Paul Levitz

Con alle spalle una carriera presso mamma DC Comics che dura ormai dagli anni ‘70, si può dire che Paul Levitz sia ormai diventato una vera e propria bandiera della publishing house newyorkese.
Dopo il fortunato esordio come sceneggiatore, Levitz si è trasferito a lungo ai piani alti, fino alla prestigiosa poltrona di President and Publisher assunta nel 2002. Oggi, tornato al word processor, lo scriba del New Jersey è di nuovo sulla breccia di eventi fumettari “on the road” come il San Diego Comic-Con, dove quest’anno è stato protagonista di numerose conferenze e faccia a faccia coi lettori.
Tra questi appuntamenti, addirittura uno spotlight tutto incentrato su di lui, e una meritata partecipazione al panel sui 75 Years of DC Comics, anniversario al quale Levitz ha di recente dedicato un intero volume a tema, a breve edito da Taschen.

Tra un amarcord personale e una domanda del pubblico, l’autore della “Great Darkness Saga” è finito spesso col parlare della Legione dei Super-Eroi, il titolo DC per il quale è maggiormente ricordato dai fan. Durante l’incontro DC Comic Writers Unite!, ad esempio, Levitz si è così espresso a proposito dello scrivere le avventure di Saturn Girl e soci:

Paul Levitz made the point that there are two different types of opportunities. First, when dealing with Superman, Batman or Wonder Woman, writers are dealing with “the classic tropes…the characters on which DC was built.” He questioned how a writer can deal with stories that are “literally folklore…there’s incredible resonance, when you get it right, which is sometimes it’s incredibly difficult to do.” At the other end of the spectrum are characters like the Legion of Super-Heroes and Secret Six who are “complex sets of characters who’s lives can be screwed with totally. I’m god, and I get to fuck up their lives. That’s a joyous power to have as a writer.”

[...] Robinson asked how writers feel leaving a book. Knowing that when a small character is developed, they can suddenly go in a different direction when a new writer takes over.
Levitz talked of Shvaughn Erin, a female science police officer character he created in “Legion of Super-Heroes,” who following writers changed, saying that she was a man who had used a transgender chemical “which was not exactly the view of the personality that I had had there.” Despite interesting incidents such as this, he was very clear that, “The reason the field is as fertile as it is, is all the work that has been put in for so long. These are such incredibly rich worlds and you get the chance to play in them. The only reason that somebody cares about the character that you’ve added to…is because you planted it in this field that was already full of all this rich material surrounding it that gave it power and gave it grace.” Apparently, while it might be strange for Levitz when people bring back his characters from years ago, the fact that people remember them enough to do so and continue to build on the characters transcends everything.

Levitz’s contribution was a deep appreciation of Legion of Super-Heroes and how many years he’s gotten to play with the team. He expressed an interest in one day writing more Green Lantern and Batman.

Durante la conferenza DC Premiere Teams, invece, la mente del “volume six” ha preferito svelare invece alcuni particolari delle trame future della serie:

Former DC publisher and current “Legion” writer Paul Levitz began by thanking the crowd before saying that issues 4 and 5 of “Legion of Super Heroes” finishes up the “Earth-Man’s Choice” arc, which will wrap up the dilemma of who should be the future’s Green lantern.

Coming up in that series, fans will see Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl fight for their children, a new Legion election, and [...] also, #6 will feature the return of the Legion Academy, with some returning students along with brand new ones.

Levitz also mentioned that “the next issue of ‘Adventure Comics,’ I’ll guarantee will either be loved or intensely hated by long time fans.”

Paul Levitz was asked about the current status of Cosmic Boy and Night Girl’s relationship, “There is an interesting moment coming up soon,” is all the writer could say.

Robinson then chimed him with a request for Levitz. “I said the same thing to Geoff [Johns, who wrote the 'Superman and the Legion of Super Heroes' arc re-introducing the classic Legion], please don’t change Sun Boy’s costume. It’s great.” Levitz agreed, though he did say it may be slightly altered soon, but will still basically be the same design.

Checché se ne dica sulle sue abilità di dirigente o di scrittore, le interviste e i resoconti dalle convention cui Paul Levitz presta la sua presenza comunicano sempre un’impressione positiva dello scénariste penna bianca, di uomo sinceramente coinvolto dal proprio lavoro e disponibile con i lettori. Sarà anche poco in assoluto, ma in un mondo così chiuso come quello del comicdom non è banale trovare un autore più adatto di così ad occuparsi di una serie come quella della Legione, così incentrata attorno a qualità umane di umiltà e condivisione che purtroppo sembrano latitare in molti “pro”.