New York Comic Con was filled with heroes. Posters of them, toys, people dressed like heroes, even video game representations of heroes. That being said, there were very few actual heroes at the show. Ivan Reis is a hero, at least to me. From his first collaborations with Geoff Johns to his work with Marvel and DC, Reis has always been a favorite artist of mine.
I can’t draw, on any level, so I was always awestruck by the Brazilian’s brilliance behind a pencil. Being such a sought after personality at NYCC, Ivan Reis didn’t have a lot of time for interviews. Thankfully, he carved out a few minutes for me and we got to talk about Aquaman, Justice League and Geoff Johns
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CRAVE ONLINE: You and Geoff Johns really redefined Aquaman when it came out with the New 52. How was it to work on the book and then have to walk away from it?
IVAN REIS: The book had no pressure. That made it easy.
CRAVE ONLINE: What do you mean by no pressure?
IR: Aquaman wasn’t supposed to have a book in the New 52.
CRAVE ONLINE: Really? How did you convince DC to do that?
IR: At breakfast with Dan Didio and my inker, he asked us what book we wanted to draw and we said Aquaman. We were drawing Aquaman on Brightest Day and I wanted to keep it up. I think when you spend time with a character you begin to work better with him.
CRAVE ONLINE: Was it hard to figure out what to do with Aquaman?
IR: Yes it was. He has had a few books, but they’re hard to find. Everyone said “Are you sure, Ivan? Aquaman?” and I said “Yes! Aquaman!” I mean, it’s cool, come on.
CRAVE ONLINE: I love the character but universally he’s been a punch line. Was Dan Didio behind you for the book?
IR: Dan was insecure at first, but finally said we could draw Aquaman and Geoff Johns could write him. That was perfect because that was our plan after Brightest Day, to make Aquaman work in the new universe. We really didn’t know what would happen, and then things happened so fast. In one year, the book became so popular.
CRAVE ONLINE: When did you know the New 52 Aquaman had arrived?
IR: Before our Aquaman, it was hard to find anyone dressing up as him. Now, the cosplayers are all around as Aquaman. That was the moment. When we I saw how popular it was getting, it made it harder to leave the book because we had the connection. Sometimes, when Geoff and I talk about comic books I’ll say, “I miss Aquaman!” It’s business and we have to know when it is time to move on.
CRAVE ONLINE: Then you jumped to Justice League. Were you nervous at all taking charge of such a flagship book?
IR: My first arc on Justice League was easy, because it was about Aquaman. When we were talking about moving me to Justice League, Geoff and I wondered how to do it the right way. We decided to use Aquaman to slip me into the role. It was the perfect time for me to jump with Aquaman.
CRAVE ONLINE: What was the biggest challenge?
IR: The biggest challenge was that it was Justice League and it been done by Jim Lee. Come on! That’s tough. We wanted things to be professional, but the mind works differently because the book is so high profile and always was. You have more people looking for your work, more reviews both bad and good. I needed to find the way to keep the characters interesting so the book would continue to sell. That’s always the big challenge. Aquaman didn’t have these challenges because nobody cared. With Justice League, everybody cared.
CRAVE ONLINE: The relationship you have with Geoff Johns has produced some of the best comic book stories in DC history. What is it about your relationship with him that works so well?
IR: I don’t know, I’ve been working with Geoff for thirteen years. I started with him on The Avengers: Vision. I think the energy is the same. Geoff is a geek. He has the same energy as me and Joe, we’re geeks, we’re always geeks. When we are talking about comics, it’s like children talking about comics. We sit there saying “Ohhh” and “Ahhhh” and try to figure out how to make the readers happy. It’s always our constant concern.
CRAVE ONLINE: Why is it so important for you to make the readers happy? Sales, or is it something else?
IR: We all had good moments as children with comics, and we wanted to give that back to the new fans. We want the reader to open the book and say “Wow! Go!” We want the readers to have those same feelings with our books. The energy is the same, the same concerns.
CRAVE ONLINE: How is Forever Evil going to effect the run of Justice League?
IR: Man, it’ll be huge. That’s all I can say. (Laughs)
