Writer Robert Venditti is on a roll over at Valiant. He's been working on X-O MANOWAR and the current event BOOK OF DEATH, but starting in November, Venditti is continuing to work with the immortal Gilad, also known as Eternal Warrior, in the new series WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR. We talked to Venditti about the upcoming series to find out what it's all about.

Cover D by Marcos Martin

COMIC VINE: What's WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR all about?

ROBERT VENDITTI: Wrath of the Eternal Warrior is a story about Gilad, the Eternal Warrior, who is a character that’s been around for 5000 years in Valiant continuity. One of his missions is to protect a mystical line of Geomancers—individuals that have communicated between humanity and Earth across the millennia. But another one of his functions is to guide humanity and to shape us to be better as a civilization, so his story will certainly tap into those sorts of themes. But it’s different than what we’ve seen before—not only for the character of the Eternal Warrior, but even for immortality as a concept. We’re going to see him going up against some adversaries we’ve never seen before. He’s going to be in environments we’ve never seen him in before, and we’re going to see exactly what he has to sacrifice and what he has to endure to be able to come back and fight for humanity again and again to help us make a better world for ourselves.

CV: You've already worked with Gilad on BOOK OF DEATH, what drew you to writing this character in this new series?

VENDITTI: I’ve always wanted to write Gilad. When Valiant first reached out to me way back, the two characters which appealed to me the most were X-O Manowar and the Eternal Warrior, so I’m glad to be able to have the chance to launch an ongoing series with each of them. But even beyond that, it’s a story that’s unlike any story that I’ve ever done before. There are a lot of things about the story that I’m trying to get outside my comfort zone with, and all that stuff is very appealing to me when I’m taking on new projects.

CV: The Geomancer was a huge part of BOOK OF DEATH. Will we be seeing more of that character in this series?

VENDITTI: Not immediately, but the Geomancer is a figure that’s very much entwined with the Eternal Warrior, so Geomancers in general will be characters that we see throughout the series. It’s something that we’ll get to, but it isn’t going to be there right out the gate.

CV: You're dealing with an immortal character who’s had adventures all throughout time. How does that affect the storytelling in this series? Will you stick to one time period or be jumping around?

VENDITTI: One of the great assets of a character like Eternal Warrior is the ability to dip into different time periods and different eras, and see all of these great cultures that we all love to see, whether it’s Ancient Rome or the Viking time period, or any of these sorts of things. We will be doing some of those, and some of those will be flashbacks in issues and some of them may be entire story arcs or issues that take place at a different time. It’s very much a story that’s focused on the present and the modern-day Valiant Universe, so anything we do way back in history will always be informing the present.

CV: One Eternal Warrior story that really sticks out for me is Greg Pak's story on the series, "Eternal Emperor," which actually takes place in the same time period as RAI. Will you be exploring the character at this point in his life and possibly a connection to Rai?

VENDITTI: That story was also illustrated by the extraordinary Robert Gill, with whom I have had the good fortune to work on Book of Death. I’m a big fan of that story arc as well. It’s all on the table—everything is there. We have two main timelines occurring in the Valiant Universe—we have one that’s happening in the present, and then we have one that’s happening in the year 4001, which is where Rai is based. As you said, Gilad is still alive at that point, because we’ve already seen the story there, so I think it would be foolish for us to not try to fill in some of those gaps—not just in 4001, but some of the times in between as well. It’s an incredibly long chunk of history that we’re able to work with.

CV: When you have a character that's been around for this long, he has more wisdom of the world compared to other people. How will that come into play in this new series?

VENDITTI: Yeah, that’s the whole idea of the character. It’s what separates him from everybody else in the Valiant Universe: heroes, villains, man on the street, and everybody else. He’s able to have this very long-term point of view on the world, and we see this carried out some in Book of Death, whereas everyone else has a very short-term, normal-lifespan point of view. So, it’s something that can be very alienating for him, because it does set him apart, but also it makes him unique.

CV: From the preview pages we've seen, Gilad has children, a family, and a normal life. What made you go this route with the character over what we've traditionally seen with a warrior fighting on the battlefield?

VENDITTI: For somebody who’s been around 5,000 years, there’s going to be a lot of personal history for him as well as the history he’s witnessed. We’re going to expand on all of that and, for him, I think there would be a profound sense of loss being alive as long as he has, living in a world where everyone has a normal lifespan, but he lives forever. I think a lot of people would think of immortality as this great blessing, but you think of all of the losses and all of the regrets that we all have in our own lives. Imagine having 5,000 years of those. So we’ll definitely see him deal with that as well.

CV: Can Gilad have a normal life considering he's immortal?

VENDITTI: I don’t know that he can—certainly not normal by our standards. Everybody’s definition of normal is different, and I think that’s what life is all about, whether you live 50 years or 5,000 years. It takes time to find that level of normalcy for yourself, and I think in one way or another, that drives every character that’s ever been written. I don’t know if he’s achieved it yet, but I certainly believe he has the potential—otherwise, why would he keep trying?

CV: What's it been like working with Raul Allen on this book so far?

VENDITTI: Amazing. He’s such an incredible talent. It’s incredible seeing him work and the way he constructs the stories and the pages—the pacing and the design of the page in addition to the design of the characters. The way he’s able to convey emotion. It’s a very emotional story, and a lot of it hinges on facial expressions, postures, mood, lighting, and things like that. He’s able to execute everything so well. It’s really a great collaboration. He brings so much of his own creativity and artistic identity to the title, and I can’t wait for everyone to see it.

Thanks to Robert Venditti for answering our questions and make sure to check out WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR when it goes on sale November 18.

Also, keep your eyes on Comic Vine for a Valiant giveaway later today!

Check out the rest of the lettered preview below.