.

I agree Dave that these interviews are often fluff pieces and often don't mirror reality. Heck, The Green/Johnson Supergirl is a perfect example where the interviews and publicity pieces paint a darker picture.

Part of my beef here is that I actually have a sample of Lobdell's work on Superman and then read all these things which *do* seem to line up with these comments.

I don't think you are being superior by asking for moderation! There is too much extremism on the internet. So a voice of reason is always welcome! I try sometimes to be that voice.

In the end, I guess I have been unimpressed with Lobdell's work so far, his representation of Superman. And these things add some fuel to the fire.

valerie21601 said...

I knew Superman would be facing hard times when Matt Idelson said he would do everything in his power and fight to the bitter end to keep Clark and Lois separated FOREVER.

The dark picture Johnson/Green, painted of Supergirl wasn't a good sign for the series. (Even now Johnson still paints a dark future for Kara.)

Having Superboy be in one crossover right after another wasn't a good sign (to me).


Now Berganza is in charge of all of the Super line and knowing his past with Supergirl doesn't fill me with hope.

Something tells me the Super Family will be facing dark days in sales and darker story lines until something snaps.

Anonymous said...

Yup Kousin Kara is being jobbed out once again, all to make Kal El look like Top Mook of the Universe.
Same old same old, DC editorial approaches Kal and Kara like they are a Zero Sum Game, his wins are equal to her losses...this has literally been the metaphoric problem from 1959 until today.
They could try something different, but that means a different concept of each character and DC is not comfortable with change that isn't profit or sensation driven.
I am almost at the point where I think Supergirl is better off in some alternate reality where she is Top Mook, no Superman to drag on her cape.
At least it would be something different for real...

JF

PRgirl1294 said...

I'd like to make a few responses to your blog that are probably gonna make you feel old.

1. "Is it me, or do none of these characters sound like they are, in any way, happy?

Superman is lonely ... and maybe a little resentful or jealous of Kara's Kryptonian history.

Superboy thinks the S-shield is his and has no allegiance to Earth or Krypton. No allegiance to Earth despite having made friends with the Ravagers and Titans, despite living the high life on stolen money, despite having been almost killed by H'El? If despite all that he might watch Earth die then he is disturbed."

I know that you're upset about how these characters are gonna seem unhappy, but this is what's gonna make the next few stories interesting. It's called drama and without it, there wouldn't even be a story. As for the problems that you say that Superman and Superboy are having, at least some of this is probably gonna be solved by the end of this crossover. Tom DeFalco confirms here (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=40940) that Superboy's relationships with Earth, his roots, and the Super-family will be redefined in this crossover and that he won't be so ambivalent anymore.

2. "Supergirl has no personal regard or even respect for the Justice League.

I don't care if she is new to the world. It just doesn't sound right or feel right.

She falls for H'El's lies. She has no respect for the Justice League. She turns her back on Superman. What an awful story this has been and is going to be for Supergirl.

Who is the current editor who is approving this character assassination?"

I understand that you remember Kara as someone who respects the Justice League and cares for Earth, but try to understand that that Kara had a different background. That Kara was probably taught to respect Earth and once she got to Earth, she had the Big Three as mentors. But this Kara likely wasn't taught much about Earth and when she got to Earth, she ended up in the wrong place (which I'm thinking is H'el's doing) and she had to survive Earth mostly on her own. So of course she doesn't know much about Earth's heroes and isn't gonna respect the JL at first. But she'll learn to respect them as warriors when they kick her butt and as people when she learns their true intentions. As for H'el, as Lobdell said, he actually has noble intentions that Kara understands and she's been through so much that she is desperate to get home. And as the solicits for "Superman #14" say, he's smarter than her. But I'm sure that she'll realize the error of her ways by the end of the crossover.

Anonymous said...

What a rude and graceless comment from PRgirl1294. It doesn't even have the merit of being interesting or insightful...just long and presumptuous.

Anj said...

Anonymous, thanks for coming to my defense. But the truth is I didn't mind the post.

I hope this is a place where people can talk about their takes on comic in a semi-serious, non-trolling, non-belligerent way.

It is pretty clear that PRGirl and I differ in opinion. But I still want to hear hers because maybe she will sway me or help me understand another segment of Supergirl's fandom.

Anyways, I like the discussions that come up here. Even if they remind me I'm old.

PRgirl1294 said...

I'm not trying to be rude and I am not being presumptuous. I am going off of what I have read from the issues about these characters and from the interviews that the creators have done about the crossover, in case you didn't notice from the website that I had cited in my comment. Please try to read my comments completely and throughly before you call them rude, graceless, or presumptuous.

PRgirl1294 said...

Thanks for defending me and for being open to my opinions. Like I said, I was not being presumptuous and I was going off of what I've read from the comics and the interviews about the crossover. And that "gonna make you feel old" part was just a joke how you said that my comment in your review about "Superman #15" made you feel old. Please consider the words in my first comment here and try to let them have you reconsider your thoughts about this crossover.