Comixfan Forums - DEFENDING DRAX WITH KEITH GIFFEN, PART ONE

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/marvelheroes/2005/defenders/DFNDRS001.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/marvelheroes/2005/defenders/DFNDRS001_T.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Defenders #1 preview"></a>By Raul Grau, Comixfan Columns Editor

In February, <a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=32250" target="_blank">Keith Giffen</a> told Comixfan about the then upcoming I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, the still upcoming Defenders, and his disdain for a certain type of vampire. At the recent Wizard World Philadelphia convention, Marvel announced Drax the Destroyer, the galactic gladiator of Jim Starlin fame, now poised for a cosmic comeback. Recently, Giffen sat down with us again to discuss the new direction on Drax, the doomsayings of the Defenders, the end of his Justice League existence, and why Lobo might now have to exist without him.

Comixfan: What can you tell us about your approach for Drax?

Keith Giffen: We're doing our version of Lilo & Stitch. I'm serious. [laughs] That was actually Andy Schmidt's idea to do a weird take on Lilo & Stitch.

Drax is stranded on Earth when a prison transport transporting him to one of the prisons out there crash lands, spilling him, Lunatik, the Blood Brothers, and Kybak the Skrull. All they want to do is get off the planet before the superheroes find out. Earth is a planet that you don't want to be stranded on. Of course, the technology's not there, and Drax is there, and he looks up at this little... have you seen this cartoon called The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy?

Comixfan: Sure...

Giffen: I patterned the girl very heavily after Mandy. You know she's going to grow up to be a serial killer. I love the character, because out of all the characters in the book, she comes off as the most savage, ruthless, and heartless.

It's redefining Drax. It's getting him away from the Hulk. The big green 'Drax Smash!' thing, and trying to bring him closer to what Jim Stalin meant for him to be- this vengeance-driven, space mercenary.

Comixfan: Are you going back to his original intelligence level?

Giffen: Yeah, he gets his intelligence back, and he gets all the memories back too. He knows Thanos killed his family, he knows who mindwiped him and turned him into the Destroyer, so he's going after everybody. He's got this 'Robin' with him now- this girl- who he doesn't like. It's like Batman with a Robin he doesn't want, and who just might be more dangerous than him, and not because she has powers, just because of her attitude. She's soulless.

I'm pleased with it. It's four issues. And the guy drawing it is just spectacular.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/cons/2005/wwphilly/Drax_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/cons/2005/wwphilly/Drax_1_T.jpg" hspace=10 align=right alt="Drax the Destroyer #1 preview"></a>Comixfan: Who is the artist?

Giffen: Mitch Breitweiser. He's great. He's got this real old school approach, it almost reminds me of Alan McWilliams. Since most of the action takes place outside of this small Alaskan logging town, his balancing of the high tech stuff with the real mundane stuff is great. I can smell those woods. I'm really happy about it.

Comixfan: With her father as the star, will Moondragon be showing up?

Giffen: No, this is moving Drax into the position we want him to be, and getting him into space. I'd love to continue his adventures, but the idea is to do something with these characters, to see what works, and then kick them into the communal pool. So, who knows, Drax's next appearance could be in something Starlin does, or something Peter David does, or anyone who traffics in Marvel's science fiction universe. I don't feel proprietary towards him.

Comixfan: So is this a project that you proposed, or did Marvel bring Drax to you?

Giffen: To the best of my recollection, Andy Schmidt called me and said 'Drax'. Andy is always looking for characters to play around with. He called up and said 'let's do Drax as Lilo & Stitch' and I went from there. He's one of the few people in comics that I can actually attach the words 'creative editor' to. He's going places... if I don't kill him first. [laughs]

Comixfan: Speaking of Schmidt, you have Defenders starting next month...

Giffen: I've high hopes for that book. I'm more nervous about Defenders than I was about I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League or Formerly Known as... the Justice League.

Comixfan: Why is that?

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0805/DFNDRS002.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0805/DFNDRS002_T.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Defenders #2 preview"></a>Giffen: Because DC readers, they kind of knew what to expect going in. We've done this before for DC. It's really gratifying that a whole new generation of comic book readers who were not around to read it back then embraced it as well, but DC kind of knew what to expect. We were on sorta familiar ground (for about two issues), but Defenders... Marvel, who had been incredibly supportive-- I'm mean, just really supportive, backing us on every move, and they have no reason to be this supportive, because its sight unseen. We have no way of knowing how the hardcore Marvel reader is going to react to what we bring to the table.

Right now, on the boards, everyone is so concerned that we are going to turn it into 'Bwah-ha-ha', but you can't turn these characters into 'Bwah-Ha-Ha', because they do not like one another. So there is humor in the book, yeah, but its much closer to like a Dr. Strangelove level, kind of black humor. There are some genuinely funny moments, but they're not the Vaudeville thing we were doing with I Can't Believe its Not the Justice League. It's different when you have characters who really like one another playing off of one another, and characters who would rather be any where else but with one another playing off of one another.

I'll tell you one thing though, going in, I had no use for the Sub-Mariner at all. I didn't even know why the character was even still around, but, coming out of the tail end, if I could only have one Defender back, I'd take Namor.

<A HREF="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/marvelheroes/2005/defenders/DEFEND0101.jpg" TARGET="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/marvelheroes/2005/defenders/DEFEND0101_T.jpg" WIDTH="100" HEIGHT="150" hspace=10 ALIGN="RIGHT" ALT="Defenders #1 Preview Art"></A>Comixfan: Why the turnaround?

Giffen: I don't know, just something blossomed. The character gelled. I like the take we worked out on him. I especially like the way DeMatteis handles his dialogue. All the sudden he became this three-dimensional character.

Comixfan: So he will not be shouting 'Imperious Rex!' constantly?

Giffen: Not those two words, no, but he is a self-righteous prig. We all know that. We all know that. Him bouncing off of Banner is great. There's obviously no respect there, and Doctor Strange is trying to hold the center together.

Dormammu and Umar's relationship is great too, they're like the Donnie & Marie from Hell. And even then, there's that sibling rivalry played for laughs, but, ultimately, the threat is dire. It is Dormammu. He's not showing up with a big red nose on. In the first issue, he commits mass murder... on a whim, so it's not Manga Khan, it's not Mr. Nebula, it's Dormammu, and Kevin [Maguire] draws the best Dormammu that I have ever seen, and I'll put Ditko in the mix too. He actually manages to get expressions on that smokey face. It's great stuff. I'm really thrilled with that.

Now watch it sell like a dog... Every book I've ever been behind has died, and every book I've thought 'Oh man, I'm going to get fired', has gone through the roof. We thought we were going to get fired when we first did Justice League. All of us. Kevin Maguire thought his career was over. When it took off, no one was more surprised than us. Same thing with Lobo...

Comixfan: Speaking of Lobo, your Authority/Lobo will be released this week...

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0605/AuthorityLoboSpringBreak.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0605/AuthorityLoboSpringBreakT.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Authority/Lobo Spring Break Massacre preview"></a>Giffen: I wish someone else would take a shot at Lobo. I wish someone else would come in and try a new spin, because Lobo, for me, comes with a lot of baggage. I don't think I could rework Lobo enough to call it a revamp, so I would love to see someone else step up to the plate. Joe Casey is somebody who I think could do a kickass Lobo. Geoff Johns, of course, but Geoff is one of these genuinely nice guys, so I wonder if he could be mean enough. Of course, a Mark Millar or somebody along those lines. Somebody to take the character and twist him around, see what he could do, because I don't see myself doing anymore with the character for a long long time.

Comixfan: So why did you come back to Lobo for this new special?

Giffen: Because I got paid! [laughs]

Sorry, I wish there were some great, overriding 'my creativity needed it, it was the Lobo story that needed to be told'... they called up, I got rent, it happens.

Comixfan: Putting the Authority and Lobo together does seem like an odd combination.

Giffen: We did it once, and it kind of worked. When they called me for the sequel, I said 'What sequel? It's the sequel to a sequel, there's nothing else left to do', and they said 'Well, the Easter Bunny's still out there', so I did it. I did it. I had fun with it. I think it's a good story, but it was one of the few stories that I have to say that I didn't go in with the creative juices flowing. I got them flowing because I knew I was going to get paid. I'm sorry, it happens, take it as you will.

Comixfan: Staying with DC, I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League is wrapping up shortly.

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0605/JLAClassifiedCv8.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0605/JLAClassifiedCv8T.jpg" hspace=10 align=right alt="JLA: Classified #8"></a>Giffen: By the way, we were done with it. Marc DeMatteis and I were done with it before we even heard of Identity Crisis. Anything having to do with Sue being pregnant, or Beetle suddenly wearing a black costume like Paul Macartney barefoot on the cover of the Abbey Road album, or anything else is pure sick coincidence. We didn't go back and doctor it, we didn't put anything in. You're seeing it print as it was. Kudos to DC to for letting us do it... though it is weird to pick up the book and there's dead Ted, dead Sue, and Max the murderer. [laughs]

But, yeah, two issues to go, and they're the most intense yet. That's our Ultimate Superbuddies issues, where they go to the Ultimate world and meet the Ultimate versions of themselves, run by Max Millar out of a peepshow in Times Square. That was fun.

Comixfan: You've already brought them through Hell, how much worse can it get?

Giffen: How much worse can it get? I don't know... getting shot in the head by Max?

It really is a wrap-up of sorts. It's really weird, because I look at those two issues now, and I was writing good-bye, getting it all out of my system. Because Marc and I decided, when we were done with I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League, and this is way before Identity Crisis happened, we'd done everything we could. If we kept on going, we'd just get repetitive, and we were never going to touch those characters again... in that context. If they want a Fire & Ice miniseries, I'm there. You know, if they live... Other than that, good luck, let somebody else take a crack at them.

Comixfan: Obviously you've read Countdown to Infinite Crisis, what were your feelings on the story?

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0605/JLAClassifiedCv9.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0605/JLAClassifiedCv9T.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="JLA: Classified #9 preview"></a>Giffen: I thought it was am interesting story. Well, any criticism I can level at Countdown or Identity Crisis... and, believe it or not, I have very little-- I know where DC is heading, I understand why they are headed there. Is it the way I would do it? No, it's not the way I would do it, but I'm not doing it. Would I have killed Beetle? Maybe. Would I have told the stories that way? Probably not, but I'm not telling the stories, and I respect the creators who are working on them. I thought Identity Crisis was a good read. I think Countdown did everything it was intended to do. And the upcoming Infinite Crisis... I can see how all these miniseries and events have been steps leading up to this, and what's going to fall out of the tail end is the DCU that we will now be playing around with.

Comixfan: And will you be playing around in the DCU after Infinite Crisis?

Giffen: Absolutely, I will be involved in events post-Infinite Crisis, but I am not at liberty to say in what capacity.

Comixfan: While we're on the subject, after Drax and Defenders, what else do you have planned at Marvel?

Giffen: A series with a classic name, that I am not at liberty to discuss right now. Simply because, Marvel and DC now like to announce, and the minute they announce, I'll talk about it. Like Drax, I've been done with Drax for four months. Well, Andy keeps calling me and going 'Can you fix this?', but the actual bulk work has been done for a while, but then they announce it in Philadelphia, and I can talk about it. It's business. The guy who created Viagra wasn't going around going 'We can give you an erection!' before Pfizer announced it. Which is kind of interesting, because everyone knows Pfizer makes Viagra, but what's the name of the guy who created it?

Comixfan: I have no idea... [laughs]

Giffen: Ah ha, so its not just comics doing that. At least comics will say 'created by Keith Giffen and Roger Slifer' on Lobo. Work for hire lives...

For more of our talk with Keith Giffen, tune in for Part 2 next week.

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The Authority/Lobo: Spring Break Massacre and JLA: Classified #9 (the closing chapter of the I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League storyline) are both due in stores tomorrow, June 29th.

Defenders #1 is scheduled for release on July 20th.

<a href="http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplaycategories.asp?id=38&cat=BROWSE+BY+PUBL ISHER+%26+TITLE">Shop for Keith Giffen comics online now at X-World and save!</a>