DC Comics’ goal with its new Absolute Green Lantern series? “Do the Lost thing better than Lost,” says author Al Ewing, promising a story that asks twice as many questions as it answers, though hopefully with a little more of a plan than the infamous series, which was a cultural force during the peak of its run.
Popverse spoke with Ewing about Absolute Green Lantern, with the writer evoking Lost as an analog for its mystery-driven narrative. The series, which features art by Jahnoy Lindsay, is up to issue #8.
So far, it has successfully kept readers hooked without providing too many concrete revelations to its central questions.
The Goal Of DC’s Absolute Green Lantern Is To “Do The Lost Thing Better Than Lost”
Al Ewing On DC’s Dark New Mystery Series
“I know where a lot of this stuff is going,” Al Ewing told Popverse, about his current work for DC Comics on Absolute Green Lantern. Of course, showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse said similar things during the early seasons of Lost; in retrospect, it turns out that they were making most of it up as they went along.
Now, that’s the nature of serial storytelling. Except Lost felt like it had a plan from the jump, the way it set up its many mysteries and ongoing plot threads. In fact, it was the realization that there was no plan which led to mounting fan frustration as the series progressed. Al Ewing hopes to learn from the show’s mistakes.
As the Absolute Green Lantern author put it:
One thing I’ve been trying to do is make sure that every time we answer a question, we ask two new ones. Just to keep that sense of the reader not knowing exactly what’s going on. Hopefully [we will] do the Lost thing better than Lost. Hopefully sew this up. I’m thinking very far ahead. I know where a lot of this stuff is going
In other words, the goal is to take what worked from Lost, and avoid the pitfalls the show fell into in later seasons. That means meticulous plotting on Ewing’s part, and patience on the reader’s. Ewing, at least, can be expected to hold up his end of the equation.
“Absolute Green Lantern” Is An Ambitious Sci-Fi Mystery That Keeps Readers Guessing
Al Ewing Is A Master Of Suspenseful Superhero Storytelling
The point of the Absolute DC Universe is to drastically reinvent the publisher’s classic characters. Absolute Green Lantern feels the most like a self-contained story. It is a tense sci-fi horror-mystery, one that could work on its own merits, but which is enriched by the integration of Green Lantern lore in unfamiliar, unexpected ways.
Al Ewing has proven himself a master of this kind of storytelling over the past decade, with work for DC and Marvel Comics. His Immortal Hulk and Immortal Thor books have redefined the comic book versions of both iconic Avengers heroes. Absolute Green Lantern is an extension of that overall project.
The comparison to Lost shows Ewing’s inspiration, as well as his ambition. After all, his goal is not just to evoke Lost, but to “do it better.” That means Absolute Green Lantern readers should strap themselves in for an ongoing rollercoaster ride of open questions, as DC’s most exciting book continues to heat up.
Absolute Green Lantern #8 is available now from DC Comics.
- Release Date
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2004 – 2010-00-00
- Showrunner
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Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse
- Directors
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Jack Bender, Paul A. Edwards, Tucker Gates, Eric Laneuville, Bobby Roth, Greg Yaitanes, Daniel Attias, J.J. Abrams, Karen Gaviola, Kevin Hooks, Rod Holcomb, Stephen Semel, Adam Davidson, Alan Taylor, David Grossman, Deran Sarafian, Fred Toye, Mario Van Peebles, Marita Grabiak, Mark Goldman, Matt Earl Beesley, Michael Zinberg, Paris Barclay, Robert Mandel
- Writers
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Jim Galasso, Christina M. Kim, Graham Roland, Kyle Pennington, Brent Fletcher, Dawn Lambertsen Kelly, Janet Tamaro, Jeffrey Lieber, Paul Dini, Jordan Rosenberg
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Matthew Fox
Jack Shephard
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Evangeline Lilly
Kate Austen