We got the chance to talk with comic legend Jim Lee about the release of DC Universe Online. He also hints that lucky players may get the chance to have their characters featured in the new DCUO comic book!

ZAM: Can you tell us more about the Legends comic and how it's going?

Lee: Sure! It's a bi-weekly comic that comes out in support of the game. It really takes the premise that's delivered in the opening cinematic and fleshes out what happens to these characters after they've been triggered by the exobites. It's written by Tony Bedard and Marv Wolfman, and drawn by Howard Porter. It really allows us the opportunity to showcase the DC Universe for a lot of gamers that may not be familiar with it. They can buy the comic digitally if they don't know where a to find a local comic book shop.

It's going to give us the opportunity to possibility take players from within the game and showcase them within the comic, whether it's just a pinup or the best heroes and villains from various servers. I think it would be a cool way of acknowledging and memorializing what people have created in the game. It's one thing to fight alongside these iconic characters or fight against them, but it's another thing to actually be printed and be in a book that will outlast your lifetime. I think that's part of the payoff of the whole premise. You're not just a hero, but you're a legend. You will appear that way within the comic book. You have the possibility of achieving that. I'd love to see that happen, and that's something I can directly affect. That's something that I look forward to making a reality.

[Editor's note: SOE's official response is that “in-game character inclusion has not been confirmed nor are there any plans for it at this time.”]

ZAM: Speaking of DC Comics, is the staff playing the game? What are their reactions?

Lee: They are definitely playing it. Not just the staff at DC, but a lot of the freelancers. Gail Simone, a writer on a number of DC titles, got into the game and was thrilled with the dialogue how the characters were written. It's gratifying as a comic book creator to hear other creators experiences the game and praise it for capturing the DC Universe so well. There are a bunch of us playing. There are a lot of gamers working at DC. This is that rare combination of twin passions that become one. A lot of people are very thrilled by having the game finally come out.

ZAM: It's fun for comic fans playing DC Universe Online to realize that other players could be one of their favorite writers or artists.

Lee: Sure! I've mentioned my character Orange Chicken before, and one time I went AFK and came back and saw in my text box somebody saluting me. They sent me a tell to say thanks for helping make this game. It was a cool way for them to acknowledge me in the game. I sent them a message back but they had already logged out. It's another way to interact with fans. I'm out there on Twitter and message boards, but it's another thing to group with someone and do a mission together or PvP with them. I definitely PvP between missions and I'm sure some people might have bragging rights.

ZAM: Keeping in the comic vein, the artwork and artistic style has been a big part since day one for DC Universe Online. How does it feel to finally see your designs in-game?

Lee: I probably take more pleasure in that than most people. I see a lot of tweets of people saying they love how the cities look, but I flew to the top of the LexCorp building and looked out over the dam that is on the edge of Metropolis. It's stunning. It's a testament to the environmental artists at SOE and how they took the 2D architectural designs of the city and made it come to life. The whole look of the game was the result of a lot of different artists. There was a core group of concept artists at Wildstorm that I worked with, and they designed so much of the game. I really worked with all of them to make sure it was unified. We went to great lengths to make sure that it all seemed like it was created by one hand. We worked with all the 3D modelers and tried to impart that style to them and see how quickly they picked it up and ran with it, and by the end they were knocking out incredible model after model. It was a real learning process on both sides.

Again, I wouldn't be happy if the gameplay was awful and the world looked nice. The artwork and the models service the game. That's the most critical thing. I think it's shortsighted to focus on one aspect. My hat goes off to the game designers and developers. They took all these assets and put them with the music, the voiceover, the missions system and the desire not to have a lot of grind and they created a game that feels like a single-player console action game, but it's shared with all these different people at the same time. That's a first for a platform like this. You talk about it, you imagine it, but you don't really know it until it's all put together. It's amazing how five years of work comes together so quickly. At the end, all these parts that have been assembled separately are all kind of put together to create DC Universe Online.

ZAM: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Lee: I love the enthusiasm of the players! It's great to see that level of excitement over something you've created. We get to see it in comics, but it's nice to produce something that hits a new audience, and in some ways a wider audience in that it's hitting so many different countries all over the world at once. It's been an incredible experience so far. I'm still riding a high off launch, honestly. I'm really curious and anxious to see where it is in two weeks, four weeks, and so on. It's just the start really.

ZAM: Thanks so much for taking the time out to talk with me!

Lee: Thank you!

Darryl Gangloff, Editor-in-Chief