From IGN, finally showing us the first look at the Black Lantern Earth-2 Superman

As DC’s Green Lantern series heads toward Blackest Night, it’s also heading toward a new regular penciler.

As Newsarama reported, Doug Mahnke will work with writer Geoff Johns on the Green Lantern title during and after this summer’s Blackest Night event.

Mahnke has been working in the comics industry several years, being one of the creators behind The Mask series for Dark Horse Comics in the ’90s. More recently, the artist has been working for DC Comics, providing pencils for projects like Batman and Black Adam: The Dark Age, and helping out with the last two issues of Final Crisis.

While the upcoming “Agent Orange” storyline in Green Lantern is being penciled by Philip Tan, the regular penciler on the series has been Ivan Reis since 2006. Once Blackest Night begins, Reis will become the artist on the eight-issue Blackest Night mini-series that is beginning in July as Mahnke takes over the regular title with issue #43 in July.

Newsarama talked to Mahnke about the new job as Green Lantern penciler and found out that somebody at DC should make sure North Branch, Minn., stays safe from harm.

As I bring Blue Lantern month to an end. I decided to take another look at the current state of Justice League of America. The most recent issue was the team’s status in the aftermath of Final Crisis. Hal Jordan pretty much aid everything wrong with the title in the story. The lack of stopping the big threats or handling the small one before they get big. I’m not sure its basically an apology to the readers or the writer tell us he hasn’t had much of a choice in the manner. It seems to be the plug to James Robinson’s Justice League mini this July. A title I’ve already got reserve. Truth is I’m very unhappy its become a mini series. The story of the Justice League going pro-active after Final Crisis and made up of classic and new members. Screams what the book should be. However, its turning into a mini with while the main title still being the same old same old.
Starbreaker ambushing basically the Jusice League Detroit remix and then getting caught into Blackest Night and the fall out of Trinity later on. Dwayne McDuffie is a very capable and good writer. You can see it in the title. However, he is still having to tie the book into other stories. Icon characters, long drawn out of left over threats from Brad Melterzer’s story lines. That honestly should have been tied up in 4 issues instead of being dragged on for another year. This isn’t Justice League of America, it’s basically JLA: Classified part 2. The main book is going nowhere and the editorial stuff doesn’t seem to bind or doesn’t care. Despite dropping sales and lack of interest now. Really, get a new creative team and direction on this book and cut away from making the book about other writers’ stories. I don’t care how good they are, this series is just not cutting it outside of being an outlet for crossovers and characters that DC just wants to beef up.

DC Comics has released their previews for titles for June 2009.

News about the Green Lantern film is being released at a faster pace now that pre-production is ramping up.

Production Weekly reported yesterday that Green Lantern is scheduled to begin filming in mid-September in Australia for a targeted December 10th, 2010 release. The script for the film, which will focus on Hal Jordan as the ring-wielding hero, was written by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Michael Green.

“We’re moving forward at a pretty good clip,” Guggenheim told Newsarama Thursday, confirming the September date. “We have a director — Martin Campbell — and we’re moving ahead with pre-production, which Martin is overseeing.”

Also this week, Latino Review cited an unnamed source as saying the lead role of Hal Jordan was already offered to Chris Pine, who plays Captain Kirk in this summer’s Star Trek film. The rumor was later refuted by other websites with their own “sources,” and other casting rumors have put actors Ryan Gosling and Casey Affleck up for the role.

Although Guggenheim couldn’t comment on casting rumors, he said the script is currently undergoing revisions as filmmakers prepare for production this fall.

“Greg, Michael, and myself are hard at work on further refinements to the script. It’s very exciting and we’re having a blast,” he said.

Guggenheim, who created the recently canceled television show Eli Stone with Berlanti, is also the current writer on Amazing Spider-Man for Marvel Comics, while Green co-writes Superman/Batman for DC. Guggenheim told Newsarama last year that because the writers are involved with comics, the script is “not only a respectful approach to the character, but it’s a loving approach to the entire mythos.”

“It’s a fan’s take. We are all huge fans of the character,” Green told Newsarama when promoting his new television show Kings. “Hal Jordan is interesting because there have been a lot of incarnations, but he does have this indomitable will. One of the other fun things about Green Lantern is this idea that you are joining something bigger and larger than itself.”

In comics, Hal Jordan is a pilot who is given a powerful ring and its lantern-shaped battery after discovering a spaceship crashed on Earth. He replaces the ship’s alien pilot as a member of an interstellar corps of heroes who enforce justice with their green energy-emitting rings.

The fact that screenwriters are talking about the “entire mythos” and “joining something bigger and larger than itself” has fans hoping that some of their favorite Green Lantern Corps members besides Hal Jordan will show up, especially since Guggenheim confirmed the corps’ home planet of Oa is being designed for the movie.

Green Lantern may also mark the beginning of a series of shared universe films that link various DC Comics characters to one another, similar to how Marvel’s Iron Man and Incredible Hulk movies set up the concept of an Avengers now film slated for 2012. The idea has been supported by Guggenheim, who recently speculated on the possibility of a Superman cameo in the Green Lantern film.

And earlier this month, Green Lantern producer Donald De Line, while promoting I Love You, Man to Collider.com, said of the shared universe concept: “DC Comic is a part of Warner Bros. and they both have a very large agenda with that. So I think they’ve got all kinds of things in the works. Yeah, definitely.”

IGN has the first look at DC’s upcoming plans for the Green Lantern franchise, Secret Six and the Batman titles.
by Richard George
March 20, 2009 – It’s almost the end of the month and that means it’s solicit time. Last Friday the IGN crew brought you a look at DC’s major plans for the Batman franchise, showing off covers and art via a video interview we did with Mike Marts and Dan DiDio.

Today we’re back with those covers and the official solicit text… but we wanted to sweeten the deal a little bit. We’re tossing in Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps and Secret Six. Because the covers are awesome, we love the books and because you have a pretty good idea of what’s coming for Batman.

DC Comics has provided Newsarama with a two page peek inside May’s Blackest Night #0, which the publisher is releasing for Free Comic Book Day on May 2nd. The issue is written by Geoff Johns, with art on the main story by Ivan Reis, and serves as a lead-in to DC’s Blackest Night miniseries, which begins in July.

The solicitation for the 32-page comic reads:

Across the universe the dead will rise! Prepare for the coming of “The Blackest Night” with this prelude to the biggest comic event of the year! This special edition recaps the key moments from “Sinestro Corps War” and “Rage of the Red Lanterns” that led to “Blackest Night,” and will give readers everything they need to know about the Green Lantern universe, their ongoing War of Light, and their dark days ahead. There are also two more pagers up Comic Book News.

C Comics has confirmed for Newsarama that beginning in July, the monthly Green Lantern series will get a new regular penciler just as Blackest Night begins.

“The absolutely brilliant Doug Mahnke is taking over the book,” said Geoff Johns, the title’s writer. “Blackest Night will be its own mini-series in July, and so beginning in July, Doug Mahnke will be the regular penciler on Green Lantern. Doug is an amazing penciler. The stuff he’s already done for Blackest Night #0 is just phenomenal.”

Ivan Reis, who’s been the Green Lantern penciler since 2006, is now the artist on the Blackest Night mini-series, working months ahead with Johns for the July launch. And as Reis told Newsarama at New York Comic Con, the last issue of Blackest Night will mark the end of his run with the Green Lantern characters, although he said his next project (still unannounced) will reunite him with Johns.

“It is so much fun to work with Geoff. And if I can work with him for 10 years, I’ll do it,” Reis said.

DC has provided Newsarama with artwork by Mahnke of a double-page spread that will appear in Blackest Night #0, the Free Comic Book Day issue that kicks off the publisher’s summer event on May 2. While specific details of the Blackest Night event have not been released, creators involved have indicated that the story will run through the Blackest Night mini-series along with the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps titles, with some special tie-in issues along the way, all beginning in July.

As for what Johns is doing after the end of Blackest Night, the writer said he’s not going anywhere.

“I’m staying. I’ll be working with Doug on the [Green Lantern] issues going forward after Blackest Night,” he said.

“I’ve said it before, that to work with such a group of talented artists on this, like Ivan and Ethan [Van Sciver] and now Shane [Davis], and Philip [Tan] and Doug. Green Lantern’s probably been one of the most fortunate books in recent history that’s been blessed by so many great, talented artists,” Johns said. “I’ve been really happy to work with them all. And to have each of them take ownership of a Corps. They’ve each added their own spin on it and added their own characters. Creating all these Corps and all this excitement with them – it’s pretty phenomenal stuff. “

That’s what Green Lantern writer Geoff Johns told Newsarama the last time we talked to him about the title, and sure enough, the battles have begun. Emotion-charged aliens donning rings of red, blue, yellow and violet are all getting involved in the melee as the story builds toward this summer’s DC event, Blackest Night.

And with next month’s Green Lantern #39, Johns begins the much-anticipated introduction to the Orange Lanterns and their leader, “Agent Orange,” a vile, greed-twisted creature named Larfleeze (whom Johns has already called one of his favorite characters). Featuring art by Philip Tan, the storyline is the final one before the Blackest Night event begins in July.

For today’s “green theme” in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, we talked to Johns about the Agent Orange storyline, the many corps flying around the title now, and what the status is on Blackest Night.