Ray Fawkes has worked for both DC Comics and Vertigo Comics along with a host of other publishers including Oni Press, Image Comics, Top Shelf Comics and Marvel Comics. The Eisner, Harvey and Shuster Award nominee is now writing some of his most high-profile work to date at DC Comics, namely Justice League Dark and Constantine as well as having a hand in DC’s upcoming Trinity War summer blockbuster storyline.

JP Fallavollita met with the Toronto-based writer and artist at the 2013 edition of the Toronto Comics Arts Festival (TCAF) and had a chance to speak with him over the phone about his recent writing responsibilities. In the first part of this interview, Fawkes talks about his experiences with fan-favourite character, John Constantine, the history and responsibility of writing him in both a solo series and a group series, and his story plans for the near future.

JP Fallavollita: Ray, there’s been a lot of the esoteric, the eerie, the mystical, and dark elements in much of your comics work. What is it about the supernatural that interests or inspires you?

Ray Fawkes: You know, it’s hard to say. I think I’m just a person who’s always been into that stuff ever since I was a kid and fascinated by supernatural stories and ghostly stories – it just stuck with me. The things you’re into turn into the things that you spend the most time with, which turns into the things you know the most about, right? So, it’s sort of my zone of fascination and I just can’t get myself away from it.

JP Fallavollita: I think it makes for a great fit with the Constantine ongoing series that you’re writing. I’m curious in terms of what your first experiences with that particular character were. What was it about him that maybe even appealed to you?

Ray Fawkes: My first experiences reading the character?

JP Fallavollita: Yeah, absolutely. 

Ray Fawkes: Well, my first experiences reading the character, this is going to date me, but I was reading Swamp Thing back when he first showed up. I was buying it off of the newsstand and was instantly, totally, captivated by the character. He was this mystery man. There was so much more to him than you even knew you were seeing – you could tell that there was so much movement below the surface. He’s the con artist. He’s the trickster. Right off the bat, back in Swamp Thing, you could see he was playing a larger game than everyone else in the story, more of a chess player and a lot of the people in the story, the characters, didn’t even realize that they were pieces on the board and that’s something that’s always held true for John Constantine. He’s always been this character who looked at the big picture and was willing to make moves that perhaps no one else was willing to make, especially with regards to sacrifice, and I think that adds a really amazing human quality to him and it also adds a touch of darkness that I just love.

JP Fallavollita: When we were talking at your table at TCAF last weekend, he’s a bit different now, under the New 52.

Ray Fawkes: Well, he’s a little bit different, yeah, in that he’s younger and more impulsive than the character that a lot of people have gotten used to, especially since the Vertigo run of Hellblazer. He’s aging, he aged quite a lot, and he became quite experienced and quite cynical and so, with the New 52, we were given the opportunity to scroll him back sort of into a younger time where he’s more impulsive and more active and you can kind of get to see maybe he’ll do things that perhaps he might not have been willing to do in the Vertigo version.

JP Fallavollita: In the Vertigo version, there had been so many different iterations of that character and now, like you said, scaling him back and bringing him into a wider universe, there’s probably more stories there for him, isn’t there? 

Ray Fawkes: Well, there certainly is because one thing that he never had in that universe was to find himself plopped down in a world full of superhuman characters. There was always the element of magic and mysticism in those stories but in this story, we had to bring him back, in essence, bring him back to his origins where he was this sort of underground operator in a world full of superheroes.

It’s funny, I actually just tweeted today that last night I was re-reading Crisis on Infinite Earths to check something out and I actually found the scene with John Constantine in it. He’s in there! He’s in there!  

JP Fallavollita: Not many remember that! Its fantastic that he’s actually there, right?

Ray Fawkes: Yeah! It’s just a short scene but he’s in there and then in the big sort of climax of the story, where all the mystics of the DC Universe are getting together – and we’re talking about characters like Dr. Fate and the Spectre. John’s in there with them, and so this is our opportunity to tell the stories about John operating in that world, in a world of the superheroes and the metahumans and the Justice Leagues.

JP Fallavollita: So, going from a reader of Constantine and now becoming his writer in both the Justice League Dark series and the Constantine series, he’s obviously got a larger audience now, I think, coming under the DC banner rather than the Vertigo banner. Do you find that your approach to the writing of him is any different now for this larger audience?

Ray Fawkes: Not at all. No. There’s nothing that I would want to do with John that I can’t do. I love the challenge of what being in this new world poses for him. So, no. It hasn’t really changed the way I would want to write him.

JP Fallavollita: I think that even for me, reading this series, your voice for that particular character has developed in great leaps and bounds over the first three issues. I really enjoyed that last issue. And part of him being that loner with the sidekick in that first issue – I know there were some people upset that he was so cold when that one character passed away (sorry about the spoiler for anybody who hasn’t read it) but the voice is right! Even his diction, that sort of Liverpudlian accent, you got that right for him.    

Ray Fawkes: Well, thank you. If anything was the most daunting about that, it’s making sure that John’s voice rings true. The thing about John coming off a little too cold, I thank the readers who stuck with me after that because, obviously with John, nothing is as it seems. He may act cold but he may not feel that way or vice versa. So, yeah, keep reading.

JP Fallavollita: Absolutely. Well, you’ve come to the sort of close of that first brief story arc, but there’s a sense there that there’s a lot more to be told with these characters going forward with the storyline and the Cult of the Cold Flame. What’s it like with John Constantine, pulling his strings in his own monthly book and also in a team-up book in Justice League Dark. How does he act differently in each of these different titles, Ray?

Ray Fawkes: Well, with the Justice League Dark, John is aware that he’s in the milieu of people who think of themselves as more traditional superheroes even if they are a bunch of weirdoes. He sort of speaks their language. One of John’s core, best abilities, is his ability to manipulate, so he knows that when he’s with that team, if he wants to get things done, he kind of has to be the quarterback, he has to be the guy who gets the team excited and working together and all that. Because of that, he puts on a face that is perhaps a bit friendlier, perhaps a little bit funnier. And then, when you see him alone in Constantine, you get to see him more unfiltered. You get to see that he doesn’t have to motivate people like Deadman or Zatanna, so he can speak more directly with his own voice rather than trying to keep things light and calm.     

JP Fallavollita: Does it re-energize you going from script to script for the two different titles as well?

Ray Fawkes: Oh totally! In fact, I feel like it probably re energizes me in almost the same way it re-energizes John, you know? He goes out with the team, he has to be “on”, then he goes home and he’s like, “Oh thank God I’m by myself!” And then he has all these troubles, so he’s like, “Oh, you know what, I need the team!” Yeah, it totally re-energizes.

JP Fallavollita: You’re already creating a rogues gallery for Constantine. You’ve got the Cult of the Cold Flame, you’ve got Sargon, Zatara, Mister E, Tannarak – actually, the new Sargon, daughter of the original. You’ve got a whole new universe that opens up for you with this character, don’t you?

Ray Fawkes: Oh yeah, absolutely. And there will be more characters to see and some of them will be sort of reimagined or returned versions of older characters and some will be brand new. Some old readers of Hellblazer may recognize the name Papa Midnight.

JP Fallavollita: Right!

Ray Fawkes: He’ll be showing up and he, well, he’s not exactly John’s enemy and he’s not exactly his friend.

JP Fallavollita: Right. Perfect! It’ll be good to see him. He’s a fan favourite character.

Ray Fawkes: (Laughs) Well, I hope that you like this new version!   

JP Fallavollita: With Constantine, for me, that particular character has become synonymous with runs by acclaimed writers and artists: the magic and mystery of Moore, like you talked about, in the mid 80’s and how he wrote him in the pages of Swamp Thing, the politics that Delano was writing at the beginning of the Hellblazer series, the fiendish action of Ennis. Do you feel there’s a sense of responsibility for the history of that character and the people that have come and written him before? At this early point in your storytelling, what do you want to bring to this particular character if you were to look back, years from now?  

Ray Fawkes: You know, it is daunting because a lot of the people that have dealt with this character and written this character are among my favourites. I mean we’ve pretty much covered the bases. Alan Moore worked on him. Jamie Delano worked on him. Neil Gaiman worked on him. Grant Morrison did some. Warren Ellis, Brian Azzarello. You list the name and you get this list of top-level creators. It would be my great hope that after this run is done, I could just be proud of my contribution. As far as the political side of things with this John, I do want to get a little political with it but in a different way. We’ll see…we’ll see how. This John has to deal more with the politics of metahumans than the politics of the streets of London.

In part 2 of our interview, published tomorrow, Ray Fawkes talks about making personal connections in his stories, Constantine and the new, mysterious character called Pandora as they relate to the upcoming DC Comics summer blockbuster storyline, Trinity War.

Many thanks to Ray Fawkes for taking the time to talk to Biff Bam Pop! and thanks to the folks of DC Entertainment for helping set up the interview. The fourth issue of the monthly Constantine series will be published on June 12. The long-waited for Trinity War storyline, slowly building over the last two years, begins in earnest this July within the pages of Justice League, Justice League of America and Justice League Dark. 

You can visit Ray Fawkes at his website: www.rayfawkes.com or follow him on Twitter at: @rayfawkes

Since 2004, with the first publication of the mini-series, Green Lantern: Rebirth, writer Geoff Johns has been synonymous with the interstellar titular hero and his awesome green power ring. Johns, along with a slew of top-industry artists, revitalized both the character and the lore surrounding him within the pages of the monthly Green Lantern series, rescuing him from b-level superhero status and turning him into, arguably, the most popular of DC comic book heroes. Indeed, he’s a bigger draw than Wonder Woman, Superman and, sometimes, even Batman!

But today, that era comes to a shimmering, emerald-coloured end. After almost ten straight years writing Hal Jordan and the main Green Lantern title, Geoff Johns is leaving the series.

Find out more after the jump!

Green Lantern #20

Written by: Geoff Johns

Illustrated by: Doug Mahnke and Christian Alamy

Published by: DC Comics

If Rebirth reinvigorated the character for fandom, it was Johns’ first storyline in the monthly series proper, titled “No Fear”, which truly brought Hal Jordan, the hero, into the big time. Here was a flawed man trying to reclaim his integrity, and indeed his reputation, in the eyes and minds of his peers, his family and the population of his home city. Readers fell in love with him again. Many new readers jumped aboard for the first time. Popularity of the character and sales of the comic book skyrocketed.

I remember heading out on a road trip to Chicago with this site’s Editor-in-Chief, Andy Burns and another buddy of ours, to hit that city’s big comic book convention in the summer of 2008. It was there that I picked up the hardcover compilation of Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War Volume 1 – and getting blown away by the action, the visuals and the star-spanning scope of the series! Here was a storyline for this day and age! Star Wars meets DC superheroes! It scratched me exactly where I didn’t realize I had an itch!

Since then, Johns has delved deep into the history and lore of the Green Lantern Crops themselves. He’s created many other characters that rub shoulders with the original, while also adding to the mythos of the DC Universe. The Green Lantern series of comic books, under the writing and stewardship of Johns, created and expanded plot points to a degree the publishing company, it can be argued, had never before experienced! Currently, there are no fewer than six monthly titles dedicated to this shared universe including Green Lantern, Green Lantern Corps, Green Lantern: The Animated Series, Green Lantern: New Guardians, Red Lanterns, and the upcoming Larfleeze series.

Today is truly an end of an era. In an extra-sized issue, Hal Jordan battles, for the last time, the First Lantern and the Guardians. A new status quo for the character starts here! Plus, as a bonus, you get a special retrospective of the Geoff Johns run on the Green Lantern title.

So make the run to your local comic book shop today. Be part of history-in-the-making and pick up Green Lantern #20. It might make you a little weepy-eyed, but it’s a bright day indeed!

Every Wednesday, JP makes the after-work run to his local downtown comic book shop. Comics arrive on Wednesdays you see and JP, fearful that the latest issue will sell out, rushes out to purchase his copy. This regular, weekly column will highlight a particularly interesting release, written in short order, of course, because JP has to get his – before someone else does!

It’s been a busy day for trailers hasn’t it? Well, this is the fourth official trailer for the upcoming Man of Steel film, released upon this world on June 14. Entitled “Fate of Your Planet”, the 1:47 second trailer ups the ante by showcasing the size of the threat that Superman – and the earth – must face. Zod, played by Michael Shannon, is indeed meancing. Destruction abounds. Kryptonian supermen and superwomen run rampant. Millions will die. And are those laser beams shooting out of Supe’s eyes?!?

Can anticipation for this assured summer blockbuster get any more frenzied? You bet it can!

Watch the trailer and then let us know what you think!

Check it out below and let us know what you think.

The Wolverine is in theaters July 26th.

Annie Get Your Gun

Norma is scared and goes to Sheriff Romero for help. He tells her, “Don’t worry; be happy.” But the Sheriff is a little sneak and he’s knows more than he’s letting on. Norma isn’t happy and asks Dylan to get her a gun. She wants to protect herself. Dylan’s response, “You and a gun is a bad idea.” You think! But Dylan relents and gets Norma a gun and teaches her how to use it. Why would he put a gun in her hands? He does and she shoots pretty well. She likes her gun; watch out world.

Mama’s Got a Secret

We get glimpses of Norma’s childhood when she visits Dr. Fumhero Kurato (Hiro Kanagawa). She’s stressed out and scared of Mr. Abernathy. The good doctor asks Norma about her childhood because we all know that something is very wrong with mother dearest. Norma is repressing some bad memories and rushes out of the office.

Visitors

While Norma is cleaning the motel rooms, Maggie Summers (sporting a black eye) comes to warn her; Abernathy is a bad man. Maggie is Keith’s sister and the bookkeeper for the human trafficking business. Bradley stops by to get her father’s personal stuff from Dylan; Norman is jealous. Emma stops by to show Norma her new dress and Norma finds out that Emma and Norman are going to the school dance. Norma is afraid that Abernathy will kill her and tells Norman about her childhood; father violent; brother raped her. Why would you tell your teenage son this stuff? Anyway Norman, who’s now dazed from his mother’s revelations, goes with Emma to the dance. Norman was so rude to Emma at the dance!  I’m glad that Bradley’s boyfriend punched him.

Teacher’s Pet

The Teacher was hitting on Norman. Miss Watson (Keegan Connor Tracy) is a pervert and she’s taking advantage of a boy, who already displays personality disorder traits. When she sees Norman walking home in the rain with a bloody nose, she offers him a ride. Will she take him home? Nope! Naughty teacher takes him to her place and then begins to undress with her bedroom door open. She’s a pig! Most child abusers are known to their victims, and right now, Norman is her victim.

The Long Arm of the Law

Norma is hiding with her gun; she’s waiting to ambush Abernathy at his boat. But the Sheriff has his own plans; he has the satchel with the money. Abernathy wants his money and he wants it now!

Big Season Finale Spoiler Alert

The Sheriff shoots Abernathy and then throws him and the money in the bay, saying, “Not in my town.” He knew that Norma witnessed the whole thing; tells her to go home. Maybe, just maybe, this Sheriff is honest? Norman doesn’t know what to do when Miss Watson starts disrobing; he gets a little squirrelly; hears his mother’s voice; has a black out.

I really like this show. The whole town is crazy and sometimes the Bateses look like the normal ones; sometimes. Mr. Abernathy is gone, but there are plenty of bad people in that town. Who is the big boss? Someone has a grip on the town. Maybe we’ll find out on season two. And before I forget, don’t worry about the teacher; she’s on permanent sabbatical.

I bought a keyboard last year. One of the first songs I tried playing was The Doors’ When The Music’s Over. A few days ago I bought the great new Doors app, created by Elektra records founder Jac Holtzman. This morning I imported all my Doors studio albums into iTunes. And now I found out that Ray has died.

I saw Ray and Robbie Krieger with Stewart Copleand and Ian Astbury over a decade ago. It was amazing hearing those songs played by two of the architects. If you grew up on classic rock, you probably loved The Doors at one point. They were a right of passage for all of us. And it was Ray Manzarek who helped perpetuate the myth of Morrison and the band.

Raymond Daniel Manzarek. Born 2/12/39. What a wonderful musician. I hope he and Jim are finally reunited, hanging out on heaven’s beach, singing Moonlight Drive together. Rest in peace, Ray.

As well, we take a look at the gorgeous new IDW hardcover, Star Trek: The John Byrne Collection. As mentioned in the popcast, IDW continue to knock it out of the park with their licensed properties and this book is no exception. Take a look inside during the popcast and then order your own copy here.

Last Friday, our esteemed Editor-In-Chief, Andy Burns, threw down the gauntlet, decreeing that the latest iteration of the Star Trek franchise would beam up $90 million of box office revenue. Today, I get to sit in the catbird’s seat and reflect on his predictions alongside the actual numbers. It’s an easy job.

Did J.J. Abrams’ second stab at Trek beam up the goods? How did Iron Man 3 fare? And what did the classic The Great Gatsby garner from the movie-going public?

Find out after the jump!

Looking at the numbers, I’d have to say that, to a certain extent, Star Trek: Into Darkness underperformed at the box office this weekend, raking in only $84.1 million –below the expected $90 million and the studio-hopes of a $100 weekend. Of course, $84.1 is still a lot of frickin’ quatloos, isn’t it? It’s enough that you can bet there will be a third film.

Audiences seem a bit polarized on this film. Some are loving the action, the special effects and the characterizations – but pundits haven’t been so positive. You can bet the attributes of Star Trek: Into Darkness will be debated ad nausea over the days to come. As a matter of fact, check this very website out for our special ST: Into Darkness Biff Bam PopCast wherein our likely panel will be talking about exactly that! It will definitely be interesting to see how this movie fares amidst some stiff competition and not-so-positive word of mouth over the coming weeks.

In other news, Iron Man 3 continues to pile up the money and more and more speculation turns to whether Robert Downey Jr. will reprise the role of Tony Stark in any future instalment of the character.

And oh yeah. This past weekend, some other movies made some money, too.

So, to recap, here were the predictions:

1) Star Trek: Into Darkness – $90 million

2) Iron Man 3 – $32 million

3) The Great Gatsby – $20 million

4) 42 – $4 million

5) Pain & Gain – $3.5 million

And here’s how the weekend actually turned out:

1) Star Trek: Into Darkness – $84.1 million

2) Iron Man 3 – $35 million

3) The Great Gatsby – $23.4 million

4) Pain & Gain – $3.1 million

5) The Croods – $2.7 million

The summer blockbuster season continues next week with the return of the wolf pack in The Hangover Part III, the wide release of the Fox animated Epic, Vin Diesel’s Fast & Furious 6 (holee molee – they’ve made that many?!?) as well as the limited release of the third instalment of everyone’s favourite near-real-time romance in Before Midnight.

Be here at the end of the week to check out our predictions!