The interview done by CBR with Justice League writer Geoff Johns who worked together with artist Jim Lee, yields some "intriguing" details regarding the book's new villain referred to as "Graves".
Here's the excerpt from the said interview:
How will his dark side grow in full as we get into the new arc "The Villain's Journey" in issue #9?
Geoff Johns: I think that the next storyline turns everything on its head. The guy who wrote the book is named David Graves, and he's seen in issue #6 as an important part of our first arc. Jim and I had always planned on -- well, we were talking about doing this book before the New 52 started. And originally, "The Villain's Journey" was going to be our first storyline. It's all about introducing a new villain to the team and taking a look at the mythic "Hero's Journey" and turning that on its head. We explore what makes a villain and why a villain is born. It's kind of a dark reflection of that story that's the heartbeat of this new "Justice League" tale.
We see this guy who was probably the biggest advocate for the Justice League -- who technically named the Justice League -- and helped the public see them as "Gods Among Men" which was the subtitle for his book. He's an author who had written a lot of books like, do you remember those old Time Life Mystery books?
I had a lot of those as a kid. "Mysteries of the Pyramids and Aliens"!
Yeah! He's that kind of guy. That's what he's been writing about his whole life, but when the superheroes are born, he writes this book that becomes an international hit and a huge influence on the public at large and their acceptance and enthusiasm for the Justice League. He really perpetuated that, and so how he got here, why he got here and how he ever became a villain with the power to take on the Justice League let alone why he'd want to do it in the first place all comes out of this storyline.
You said you and Jim had been talking about this story since before the New 52 existed. Back then, what was the draw to starting a book with a brand-new villain? It's obvious why you'd want to work with these big characters all together, but what makes for a great challenge to that superhero cast? What do you need for a big time Justice League bad guy?
A villain who reflects a dimension of the team -- that challenges them in a way where they have to think about why they're doing what they're doing and how they're doing what they're doing. This encounter changes everything. For me, Graves and the appearance and conflict at the heart of this new villain have to be all about the flaws in this team and the issues this team has -- even if they won't admit it at first. It's also about the perception versus the reality of the Justice League. The villain reflects all that back on our heroes, so he really is different. Darkseid was a massive threat while Graves is much more of a personal threat. All that will become clear over the course of the story. But it all works to make a great Justice League villain.
And there's not a whole lot of them, are there? The Justice League's villains need to be personally tied to the team and really push the team in a new direction. They have to have a valid motivation. It's not just about revenge. There's a real valid reason behind why Graves is doing what he's doing.
We haven't seen the closest look at Graves when he becomes what he becomes, but we've got a glimpse of him on the cover to #10. How did you and Jim collaborate on bringing him from conception to his final form?
We'd talked about the character quite a bit, so Jim knew his history and backstory, and he created a design off of that. Once you see the final version of Graves, you'll have a clear picture of who he is, and what he can do will be seen in the book.
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