Broken Frontier

Jeff Lemire's career finds itself in the fast lane. Discovered by Top Shelf, Lemire moved to Vertigo in 2009 and launched Sweet Tooth, which is up for an Eisner Award this year, but is still a shamefully underrated book. That may change when Lemire enters the comics mainstream when he starts plotting Conner Kent's new adventures in September's Superboy ongoing series from DC.

BROKEN FRONTIER: I've heard that it was Geoff Johns who suggested you to take on the Superboy job. Did that come as a surprise?

JEFF LEMIRE: At first yes, because I had never actually given the character much thought. I'm much more attached to darker characters like John Constantine, Swamp Thing, Phantom Stranger or the classic Silver Age guys like Adam Strange, Flash etc. But, the more I considered it, the more I realized it was a perfect fit, the rural connection was just too much to pass up. In a way it's almost like returning to Essex County.

BF: When the announcement was made, you stated that you'd be introducing lots of new supporting characters, villains and ideas.

LEMIRE: Well, I don't want to spoil any of my new characters yet, but some will appear briefly in the Action Comics lead-in. I can say that I want to create new villains and threats that are deeply connected to Smallville and its history.

BF: How important will the surrounding scenery of Smallville be in the book?

LEMIRE: It is critical. Smallville is an equal character to Superboy in my story. The rural setting is what makes this teenaged hero stand apart from, say Spider-Man or Invincible. I intend to exploit that for all it's worth.

BF: That implies you play up the small-town family atmosphere, and the role of Martha Kent in particular?

LEMIRE: The whole thrust of my run will be showing Conner slowly building a new community and family for himself in Smallville, with Martha Kent at its center.

BF: Overall, what kind of tone are you looking to set on the book? How will it differ from, and find its niche amidst peer books like Red Robin, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man, Teen Titans and the like?

LEMIRE: If I had to describe the tone and mood in two words it would be RURAL GOTHIC. Rural life, community, family, being an outsider are all themes I have explored before in my work and will again.

BF: This is the first time you're not doing the writing and drawing yourself on an ongoing series. It's often an easy question in interviews, but in this case I feel that it's warranted in the sense that it's a first-time experience for you, so what's the process like of working with Pier Gallo?

LEMIRE: It requires a lot more preparation. When I'm writing and drawing myself a lot of things come out in the creative process. It is a very organic process and I don't really separate the writing from the drawing. Drawing the book is writing the book for me. So in order to try and maintain my storytelling "voice" whatever that may be, I need to put a lot more time in to actually crafting the script for someone else, I have to be much clearer about my intentions, and my visual approach to each page in the scripting stage.

BF: Is it hard to 'let go' of the art side? And is it easy to get your ideas translated visually they way you want?

LEMIRE: Pier brings something new to the stories. He will inevitably interpret my ideas differently than I would, and I like that. I like being surprised by what I get back.

BF: How big of a Superboy fan are you? The character has a, uhm, convoluted history. what are some of your favorite stories?

LEMIRE: I really only started to embrace this version of Superboy with Geoff's Adventure run, and his Titans run. I was much more familiar with the original Superboy, especially from his Legion of Super-Heroes days, which were and are some of my favorite comics.

BF: So, you'll be drawing some elements from Adventure Comics then? Or, is this book very much a fresh start for Conner and the Superboy persona?

LEMIRE: This will pick up right where Geoff's Adventure ended, I'll be taking the characters and stories he set up and then run in my own direction with them. I think his run was about Conner finally coming to peace with his dual nature, the Lex Luthor side of him. Now he's past that and it's time to move forward.

BF: The Superman books will be held under an even bigger spotlight starting this summer, when J.M. Straczynski starts his run. Do you think his addition to the Superman mythos will have a positive impact on Superboy as well, even though the books aren't directly crossing over or anything?

 LEMIRE: I am not yet aware of JMS' plans, but any attention to the Superman books can't hurt!

BF: Lastly, what can we expect of the opening story in Action Comics #892 that leads into Superboy #1?

LEMIRE: It will not be a "Preview" of issue 1, or a prologue. It will actually be an original story that will flash ahead to the middle of my run, when all my themes and plot ideas are near their climax. Then with issue 1 we start to see how it all happened!

Superboy #1 goes on sale this November and Action Comics #892 hits shelves on August 25th, both from DC Comics.