James Robinson and Nicola Scott delivered an epic opening arc for DC Comics' critical and commercial hit "Earth 2," and the title is going to get even bigger as the publisher announced today that Fury would be unleashed on Green Lantern, The Flash and rest of the ever-expanding world's wonders in issue #8.

In stores January 9, "Earth 2" #8, featuring interiors by guest artist Yildiray Cinar, marks the first New 52 appearance of Fury, the last Amazon of Earth 2. Robinson told CBR News, this Fury's origin is different from previous incarnations,. Specifically, she is no longer the daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor.

The always candid Robinson shared his thoughts on the return of Steppenwolf, the Apokoliptian god that killed Wonder Woman in "Earth 2" #1, his connection to Fury and the importance of reinventing these characters so readers can enjoy new stories versus rehashed retellings of older tales,, which is so often the case with introducing new takes on long-standing superheroes and villains.

Robinson also teased details about the next major "Earth 2" arc, titled "The Power of Fate," and the New 52 introduction of Doctor Fate, yet another classic character who has been reinvented for the best-selling series.

CBR News: Let's start with the obvious question: Is the new Fury Lyta Trevor, the daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor?

Nicola Scott's Fury-ous variant cover for "Earth 2" #8

James Robinson: No, she's not.

I can't really say who she is, but I want to stress that it does play into what happened to the Amazons of Earth 2 and all the aspects of that plotline that readers were so interested in from the first issue.

Steppenwolf, who killed Wonder Woman in "Earth 2" #1, returns in this issue, too, and if the solicited cover is any indication, the alien war criminal and Fury are pretty tight. While Fury is not Wonder Woman's daughter, does this alliance have anything to do with the dark secret behind the last Amazon of Earth 2?

"Earth 2" #8 is a solo issue featuring Steppenwolf and Fury. It also introduces a strategically important country within Earth 2 that Steppenwolf realizes he needs to control.

One of the things that I like about Steppenwolf, at least the way I'm depicting him, is that that he's this big barbarian in the way he looks, but actually, I always imagined him as Darkseid's Rommel. He's a strategist. At the same time, the modern day inspiration for him -- and this is for people that hopefully saw the movie because of Batman and they wanted to see and understand the history of Batman -- is a character from the 1940 film "The Mark of Zorro," the original Tyrone Power movie. Basil Rathbone plays Captain Esteban Pasquale, and he's my Steppenwolf in the way that he talks and the way that he handles himself. He's a great swordsman in the movie, and he's actually a great swordsman in real life, but at the same time, he has this eloquence and this odd sort of charm.

Meanwhile, he has this assistant/aide-de-camp, I'm not exactly sure what you'd call her, but that's Fury. She's not a particularly verbose -- she's quite silent -- assassin/warrior. Steppenwolf has trained her and has her at his use. He has many goals set for the future and he will be using Fury to make them happen.

At the same time, she has a history and it all ties back to "Earth 2" #1 and the annihilation of the Amazons and all of that other good stuff.

Nicola Scott has been lights out on this book since Day One, but it's Yildiray Cinar who gets to unleash Fury on the New 52. What do you think of his take and did he work with Nicola on the designs?

Even though she didn't draw the issue, Fury was designed by Nicola Scott. And she did a fantastic job.

I have seen it reported and I think it's even posted on Wikipedia that Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman of Earth were designed by Jim Lee, and that's actually not true. They were all designed by Nicola, and if people liked those designs, then I know that they will enjoy the design of Fury.

Guest artist Yildiray Cindar's take on the new Fury

Nicola did a fantastic job, but yes, the issue was done by Yildiray Cinar. He's actually done "Earth 2" #7 and #8 before Nicola comes back for the introduction of Doctor Fate in the next arc, which starts in issue #9. I'm very happy with the work he's done. I hope to work with him again in the future.

Traditionally, Fury has been romantically linked, married and had a child with Doctor Fate. With his New 52 debut just a few months away, is a pairing coming between him and Fury?

I often think that there is a faction of comic fans that don't want to read new comic books. They want to take a pill that will give them amnesia so they can read the same story all over again. And in this instance, I feel like we've seen that storyline. It was beautifully done by Roy Thomas and had its tragic ending, obviously, so let's do something new, now. Laughs]

There will be a Doctor Fate. It's a whole different backstory and a whole different character, but I think one readers will respond to. I'm really happy with how "The Power of Fate" storyline is shaping up.

At the same time, Fury's history is going to be different, too. She's going to have a much different path to walk in this and future storylines as they unfold.

Your reimagining of Jay Garrick finds the Earth 2 Flash being fueled by Mercury, a dying Olympian god who sees bravery in Jay. He is also the last god to fall following the Apokoliptian invasion. That said, we have Steppenwolf and Fury, who are certainly god-like figures, being featured in "Earth 2" #8, and Alan Scott, Earth 2's Green Lantern, is the human embodiment of Earth's energy. Why the shift from traditional science-infused superpowers to a world of Wonders based in mythology and mysticism?

One of the things that I intended to do from the start was make Earth 2 not a magical world but much more metaphysical. The origins of the Wonders that you're seeing, at least for now, are all based on mystical aspects.

At the same time, all I really did with the origin of Green Lantern was update elements of what was done before. It was always a very mystical origin to begin with.

I should also add that the mystery of the explosion that began Alan Scott's origin is something that we'll be picking up on as a B-plot in "The Power Fate." It's something that I haven't lost sight of in the bigger picture.

With The Flash, he originally gained his powers by what, breathing in hard water. It was so goofy. It was one step less goofy than Marvel's The Whizzer, who was the Golden Age speedster that was injected with mongoose blood and that gave him superspeed. [Laughs]

Robinson's re-imagined Fury is neither the daughter of Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor nor married to the yet-to-be-introduced Doctor Fate

My thought was, if I was going to do a scientific origin by making the hard water thing better, it would still be very, very complicated and very science-y. Ironically, my origin of Jay Garrick is not unlike the origin of Hal Jordan, where you have a dying alien passing the ring onto Hal Jordan. "Let's make it simple." Mercury is the last god of Earth 2, and he passes on his powers to someone new. In the past, you would have to explain his origin and all this stupid nonsense of how Jay Garrick got his powers for hours, but now you could tell your grandmother how he got his powers and she'd understand.

That was goal there -- just to simplify it. Again, every character has a metaphysical aspect to their origin. Even The Atom, who seems very much to be based in science as he got his powers from radiation after being caught in an atomic explosion -- which is an origin that we've seen many times -- but as we learn about him, we learn that there are things in his past and his history that even he doesn't know about that are metaphysical.

That's an aspect of these characters that I always intended and one that I'm having a lot of fun with. In "Earth 2" #9-12, which is "The Power of Fate" arc, there will be a lot of magic in the history of Doctor Fate and everything else, culminating in an epic magical battle in the skies over Boston, which is something I think readers will enjoy when we finally get to it.

As we enter this New Age of Wonders on Earth 2, it appears that Alan Scott wants nothing to do with forming a Justice Society or an All-Star Squadron. Where does that leave Jay, Al Pratt and Hawkgirl moving forward?

Calling the book "Earth 2" liberates me from having a traditional team, but you are going to see the Wonders working together. You'll also see me focusing on one superhero or two superheroes sometimes, too. That's something I'm really enjoying, seeing them slowly come together as opposed to it being an immediate thing. I am able to take these stories in interesting directions that I couldn't normally do if we were fixed on a traditional team book.

"Earth 2" #8, featuring the New 52 debut of Fury, goes on sale January 9.