INTERVIEW: Jeremy Adams teases mystery villain for Jay Garrick’s long lost daughter

At a time when audiences are constantly bemoaning about “superhero fatigue,” writer Jeremy Adams constantly finds a way to remind me why I love superhero stories in the first place. After a number of high profile DC animated projects, DC Comics tapped Adams to take over the The Flash ongoing series back in 2021. As I tell anyone willing to listen, Adams did the impossible and restored fan-favorite speedster Wally West to his former glory. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and Adams’ tenure on the title concluded with the milestone 800th issue a few months ago. Thankfully, the publisher knew they had a good thing with Adams and enlisted him to take over the relaunched Green Lantern title. Moreover, Adams will also be penning a new Jay Garrick: The Flash miniseries that will feature the reunion between the Golden Age Flash and his time displaced daughter Judy Garrick. 

At San Diego Comic-Con, The Beat had the immense pleasure of catching up with Jeremy Adams to discuss his various DC Comics projects. Over the course of our conversation, Adams not only teased what’s to come in the Green Lantern and Jay Garrick: The Flash projects, but also gave us the scoop behind bringing back back Mister Terrific’s deceased son and if we’ll be seeing the character again in the DC Universe.

Taimur Dar: When I got back into comics about twenty years ago, it wasn’t unusual to see writers from the TV and film work in the comics industry whether for short-term projects or extended runs on ongoing books. In my opinion, you’ve definitely established yourself as a regular fixture in the comics industry so how does it feel?

Jeremy Adams: I’m humbled by it, honestly. It’s a thrill. I don’t believe it because I have too much imposter syndrome.

Dar: I’m sure you’ve read Kevin Smith’s Daredevil “Guardian Devil” storyline. As Smith has openly admitted, he probably wrote too much dialogue in those early issues, but he finally got the hang of it by the end. How has writing for the comics medium been for you now compared to when you first started?

Adams: I think it’s not too far from what I do in animation. You can’t write too much in animation in terms of dialogue because it needs to move along. But if you look at that first “Future State” Black Adam book, it is just jam packed and I didn’t know what I was doing. So, when you start understanding how many panels can fit comfortably on a page, it has changed the way I do things. I definitely write more for the visual than I do for my “precious” dialogue because it’s not that precious. It’s definitely different than live-action.

Dar: You’ve just launched a new Green Lantern ongoing series. It probably goes without saying that everyone has their favorite GL. Geoff Johns obviously loves Hal Jordan hence why he brought him back. As a Justice League International fan, I’m sure you’re fond of Guy Gardner.

Adams: Oh yeah!

Dar: It’s funny, when Grant Morrison launched The Green Lantern book back in 2018, they admitted it was a bit unusual for them to write Hal Jordan because they had mostly written Kyle Rayner during their DC tenure. You’ve written Hal Jordan in Green Lantern: The Animated Series so does Hal Jordan come naturally to you?

Adams: It does come naturally in terms of having written him in Green Lantern: The Animated Series. With all these characters I’m trying to figure out the voice be true to the character that’s been written before. I kind of understand Hal because he’s much more like me in college which is somewhat cringy. In high school and junior high I had no confidence. I was bullied. But then I got into college, and it changed for me because I found my friends and I go a lot of confidence. Probably too much. I always feel that Hal has a little too much confidence. I’m starting to figure him out more. I think it’s going to take me a little bit more [time] just like Wally. I write it enough and I understand who this character is.

Dar: Will we be seeing the other Green Lanterns anytime soon?

Adams: I’ve talked with Phillip Kennedy Johnson and how our books can dovetail in and out of each other. We’re keeping in Earthbound but there’s going to be a big shift as we start looking outward and seeing the mystery that’s happening in space and what’s happening to the Corps. That’s going to leave us in a changed Green Lantern universe.

Dar: In the Jay Garrick: The Flash miniseries, you’re showcasing his long lost daughter Judy Garrick. This is a character that Geoff Johns introduced in the recent Stargirl: The Lost Children miniseries as part of The New Golden Age. What can you tease about the miniseries and Judy Garrick?   

Adams: Geoff has a grand idea. I think there are some people wondering why we should care about another speedster. And that’s my job. Also, Jay and [his wife] Joan, their lives have been defined by not being able to have kids and they’ve acted as grandparents to so many superheroes in the DC Universe. What I can tell you is when the Boom a.k.a. Judy Garrick was pulled out of time along with other characters, it had a ripple effect. With her back there, we’re going to be able to relive the past and see how it affects the present day. That involves a really bad enemy that’s inextricably linked to Judy. That’s all I can say.

Dar: I can’t praise your run on The Flash enough. In comics, but media in general, it’s nearly impossible to surprise audiences because spoilers will inevitably hit the internet. But I can honestly say that The Flash #799, the penultimate issue of your run, was the first time in years that a comic surprised me when you brought back not only the deceased son of Mister Terrific but also Cerdian, the son of Garth and Dolphin, and Donna Troy’s son Robert Long. I gotta know the inspiration for bringing them back and if that’s a plot point you’ll be picking up again down the line?

Adams: They [DC editorial] were totally up for me bringing back Mister Terrific’s kid. The other two not so much. The other two in my head could be from a different universe. But he [Mister Terrific’s son] was from this universe. Granny Goodness was stealing children. It’s funny that Geoff was having the same thought [in Stargirl: The Lost Children]. But I wanted him to be on the spectrum and really relatable but also somebody who would contribute to the Mister Terrific mythology going forward. My impetus was to build this kid super team with Maxine and Irey and Jai. And then I brought in the Super Sons, younger ones from a different universe. I wanted to add Mister Terrific’s kid and a couple of others. Obviously, that got cut off. If it’s within my power I’m going to keep plugging away at some of my ideas going forward.

Dar: Shifting gears to DC animation, they just announced a Crisis on Infinite Earths animated movie. I’ve done this long enough to know not to bother to inquire about any details. But having worked on various Tomorrowverse animated projects, how hard was it to know about a Crisis movie and not being able to say anything about it.

Adams: I can neither confirm nor deny that I knew it. Maybe I did! [Laughs]. You know I’m good at keeping secrets with animation. [Publicist] Gary [Miereanu] is the one who basically threatened my life since the beginning of it, so I’ve been trained. I do it too much now. In comic books, they’re a lot more loose about that stuff. I don’t give any information because I’ve been trained not to. But it’s exciting because I do know about Watchmen that was announced as well. I can tell you that I know people involved in that and it’s going to be good.    

Dar: You’ve pretty much already won the lottery as both and comics fan and creator but do you have any DC Comics dream books or projects?  

Adams: I’ve tried to get them to sign off on a couple of dream ideas. One of them is in the Shazam universe. I’ve always said I love Ted Kord Blue Beetle. I love DC martial artists [such as] Birds of Prey from Chuck Dixon or Gail Simone. I love the way it was all codified. You can see that in Batman: Soul of the Dragon. But I would love to do Cassandra Cain. Also, Captain Atom has been itching at the back of my head.

Dar: Finally, what other projects can you tease both for DC and other publishers??

Adams: We’ve got the Jay Garrick mini. We’ve got Green Lantern ongoing. There might another thing at DC. There’s definitely something outside DC that I’m excited about and I’ll probably talk about in the next couple of months. And we’ve got Mortal Kombat Legends: Cage Match in October.

Dar: I’m definitely hoping they premiere Cage Match at NYCC so I can interview you and the rest of the cast and crew again!

Adams: I hope so!