Doug Mahnke Named New Green Lantern Artist

DC Comics has confirmed for Newsarama that beginning in July, the monthly Green Lantern series will get a new regular penciler just as Blackest Night begins.

"The absolutely brilliant Doug Mahnke is taking over the book," said Geoff Johns, the title's writer. "Blackest Night will be its own mini-series in July, and so beginning in July, Doug Mahnke will be the regular penciler on Green Lantern. Doug is an amazing penciler. The stuff he's already done for Blackest Night #0 is just phenomenal."

Ivan Reis, who's been the Green Lantern penciler since 2006, is now the artist on the Blackest Night mini-series, working months ahead with Johns for the July launch. And as Reis told Newsarama at New York Comic Con, the last issue of Blackest Night will mark the end of his run with the Green Lantern characters, although he said his next project (still unannounced) will reunite him with Johns.

"It is so much fun to work with Geoff. And if I can work with him for 10 years, I'll do it," Reis said.

DC has provided Newsarama with artwork by Mahnke of a double-page spread that will appear in Blackest Night #0, the Free Comic Book Day issue that kicks off the publisher's summer event on May 2. While specific details of the Blackest Night event have not been released, creators involved have indicated that the story will run through the Blackest Night mini-series along with the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps titles, with some special tie-in issues along the way, all beginning in July.

As for what Johns is doing after the end of Blackest Night, the writer said he's not going anywhere.

"I'm staying. I'll be working with Doug on the [Green Lantern] issues going forward after Blackest Night," he said.

"I've said it before, that to work with such a group of talented artists on this, like Ivan and Ethan [Van Sciver] and now Shane [Davis], and Philip [Tan] and Doug. Green Lantern's probably been one of the most fortunate books in recent history that's been blessed by so many great, talented artists," Johns said. "I've been really happy to work with them all. And to have each of them take ownership of a Corps. They've each added their own spin on it and added their own characters. Creating all these Corps and all this excitement with them – it's pretty phenomenal stuff. "