The idea for Blackest Night dates back five years, when Johns’ Green Lantern: Rebirth series reintroduced the classic Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, to the corps of cosmic cops. At the same time, Johns created the evil, yellow-clad Sinestro Corps and a number of different colored Lantern factions to expand the mythology and create what he calls the “emotional spectrum” — green (willpower), yellow (fear), red (rage), blue (hope), indigo (compassion), orange (avarice) and purple (love). Then Johns planted the seeds for an eighth bunch. “If these Lanterns all represent emotion and life, what’s going to be the ultimate thing that would come after and destroy them all? It was pretty obvious that it would be darkness, the blackest night, death,” Johns says.

Now, the comics world is a little like the world of daytime soap operas in that no one stays dead for long. Superman famously died but got better, and the original Captain America, a Marvel Comics’ character, is now back in action after getting killed two years ago. The list of dead heroes is a long one and fans have taken to message boards to debate who the nefarious Black Hand will be resurrecting as a Black Lantern — Aquaman? Martian Manhunter? Earth-2 Superman? It's no surprise that the biggest name being bandied about is the recently deceased Bruce Wayne, or Batman. And it was no coincidence that the cover of a Blackest Night prologue comic featured Wayne’s tombstone. “There was a reason behind that,” Johns teases. “If we’re going to show a grave, who’s it going to be?”

Johns, a Detroit native, loves interacting with the fans and seeing them at conventions wearing different colored shirts representing those various factions of his Lantern corps. But the star of the show remains Green Lantern, a character that Johns always thought had potential to go beyond comic books. That’s why he has been keeping tabs on the upcoming Green Lantern movie, directed by Martin Campbell and expected in theaters in 2011. And for the record, yes, Johns gives his official seal of approval to the recently cast Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern. “He’s a great actor, he looks the part, but he’s just got an attitude and a swagger to him, too, that’s perfect for the rookie Hal Jordan getting the ring for the first time. For me, he just fits.”