Geoff Johns on a New Lantern Corps Title and Aquaman Leading the DCU [NYCC]

Today, DC Comics uber-writer Geoff Johns and prodigious editor Eddie Berganza fielded questions from a packed room of fans at the New York Comic Con. Topics included an important scene in Aquaman's future, the stealth announcement of a new Lantern Corps ongoing series, a coming project with Grant Morrison, and the Old Testament-echoing sequence in "Green Lantern" #52. More on the specific points of interest below!On AQUAMAN: He'll still be around post-"Brightest Day," and still "badass," according to Johns. Eddie Berganza stopped the writer from saying more, but later prodding forced Johns to produce this paraphrased story idea: "I've always wanted to write a story where Aquaman is just chillin' on a beach, and Bruce, Diana and Clark come up and ask him to rejoin the Justice League. He says he'd be happy to lead the team. The three again reiterate how important he is that he join, and he reiterates his position. We cut to Arthur calling a Justice League meeting to order." Johns then said he viewed Aquaman as "the leader of the DC Universe."

On WHY BARRY ALLEN WAS THE FOCUS OF THE FIRST "THE FLASH" ARC: Johns wanted to reintroduce Barry Allen to the DC Universe, but said the second arc of "The Flash," starting in issue #9, would star Wally West and Bart Allen.

On a SHARED DC MOVIE UNIVERSE: When questioned about filmmaker Christopher Nolan's recent statements regarding Superman and Batman having separate movie universes, Johns stated he feels that, unlike Marvel's characters, DC's characters are "bigger" and don't require a shared universe structure to push a franchise out of the gate. However, he was clear to point out that such a scheme wasn't out of the question, and when asked if there would ever be a Justice League movie he played coy by stating there may or may not be a sniper in the audience ready to shoot him.

On "FLASHPOINT": We'll see it in early 2011, around the same time as the new "THE FLASH: SPEED FORCE" ongoing.

On KYLE RAYNER: Johns was quick to point out that he has a lot of love for the character, and Berganza made it clear Kyle was his favorite Green Lantern. To show his "Kyle cred," Johns related that he dropped "Green Lantern" in the 1990s when Hal's temples turned grey in the Gerard Jones run, and then came back with writer Ron Marz and his then-new character, Kyle Rayner.

On whether WARNER BROS. HAS EVER BLOCKED A STORY IDEA: "No." Berganza was quick to point out this was because Johns's ideas were always organic rather than shocks out of nowhere.

On the OLD TESTAMENT AND "GREEN LANTERN" #52: When asked whether he was personally religious and if that inspired the Old Testament-echoing sequence at the beginning of "Green Lantern" #52 -- showing the birth of the emotional avatars -- Johns stated, "I call myself spiritual. I'm a spiritual person, I'm not necessarily a religious person."

On "TITAN MAXIMUM": Johns loved working on the animated series with Seth Green and Matt Senreich, but he doesn't have time for it anymore. Still, he credits his time with the "Robot Chicken"/"Titan Maximum" guys as part of the inspiration for Larfleeze.

On "BATMAN: EARTH ONE": it will be released in the first half of 2011.

On WORKING WITH GRANT MORRISON: Johns considers Morrison a good friend and an excellent writer, and they're cooking something up together, possibly for 2011. He says it'll be a different collaboration than how they worked together on "52."

On RESURRECTING CHARACTERS: Johns prefers to work from the ground up when bringing back a character, returning to the very core concept and then rebuilding the supporting cast and their place in the universe out of that, rather than just resurrecting the character and "throwing them out there."

And finally, on whether there'd be a NEW ONGOING LANTERN CORPS TITLE FOR ONE OF THE OTHER COLORS: "Yes."