We sat down at NYCC with DC Comics Writer Rob Venditti to talk about taking over the Green Lanterns world.
Over the weekend Rob Venditti sat down with Kastor’s Korner to talk about his career with DC comics and his latest book Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corp.
MIKE: What do you like about working with DC?
ROB: It was when I saw Superman II and seeing Superman enter the particle machine and lose his powers, then regaining them and the timeless music plays. I think the DC heroes are so timeless so inspiring and so hopeful I think those qualities I embrace and I try to uphold myself.
MIKE: How do you feel about following up Geoff Johns on Green Lantern.
ROB: Obviously big shoes to fill, shoes that can’t be filled. One of those legendary classic runs that will be remembered forever by not only DC fans, but comic book fans as well. I try not to think of it like that because I’m not ever going to out Geoff, Geoff. I just wanna tell the stories I tell the way I know how to tell them and to just enjoy it while i’m able to do it. I just want to make my mark and make the best use of my time while i’m on the title.
MIKE: What was one of the first books you wrote?
ROB: One of the first books I wrote was The Surrogates graphic novel for a company called Top Shelf that was eventually adapted into a movie staring Bruce Willis.
MIKE: What would you tell aspiring writers or artist’s to get their foot in the door?
ROB: It’s different because its the arts, you’re not going to apply for the job. Everyone tunnels into the mountain their own way. My way was to go work in the warehouse packing boxes.
MIKE: What’s the best advice you could give a writer?
ROB: Be humble. What I mean by being humble is know what you don’t know. You only need one kind of smarts in this world and it is to know what you aren’t smart about. Like if I know I can’t fix a car I don’t try to fix my car and make it worse, I have the guy who knows how to work on cars fix it. Same thing with writing or anything else; know what you don’t know understand. It’s art and there are no answers and it’s always going to be a learning process and that your never going to stop. If you
do that you will hopefully always improve. The day you think you got it all figured out that’s the end for you, you will stop growing at that moment and you might as well hang it up.
MIKE: What’s your dream hero to write?
ROB: Superman would be the real pie in the sky because it brings me back to my child hood. Tarzan is another one I grew up loving Tarzan watching the old shows and cartoons.
MIKE: What did you think of the whole DC Rebirth
ROB: I love it. It’s a great time to be with DC to be able to have the opportunity to be a part of something starting on the ground floor. Top to bottom if you read the books across the line you can feel the enthusiasm the creators have for the stories as well as the readers, and retailers.
MIKE: Where do you see Green Lantern going at this point?
ROB: We got a lot of good stories coming up. First arc is going to resolve itself in issue seven, then we are going to move into a more John Stewart heavily influenced story for issue 8 through 12. After that we have some pretty good surprises we are building towards a really really good story that people can look out for.
MIKE: Do you find it difficult to write monthly or bimonthly?
ROB: They are both the same. Monthly comics is a very tough industry to be in because every thirty days your book has to go, so it is really important to stay on your deadlines so artists can be working colors can always be working. If I don’t do my job, not to say a writers job is most important I feel visuals are, not to say visuals is most important either, what you can argue is writing has to happen before anything else can happen. If I don’t do my job then everybody else is waiting on me to do their job. So you have to stick to dead lines.
Thank you DC Comics and Rob Venditti for allowing us to sit with you this year. You can pick up Hal Jordan And The Green Lantern Corps at your local comic shops.