DC Universe Legacies #1

Len Wein has had a long and important career in comics as both a writer and editor. He co-created Swamp Thing, Human Target, and Wolverine. He helped to relaunch the X-Men. He edited Watchmen. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Now he is writing DC Universe Legacies, a 10-issue miniseries exploring the history of the DC Universe. Westfield’s Roger Ash recently spoke with Wein about this book.

Westfield: How did you become involved with DC Universe Legacies?

Len Wein: I was sitting in Dan DiDio’s office and we were talking about possible projects for me to work on. Dan started describing what evolved into Legacies, telling me what the project was going to be. He said, “It’s the kind of thing you do better than anybody.” Then he paused for a second then said, “In fact, you’re the guy who should be writing this!” [laughter] It was almost that simple. I looked at him and said, “Yeah. I agree with you.”

Westfield: What about the project appealed to you?

Wein: Are you kidding? The chance to do a human story, which was always my favorite kind of story. I love writing about people. This is the history of the DC Universe from the point of view of the guy on the street. It focuses specifically on two childhood friends and their lives as the DCU grows up around them and they grow up with it. I like seeing the DC Universe with a different perspective. I’ve been in it for most of its life and the chance to view it with new eyes, essentially, was very appealing to me.

Westfield: What were the challenges of dealing with the history of the DC Universe since things have changed over time?

Wein: Deciding which versions of what we’re going with. Dan and I spent days together, literally, in his office. I’d come to New York and we’d sit down and go “We’ll cover this”; “Which version of this are we going to deal with?”; “Did this version ever happen?”; “This story here; that was a great story”; “This story was just dreadful. Do we want to acknowledge that ever happened?” We did that sort of thing for days.

Westfield: What can you tell people about the series?

DC Universe Legacies #2

Wein: It’s breathtaking. The art is some of the most extraordinary art I’ve ever seen. The first two issues are penciled by Andy Kubert and inked by his dad, Joe. I got a copy of the cover to the second issue and, as I wrote back to Mike Carlin, who’s now the editor on the project, I almost wet myself. It’s just spectacular. The second two issues are penciled by José Luis García-López and inked by Dave Gibbons. Then George Pérez is supposed to come into the mix. We’ve got more guys on the way. All of that level. Those are just the lead stories. I’m also writing a backup story for each issue. I think we’re doing 30 pages of editorial content per issue. The backups are all stories that reflect what’s going on in the lead story. Things that were just touched on briefly, we play them out in more detail. Those are being drawn by even more astonishing people.

Westfield: Is that what J.G. Jones is doing in the first issue?

Wein: Yes. J.H. Williams III is doing the backup for the second. The third issue is Dave Gibbons penciling and inking. Issue 4, hopefully, Joe Kubert is going to pencil and ink that backup. Issue 5, Walt Simonson. We’ve possibly got Brian Bolland. That’s just the kind of book it is.

Westfield: Is it difficult writing for that many different artists or are you just finding that a lot of fun?

Wein: I find it a great deal of fun. Over my career, I’ve written for every artist there is, practically. [laughter] So, no it’s not difficult at all for me to write it for different artists. It’s just a challenge and a lot of fun.

Westfield: Are there any characters coming up in the series that you’ve never had a chance to write that you’re looking forward to?

Wein: I sort of write everybody at least in passing, so it’s hard to say. By the time I’m done, I hope to have written everybody. It’s a complex story just in terms of the structure of being able to advance a number of different storylines all at the same time.

It’s chock full of superhero action. My favorite thing so far, and I don’t want to spoil it, is the first half dozen pages or so of the third issue which explain what happened during the years between the day the Justice Society faced Congress and said “Bye!”, and the rise of the Justice League a number of years later and how the world fulfilled its need for heroes during that period.

Westfield: Is there anything else you’re working on you’d like to mention?

Human Target #5

Wein: I’ve got the Human Target miniseries coming out right now, tying into the TV series, all based on my character. I’m having a fine time with that. And I’m doing some television work. I’ve got episodes of Ben 10, the animated series, airing periodically. And I’m in the middle of a script for the Marvel Super Hero Squad Show.

Westfield: Any closing comments?

Wein: In a decades-long career, I have perhaps never been as proud of anything as I am so far with the way this Legacies project is turning out. I told Dan DiDio when I started that this may well be my magnum opus. It is turning into that.