Interview With Jeff Lemire!

Jeff Lemire

Steve from DarkAvengerINC got the chance to ask writer and artist Jeff Lemire Some questions. Jeff Lemire was the writer and artist of the popular Vertigo series Sweet Tooth and is currently a part of DC's Green Arrow series and is a part of DC's Trinity War event. See all your questions about these series answered here! 

Steve: Hey Jeff, how are you?

Jeff: Busy. I’m currently juggling six different projects in various stages. Drawing one and writing five others. But, I love what I do, so I love being busy.

Steve: For upcoming comic book writers and artists, how did you start off in comics and what advice would you give them?

Jeff: You need to be yourself, find your own voice and trust in it. Don’t worry about what kind of stories are popular at the moment or what you think people will like. Just tell the stories you want to tell. If you enjoy what you’re doing, chances are somebody else will too.

Steve: You’ve been writing a lot of DC titles. Is it a task making sure you get them done on time or do you have a system of some kind?

Jeff: I have a pretty good system going at this point. I can juggle a few books at once without any deadline worries. Luckily I’m naturally a very organized person.

Steve: You have taken over as the writer for Green Arrow. Are you enjoying it? How is it different from other projects you've worked on in the past?

Jeff: I’m really enjoying because it is so different from what I’ve done in the past. It’s refreshing to step into the world of Green Arrow, because it’s a bit out of my comfort zone. At its core, the Green Arrow story I’m telling is a very grounded, very gritty crime noir story, which is new territory for me.

The work I’ve done for DC in the past, like Animal Man and Justice League Dark has been primarily supernatural horror stuff, or more traditional superhero stories like when I worked on Superboy. So this is a lot of fun for me.

Steve: Can you give us something about what’s in store for Green Arrow after your first story arc?

Jeff: A reinvented version of the old Green Arrow villain, COUNT VERTIGO, will appear in Green Arrow #22. Andrea Sorrentino has a really great design for him. He’s been a lot of fun to write. Then there will be another new addition to Green Arrow’s rogues gallery in Green Arrow #24.

Green Arrow #22

Steve: You’re co-writing the upcoming Justice League event Trinity War. What can you tell us about your involvement in it?

Jeff: Not too much yet, I’m afraid. I’ve been asked to maintain secrecy about the story for now. I’m co-writing with Geoff Johns, which has been great.

It’s a 6-part ”action mystery” epic involving all 3 Justice League titles. We co-plotted it, Geoff is writing the Justice League chapters, I’m writing the Justice League Dark chapters and we are co-writing the JLA chapters.

And it’s been amazing to have a chance to write characters like Superman and Wonder Woman as part of the story.

Steve: Finally, you have a new book coming out from Vertigo called Trillium. What can you tell us about it and when is it coming out?

Jeff: Trillium is a time-spanning science fiction love story. There are two narratives running through it, one set in the Amazon jungle in 1921, which follows a British explorer looking for a LOST TEMPLE OF THE INCAS and the other story is set in deep space in 3797 and follows a female scientist making contact with a strange alien race on a distant planet. These two stories eventually intersect and the two characters fall in love and as a result bring about the end of the universe.

It will be an 8-issue series that I am writing, drawing and painting and it will start in August.

Steve: Thanks for taking some time to answer questions for us!

Promo for Trillium

You can follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffLemire

Steve works on DarkAvengerINC, as well as that he works on his own blog ComicsSGW which has a back catalogue of Interviews with other people in the comic industry. You can also follow him on twitter at @ComicsSGW.