Hitch: I’ve known Robert for a few years now and we’ve come close a couple of times at DC. For a week a few years ago, we almost did a JSA relaunch. I worked with him briefly on an 8 page X-O short for Valiant before I started JLA too so it wasn’t like we were strangers. We were on the same page from the first chat and ideas quickly flowed between us so I knew it would work. Robert wrote me fairly loose plots and was always open to suggestions so we had a very good rapport in trying to always find the best way of telling the story.

The story was always Rob’s. We didn’t co-plot but he had the generosity to give me such open plots that always allowed me to visually work the story my own way. He’s very good at giving you all the pieces you need to make it work but also very flexible and open, or at least that’s my own experience of working with him. Not many writers are that good or that easy to work with and this was one of the easiest working relationships I’ve had. It was a lot of fun, every single issue. So many big pulp and sci-fi ideas to play with. I could have done it for years really and never got bored with it. That’s as much to do with working with the right creative partner as anything.

Robert, What’s next for your second year? What artist or artists are coming on board and where does Hawkman go next?

Venditti: Issue 13 is a standalone issue and Will Conrad will draw that. Issue 14 begins our involvement in the big Year of the Villain storyline that DC is doing across the line. The villain we’re working with is Shadow Thief. So we’re going to get to use Shadow Thief in the series. Much like we did with Carter Hall, we’re going to stay very true to the character’s history and make some changes to it that makes total sense. It will increase his threat level and push him in a new direction. The art team on that will be Pat Olliffe and Tom Palmer.

This first year was a twelve issue major arc and hopefully each individual issue stands on its own because each individual issue went to a different location and at the end of the issue, it wrapped up that location. It had more of an episodic feel. Moving forward, the storylines will be more what I did with Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps. A three or four issue storyline or two part or one part storylines, but held together with a common theme with different locations and different adversaries.