Summary
As if fans didn’t have enough to look forward to, theNew Godsare making their glorious return to the DC Universe later this year. The last several weeks has been a whirlwind of excitement as DC Comics’upcoming initiative DC All Inbegins to take shape.
It’s already been revealed that Darkseid was going to play a key role throughout DC All In. But during San Diego Comic Con International, DC Comics revealed that the cosmic pantheon was returning in a newNew Godsseries by Ram Vand Evan Cagle. Screen Rant spoke with Ram V to see what he’s got in store for the Fourth World’s biggest icons.
Screen Rant: Ram, you’ve been putting a lot of work into the DC Universe in the last couple of years. How does it feel looking back where you are now on everything you’ve done so far?
Ram V: Intimidating. It’s weird, like people always ask me “Are you intimidated taking on Jack Kirby’s characters. Are you intimidated taking on Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing?”. It’s weird, but the only thing I find intimidating is actually looking back like “Oh, I’ve done all of this work now it’s out in the world now and people are going to read it.”. And that always makes me feel like “Well, I better have done something good.”. So it’s weird. I feel intimidated looking back and stuff but I also feel excitement looking forward.
In the spirit of just looking backwards a little bit longer, “Gotham Nocturne” is finally wrapping up after an incredible two year run. What did you want this storyline to accomplish and do you feel that you’ve done that?
Ram V: Yeah, I kind of wanted to interrogate the idea of a contemporary Batman. You’re not the Batman we saw in the 60s or the 80s but a Batman in 2024. A that man grapples with being older but also a Batman who grapples with the changing nature of the mythology that he has established over this time. And I am someone who’s always of the opinion that that man is fundamentally a vigilante and therefore, must be a part of society that is necessarily shocked by it. If we live in societies where we celebrate vigilantes something is very wrong with that society. And yet, that is the question we’re asking like, is it wrong to be celebrating this person? Does that person want to be celebrated? What is that like to be a hero knowing that you are not going to be celebrated as a hero? So those are the questions I kind of wanted to answer. I feel like yeah, I feel like I’ve accomplished that. In the story so far. There are always other questions and plot points to be answered. But overall, I feel like it’s been it’s been a vital sort of interrogation of Batman in 2024.
We’re about to be in a new era of the DC Universe. DC Comics is going all in and so are you a brand-newNew Godsseries. Do you want to tell us a little bit about how this particular project came together while everything was being worked on?
Ram V: Well, actually, this project has been in the ether since about three years ago. I was at San Diego. I had a meeting with a then Editor-in-Chief, Ben Abernathy. And he’s like “What do you want to do after Detective?”. And I had a choice in that I could have gone on to books that are similar in stature and visibility as something like Detective. But I kind of wanted to go the other way. I sat down and worked on a big book, a character with lots of fans, everyone’s interested in what’s happening. But I also have a part of me that desires to take something that no one’s been touching for a while and revitalize it. And I felt like New Gods was such a fertile ground because Kirby’s such an inspirational creator, because every two panels is a new idea. And some of those ideas are so potent, most most writers could take a few pages from a Kirby book and go “I can turn this into a whole series on its own.”. And so because it felt that way, it felt like it was really fertile ground where really nothing had been planted in recent history. Also, I have a great love of mythology and mythological stories. So it felt like the New Gods are the sort of contemporary mythology in the DCU. And so I’m very excited to be able to do that.
The New Gods have such a sizable presence in the DCU, but it’s been a while since they’ve had an ongoing title. How did that impact you as a writer being the first person to give them an ongoing in some time?
Ram V: To be honest, it’s really easy, because of the mythological connection. I’m taking the structure of the larger conflict quite literally from the sort of new end of the world and mythology. It’s the the new Ragnarok, if you will. Taking bits and pieces from there and using that as a structure within the New Gods mythology to set up the conflict inside of the way this book is going to work. And so that acts as a really nice vehicle to move the story forward. I think what this book does differently from all the iterations that have been before is that it doesn’t treat itself as a separate corner of the DCU. From the very beginning, this book exists because of things that happened in the DCU. The story, their conflict exists because of those reasons. And by the middle of the book, they are squarely embroiled in the conflict and the trauma that the greater DCU finds itself. And so the hope is that at no point you feel like you’re reading something that doesn’t matter to the rest of the DCU. In fact, it matters very much to a point where you know, Superman has to show up. And Green Lantern has to show up. Wonder Woman has to show up, because all of these conflicts are affecting what is happening with them and with their stories as well.
Jack Kirby had such an impact on comics and the New Gods are arguably his most impactful creations. I know you said you were more intimidated by the stuff you’ve written, but did you feel similar in any way to working with Kirby’s characters?
Ram V: No, not really. I think stories exist and they only live on if they are allowed to be retold and changed and retooled and reinvented. I think the moment you start treating these stories or storytellers as things to be revered and things to be preserved, they become fossils, and they become ossified. You no longer have a connection to them. And I think the whole beauty, the whole point of storytelling is that 10 years down the line, someone will pick up something I’ve done and say “I have a take on it, I have a new story to tell.”. That’s the beauty of it. So I always am very amused by the idea that people or even creators might think that their stories are theirs and must be preserved, must not be altered. There’s only one place we treat stories like that, and it’s religion, and I think mythology is poorer if you start turning it into religion.
During the DC Multiverse panel, you talked about the various New Gods that would feature in your book: Orion, Big Barda, etc. Were there any that you were just like “I gotta write include this one because I’m so excited to write this character!”
Ram V: I’m known to be quite a dark and brooding writer despite having done very hopeful books. I think writing Lightray is particularly exciting because it’s such a inherently joyous and loving and caring character. There’s also a whole bunch of New Gods that I’ve only been talking about the New Genesis side of. Without giving too much away. There’s the obvious ones on Apokolips that I’m excited to write. Granny Goodness obviously.
Speaking of characters that are going to feature inNew Gods, you dropped a small ball bomb that I wasn’t expecting, which was that Big Barda and Mister Miracle are having a baby. I know you’ve mentioned you had a child recently. You want to talk a little bit about this decision and how it may have impacted your treatment of Scott and Barda?
Ram V: I felt like that was a natural evolution of the conflict that Kirby set up. The idea that these two eternally warring figures had children and then essentially sacrifice them in order to save their respective planets, but in that sacrifice also gave birth to two champions. And while I think Orion’s trajectory has been one that has generally been one of positive growth. Whereas I think Scott Free’s a little bit more complex and a little bit more understated and I wanted to interrogate that. The correct way to interrogate that was to go “Here Scott Free, you have a child now, what would you do?”. I’m a new father. But I also lost my father a couple of years ago to cancer. And the question to ask: “My father. Am I better? Will I be nicer? Will I be worse? Will I overcome him? Will I not? Will I be in his shadow? Will my child suffer from all my inadequacies? These are very human questions, but when you apply them to gods, they have very interesting consequences.
In a lot of ways, the Fourth World mythology, really is a story about parenthood. So it’s really interesting that you are continuing this theme through Barda and Scott’s child. I’m just glad you’re not breaking them up.
Ram V: No, in fact, I was saying in an earlier interview that the chemistry between Barda and Scott Free is something that really brings me a lot of joy to write. I just love this idea that he’s a man who has tried and succeeded at escaping everything. And she’s this impressive female fury whose idea of escape probably involves smashing things to bits. So I love that mechanism.
I do want to talk about the artist you’re working with. Evan Cagle is doing interiors forNew Godsand he also who provided the beautiful covers of “Gotham Nocturne”. Was it ever in question that he was the right person for this?
Ram V: No, I think it was immediate in my mind because I think Evan’s greatest strength is twofold in transmitting scale, which I think is necessary for a story about gods and cosmology and alien technology, if you will. I think he’s great at that. But he’s also very, very good at transmitting human acting and emotion. And I feel like if you can do that, if you can’t make these gods vulnerable and political pain and worried about each other, then you kind of lose people because they start feeling like these are stories about gods, not human beings. And so I think Evan brings that very human element. So we’re excited to have him on board. And Evan and I are just really really, really good friends. It will be lovely to collaborate with someone who I have that personal relationship with.
DC Comics is going all in with this new initiative of theirs. What does going all in mean to you and to what you’re doing with the New Gods?
Ram V: I think in general, the thing that excites me most about All In is the idea that it’s no longer just the characters that have been around for the past, you know, 5-10 years. If you look at the JSA announcement, if you look at the Green Lantern story, if you look at the Absolute Universe, it feels like all of the DC characters from the big to the small are all coming to this event. And that feels very exciting to me. I’m obviously a big fan of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman all those guys. But I also love Martian Manhunter. I also love Condiment King. So I feel like all of those characters being present in this makes it very special.
