Andrew
NDB: 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.
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?
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.
What about working for DC at large, beyond GL? Have you
approached them or been approached about any work since your
last with them?
Recently
I've done work with DC regarding licence property artwork,
Mattel action figure reference for an example. No comics,
though.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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?
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!
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?
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.
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?
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!
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!
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.
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?
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.
How did
you originally land Green Lantern, Vol. 3 #50 with Ron Marz?
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.
Who are your greatest influences, if anyone, in your art
and style?
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).
Of any of the artists who have taken a crack at GL over
the past few years, whose work do you most admire?
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.
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?
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.
---
And now some questions from other GL fans...
GreenLanternGeek:
Which costume in GL are you most proud in designing?
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?
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)?
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.
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?
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.
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?
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?
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.
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?
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)?
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.
Are you still teaching art at all?
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?
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?
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!).
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.
I would
redesign Kyle (actually I already did and I may post it if I
ever find it that is).
---
It has been a pleasure chatting with you, Darryl, a true
honor. Anything you’d like to say before we wrap this up?
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!!!
