I appreciated the recaps in #57 to help me get up to speed on Luthor, Guy, and Hank, with some new irons being inserted into the fire - more like hte blast furnace in this case!
They were great to write. I think I‘ve mentioned it before, but it comes from Jim Shooter’s premise that any issue could be somebody’s first issue. There’s so much DC2 continuity at this point, especially, what, 15+ years in? That it wouldn’t be entirely fair to expect someone to know everything like some of us do, but then again, if you’re reading the DC2 in 2020, you probably care enough to have gone back and caught up!
Then, BAM, Luthor appears again!
Yes! This was obviously before the debut of
Superman and the subsequent relaunch of
Action Comics from Eric, and I think it lands before 10YL and my work on
Superwoman, but I wanted to get Lex Luthor back “in place” in-universe.
After “
Justice League vs. America" and his public heel turn, he couldn’t operate as the two-faced entrepreneurial monster that I think is his most definitive version, so this was about putting him back at the forefront of LexCorp. In fact, a chunk of my output around this time--
DC2 Most Wanted and
Adventure Comics Annual-- was about the rehabilitation of the character… even though it was Roy and I who put him through the wringer in that first place! This came first though, as there was an implied year-ish time jump from my last issue on the site before a hiatus, and my return to the book. I have a timeline somewhere, I need to dig that out, but it's really spoilerific. I think I shared it with you a while back?
I loved writing Luthor in
Secret Society of Super-Villains, first as a character at his lowest, then building to him triumphing over a force that thought it could control him. I think his “little victories” are great to see, because he’s so despicable... therefore putting him against even
more despisable characters-- making him the de facto hero!-- is a cheeky joy. Especially if the opponents he faces are dark mirrors of Superman, his true enemy. Despero in
SSoSV was exactly that.
Wow. Xa-Du is a great recurring villain.
I didn't see Xa-Du coming in GLC, that's for sure! I just read the Kon-el Arc and dropped a review on Action Comic #12 so this was a funny twist, tying in numerous strands from the site.
I love writing Xa-Du! Absolutely love it!
One of the earliest, mind-bending stories I read as a child was
The Phantom Zone mini, and from that point on my brain was broken. I was absolutely fascinated with the Phantom Zone, and the criminals that inhabited it. Its such a horrible concept, right? And I know that a lot of things I’ve written, or teased, tie into that, be it my unseen plans for future issues of
Green Lanterns-- yes, I was planning a title change for Phase 4 of my time on the book-- or bits and pieces we’ve in
Omega Crisis and
Superwoman-adjacent content.
I think I write Xa-Du differently to others, and his appearances plug into the part of my brain that writes the truly sadistic villainy that actually scares me. What’s the point of writing a character-- Mengele-meets-Zod especially-- if he doesn’t unnerve at every turn? His treatment of the Daxamites, his torture of Guy, and everything else he’s done since his first appearance on the site, should speak to that. He was a pet character, sure, but definitely not a Mary Sue.
And you know that he was going to turn up again in future stories… I love crossing characters from one franchise to another, and I think that Xa-Du should definitely be in the pantheon of great, uniquely DC2, Green Lantern villains (e.g. the Predator).
By #59 as you say, it's clear that Hank is going through the grinder. This was a harsh, starkly written, issue. The GLC have a tough beat to walk. That said, I've struggled with Henshaw - like Guy, he never clicks with me in the same way that Hal or Stewart do - I sympathize but don't feel connected to him in this section. That said, this works in it's own way - he's practically disassociating, and so traumatized I'm not sure I could (or other characters can) connect with him! I hope he'll get help - but, knowing this arc, and these are some dark beats, I'm a little worried!
Hank is an acquired taste, and definitely another pet character. I don’t think you could call him a Mary Sue, because he never really wins. He just gets ground further and further into the dirt, but he’s a guy I really enjoy writing, ever since I killed him the first time.
His arc, since his resurrection at the end of “
Love Lost” (#40), has been about rehabilitation, and the guilt he carries from his time possessed by the Predator. That traumatised him beyond, seemingly, repair, but he can’t stay down, no matter how much he tries to. Not matter how much he might want to.
Oh, I can’t wait for you to get to his confrontation with two more “original” characters when he tries to recuperate from all of the above. It really was a blast getting him to that place.
I plan to finish GLC over the "quarantine" at my own pace and hope you're well.
I can’t wait for your thoughts, Oblique! Thanks for taking the time.