thegreenlanterncorps.com: Darryl, this is the highest honor and a literal childhood thrill to be able to bounce some Q&A off of you.
Thank you for agreeing to this – yours is the art that I first saw in the very first GL comic I ever picked up off the shelf.
Darryl Banks: Hello, everyone! I’m honored to answer these questions.
GLC: If you’ll allow me, let’s just knock this one out right away. OK, everyone has been asking for years… what are the chances or odds of you working on Green Lantern again? Are you even down for that in the here and now? What seem to be the challenges/hurdles involved that stop such a thing?
DB: Green Lantern seems to have creative teams in place and I don’t know how or if DC would be willing to see me do the book again. If I could I’d do a special or one-shot to familiarize myself with drawing the cast.
GLC: What about working for DC at large, beyond GL? Have you approached them or been approached about any work since your last with them?
DB: Recently I’ve done work with DC regarding licence property artwork, Mattel action figure reference for an example. No comics, though.
GLC: Without having to get too much into specifics, can you talk at all about under what circumstances or terms you departed Green Lantern? DC at large?
DB: After being affiliated with Green Lantern for eight years I was finally ready to move on to another title. The split wasn’t the way I had hoped and there is MUCH more to the story (ask me in person). Thankfully I got to do some JLA work because of editor Dan Raspler. That’s all I’ll say in writing for now.
GLC: In your takes on Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner artistically, did you have any specific models or actors in mind? Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always seen a bit of vintage Dennis Quaid at times in your work, and I think that’s awesome… though I could be way off.
DB: Dennis Quaid was and still is Hal Jordan to me. See the movie “Wilder Napalm” with Dennis in a costume and using fire super powers. Try as I did I could never find the right model for Kyle so I just made him from scratch, so to speak. Jade was based on Yasmine Bleeth and Donna Troy was based on Jennifer Connelly.
GLC: Have you kept up at all on Green Lantern over the years? Any thoughts on how it has progressed as a comic from when you were attached to it to the present, now following the Sinestro Corps War and heading into the Blackest Night (possibly company-wide) arc in 2009?
DB: I was given a few issues of GL and GL Corps, recently. The GL issues were from the time when Hal and some GLs fought these giant Manhunters and Arisia was discovered to be alive. The story and art were superb. Ron Marz once told me that if he could hand GL to another writer it would be Geoff Johns. I see why!
GLC: How does it feel to, nearly 15 years later, have such a deep involvement in the creation of Kyle Rayner, a character that – despite the return of Hal and the Corps and all of that in 2004 – still remains a fan favorite?
DB: I honestly thought Kyle Rayner would be dead and forgotten by now. Back in the 90’s we had electric Superman, Azrael-Batman, Artemis-Wonder Woman and a host of other re-interpreted characters. I’m glad Kyle is still around today.
GLC: How do you feel about the vast Hal vs. Kyle fan debates that have spawned from the moment “Emerald Twilight” hit stands that often times divide the fandom?
DB: I loved the Hal vs. Kyle debates. Fans cared about GL again! Passionately! Back in the early nineties Green Lantern was not a big deal sales or popularity wise. My editor Kevin Dooley told me that DC said that GL needed some big changes…..or else!
GLC: There’s whole threads dedicated to the many, many costumes of Kyle Rayner since his creation. I want to shoot you a two-part question here… first, what do you think about Kyle changing his costume a whopping 6 times to date in just 14 years, and second, do you have any thoughts about the designs following yours in particular? How do you like the current one (I think designed by Ivan Reis)? The crab-mask returns!
DB: I didn’t understand why the other GL artists didn’t get to design the costumes Kyle had after his first one. For example Jim Lee designed Kyle’s second costume and not the regular artist. Regarding the “crab mask” I’m shocked it made a comeback. I’m glad about it, though.
GLC: Going back to the beginning. What attracted you to comics in the first place? Does the comic industry still have the same allure it once did?
DB: Comics have changed and so have I. I’m not as attached to them because I’m not into anti-heroes personally. When I was a kid I was influenced by the moral and heroic characters I read and I was inspired. That’s considered cheesy and outdated now. Back then there were lines you didn’t cross and those days in comics are gone in many cases. To each his own.
GLC: How did you originally land Green Lantern, Vol. 3 #50 with Ron Marz?
DB: Long story but here it is in a nutshell. When I was working on Legion of Superheroes the assistant editor showed my work to the GL editor and I got my opportunity. And what an opportunity it was! Good times, good times.
GLC: Who are your greatest influences, if anyone, in your art and style?
DB: My artistic influences over the years have been many. Most of all I tried to make my art lifelike. Not necessarily realistic but lifelike and believable. Many artists I showed my early samples to suggested I work from life as much as possible. Any artist that used that same approach probably influenced me in one way or another. The influences were on different levels, too. Anime and John Byrne influenced my “camera” placement. George Perez influenced me to always be specific (not sketchy) in the pencil technique. Gil Kane influenced me to use the power of appropriate body language and anatomy. I can never forget Bryan Hitch who may be my biggest influence. I must mention that many of my artistic influences are not even from comics but fine art and illustration (Andrew Loomis for example).
GLC: Of any of the artists who have taken a crack at GL over the past few years, whose work do you most admire?
DB: Ivan Reis is awesome. Ethan Van Sciver, Patrick Gleason, Paul Pelletier and a few others are incredible too but I love Ivan’s work. I first saw him on some Avengers work for Marvel. He’s like an Alan Davis with a spice of Ed Benes.
GLC: Any thoughts about Kyle currently – and this actually happened recently – headlining the Green Lantern Corps series with Guy Gardner under Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason? Particularly with that being more of an ensemble title as opposed to something more focused on any one Lantern/character?
DB: It’s still exciting to know a character I helped create is existing along side characters that have been around since the sixties! I will always love the team dynamic.
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GLC: And now some questions from other GL fans…
GreenLanternGeek:
Which costume in GL are you most proud in designing?
DB: Parallax! I designed the armor and came up with that name. At first DC wanted to name him the Protector.
Nived:
Even though it looks awesome, did you have any idea how difficult it would be for other artists to draw the classic Kyle ‘crab’ mask?
DB: No! It was easy for me and I thought once the action figures and statues were out there it would be easy for other artists too. Paul Pelletier handled the mask well. Here’s a little something for those that may not know: My biggest influence when creating Kyle’s mask was Marvel’s Sunfire character (his 70’s costume). I noticed I have a thing for heroes without noses! I love the classic design of Ultraman (the Japanese superhero), Marvel’s Nova, the Black Knight and of course Iron Man. Go figure.
Michael Heide:
Even with all the costume changes Kyle and Hal had since GL #50, are you proud that DC still uses elements of your designs for Kyle’s mask, the Sinestro Corps symbol (based on Parallax’ armor) or the Blue Lanterns’ symbol (which is pretty close to Kyle’s modified chest logo)?
DB: I feel like my ideas are appreciated or at least understood. I never thought those designs would be an influence like this. I assume Kyle still has the power battery I gave him. I’m not sure if he still has it.
MH: If DC offered you a comic book of your choosing, which title would you pick? A Kyle solo series, something else in the GL cosmos, another DCU hero (or team), or maybe something creator-owned?
DB: Good question. I love teams (I actually got into comics because I wanted to draw the Avengers) so it would be cool to do GL Corps., JLA or even JSA for DC. One of my dream projects would be to do an Invaders/Golden Age JSA crossover. I got to draw the Invaders in a Captain America annual once and I’d love to do it again. I’m a big Namor fan, for one thing.
MH: What do you think of DC’s diversifying across the line? We now have an Asian Atom, an African-American Firestorm and Spectre, a Hispanic Blue Beetle… are those the right steps into a multicultural direction, or do some of those changes seem forced to you, would you rather prefer all-new characters like the Milestone heroes fifteen years ago?
DB: I prefer all new characters. Even though I’m black I don’t want a black Firestorm. It’s not the same as John Stewart or War-Machine to me. John can exist with Hal Jordan and they are different characters using their powers differently. Tony Stark and Jim Rhodes are different in and out of their armors. I want new and original ethnic characters especially if I liked their original incarnations. It can be done!
arhkhamite:
Kyle was a graphic artist; John Stewart an architect. As an artist yourself would you say one was more “creative” then the other? Like many Kyle fans do, or is it just a different form of creativity. Would you say one requires more imagination than the other? How do you see it?
DB: Those professions both require a huge amount of creativity. Since we’re talking comics I’d have to go with the illustrator because of variety and visual impact to the readers.
arkhamite: I heard you had a large role in the creation of Fatality…can you describe her creation? Is it true you intended Fatality more as a foil for John Stewart (considering her history) than for Kyle Rayner?
DB: Fatality was always meant to be a Kyle Rayner foe. John Stewart was her “ticket in”. My editor Kevin Dooley and Ron Marz felt it would be cool to introduce a GL hunter/killer. An Angela vs. Spawn situation. I wanted Fatality to be black because I’ve always felt there were too few black female supervillains (how many can you name?). I wanted her to have a strong reason to want to kill Green Lanterns so I said she should be from Xanshi which is the planet John inadvertently caused to be destroyed. Also, I wanted to draw a character loosely based on Vivica Fox.
Guardian2814:
What else have you been up to lately (work-wise… in and out of comics)?
DB: Primarily I do freelance concept art for Hawthorne Village collectibles, Hasbro and DC/Mattel. The art is often for action figures, props and statues. I’ve done other illustration and character design in other areas like “How to draw…” type books for Chris Hart/Art Studio LLC, Filsinger Games and etc.
Guardian2814: Are you still teaching art at all?
DB: No, but my good friend Uko Smith teaches my old class at the Columbus College of Art and Design and he’s bringing a ton of fresh new ideas. If I went to that school I’d be sure to take his class.
Lishego:
Darryl, what do you consider your greatest issue [of GL Volume 3]? Least favorite?
DB: Favorite? Too hard to say but I loved issue #100 and the Effigy/Controllers arc. Least favorite? Ah, I…won’t go there.
The Kid Lantern:
A couple redesigns and characters were talked about in an old Wizard interview with you and Ron Marz. Any chance that redesigned Red Tornado could be posted somewhere? Doctor Fate?
DB: I’ve never seen the Red Tornado design online just in the Wizard. I didn’t draw the Dr. Fate idea and I’m not sure how I’d change him offhand. If I did I would still keep the helmet since it’s perfect (no nose!).
KL: If you could come back to Kyle, with the character’s artistic history, would you want to change Kyle’s suit up again just for originality’s sake? I remember the first rough idea you had in an old Wizard that included small shoulder pads, a Parallax-style pointed mask, and different shades of green instead of a lot of blacks and whites.
DB: I would redesign Kyle (actually I already did and I may post it if I ever find it that is).
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GLC: It has been a pleasure chatting with you, Darryl, a true honor. Anything you’d like to say before we wrap this up?
DB: The pleasure’s all mine! It’s great to be remembered by GL fans and I wouldn’t mind doing this Q&A again, God willing. Be sure to check out my comicartfans.com gallery. Thanks!!!
