KEITH GIFFEN: 52 FACTS ABOUT BLUE BEETLE

[raul grau]

By Raul Grau, Comixfan Editor-In-Chief

Three weeks ago, Keith Giffen told Comixfan about his role Annihilating the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe, while simultaneously sending the Silver Surfer soaring. Of course, Annihilation is just one of the company-wide events that Giffen is sheparding this spring. Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, and Geoff Johns may be the big four behind 52, but here Giffen addresses the artistry of weekly work, backstories the Blue Beetle, and induces ice princess fans the world over to burn with anticipation.

Comixfan: Who originated the idea for 52?

Keith Giffen: It's one of those organic things again. It was Paul Levitz's actual idea to try out a weekly comic book. I was not just offered 52. They did not just sit me down and go "Do you want to do 52?". I was called into Dan Didio's office, and he said "I am just going to spell something out to you, and just tell me if I'm crazy", and [the question] was really Can we do it? It wasn't How are we going to do this?, at first it was Can we do this? Is this even possible? And I like a challenge.

I signed on... I should say, I was signed on thanks to Geoff Johns and some of the other guys from the big four, who had pretty much invoked my name as 'We need an anchor man between the artist. We need someone to make sure that the story gets told'. It's kind of flattering, which means they were paying attention to what I was doing. Plus, I had a tendency (before I started just writing) to break my stuff down into visual plots, so, in a way, 52 is going back to what I was doing on Justice League, and LEGION '89, and all the other books I did.

I guess I was right guy, right time.

Comixfan: Obviously, the creators were in place before you came on...

Keith Giffen: Not the artists, but the writing team was in place before I came on board.

Comixfan: So have you had a role in deciding which characters are used?

Keith Giffen: I was actually at the meeting where everyone had their say. There were some characters that were originally put forward that were knocked down. There was a whole list of characters, and it was basically which ones could we get some miliege out of? I know Donna Troy was brought up, and knocked down as... basically, she's so tangeled up and skened that, you know, let someone else deal with that particular Gordian Knot. I think the idea was to find characters that could have the most development in that year period, and that's why you are not seeing major, major, major characters. No Green Lantern or Green Arrow or Hawkman, because they have their own books. They're pretty much locked into that book. If something major is going to happen to Hawkman, it should happen in his book. So, the characters that were chosen were the characters that were...

Comixfan: ...homeless?

Keith Giffen: I suppose homeless, or just characters that... during the time that 52 is running, they won't appear in any other DC books, and they were the characters that we could do that with.

Comixfan: So we won't actually see Elongated Man or Steel for an entire year?

Keith Giffen: Yes, you will... in 52. [laughs]

Comixfan: Aside from 52... [laughs]

Keith Giffen: No, because basically that would be One Year Later, and that's like starting a mystery novel, and then having another book come out giving away the murderer on the first page. You want to see those particular characters, you have to pick up 52. Other characters will be in it-- Green Lantern, and all of the other DC characters will be making appearances, as the story warrants-- but for the major characters... the core group... if you want to follow those characters, you got to pick up 52. They will appear in no other DC books for the time that 52 is being published.

Comixfan: Could you list those core characters for us?

Keith Giffen: Rene Montoya, the Question, Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man), Black Adam, Steel... some of the characters who went out into outer space [in Infinite Crisis]: Adam Strange, Animal Man, Starfire... Booster Gold! I just want to get the phone call after the interview goes up, saying 'how come you forgot to mention...?'

Look at the cover for the first issue of 52... that's them, they're lined up there, you'll see them. [laughs]

Comixfan: How directly involved are you with the stories?

Keith Giffen: I don't know how to answer that... I take on whatever I have to take on at any given time. There is a lot of free exchange of ideas. I'm not involved in the weekly phone calls they have to hammer out the storylines. That said, I am very involved in the creation of new characters.

The best way to put it is... have you ever seen these tug of war competitions they have on the beach? I'm the guy at the end with the loop around his shoulder. So, if the four guys in front of me mess up badly enough, I'm going to get yanked around.

I'm there to help smooth out the process. This is no slight to the artists working on the book. This doesn't mean that we don't think the artists could tell the stories the way the writers want the story to be told. It's just that, when you're working with up to eight artists... It's going to be a weekly book. Now, maybe you have... look at Blue Beetle, Cully Hamner, Cully Hamner, then Cindy Martin... that's a month. That's a month to get used to it, to get ready for it. That's a month between the last time you say Cully's work... even though Cindy is doing a spectacular job, and is a perfect fit, it's not that jolting. It would be more jolting, I think, if the rhythm of the story would be different. Every artist has their own pace, the way they tell the story. Some use basic layouts, some use fancy layouts. On a weekly basis, that would be too jarring... you going to go from a very basic Joe Bennett to a guy who is going to be all over the place with the panel designs. I come in just to make sure that the book has the same storytelling rhythm. You pick up 52-- it may be Chris Batista one week, it may be Shawn Moll the next week-- but the basic storytelling rhythms are the same. It gives it a cohesiveness that otherwise would be really difficult to pull off.

Plus, these artists really want to bring their A-game. If you're going to be on a book like 52, you're going to be under the spotlight, and none of them want to be known as the crappy artist on 52. So, by doing the breakdowns, we have kind of removed a portion of their workload. The story is told, it has been laid out, now all they have to do is go in and dazzle us with how well they can draw, and so far, my God, they are all bringing their A-game. The artwork on this book is so far beyond what I expected from these artists-- I am familiar with all of these guys, Joe Bennett, Chris Batista, Shawn Moll-- but I see the 52 stuff, and it's like a quantum leap. They are really knocking themeselves out.

And I'll tell you, in terms of stories... I just finished... well, I just finished #17, but when I finished #15, the ending even stunned me. In those little phone calls, they're still finding ways of introducing things that I don't see coming. And I figure, if they can do that to me, and I'm at the meetings, and I'm involved in it, then the fans... every issue has had what I call a 'Whammy Moment', something of major impact happens in every issue. It's going to carry you along. It's not like 'well, the first twelve issues were great, but the second act blew monkeys'. They're really giving their all.

I've never beeen involved with anything like this before, it's kind of staggering to get these scripts on a weekly basis, and each one is better than the last. I just got the script where we introduce Lobo, and it's Grant Morrison's version of Lobo. That's worth the price of admission alone.

Comixfan: Well, no one has attempted a project like this since Action Comics Weekly...

Keith Giffen: Trust me, it's not going to legitamize weekly comics. This is a bear, and American comics just aren't set up for a weekly grind, but I wouldn't be surprised if 52 legitimizes special events-- like Civil War, Annihilation, Crisis on Infinite Earths, whatever is coming up-- to go into a weekly format. Think about it, everytime you go into the comic book store, from May until May, every week, another issue is going to be waiting for you there.

Comixfan: You mentioned reading #15, how far in advance are the issues at this point?

Keith Giffen: I just finished #17, I know that last week they were talking about #20. I really think that, realistically, when the first issue comes out, we should have 24 issues in the drawer, of which about 19 or 20 are ready to go... which means, haha, we're not going to screw up, so give it up, ok? [laughs]

I call 52 the Nascar book, because nobody goes to a Nascar race to watch the cars go around in circles. You go for the crash. You hope for that blistering, horrifying crash. People are going to be watching 52, waiting for us to screw up... it's not going to happen.

Comixfan: So, every week...

Keith Giffen: Every week, in real time, 52 weeks, I'll guarantee it.

I don't think anybody wants to drop the ball on this one. And besides, how great is it, after it's done, to go nyah nyah?

Comixfan: Staying with DC, how did you become involved with the new Blue Beetle series?

Keith Giffen: Dan Didio sat me down over lunch, and said 'what would you do if I gave you the name, the scarab, and nothing else? And I ran with it.

Comixfan: So you designed the character?

Keith Giffen: No, I came up with the basic idea of who Blue Beetle was, what the armor is all about, what the scarab is all about, what the backstory is, and I really went back to the beginning of Blue Beetle. This is a book that really does honor what has gone before, while still being a book that you can pick up from #1 and get into, because you do not need to read any Blue Beetle stuff to know what is going on. From there, Cully nailed that armor first shot, right out of the box. That's Cully's design, that's all his. And John Rogers, well, there is a reason that they pay him a million bucks a screen play. This is going to sound weird, but for me, Blue Beetle is more of a collaborative book than 52, because Blue Beetle is a wide open book. Everyone-- Cully, John, Joan, the editor, myself-- everyone is contributing ideas to the story, and hoping to the shape the book, and nobody is looking to take undo credit. So, for example, in the second issue, I ended it about two pages earlier than John ended it, but before he did it, he called and said 'what do you think of this in terms of pacing?' And it worked, so we went with it. No one is claiming that their work is etched in stone.

Fun book. I'm really loving Blue Beetle. Blue Beetle is one of the books that if it doesn't go anywhere, it is really going to hurt.

Comixfan: You said you were going to the past of Blue Beetle. Are you talking about Ted Kord? Are you talking about Dan Garrett?...

Keith Giffen: All the way back-- Dan Garrett and Ted Kord. Blue Beetle has, whether we like it or not, just by circumstances, become a generational hero. You can't ignore Ted Kord, you can't ignore Dan Garrett. Some questions are going to be answered... here's one that no one seems to ask... well, maybe they do ask, but they don't ask me... Dan Garrett had the scarab, Ted Kord had the scarab. The scarab gave Dan Garrett superpowers, it did not give Ted Kord superpowers. Why? And we're going to answer that. We're going to go back, and we're going to find out a lot more about the scarab than we ever found out before, and it's going to fit. You're not going to have to take any Blue Beetle books and delete them from continuity, because it's all going to fit. We are really trying as hard as we can not give the character dirt. That White Event mentality.

And, alright, I think a lot of my getting Blue Beetle might have had to do with 'oh God, they're screaming about Ted Kord. Put Keith on the book, and it will calm the screams down a bit'. There was that whole bit there when I was supposedly pissed at DC, which could not be further from the truth. I like to think it was 99% what I bring to the book, and 1% political.

Comixfan: Is Blue Beetle a One Year Later title?

Keith Giffen: Read the second issue, then you tell me.

Comixfan: Guy Gardner appeared in the first issue, so will there be visits by any other old friends of Ted Kord?

Keith Giffen: Eventually, I'm sure. Booster Gold was actually first to the trough in Infinite Crisis. Guy Gardner, his appearance, and his attitude, and what he did... there is a real, solid reason for that, and when we show it, we hope it will stun the fans.

But, yeah, other DC heroes will be making appearances. There's a new superhero operating out of El Paso, Texas... you know Oracle is going to call. So, yeah, there will be other DC characters coming to the book, but the reason we put him El Paso was to remove him from the superhero mainstream, and really get into the story of 'what happens you are inexplicably thrust into the center of the superhero brotherhood, and you're a kid. Above all else, Jaime is a 16 year old kid. We're playing him like a 16 year old kid. It's not like when I put on the armor and I suddenly become an adult, no, he's still a kid, and we'll see what we can do with it.

So far, as of issue #4, we've introduced seven... eight brand new characters, so we're populating El Paso, and explaining why you've never knew this before. It's not enough to go to El Paso and go, look all of these superheroes have been working there all along. It's like, no, where have they been? No, we're actually finding reasons for these characters to be operating out of El Paso, why you've never heard of them before... and if you haven't heard of them before, why were they keeping such a low profile. Plus, it's fun, because you have El Paso, and Juarez across the river... it's like Twin Cities.

It's great. It's turning into on the book where I think every issue you will get a new character, concept, or situation thrown at you.

Comixfan: How long do you plan to be on the series?

Keith Giffen: Two years. Well, that's tentative, but my agreement when I came on the book was that I would see it through for twenty-four issues, and then rethink my involvement. Whether I pass it on to John Rogers to do alone, or stay onboard, a lot depends on the book. After two years, have I told the story that I want to tell?

Like Justice League. I wanted to leave Justice League with #50, I feel we stayed around too long. And it is not like there are no more Justice League stories to be told, there were no more that I wanted to tell.

Comixfan: Well, that is quite a bit of work already, but do you have any other DC projects in works?

Keith Giffen: We're tentatively pencilled in for Fire & Ice in JLA: Classified, I believe. That's tentative, could happen, might not happen. And Dan Didio has approached me about possibly working up some other projects, so I will probably have a book coming out of 52. Hopefully, each one of the guys will have a book coming out of 52... I'm going to grab one for me. [laughs]

---

Blue Beetle #2 will be available in stores later today.

52: Week #1 is scheduled for release on May 10th. Order it online from X-World now and SAVE!

Make sure to visit Comixfan in May for the third part of our conversation with Keith Giffen, in which he addresses his Booming independant work with a certain up-and-coming Studio...

[evilomar]

It's a great privilege to be reading Giffen's Blue Bettle again, even though its not Ted. But I have always been a fan of his JLI and JLE!

[RingoStarr]

Originally Posted by raul grau

Comixfan: Well, that is quite a bit of work already, but do you have any other DC projects in works?

Keith Giffen: We're tentatively pencilled in for Fire & Ice in JLA: Classified, I believe. That's tentative, could happen, might not happen. And Dan Didio has approached me about possibly working up some other projects, so I will probably have a book coming out of 52. Hopefully, each one of the guys will have a book coming out of 52... I'm going to grab one for me. [laughs]

Fire and Ice....YAY

[Bernard Murnane]

52 is starting to sound better and better. (I still hold more ampage for CIVIL WAR curently, but we'll see...)

I don't know if I'll buy an issue a week or stockpile them and get like 15 issues.

GRANT MORRISON on LOBO sounds mighty fine if you ask me.

[Jon Hancock]

Just to clarify. Blue Beetle isn't One Year Later is it?

[skinnyboy2387]

Originally Posted by Jon Hancock

Just to clarify. Blue Beetle isn't One Year Later is it?

First issue: No.

Second issue on: Yes.

[Ovid]

Originally Posted by skinnyboy2387

First issue: No.

Second issue on: Yes.

That's not quite right, as I understand it. Jon needs to read the second issue to find out. Anything else would be spoilery.

And you need to put anything about a current issue in spoiler tags, like this: [spoiler]spoilerific info[*/spoiler], but removing the asterisk. 'Current' counts as up to a week after release date.

[Ice_fan]

Originally Posted by RingoStarr

Fire and Ice....YAY

Double Yay!