GIFFEN READY TO GIVE BLUE BEETLE's REINS TO ROGERS/ALBUQUERQUE

[MattBrady]

by Vaneta Rogers

When fans heard rumors about a new Blue Beetle in 2005, most wondered what creator could possibly hope to replace what Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis did with the character in their '80s Justice League stories. Ted Kord was indelibly linked to Giffen/DeMatteis, and his unexpected demise in the Countdown to Infinite Crisis special made some wonder if the new creator would be able to break through fans' prejudice against any new Blue Beetle.

Imagine everyone's surprise when we found out the writer who would be taking on the task of replacing the Blue Beetle associated with Giffen was none other than Giffen himself.

But now comes word that Giffen will be leaving the Blue Beetle title as of Issue #10. After establishing teenager Jaime Reyes as a new Blue Beetle within the DC Universe who not only played a major part in Infinite Crisis but continues to support his own ongoing title, Giffen will turn over writing duties to his co-writer John Rogers at the same time the series brings artist Rafael Albuquerque on board with Issue #11.

Newsarama talked to Giffen recently about the experience of nurturing a new character and title, and why he feels now is the right time to walk away from Blue Beetle.

Newsarama: Your last issue of Blue Beetle is going to be #10?

Keith Giffen: Yeah, #10. There were some projects coming up in the future at DC. I knew I had to sit down and take a look at the books I was doing, and I had to clear space. I took a long hard look at all the projects and which one would be least affected by me walking off. Not that I'm that great. But just, you know, which book would suffer the least disruption if I sort of walked off from it. It was Blue Beetle.

NRAMA: Is it because of the team that's in place on that title in particular?

KG: Yes. John Rogers is perfectly capable of carrying on with the book. And Blue Beetle's always been this odd kind of "everyone-puts-their-two-cents-worth-in" book. I mean, everyone had input, from [artist] Cully [Hamner] to [editor] Joan [Hilty] -- even the letterers at some point would have input. So it wasn't just me generating a plot and then handing it off to everybody and they went with it from there. There was a lot of input before I did the plot. It was also a book by consensus.

NRAMA: Consensus? That had to be a little different for you.

KG: I'd never worked that way before, so it was kind of fun. But that was the book I had to walk away from. And it wasn't an easy decision, because I really like Blue Beetle.

NRAMA: This wasn't a character that was given to you. He's something you came up with. You've taken the new Blue Beetle and nurtured him from the original idea all the way through to his place now within the DCU.

KG: Yeah. The new Blue Beetle was almost this wish fulfillment I've been carrying around for awhile. I've always been a huge supporter of ethnic characters, especially the idea of a Hispanic character. I thought we were long overdue for a Hispanic character who didn't wear his ethnicity on his sleeve. And when DC approached me on Blue Beetle and I wanted to do this, they said to go for it, but don't turn it into something that is about being Hispanic. Don't turn it into a cause book.

I thought that was going to be easy because Peter Parker was never about Peter Parker's ethnicity or religion. It was about Peter Parker. And it was the family stuff that went on around him. And him being from New York and being whatever color or religion he is -- it never figured into the adventures of Spider-Man.

NRAMA: And that's what you've tried to do with Jaime?

KG: Jaime's background and family, to me, are just the texture for the Blue Beetle book. It's not about Jaime being of Mexican heritage. It's about Jaime being Blue Beetle, and his friends and family reacting to it. I tell you, this is one that I stumped for a long time, and I'm glad I got to put in a few issues on it, because it would be kind of rough if, after years of pushing for it, I would be yanked immediately.

NRAMA: With your schedule, doing Annihilation spin-offs for Marvel, finishing your layout work on 52, writing your comics for Boom! Studios -- plus this new unnamed post-52 "crossover" at DC you've teased about -- it sounds like one of the deciding factors was that you have so much going on you have to leave the title.

KG: Yeah. But Blue Beetle's at that point anyway.

NRAMA: At the point where you can walk away?

KG: Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I think the book was at the point where I could walk away at Issue #4 or #5. It's so much a cooperative endeavor.

NRAMA: And didn't John Rogers already write an issue on his own?

KG: Issue #7. He flew solo because I got snowed under, and everyone seemed to like it.

You know, John's not just some new guy wandering in off the street with a couple papers clutched under his arm. John's a very successful screenwriter, he's proven his chops, he's a stand-up comedian -- you know, the guy can write. I just feel comfortable leaving Blue Beetle in his hands. He understands the character. He's got the chops for it.

That said, it's not really up to me to feel comfortable. But I know DC feels comfortable as well, and Joan Hilty thinks that this, considering my schedule, is also best.

NRAMA: There's a new artist coming on with #11.

KG: Yeah! Albuquerque.

NRAMA: Rafael Albuquerque. What can you tell us about him?

KG: Mr. Albuquerque's great. He's one of these guys that has come so fully formed to the table. And he's a deadline guy. He's capable of putting this stuff out. So it's gorgeous stuff, and he's getting it in on time. My biggest regret upon leaving Blue Beetle is that I'm not going to get to work with this guy.

But then we had Cully and we had Duncan [Rouleau] and Cindy Martin on the book, so it's not like we were suffering artistically. But Albuquerque is just one of these new talents who is going to explode on the scene. He drew a story I was peripherally involved with on Pirate Tales, as a matter of fact.

NRAMA: So you were familiar with his stuff before.

KG: Yeah. He's a really talented young guy who's going to go places.



NRAMA: OK, Keith -- you know your fans. They're going to read the headline on this story and immediately think the new title is going to change horribly when you allegedly desert it prematurely. Maybe, just maybe, they'll read this far into the article, so what would you like to say in response to their fears the Blue Beetle title is doomed now that you're leaving?

KG: Our two-year plan is still intact. I was originally going to stay on the book for two years. We've talked that through extensively. The blueprint is laid down. It's not going to be a radical change.

And look at #7. I wasn't there for #7. And when I say I wasn't there, I mean I wasn't there. But we had the blueprint laid out, and John just followed the blueprint as he went along and covered the bases he had to cover.

NRAMA: So it won't be that drastic of a change without you?

KG: Had we not put credits on the book at all, I don't think anyone would have noticed I was gone that issue.

NRAMA: There are probably some people who still didn't.

KG: Yeah! Yeah! Now they'll go back and say, "Wow, he's not there!" So if there's any book that, with a clean conscience, I can walk away from, this is the book. It's going to be fine. And it's going to be kind of cool now because I can be a Blue Beetle reader.

NRAMA: And Jaime is safe.

KG: Yes, of course. And you know, when John came on board Blue Beetle, he had his own agenda in that there was a certain way that he saw superheroes being done. He agreed with me across the board. Heroes should be heroes, and circumstance should not stand in the way of doing the right thing. So it's not going to turn into, you know, Mexican adventure of the month. No, it's not going to happen. It's about a kid who's had great responsibility thrust onto his shoulders, and it's about how he copes with it. So no, the book's not going to skip a beat. As a matter of fact, if they just kept my name on it for the next year or so, nobody would even know I was gone.

NRAMA: Awwww. You're too hard on yourself. Didn't you have more stories to tell with this character?

KG: Well, I'm not ruling out occasionally wandering back to do an issue here or there. It's like Cully and I were both talking about every so often teaming up and just dropping a story in there. Just to keep our hand in it. You know, it's a character I like. It's a character I have genuine affection for. So I'm not going to walk away clean. It's like Legion of Superheroes. It's something I'll keep returning to like a mental patient.

NRAMA: If you're wanting to come back like that, it must have been a good experience working on Blue Beetle.

KG: Oh, yeah. It's a fun book. And I've had fun doing it. Working with great people. In a way, I'm lucky. I get to wander off before it becomes a job.

[Mr Wesley]

SCROLL BELOW TO VIEW THE ORIGINAL STORY

Giffen's walking away from Blue Beetle because of some huge plans at DC. It was announced just a couple of days ago that Busiek left Sword of Atlantis because of some big plans he helped orchestrate at DC. According to someone in the Talk@ section, Phil Jimenez is laying low right now because he's got some huge projects coming out late next year.

What do they have planned that they're not telling us about?

[toede]

I just dropped BB from my pull list, but I am glad to see that it will be still going strong into the new year.

Some good writing and decent artwork. It was a most valiant effort, just not my cup of tea.

[Clem]

I love me some Giff, but i could never get into this new Beetle. I was too bitter about the death of Ted to have some punk kid forced on me. Nice try, better luck next time.

[Ectocooler]

I was a big Kord fan, but now I'm digging this new beetle series. I agree with Keith that there needs to be more ethnic characters that don't rely on ethnicity or have it in their superhero name (black panther, black goliath, etc..).

[Prometheus3]

I read the first issues of Blue Beetle and then dropped it. I can understand why people like it but it is just not my kind of book.

[Korvac]

And thus I drop Blue Beetle, because without Cully Hamner or Keith Giffen, I just don't care about the book. I was having trouble being interested even before this news.

As for the hushhush project I am thinking "Earth-2" or whatever they'll call it. If so, count me in for that.

[Deadshot77]

Too bad the ideas came at a cost to the old Blue Beetle's life. It'd have been nice to see Jamie launched on his own with a connection to someone else, not Ted's legacy.

[Caleb Gerard]

Let me start with the end of the interview:

"It's like Legion of Superheroes. It's something I'll keep returning to like a mental patient."

WHEN?!?!?!?!?! Oh, c'mon now.

Okay, to the reason for the interview. I read #7 and thought it was a high point for the series and THEN noticed Giffen was missing. No knock to Keith.
Rogers is gonna do just fine, I'm confident.

CJG

[kalorama]

Can't say I'm surprised by this. I wish the new team luck, but I don't gfet the feeling that the new Beetle is in it for the long haul.

[Spaz_Monkey]

Originally Posted by Mr Wesley

What do they have planned that they're not telling us about?

Really Infinite Crisis?

[SHIM'TAR]

Started to lose interest in Blue Beetle with issue no. 5 gave it up with issue 7.
Hope this new DC event is better than the terribly executed Infinite Crisis.

[rwe1138]

I'm a little bummed because Keith's a great writer, but my favorite issue so far has been #7, and that was Rogers on his own. I'm going to stick with it; Blue Beetle is consistantly one of the best books out there.

[whitemarkd]

#7 was my favorite issue of the series so far, so I'm confident John can keep the Beetle going on his own...

Damn, rwe1138, we must've posted at the same time - maybe you're the Earth-2 me...

[Superfrick]

I'd be upset about Giffen leaving, if Roger's solo issue wasn't so danged AWESOME. I'm a big fan of the series, and I think Rogers will keep it awesome

[Kolimar]

Good luck with your other projects, Keith. We'll miss ya.

[Meteoro7]

This article was written in the future, that's the only reason why I keep seeing it at the bottom of the thread.

[spidey_82]

This news bite is brought to you by Newsarama's big event "17 Posts Later".

[EmeraldGuy32]

hmmm...I don't know, I really like BB, hopefully the quality will continue.

[Brokenbottle]

From what I've noticed, if you set "Display Modes" to Hybrid, then the article would show up first. If you set it to Linear, it's somewhere in the middle.

Don't know what that's all about....

[Johnny Smith]

Originally Posted by Mr Wesley

Giffen's walking away from Blue Beetle because of some huge plans at DC. It was announced just a couple of days ago that Busiek left Sword of Atlantis because of some big plans he helped orchestrate at DC. According to someone in the Talk@ section, Phil Jimenez is laying low right now because he's got some huge projects coming out late next year.

What do they have planned that they're not telling us about?

Invasion 2

[Arsenal3]

Originally Posted by Spaz_Monkey

Really Infinite Crisis?

I'm hoping for "Crisis on Infinite Crises"

[MattBrady]

opened and updated