Aquaman (2025) vol 1. The Dark Tide (DC Comics) #1-8
Aquaman (2025) vol 1. The Dark Tide (DC Comics) #1-8 came up as part of the conversation in this episode.
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Interview
Jeremy Adams
March 10, 2026
Jeremy Adams joins Splash Pages Comic Book Club for his second appearance, returning from their Terrificon panel the year before. He traces his unconventional path into comics — from toy company assistant to animation writer (Supernatural, Green Lantern: The Animated Series) to his first DC pitch, a Batwing story he lost to Warren Ellis. He talks through his full DC run: The Flash, where he was told no writer lasts more than 12 issues and went on to reach issue 800; Green Lantern with Hal Jordan, now shifting to Kyle Rayner; and Aquaman, where he is deliberately and gleefully making Arthur the most powerful figure in the DCU. He reveals that his oldest daughter co-wrote a Flash issue with him when she was 8 or 9, that his younger daughter contributed the axolotl character to Green Lantern, and that his oldest daughter created the Odyssey "time bandit" character from the backseat of a car. He shares the story of how Flashpoint Beyond brought him into an unexpected mentoring relationship with Geoff Johns. Plus: the Scooby-Doo sequel that nearly killed him, the Knightfall animated film, LEGO Monkey Kid, and what 8-year-old Jeremy Adams would think of all of this.
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Books From This Episode
Flashpoint Beyond (DC Comics) #0-6
Flashpoint Beyond (DC Comics) #0-6 came up as part of the conversation in this episode.
Jay Garrick: The Flash (DC Comics) # 1-6
Jay Garrick: The Flash (DC Comics) # 1-6 came up as part of the conversation in this episode.
Flash/Fantastic Four (Marvel Comics, Marvel Infinity) #1
Flash/Fantastic Four (Marvel Comics, Marvel Infinity) #1 came up as part of the conversation in this episode.
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Episode FAQ
How did Jeremy Adams get his first DC Comics job?
Adams started as a screenwriter — he wrote episodes of Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Supernatural — before pursuing comics. His break came through a contact at Marvel he'd cultivated after a tour fell through. He eventually got a DC pitch opportunity for a Batwing story in which the hero is framed for murder and has to evade the entire Bat-family. He lost the pitch to Warren Ellis. Years later, after a Batman: Brave and the Bold issue and a conversation with an editor who suggested pitching an Aquaman idea, he landed The Flash. He told Splash Pages he'd been told no writer lasts more than 12 issues on a book. "I remember thinking in my head, we'll see about that," he said. He stayed on The Flash through issue 800.
Who is Mera's mother in Jeremy Adams' Aquaman run?
Lolana is Mera's mother — an original character created by Adams for his Aquaman run. She had never appeared in DC Comics before Adams introduced her. He pointed out to Splash Pages that despite Peter David, Geoff Johns, and other acclaimed Aquaman writers having written Mera extensively for decades, no one had ever named or shown her mother. Lolana carries a deep hatred for Atlantis and its bloodline rule of succession, giving her a point of view Adams describes as understandable even as she becomes the run's central villain. Adams compared her single-mindedness to General Zod: "She's hell-bent on revenge. I will kill you, Jor-El."
Did Jeremy Adams' daughter really co-write a Flash issue with him?
Yes. Adams told Splash Pages that when his oldest daughter was 8 or 9, he walked her through his story-breaking process on a whiteboard for a Flash issue centered on a father-daughter dance. She drew characters, he submitted them to the artist, the art was produced, and he paid her for the work. His younger daughter also contributed to his DC work: she asked for an axolotl character in Green Lantern, which became Happy the Axolotl, the emotion construct tied to happiness. His oldest daughter later came up with the time-bandit character Odyssey during a car ride. "Yes, ma'am," Adams said. "That fits right into my whole Gold Beetle saga."
What was it like working with Geoff Johns on Flashpoint Beyond?
Adams told Splash Pages that he and Tim Sheridan had a Flashpoint sequel pitch they brought to their editor, who asked if they'd consider adding Geoff Johns. Adams said the response was bewilderment — "Geoff who?" They met Johns for dinner, then worked out of his office on a whiteboard. Adams described Johns as "unbelievably the nicest human being ever — incredibly kind, incredibly generous, just mentory without me saying, could you be my mentor?" He noted that he and Sheridan approach storytelling differently: he tends to start plot-first and work toward the emotional core, while Johns and Sheridan start from the emotional meaning and build the plot around it. Working between those two modes, he said, shaped how he thinks about structure.