Yep, another interview with incoming GLC writer Van Jensen (If you missed the previous one, here it is.). More John Stewart talk, more GLC details and even some villains get spotlighted in the latest interview. This time its courtesy of Newsarama and we have some particular quotes below.

 

Van Jensen talks about John’s leadership abilities:

John is definitely the central character of this book. And the status quo of the Green Lanterns and with the Corps has changed really significantly. Hal is in charge, obviously. And for John, he sees a Corps that’s really struggling, and that has a different place in the universe. It’s viewed a little more warily by the universe, because the Guardians have caused so much destruction.

 

And the Corps has been pretty much decimated by the Third Army and the First Lantern, with this non-stop series of the Corps getting wiped out. So we have a lot of new members coming into the Corps. And just a very, very different status quo.

 

John has an interesting background in that he’s both an architect and has military experience. So he’s uniquely suited, with his background, to playing a very key role in facing all the questions and uncertainty about rebuilding the Corps. There are a lot of questions about training the Corps, rebuilding the Corps. Even just thinking about what the mission of the Green Lanterns will be going forward, now that they aren’t relying on the Guardians for guidance as much.

 

So through all of the big questions and uncertainty, John’s going to provide some leadership going forward.

 

Jensen on bringing in new lanterns to the Corps:

Issue #21 will see four new members. There are also going to be some new members coming in in Green Lantern #21. And that’s been a really exciting thing, and it’s something that I had dreamed about as a kid creating new comic book characters that people could read. And so getting the chance to do that has been really exciting.

And one of the things that I think has been kind of fun is that I’m playing with the new idea that being enlisted into the Corps is not exactly viewed as an honor. You know, I talked about how the Corps is viewed a little differently than it used to be, and in the past, to be recruited into the Green Lanterns was, for the most part, was always an exciting thing and a great privilege. But now it isn’t viewed in the same way. So recruits are coming in with a little different perspective than they’ve had in the past.

 

Things get a tiny bit spoilery here as Van Jensen discusses the villainous threat the GLC will be facing:

Yeah, so the Durlans will be one of the main villains that will be out there. And it’s a bit of a new take on them.

But they’re a really fascinating race with a strange history. Their powers are kind of a neat analog for the Green Lanterns, because, you know, the Green Lanterns’ ability is only limited by their imagination and what constructs they can create with their ring. And the Durlans, of course, rather than having a ring to create a construct, they sort of are their own construct. So similarly, they use their imagination and their power to turn themselves into whatever weapon they need, and “weapon” defined very broadly there.

 

And also, [the Durlans] are a race that’s very much based on deceit. And so they’re not simply shape-shifters. Their entire culture is based on deceit. And so they’re going to be coming after the Green Lanterns in a way that I don’t think we’ve ever really seen before.

Van talks Fatality’s view of John Stewart’s role as a Green Lantern:

Fatality plays a pretty central role. [She and John] embarked upon this relationship in recent issues, and it’s something that, for John, is going to be a bit of a struggle just because John’s a character that has such a horrific past. So much tragedy in his background. He’s working to put that behind him, but it’s not always easy, especially something as extreme as the destruction of a planet. That kind of blame is hard to get over.

So the two of them, they’re really trying to forge a relationship together, and Fatality is very much committed to that. But then on Fatality’s side, she’s a Star Sapphire, so she’s very committed to love and a more peaceful existence. And being in the Green Lantern Corps doesn’t exactly jibe well with an existence of love and peace. So there’s some conflict there of Fatality not really supporting John continuing in his role with the Green Lanterns and the Corps.

Van on Kilowog’s new role:

Kilowog will be around, but in a very new role. One that’s a particular challenge to him and something that is a really interesting development for that character, and has some nice humor to it as well.

So I don’t want to spoil it, but it will be a lot of fun for long-time readers.

Bringing humor into GLC despite John’s tough demeanor:

There’s definitely going to be humor. And the thing with John that I want to bring out is that he’s a well-rounded person. He has a humorous side, he has a serious side, and he does have a fun side.

I think his character has not been painted as fully in the past as some other characters, so we really want to explore all the sides of him. And not just kind of leave him as that stern, good soldier type, but show him as being a lot more than that.