One of the most accomplished creators in modern comics is John Romita Jr. After a prolific, decades-spanning career illustrating for Marvel, Romita moved to DC Comics in 2014, where he started an acclaimed run on Superman with writer Geoff Johns. Having just wrapped the DC Black Label miniseries Superman: Year One with his Daredevil: Man Without Fear collaborator Frank Miller, Romita has reteamed with another one of his Marvel creative partners, Brian Michael Bendis, on Action Comics.
With Superman facing the cataclysmic fallout of publicly announcing his secret identity to the world, the Man of Steel and Justice League face the combined assault of the Legion of Doom, Leviathan and Red Cloud in an all-out war in the streets of Metropolis. In an exclusive interview with unlettered preview pages from the upcoming Action Comics #1019, Romita teases the appeal and challenges of illustrating the action-heavy story arc, who he wants to draw for DC next and how it's been reuniting with Bendis for the first time since 2012's Avengers vs. X-Men.
CBR: After the New 52 Superman with Geoff Johns, Superman: Year One with Frank Miller and [Action Comics with Brian Michael Bendis], this is actually the third version of Superman you've drawn. Are there any conscious changes when you bring each one to life?
John Romita Jr.: Conscious changes on my part, visually, no. I kind of let it happen depending on the story and the writers. And what I mean by that is I'm not trying to make the image of the characters any different: It's still Superman, iconic in every way. It just seems that the circumstances from each writer offer up situations that will change the visuals a little bit.
In this action sequence that I'm working on right now, he just gets the crap beat out of him; it's a strange moment to see Superman get shredded like this. It's very cool but it's an example of how different writers and different circumstances from their stories will affect the visuals.
The first thing you did when you came over to DC back in 2014 was Superman after doing all this iconic work for Marvel for decades. What is it about Superman that appeals to you as an artist and storyteller?
At first, nothing! I didn't really care to do Superman. Until I got to DC, it was not the character that I wanted to work on only because, in the history of the character, it was perfect; there was nothing about it that got me excited. DC had the "Death of Superman," and that made it a much better character, but I didn't consider it. When I considered coming over, I had a specific idea in mind that applied to a [Marvel] character and it would have applied perfectly to Superman. I spoke to [DC Comics Co-Publisher] Dan Didio about it and he liked the idea. We were considering that at first, that I would do a miniseries.
And then Geoff Johns popped up out of nowhere, and the chance to work with Geoff was beyond question so I took that. I had never considered working on Superman ever before! Batman was always the attraction, and there are other characters as well like Wonder Woman. But once I got on Superman, the intimidation factor -- oh my God, this is the oldest and most famous character in the game! And there's been greats before me! Nothing like a little bit of concern, a little bit of intimidation! I was terrified until I did a specific double-page spread of Superman punching out a very large robot and I said "I've done this before! I mean, there's a big red cape but I've done this! I can handle it!" [laughs]
That moment of intimidation was all self-imposed. Nobody at DC gave me that feeling, in fact, they were unbelievably supportive and they still are. I did that to myself the way I've done it with most of my characters; I forced myself to be terrified.
You mentioned working with different writers dictates how you approach the character and story. Before this, you worked with Brian Michael Bendis relaunching Avengers right after Siege a decade ago. How has it been working with Brian again?
The quality is still there, if not better; he's a genius as far as I'm concerned. Let me give an example: Getting on this title and all the connections it has to other titles is like jumping on the [California freeway] 405 on a tricycle; it's incredible. But once you get the hang of the characters and the story, it's a little bit clearer. But I texted in the middle "Brian, what am I looking at? What's going on?" and he chuckles and says what's going on.
This story is amazing and that's always the way it's been working with Brian. You read it and that's one thing, and then when you're starting working on it, you think 'Can I do this any justice?' He's fantastic, and I love working with him because he's a challenge. Working with a writer that doesn't challenge you is just no fun. Brian Bendis challenges me every single moment that I'm working on a book, and I just finished a panel with a Batman tank and all the heroes on the tank crashing into an area, and I'm screaming at myself because I have to redraw this tank several times.
That's what Brian does, he asks for things that are larger than life and multi-action images, and it's a challenge to me as a storyteller. And, in all honesty, I'm a better storyteller than I am an artist, and this is a challenge to me as a storyteller. So that's what Bendis does, and he brings brilliance to the story in general.
When working with Scott Snyder on All-Star Batman, you did just about every major Batman villain. With the Legion of Doom, Leviathan and Red Cloud all teaming up, what character were you most excited about that you hadn't worked with before?
I guess it's the Apex Lex Luthor that I hadn't worked on before and the connection to Lex Luthor. So instead of the boring Lex Luthor -- I say that as the character is boring, he's been done to death -- Apex Lex Luthor is pretty amazing and the ability to expand on the battles. The Legion of Doom is something I hadn't considered before and hadn't done before. And while I'm not thrilled about doing Grodd and Cheetah, the two animal characters in the Legion of Doom, they applied beautifully to this. Again, a challenge: I have to draw animal characters; I don't like to draw animals.
To invert that question, is there a hero that you hadn't really had a chance to do before that you wanted to get into?
Wonder Woman! I had done her specifically just as part of the Justice League and as a secondary character in Superman: Year One and having her appear as she did so larger than life. I just enjoy the character and would love to do the character on a regular basis. And I'm not afraid to say the character is just as iconic as Superman and Batman, and I haven't done her as a main character or on a title and I'd love to. She's a great character.
I was talking to Frank Miller at New York Comic-Con and he said the character he'd like to do next would be Wonder Woman. I would love to see you both working together on her.
Did he really say that? That's fantastic! I hadn't considered it but, of course, I'd love to work with Frank. There's a handful of guys that I would drop what I'm doing and work with them, and Frank's one of them. It would be outstanding to work on that great character with that great writer.
Speaking of Frank, it's been three months since the last issue of Superman: Year One dropped. Looking back, how do you think that stands among your work and what are you most proud of?
The thing I'm most proud of is getting through it without dying [laughs]. Every time I open the hardcover or go through the issues, I see things I wish I had done better. And I do that regularly, I'll see something from 20 years ago and say the same thing. But I'd give it a 90 on a scale from 1 to 100 as far as the art goes. I'm very proud of the story and my storytelling is always better than my art. However, we had Danny Miki, Alex Sinclair and Frank Miller who's an artist to begin with -- we had four artists on this! I'm really proud of the whole project.
Getting this supersized story done the way we did and changing things slightly and doing things that raise eyebrows. Some of the reviews I've gotten with people irritated and shocked and some have people enjoying it. I'm very proud of us getting it done considering the size and scope of it, so I would work further in that vein of the story should that ever arise about considering to continue it.
I think the thing with [Clark Kent joining] the Navy is brilliant and the SEALS, I love that. People were screaming at me via reviews, and my friends would e-mail me reviews saying "This is ridiculous! That's out of left field!" I love getting that kind of reaction, I loved that part -- especially with the SEALS -- and I would do that kind of thing again in a second.
What do you have next on the docket beyond Action Comics?
There's nothing lined up in front of me that I can talk about beyond some side projects but that's not important. Right now, Action is in front of me, getting this book done in the next couple of days. And there's a double-page spread coming that's [going to make me] throw darts at Brian's picture again [laughs]. Listen, I'll work with Brian under any circumstances. So if he finds it in his heart to make the next couple of issues a little bit easier, I would do it in a second, however, I'll stay on the title as long as they'll have me.
Whatever DC has in store for me, let'em throw it my way. I have some ideas of what I want to do, and it's not too far away from what we talked about: I'd love to do something with Wonder Woman, that'd be exciting. But then, I'd love to do something with Batman again. But nothing is set in concrete with DC, and all the things I do on the side I'd love to talk about are all in the formative stages. It's not really in the comics business, per se, it's supernatural-fantasy stuff for the film industry. Let's just put it that way.
John Romita, Jr. and Brian Michael Bendis' reunion on Action Comics begins with issue #1017, on sale now from DC Comics.