When news broke last week of the leadership change at DC Comics, one item that also surfaced recently either started to make a lot more sense or may be going the way of the dodo bird. In either case, the fact a Lobo movie is closer than ever to being made was too exciting a possibility to pass up, so CBR News reached out to the bastich of a bounty hunter's co-creator Keith Giffen ("Magog," "Doom Patrol") for his thoughts on the proposed film by Guy Ritchie ("Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," "Sherlock Holmes"). Giffen and writer Roger Slifer originally created Lobo in "Omega Men." The interstellar mercenary appeared in the series' third issue in June 1983. Rarely used, Lobo practically disappeared for most of the next decade until he resurfaced in the 1990s as an antihero not unlike Marvel's Punisher and Wolverine. Giffen considered Lobo a parody of Marvel's über-violent crimestoppers, but the Main Man instead turned into one of DC's most popular characters for much of the decade, appearing in many solo miniseries written by Giffen and Alan Grant and illustrated by such big names as Simon Bisley and Kevin O'Neil. Most recently, Lobo's been featured in "52," for which Giffen provided layouts, and "Reign in Hell," which he wrote. Lobo's next major appearance will be in the two-part miniseries, "Lobo: Highway to Hell," written by Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and illustrated by Sam Kieth.CBR: Did you ever think a Lobo movie would happen?KEITH GIFFEN: No, I did not. This thing has been spinning in development for quite some time, for years actually. I was as surprised as everyone else. The world you've built for Lobo, and the character as a whole, would appear to be a perfect fit for a movie, don't you think?Well of course, I'd think so. I'm sort of waiting with everyone else that Guy Ritchie hits it out of the ball park. I'm not as standoffish as Alan Moore is nor am I as overly exuberant as Mark Millar, I just settle back and say, "Give it your best shot and we'll see." And again, I've said before, but that character has been very good to me. I've enjoyed telling his stories and I hope the guys doing the movie have as much fun as I had when I was playing with the character. I wish them all the luck in the world and I'll just settle back and see what happens.
Does this movie need to be "Dark Knight' serious? Or does it have to bring the funny?Again, you're asking were I God, what would I do? I've always pictured Lobo would work best as a movie if you played him sort of like, a very attitudey, black humor, Czarnian from outer space. That's just my opinion. I don't which direction, they're going with this. I have no idea or what they're going to do with it. I just hope that I'll be as pleasantly surprised as everybody else. It's odd to me that so many people are interested in this. I thought that Lobo was a character that had kind of run its course. He was part of the DC stable but I thought the rabid days when the fans really stood up and paid attention to Lobo were over. I also have high hopes for the Lobo miniseries with Sam Kieth and this Anthrax guy, because if there is anybody who should be able to nail what Lobo's all about, it's a heavy metal rocker. Maybe Anthrax could do the soundtrack for the movie?The funny thing is people look at Lobo and think that I'm a metal rocker. I'm really not. I'm an old punk. So if I was going to lay down the soundtrack to the Lobo movie, it would be all of these punk rock bands that nobody has ever heard of. But it's kind of fun to watch it all unfold. I do wish them all the best of luck. Like I said, I hope they hit it out of the ballpark.