Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Bloodwynd Mini-Series Announced!


Comic Book Resources has announced a Bloodwynd mini-series featuring art by Bart Sears. The book will tie into the "Blackest Night" event, and will extensively feature Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter related characters. Writer Christopher Priest was interviewed:

Priest describes his joining the "Bloodwynd" team as serendipity. "I'd more or less wandered off from comics for awhile. The email account used for comics publishers wasn't checked much at all," the writer said. "Last fall, I was doing some reorganizing of my PCs and realized I needed to clear email sent to the comics-related address, and down came, um, 24,000 emails. Not kidding. Most were junk mail, mail list type of things, but among them were quite a few from editors and friends in the business, including some offers I missed out on... My last big writing project was 'Green Lantern: Sleepers' Book Three for iBooks/Simon & Schuster. It kind of ruined me for comics because it was immensely freeing. It was so much fun, and so much work (for so little pay), but it allowed me to discover things about myself and my writing, and to fall in love with writing again. So, I hadn't been that anxious to write comics again. But there, in all of that email, was an offer to write more stories in the Martian Manhunter universe. That was the first thing that caught my attention."

It's been a number of years since "Captain America and the Falcon," Priest's last monthly comic, and the "Bloodwynd" mini-series represents a return to the format.

"'Captain America and the Falcon' was a godsend in that, at least Marvel had confidence in me to write a major character. It had been years since I'd been allowed to write even a second-tier character. Usually, when my phone rings it's like, 'Hey, you wanna write Black Gladiator!?' After the first year, however, Cap was moved back into the Marvel U (from Marvel Knights), but we weren't given the slot, and our book suddenly became redundant. Marvel opted to move Cap out and make it 'The Falcon,' and, for me, that was a vote of no confidence. I mean, I understood the logic, and I was pleased that Marvel liked my bad-boy take on Falc, but I felt like I was being ordered back to the ghetto... I was tired. I was worn out... Over at DC, I was being offered all the black characters I wanted to write, but the door to 'Batman' remained shut. So I counted on my fingers and said it's time to do something else. The Green Lantern novel was glorious. It was therapeutic. It absolutely ruined me in a way. I remember calling Paul Kupperberg and saying, 'Look, Paul, if thus-and-so happens in this book, Superman is bound to stick his nose in it,' and Paul said, 'So? Write him in.' In novels, the usual office politics don't apply: you're not bound by what's going on down the hall this week or this month, and the name game-that personality crap-is nonexistent. I was able to write stories and not worry about all of that. And I just fell in love with it."


Geoff Johns had read the Green Lantern novels, and as his plans for Dark Lantern Martian Manhunter progressed, he was reminded that Priest had also done fantastic work on J'Onn J'Onzz in the series "Justice League Task Force."

"When [Green Lantern Editor] Eddie Berganza first offered me 'Bloodwynd,' it felt like I'd been downgraded from Name Black Hero Writer to the off-brand variety. It actually wounded my ego at first. Then Eddie laid out the framework for 'Blackest Night," and we began to work out a pivotal role for this forgotten leftover that really supported what Geoff and [Green Lantern Corps writer] Peter Tomasi were doing in the main books. Bloodwynd has always had these vague ties to the Martian Manhunter, but wasn't much developed on his own. Coupled with his necromantic powers, Bloodwynd was a perfect fit for the crossover, and pretty much a blank slate for me to play with as a character. Plus, Dan Didio has been working hard to diversify DC, and assures me there's a place for me here for some time to come. For once, I have the full support of my publisher and editor, and access to all the best toys. "

When pressed about what that future might hold, Priest declined to go into much detail. "I'll be working on another series for Eddie after 'Blackest Night. That's all I can say, except so far it's good to be back."


BLOODWYND #1 begins a 4-issue mini-series on sale July 1 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

Also, check out the news, as Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver talk ‘Vibe: Rebirth’

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