This week we'll see the final chapter of Lights Out in GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #2. There've been some big changes as a result and we'll have to see what more is to come. With each chapter, we've talked to the artist for each. We talked to Billy Tan about GREEN LANTERN #24, Bernard Chang about GREEN LANTERN CORPS #24, Brad Walker on GREEN LANTERN: NEW GUARDIANS #24 and Alessandro Vitti on RED LANTERNS #24. Now it's time to talk to Sean Chen about final chapter.
COMIC VINE: Is there still a lot of action and craziness in this issue despite being the conclusion?
SEAN CHEN: Absolutely there is. And it's a great battle to boot. Relic is an unique villain and therefore fights using unusual methods, so this is a confrontation like we haven't seen before. The very thing that compelled me to take on Robert's story was that the scope of the action was appropriate to what is at stake, which is the very future of the Lanterns.
CV: Did you get to see any art from the previous chapters or did you have to dive into drawing this the same time the others are doing theirs?
SC: I was given all the relevant issues connected to this event while they were in progress, as with all the other creators on board. There was as much synergy as possible. There was a good bit already done before I took on the annual, so there seemed to be a wealth of reference material to inspire as well as inform my portion.
CV: Did you talk to the other artists or writers or just work off of Robert Venditti's script?
SC: I'm good friends with Bernard Chang is drawing GREEN LANTERN CORPS, so we spoke quite often. The main contacts that I leaned heavily on for ideation was the associate editor Chris Conroy and the writer himself, Robert Venditti. Robert weighed in on every page at the pencil stage. I really loved his movie Surrogates, which led me to the comic that inspired it, so I was really excited to close out a major storyline he wrote. I was pleasantly surprised that he was amenable to a true collaboration.
CV: Can you tell us what your favorite part of this issue is?
SC: I loved drawing Relic. Being from another universe required him to be a unique character with specific motivations that needed to be carefully considered. This really informed his personality, and his unconventional ways of doing battle. I think Robert and the editors did a great job of creating his larger than life persona. Along with Billy Tan's design, made him a blast to draw.
CV: What's next for you after this?
SC: Much of my work is in advertising these days. I also do a bunch of covers for Dynamite, Zenescope and IDW. There is also a healthy amount of video game design work in there. For sure, I would drop it all to jump into the breech again with this creative team. Across the board from Editors Matt Idelson and Chris Conroy, Writer Robert Venditti, Jon Sibal and Walden Wong on inks, and colorist Andrew Dalhouse. This was a great collaborative experience, and I think anyone familiar with my work will agree that this is the best it's ever looked.
GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL #2 is on sale Wednesday, October 30. Check out the rest of the preview:
