Interview w/ Scott Lobdell: "Nothing is ever what it seems" in Teen Titans

So what's going on with Artemis? [Teen Titans artist] Brett [Booth] told me that she may or may not be dead. Can I get a little more of an explanation of this? 


Nope. 

Well that kinda sucks.

But seriously, what if Chris Claremont had given an interview after Uncanny X-Men 100 and said "Don't worry, Jean isn't dead she's actually going to become the Phoenix and then she's going to be seduced by Mastermind (in disguise!) and then become Dark Phoenix and kill billions and finally have to kill herself in about thirty issues!"?  Wouldn't THAT suck?

Sit back, enjoy the ride!

Fair enough. How about how the team's roster came about? Did you pretty much have every character you wanted in mind going in, or did you and the editorial staff at DC have discussions about the characters?

Well it is hard because we were told to use the Core Four, but as they were all white people and I really wanted to use people of color it meant that I had to edit myself a lot.  I would have loved to have used Offspring or Miss Martian and Beast Boy (but I don't feel green counts as a person of color) and so, like I say, there was a lot of self editing going on.

And while there might have been other characters (heck, there are LOTS of teen characters) I also felt that there was a tradition that Marv and George started where the non-Core members should be fresh new characters (Raven, Starfire and Cyborg) -- and so I felt strongly that the other three spots should be taken up by newbies (or mostly newbies as in the case of Solstice).

Will we ever see characters guest-star for periods of time? Since we already saw Static in #6, I figure we could see any number of characters appear, like Miss Martian?

Certainly the world is our oyster. And while there are no PLANS for anyone else to show up soon, all things are possible.

Which one of the characters is your favorite to write? Red Robin seems to be the main character thusfar, but are we going to see any more of the group kind of take the narrator-ship away from him sometimes?

Hmm... I don't know if that is true, as Kid Flash opened the series, issue two and issue three.   

Can you give us some hints for the stories that we might see coming up soon? Like, hopefully, Artemis: Rebirth! Haha.

Well certainly Wonder Girl is going to be moving front row and center as Red Robin and Superboy help her get to the bottom of the same armor that gives her her powers might actually be killing her.   (No wonder she doesn't like the notion of being Wonder Girl.)

So I kind of want to know what is going on with Kid Flash's origin. Pre-New 52, he was from the Legion's time, is it something similar? If you can't tell me, are we going to find out some time in the near future?

Yes and yes.

What about Solstice? Where did her character come in? Is she still the Solstice that we saw Pre-New 52, just with the charcoal-colored skin or is she a new character entirely? 

Well technically she is the same character... but as much of her pre-52 story is no longer available to us she is tweaked:  Rather than meet the Titans, she was kidnapped by N.O.W.H.E.R.E. about a year prior to Teen Titans #1 (I'm guessing as I wasn't there.) and their experiments (we assume) are what lead her to her current state.  But as far as I am concerned, this is the same character that was created brilliantly by JT Krul and Nicola Scott!  

If a new fan was standing in the comic store deciding whether or not to buy Teen Titans, what would you say to him/her to make them definitely want to?

"I will give you five dollars if you buy this book."

And for my last question, I asked Brett [Booth] this as well when I last talked to him earlier today:  Can sum up some hints of things to come in Teen Titans in 5 or 6 words??

Nothing Is Ever What It Seems.

Thanks for the interview! Issue #9 of Superboy (part 2) and Legion Lost (part 3) of the Culling storyline, which Scott is co-writing with Tom DeFalco. Part 4 comes out in Teen Titans #9 later this month. Check in later this week for my own personal reviews of Superboy #9 and then Legion Lost #9. Thanks!

Brett Booth Interview!

So with Teen Titans Annual #1 being released last week, I got to chat with "Teen Titans" artist Brett Booth about his thoughts on the Multiverse, Beast Boy's now-red fur, his work on the Annual issue and things to come in Teen Titans.


With Earth-2 & Worlds' Finest both starting last week...What are your thoughts on the Multiverse? 

Very cool! I really enjoyed both of them. I did a few designs for Earth 2 so I'm hoping I'll get a chance to draw something for it!

Might we ever see a Earth-2 (or another Earth)'s Teen Titans? I think that'd be very, very cool.

I don't know. What I've read makes me think Earth 2 will not have the same heroes. So if there is a younger team I think it would be Infinity Inc. Which were the TT of Earth 2 originally. As for a crossover... I have NO idea. Would be cool, but I think we'll have to wait and see what James has planned for Earth 2 first:) As for another Earth... no idea.

What, if any, titles would you want to read out of a "Third Wave" of New 52 books? 

Lets see... a New Wonder Woman book that shows what happened between JL6 and WW1. Booster Gold, Ted Kord, Wally West Flash book (longshot I know!) Kid Flash, Red Robin, Maybe another youth team book. I've read the Bleeding Cool Robin's book idea... that might be cool. An Earth 2 Hawkgirl and Flash book:)

Switching over to the Annual...I have to say, there are so many beautiful panels and pages in that issue that I can't even count. I've never seen so many amazing pieces of art in one place. I want to save up money for when the Annual's pages go on sale! But anyway, how much time did it take you to draw the issue? 

I have some up already but some are just pencils, a few pages were done on blue line to get it done on time. Took me 6 weeks to do that... I'm still recovering!

Also, how long did it take you to get down the designs for Tyroc, Dawnstar, and the rest of the Legion Lost-ers, let alone the new characters we see around? 

I did designs for Leash and Omen a month or so before for TT8. All the ravagers were done by Ian, so really I just did the 'reverse tron' ones. And I just went straight into them designed them on the page.

I think we all deserve an explanation as to why it is that Beast Boy is red. Do you happen to know any of the thought-process behind it? 

All the animal stuff in the DCnU is tied to the Red, so it would be strange make a guy who turns into animals green... the plant force thingy. Plus I'm sorry green is just not that cool for animals... they look like jell-o;P

So the Beast Boy stuff is tied into the events happening in Animal Man and Swamp Thing?

I wouldn't say tied as much as reflecting. Red=animals. Green=plants. Strange to have a green kid turning into animals;) They might have some plan for it but I don't know what it is:)

And, as you could see by my conversation with you and Scott on Twitter, I must know what happened to Artemis! I thought she was dead, but Scott is being so mysterious and I just can't wait to find out more!

She had that hypertaxis virus and was 'killed'. Whether she's dead dead I don't know. I did do a design for her though!

Is the Culling storyline JUST about the individual event inside of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. that is named the Culling, or is it going to be the entire story of when the Titans and the Legion are inside and how they take down Harvest (if they do)? I've been kind of curious about that. 

The Culling is like Easter or Arbor day in the colony, it happens ever so often. Will it happen again as an event? No idea. 

When I asked about the Culling, I was asking more of whether the current story/crossover that is happening would be the entirety of just one Culling and the story itself will end when the Culling ends, potentially leaving the team inside of N.O.W.H.E.R.E.'s clutches still...or if it was just the name of the crossover and didn't indicate that the whole crossover is for the..."holiday", let's say, known as "the Culling." I know that's long-winded and confusing, but yeah.

The Culling is an event that happens at the Colony I can't tell you if the story wraps up at the official end of the Culling 'holiday' as that would give away the end! 

Fair enough! Obviously, the team is keeping the Tron-looking outfits for at least one month after the crossover, since we see Bart & Solstice wearing them on the cover of [Teen Titans] #10, and Superboy and Wonder Girl wearing them on the cover of Superboy #10. Is it just through issue #10, or are they going to be around for some period of time?

Just through issue 10, they get rid of them (Solstice and Cassie have other options so they aren't wearing them in 10.) I'm even trying to change SB's. I'm Troned out;)

And for my last question, can sum up some hints of things to come in Teen Titans in 5 or 6 words?? 

Cassie gets pissed! There, I did it in 3;)

This Wednesday: 5/9/2012 Edition

This seems to be both a pretty minor and a pretty major comic week, with the only two issues I am getting on my own without the subscriptions are Superboy #9 and Legion Lost #9, aka parts 2 & 3 of the Culling. So I can't wait for that, but on the flip side that means that overall I'm only gonna have two issues this week. Well, I never got Justice League International #9 or Red Lanterns #9 so I guess I'll hopefully be getting those this week, along with Green Lantern #9 and Batman #9. And speaking of, you can see previews of those here and here. I will hopefully have the reviews up soon.