MELTZER RETURNS TO THE DCU FOR LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT

[MattBrady]

Brad Meltzer is coming back to the DC Universe.

It seems only appropriate, given that Meltzer’s Identity Crisis started the ball of the DC Universe rolling three or so years back. Now, with the payoff of much of the larger storyline coming in Final Crisis, Meltzer’s back to tell a final story.

The New York Times best-selling author jumps back into the DC Universe in August with DC Universe: Last Will and Testament, an in-continuity one-shot, positioned between issues #3 and #4 of Final Crisis. Adam Kubert and John Dell provide interior art and the cover.

The big picture of the one shot? Simple – the characters DCU, the day/night before the biggest battle of their respective lives. If Final Crisis is the day evil wins – this is the night before.

For Meltzer, while the issue has a thematic connection to Identity Crisis, it took a little more than that to get him onboard.

“Dan [DiDio] approached me and said if you did the first bookened, you should do the last one, and that’s nice and makes my ego feel good, but the reality is that the timing was just right for it,” Meltzer says. “After every novel, I love that period where I can just lose myself in comics – after The Millionaires, I did Archer’s Quest, and after Zero Game, came Identity Crisis, and after Book of Fate came JLA. I just finished the new novel, and now it’s this.”

From the very start, Meltzer says, he didn’t want to do anything that could be construed as some kind of sequel or follow-up to Identity Crisis.

“As I said in the very first interview I did with Newsarama about Identity Crisis, there was always a big picture, and there was always a big theme,” Meltzer says. “I felt like this was going to be the story that was going to, as cliché as this sounds, close one door and open another, and really show the bigger picture of the both here.”

Another thing Meltzer knew he didn’t want to do was to try and compete with Final Crisis in any way.

“I love the big moments and the big events, but for me, when it comes to the big scene, I don’t care about the world cracking in half – I care about the single person who’s standing on that crack as the world splits open beneath them,” the writer says. “I like reading about the big moment, but as a writer, I prefer the human moments.

“So as Dan and I were talking I said that I knew in some of the big books, you don’t have the time to do everything that you want to do, so I asked if I could do the story of the day before it all falls apart. What is everyone in the DC Universe do if they believe and think and worry that the next day they are going to die? That is where Last Will and Testament came from.”

So what do the respective heroes do? Good question. Seriously – it’s a “buy the book to find out” kind of good question, but Meltzer is happy to point in some general directions.

“You literally see each of the heroes faced with that question – it’s the night before the greatest battle that they’re ever going to fight. What are they going to do with that time? They all have very different emotional responses to it – some very obvious, and some completely surprising – even to themselves. It is, without a question, an emotional story, and that’s where it becomes that bookend to Identity Crisis.

“Identity Crisis, for whatever it became and whatever it turned into - so much of it out of my control – is something that I think Dan ran well with it, and I’m still very proud of. I’m proud to have created that tapestry that’s stretched now over these past three years. This is the chance to look at it, and say, ‘Okay, if the universe has been changed in this way, what’s the new effect if evil is going to win?’ The characters have been through a wringer over the past couple of years – this is a moment where you really get to pull the characters apart. To use the old Hitchcock quote: It’s not the bang that’s scary – it’s the anticipation of it. That’s what the entire moment is in this issue. ”

Identity Crisis won’t be the only title Last Will shares a common theme with, Meltzer says. “Just like you saw in DC Universe #0, you’re going to see, mixed in with the current story, things that are coming up – hints and beats of things to come that are just as important as anything else in the book.”

Check back tomorrow for more from Meltzer about Last Will and Testament as well as that other upcoming comic work of his - Buffy the Vampire Slayer; And then come back on Monday for news about his new novel.

[Maytal]

I expect crying from superman

[Cryptorchild]

FIRST!!!

Looks good enough

Awww Bastards . . .

[durkadurka]

I don't care what anybody says, I am so excited for this book. Also, that cover is kinda freaking me out.

[nietoperz]

I'm in two minds about this. Meltzer's JLA run was kind of underwhelming, so I think I need to hear more about this before I commit to it.

[caats19]

hell yessssssssssss.

Over/Under number Roy has sex with?

THIS BETTER NOT BE THE ONLY THING HE'S DOING FOR DC BEFORE GOING BACK INTO HIS NOVELS. dang it.

[durkadurka]

I find it kind of funny that there's kind of a parent/child theme on the cover, but then you have Hourman and Liberty Belle at the top right.

Edit: And Geo-Force and Terra, but that's close enough.

[AngDawPac]

Anyone notice that while there are generational pictures for everyone (Jonathan Kent/Superman; Batman/Nightwing, WW/Donna Troy) that the Flash is actually the Flash/the Flash? Further proof that Barry Allen is coming back as a The Flash, and not Libra.

[bluebird]

Superman won't be the only one crying. I feel like weeping myself.


And wait, ADAM Kubert? They just released his one-year in the making ACTION COMICS ANNUAL this past Wednesday. How's he supposed to get this done in time, exactly?

[Brenticles]

That cover is freaky. I wonder if something is hidden in the lightening bolt and this isn’t the full cover. I definitely interested and pretty sure I’ll be reading this.

[caats19]

nevermind...but um. hourman is gonna get it on

[Redcape]

I was a huge fan of his JLA run. This book really makes me excited. I can't wait.

[BillReed]

Nope.

Pass.

[PRIME 001]

Originally Posted by Maytal

I expect crying from superman

I'm sick of seeing this kind of crap!!! I'm a Huge Superman fan, and yes They have shown him crying on covers and teaser posters for Countdown, but people who don't read Superman needs to stop making like Superman ends up crying in all the books he is in.

[SuperJesus]

Originally Posted by bluebird

And wait, ADAM Kubert? They just released his one-year in the making ACTION COMICS ANNUAL this past Wednesday. How's he supposed to get this done in time, exactly?

Excellent question

[TBrandon]

Yep.


Buy.

[Lex]

I think this one-shot is well-suited for Meltzer's writing skills. JLA was a bad fit because I feel that book needs to be more about action when Meltzer excels more at characterization and emotion. So this one-shot sounds like it's the perfect kind of story he likes to write.

But I'm still a little cautious. I like Meltzer's writing, but all of his comic projects end up disappointing me in some way. Hopefully this will be different.

[Scott Mateo]

So, basically it'll be a bunch of pointless cameos and characters calling each other by their first names with a plot that goes nowhere, other than to show everyone that the author read WHO'S WHO and is a fan.

[Maytal]

Originally Posted by PRIME 001

I'm sick of seeing this kind of crap!!! I'm a Huge Superman fan, and yes They have shown him crying on covers and teaser posters for Countdown, but people who don't read Superman needs to stop making like Superman ends up crying in all the books he is in.

Didn't he cry THIS WEEK in the Action Comics Annual?

[DSNG]

Best of luck to Brad Meltzer !



MY FREE SFA WEBCOMIC. UPDATED 5 TIMES A WEEK. [NSFW]

[PRIME 001]

Originally Posted by Maytal

Didn't he cry THIS WEEK in the Action Comics Annual?

I don't know,I have not seen it or read it yet. I don't pick my books up till Friday. Thats when I get my paycheck.

[rpi]

Originally Posted by Maytal

I expect crying from superman

From just Superman? I expect everyone to cry at one time or another. Darkseid will spend 3 pages with tears running down his cheeks, after which he'll meet up with Phantom Stranger and the Spectre and they can talk about how, now matter what happens, they'll be bffs and then they'll not only exchange secret identities, they'll go over all the embarrassing nicknames they've ever had. There'll be one page of action and it'll be Darkseid Omega Effecting an errant fly, but it'll take the entire page for it to happen.
Of course, with Kubert drawing it, we'll see it in early 2010.

[Comic-Reader]

Originally Posted by AngDawPac

Anyone notice that while there are generational pictures for everyone (Jonathan Kent/Superman; Batman/Nightwing, WW/Donna Troy) that the Flash is actually the Flash/the Flash? Further proof that Barry Allen is coming back as a The Flash, and not Libra.

Barry could have been split in 2 during the war in heaven. The whole theme of DCU Zero was about equal and opposite forces and juxtaposition of them, so it's still not out of the question -- remember the closeup of Libra's blue eyes.

But if that cover is not a fakeout, then there will definitely be 2 Flashes -- because the picture in the first post does show Flash with two different colored eyes -- one blue and one green.

[Punchy]

Meltzer is very hit and miss, Identity Crisis was good, but his JLA was absolutely awful, beyond words.

Interesting cover though.

[ultraaman]

Originally Posted by Scott Mateo

So, basically it'll be a bunch of pointless cameos and characters calling each other by their first names with a plot that goes nowhere, other than to show everyone that the author read WHO'S WHO and is a fan.

unfortunately, yes.