Andrew
NDB : Wouldn't it have been Lord Malvolio's ring that was
given to Kyle? In the Action Comics arc between Vol. 2 and
Vol. 3 of GL Lord Malvolio destroyed Hal's ring, then Hal
took Malvolio's own GL ring... and wore it all the way into
Emerald Twilight. Wouldn't it have been Lord Malvolio's ring
that was given to Kyle? In the Action Comics arc between
Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 of GL Lord Malvolio destroyed Hal's ring,
then Hal took Malvolio's own GL ring... and wore it all the
way into Emerald Twilight. He dropped it, crushed it, then
Ganthet reformed it as a new ring and gave it to Kyle.
Ron Marz : I don't know that anybody paid a whole lot of
attention to Action Comics Weekly and Lord Malvolio.
Andrew NDB : One question for you I hope you'll entertain:
Was the plan to go into an Ion ongoing series based on the
maxi-series' sales? I ask, because I'm wondering if the
decision to have Sinestro rip out the Ion symbiote was
planned all along, or introduced based on sales?
Ron Marz : Ion was initially conceived as an ongoing, but
then DC management decided to go with a maxi-series because
a number of the other OYL launches were planned as ongoings.
Since initial sales were strong, there was discussion at the
editorial level of continuing the series, or more likley,
coming back with a "season 2" maxi. Ultimately, though, the
storylines for Sinestro Corps and Countdown demanded Kyle's
presence, and will set the stage for the next, uh, stage.
Andrew NDB : And I don't think Kyle's old mask, or costume,
will be reappearing.
Then what's this?
http://www.dccomics.com/comics/?cm=7935
Ron Marz : Maybe I lied.
Or maybe there's more to be seen with that cover.
Or maybe...
Andrew NDB :
In an old interview, I think at about the time of
"Homecoming" (which I thought was a perfectly sound endcap),
you remarked that of the previous writers' on GL after your
original run, there were things you wished you would have
thought of and other things you wouldn't have done. Can you
get into at least a few specifics to that end?
Ron Marz : I try not to talk about other creators' work
publicly, unless it's a an unqualified rave, so I'll have to
take a pass.
Andrew NDB : Which was more of a blast for you, Batman vs.
Aliens, or Green Lantern vs. Aliens? Any noteworthy memories
from either experience? The croc Alien was brilliant.
Ron Marz : Liked 'em both, since each afforded an
opportunity to work with a favorite artist. Bats-Aliens was
great because Bernie Wrightston lived less than a mile down
the road from me at the time, so I got the check out the art
in process all the way through. For GL-Aliens, I was really
happy with the way the GL-GA-Canary sequence in issue #1
came out. Rick Leonardi is a terrific artist. I also
remember rewriting the end to issue #4 about three times
before I finally decided that Kyle needed to wipe out the
Aliens.
Andrew NDB : Here's a big one (IMHO) :
Kind of a ballpark question: Knowing what you know about
where the future of Kyle Rayner will take fans within not
the next couple of months but the next couple of years...
without giving anything away, will you tell us if you are
pleased or disappointed?
Ron Marz : Pleased.
Andrew NDB :
The Parallax parasite/symbiote. I know you take kind of a
"this is a collective story, what I make may be changed to
suit a future editorial/creative decision, and that's cool"
standpoint so I won't ask whether it's something you are for
or against. What I will ask is something of a
clearing-up-the-air question... what is Parallax? I mean, I
get that it's now the incarnation of fear, or something to
that effect, that can live inside power batteries and glue
itself to physical and non-physical beings... but what I'm
really hoping you can clear up is... does it grant power on
its own? My take is that it's simply a parasitic/symbiotic
entity that enters a person and plays upon their fears to
not necessarily make them someone else entirely but rather
just sort of the byproduct of their fears that sort of
forces them in that direction. True or false? And can you
answer whether Parallax itself (the symbiote/parasite) when
it enters a person, does it actually give the person
powers/superpowers en masse, or is it merely a possessive
force?
Ron Marz : We have to assume that Parallax imbues some
measure of power, since Hal was quite powerful sans ring.
Andrew NDB :
But wasn't this from absorbing the energies within the
Central Power Battery in #50, then a bit of chronal energy
before/during Zero Hour, then absorbing a bit from Oa itself
before Kyle blew it up in #0, not from the Parallax symbiote
itself? That's what I got out of it, anyway.
And about the Ion symbiote having been in Kyle and at what
point it originally entered him (whether it was sometime in
Vol. 3 when he originally became Ion, or later via Jade)...
I know you probably wouldn't answer this question, but since
I'm assuming you do have the answer... can you assure us
that when we do get the answer, it's going to make sense?
Ron Marz : Was it from absorbing the Central Power
Battery, or absorbing Parallax. Or both? In the long run, I
don't think it much matters. Don't get lost in the details,
Andrew. Stories are about characters, not continuity
minutiae. (But yes, the whole Jade/Ion thing will be given a
nod.)
Andrew NDB : A lot of groundwork seemed to have been laid in
the Ion maxi-series, supporting cast and the like, for an
ongoing series. Can you give us any idea when/if this will
be delved into?
Ron Marz : It all depends on where Kyle will be at the
end of the Sinestro Corps and Challengers storylines. And
I'm not going to tell you that.
Andrew NDB : Darryl Banks has gone on the record with me
just this year and said he'd love to return to doing Green
Lantern, even asking fans to let DC know they'd like to see
him return -- whether it be Hal, Kyle, whoever we can give
him -- so I ask, what is holding this off? I'd love nothing
more than to see Darryl on a GL project.
Ron Marz : I'd love to work with Darryl on a project, but
editors are the ones who hire the creative talent, so it's
really the editor's choice. It's not my place to say why
that hasn't happened.
Andrew NDB : Remembering way back, about the possible
Parallax ongoing series that you mentioned (which, by the
way, way back I'd assumed was due any month after reading
"Parallax View"). Can you say how this series possibly may
have gone roughly, had we gotten it?
Ron Marz : Obviously we never made specific plans for a
Parallax series, but the general idea would have been to
play Hal as a tragic anti-hero. To use an analogy, much more
Magneto than Doctor Doom.
Andrew NDB : Looking back at Volume 3 of GL and everything
you contributed to it, is there anything you wished you
could have had time to do, or any lost opportunities?
Ron Marz : Always. Looking back you see things you want
to do, or would've done differently. But I tend not to dwell
on the past overly much. I'd rather look forward than back.
Andrew NDB :
Looking at all of Kyle's adventures collectively, if you had
to, of his rogue's gallery who would you call Kyle's
arch-nemesis (or as closest to as we can go so far)?
Ron Marz : Based on potential, I'd say Effigy. However,
he was created toward the end of my run, so I wasn't around
to build him into the kind of rogue I'd like him to be.
Based on what's been done so far, probably Nero.
Andrew NDB : Between Alex, Donna, and Jade... and just
basing it on those three alone, who would you personally say
is the strongest love of Kyle's life? The weakest?
Ron Marz : Strongest would be Donna -- she was the one
that got away, as far as Kyle is concerned. The least --
Alex, since that relationship never had a chance to really
grow and mature.
Andrew NDB :
In my book I'd always put Jade a little bit ahead of Donna
(probably just because of the sheer mileage we got out of
that, not how it ended), but when you put it like that it
makes sense. Though the way I phrased the question kind of
has Alex last almost arbitrarily, it's a little bit
surprising to hear her get the short end of the stick in
your book. With plenty of fans past and present, it's
amazing the impact and lasting memory you managed to imbue
Alex in just a few issues alone. I myself -- and correct me
if I'm wrong -- got a big sense that there was a large
amount of unsaid history between Kyle and Alex, growing and
maturing and the like, before we ever saw the two of them
together in #46 and then #51.
Ron Marz : Alex was always intended to die. I created her
knowing that she was going to be a casualty. The trick was
building her, in a short span, into a enough of
fully-realized character that he death would mean something
to readers.
Andrew NDB : About Parallax/Kylax, without getting into any
big spoilers, will you say anything about what this story
turn yields creatively? I mean, with Parallax inside Kyle,
are there any particular angles this allows creatively you
would be interested as a writer in exploring? (at a glance
at the Sin special and now #21, I get a sense there's a kind
of subconscious resentment of Hal's
coming-back-into-good-graces in the sense that it has
somewhat eclipsed him, and Parallax is kind of bringing that
to the forefront in pissing him off... am I way off here?)
Ron Marz : The Parallax Special will show what it's like
for the person who is possessed by Parallax. Without giving
away too much, it's like being taken for a horrible ride,
and having no control over where you're going. You can only
watch. Or try to escape.
Andrew NDB : Perhaps a silly question, but it's late and I
just thought I'd throw this at you : if you were held
hostage and had to explain -- theoretically -- how to retcon
"Green Lantern vs. Aliens" back into continuity, how would
you do it?
Ron Marz : I really don't spend any time thinking about
those kinds of continuity concerns. They're all made-up
stories.
Andrew NDB : The editors and otherwise the DC Powers-That-Be
call you up and say, "Mr. Marz, we're thinking of doing a
Green Lantern relaunch/All-Star Green Lantern/Ultimate Green
Lantern. Would you please submit us your pitch."
Ron Marz : Set it during the 1960s space race, and have
Hal Jordan be an astronaut candidate. Very much "The Right
Stuff." And then I'd have Darwyn Cooke write it and draw it.
Andrew NDB :
Did you know about the space whale before writing Ion #1?
Ron Marz : Nope.
Andrew NDB :
Will you be involved in any aspect of "Final Crisis," Ron?
Ron Marz : Not at this point. But as it evolves ... who
knows?
Andrew NDB :
Will the end of the Parallax special lead into/tie into the
beginning of the Kyle-in-the-Challengers storyline in
Countdown?
Ron Marz : Nope.
There's more Sinestro Corps stuff to come after the
Parallax special (the last pages of art were handed in last
week, by the way, and it looks pretty sweet).
