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lmfao...it's a shame that this title has had artwork by ed mcguiness and dexter vines, art adams, frank cho, and ian churchill with guest appearances from moon knight, ms marvel, x-force, elektra, deadpool, the punisher, etc...and still no one gives a fuck lol...i kind of want the issues art adams and frank cho did just to stare at the purty pickchas though.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dusk
McGuiness is the fuckin man...those first few issues of this Red Hulk shit were awesome (looking)....but someone needs to get Loeb in a Dallas motorcade if u kno what i mean....
^^^word...the issues that were split between art adams and frank cho looked gorgeous as well....my cousin's son who is 5 loves it...or at least he did last time i saw him...i think children are the perfect audience for this book in terms of writing.
started reading sleeper:season one...the brubaker/phillips team seems to be infallible.
one thing i did notice is that val staples did not do the coloring on these like he did on criminal and incognito...he deserves huge props as well for his awesome colors on those books...incognito in particular has awesome color art.
adams and cho are dope too, indeed...and ya the criminal/incognito team in particular are fantastic
DCU IN 2010: WELCOME TO EARTH ONE
Monday, December 7th, 2009
By Alex Segura
That major publishing event we mentioned earlier today? Well, here it is.
Original stories featuring Batman and Superman in graphic novel form from the biggest creators out there. But these aren’t one-offs. We’re talking ongoing series of OGNs in a new continuity, on a new Earth.
Sound appealing?
Starting next year, DC Comics will unveil SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE and BATMAN: EARTH ONE, two graphic novels spotlighting the most powerful heroes of the DC Universe, with their first years and earliest moments retold in a standalone, original graphic novel format, on a new earth with an all-new continuity.
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Return to Smallville and experience the journey of Earth’s greatest adopted son, as he grows from boy to Superman in SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE by J. Michael Straczynski and artist Shane Davis.
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Watch from the darkest corners of Crime Alley as a young boy is struck by unbelievable tragedy that will forge the greatest crime-fighter to ever stalk the rooftops of Gotham City in BATMAN: EARTH ONE, by writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank.
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What does JMS have to say? Well, here’s a snippet from his first interview on the subject:
“What I’m trying to do is to dig in to the character and look at him through modern eyes. If you were to create the Superman story today, for the first time, but keep intact all that works, what would it look like?”
“It is monumental for us as comic readers to see Superman birthed for the first time,” Davis said. “It’s a privilege to realize that you’re the artist that gets to draw it, better yet having the luxury to do it in an original graphic novel. This is going to be epic!”
What about Geoff Johns? Well, we happen to have a bit from his first interview as well:
“BATMAN: EARTH ONE allows Gary and I to break the restraints of any continuity and focus on two things: character and story.”
Want more? Sure you do. Why not check out the interviews AIN’T IT COOL NEWS just posted with the previously mentioned Johns and Straczynski?
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I'm buying these.
has anyone seen the promo art for millar/mcniven's 'nemesis' aka 'what if batman were the joker' aka 'i liked this better when it was called grendel?'
This morning, DC announced a pair of huge 2010 releases: SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE and BATMAN: EARTH ONE, two graphic novels spotlighting the most powerful heroes of the DC Universe, with their first years and earliest moments retold in a standalone, original graphic novel format. SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE will be written by J.M. Straczynski and drawn by Shane Davis. BATMAN: EARTH ONE will be written by Geoff Johns with art by Gary Frank. Read more about this one from The Source. I had a chance to talk with both Straczynski and Johns about these exciting new books. What secrets will be told? Does this major announcement mean the end of monthly comics? These questions and more will be answered. Read on…
<H1>Bug and JMS talk SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE!</H1>
AMBUSH BUG: Tell me a little bit about the premise behind SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE.
J. Michael Straczynski (JMS): There's this notion, which has really become a kind of accepted cliché, that as soon as you get powers, you put on a superhero (or super-villain) costume and you're off to the races. But logically, there would have to come a moment when you have to decide if you actually want to do that, or if you should do that. It's that moment in the Garden of Gethsemane where you have to decide if you want to endure everything that's going to happen to you if you decide to expose yourself.
Clark comes to Metropolis in his 21st year to decide what he really wants to do. And this is someone who can be anyone, do anything. If he keeps his background secret, as he's done for the preceding 21 years, he can be the best athlete the world has ever known, he could be the next Stephen Hawking, could take away the golf crown from Tiger Woods, create patents that could earn billions. He can finally step out of the shadows and into the light.
By contrast, if he chooses to become Superman, then Clark must live forever in the shadows, dedicated to a life of service and self-sacrifice that could eventually get him killed. That's a hard choice for anybody to make, let alone a 21 year old kid who wants to look after his mom and is lured by the idea of money and success and fame. So the story is about Clark's Gethsemane moment, when he has to finally make that choice, why he makes it, and what follows after.
Against this backdrop, we flash back to his life growing up in Smallville, so we can see how the Kents helped mold him and protect him and get him to a point in his life where he can finally make this most difficult of choices.
BUG: How is your take on the younger years of Superman going to be different than previous takes on his origin?
JMS: This is probably one of the most often told and re-told stories in comics history, so you have to be careful to preserve what's established while trying to find areas where you can bring a fresh approach. But I'll be straight up with you: I'm not here to change his story into something it was never intended to be so that I can "make my mark" on the character. It's about respecting the character and his origins. Especially for me, since Superman has always been my number one icon growing up as a kid. Coming from poor surroundings and circumstances where everybody says "forget this idea of being a writer, guys like you who come from nothing always end up at nothing," Superman was what I held onto, the idea of someone who could do anything. My house is filled with enough original Superman artwork, memorabilia and other stuff to constitute a museum. It's probably one of the biggest Superman collections on the Western Seaboard, not because of the collecting instinct, but because that's how much the character has meant to me over the years.
http://www.aintitcool.com/images2009...umn09/jms2.JPG (True story: I was at Chicago Comic-Con a number of years ago, standing in the dealer's room, when some guy grabbed a bunch of expensive items off a table and made a run for it down the aisle, being chased by the owner of the table. Everybody in the aisle did a fast fade, parting before this guy like the Red Sea. I brought the mofo down and the two of us held him for the police. The con organizer later came up to me and said, "Why'd you do that? He was half your age and twice as big, you could've been hurt." I pointed to where I'd been standing, in front of a ten-foot-tall cutout of Superman. "How could I stand under that, in front of him, and do nothing?" I said.)
So to the point of your question, what I'm trying to do is to dig in to the character and look at him through modern eyes. If you were to create the Superman story today, for the first time, but keep intact all that works, what would it look like? As a fledgling writer I used to love going to see productions of Shakespeare because what would often be done would be to take that original play and move it forward in time. So you could have “Two Gentlemen of Verona” set in pre-WW2 Italy...you could have a female Hamlet...or as was recently produced for film, “Richard III” set in a corollary for Nazi Germany. And suddenly the lens through which you view those stories, those plays, colors and changes how you perceive them without changing anything essential.
Here, of course, we're doing more than that because we're not sticking to a script, but the idea is much the same. So in the case of Superman, you take all those elements that work, and infuse them with a modern sensibility, how it would be written today, this minute, if it had just been created for the first time. If I have any one particular strength as a writer, it's taking someone of massive power and making them relatable, sympathetic and vulnerable while not taking an inch away from that incalculable power.
BUG: Are there aspects of Superman's origin that you purposefully left out for the sake of your story?
JMS: The only substantial thing I'm leaving out is the notion of a Superboy. Here, the first time Clark puts on that uniform, it really is his first time.
In reflecting further on the question of changes, probably one of the most changed characters is Jim Olsen, and the most changed atmosphere is that of the Daily Planet. Having worked as a journalist for nearly ten years, I know what a news room is supposed to feel like, and my one ongoing complaint about comics set in those environments is that you (or I) could tell that the writers had never actually worked for a newspaper.
And in any newspaper, the one guy who is the most dangerous guy to stand next to is the photographer, because they'll go anywhere and do anything to get the shot. I recently saw footage where a press photographer was at one of those races that go through city streets, and a car spun out and came right at him. He kept taking pictures as the back end hit the wall to his right, spun out, and the front hit the wall to his left, barely missing him by inches. He never once stopped snapping photos. A good newspaper reporter keeps shooting no matter the danger, so I'm bringing that aspect into Olsen.
The rest of the staff look, act and talk like actual reporters now, and that's a lot of fun. And when we join our story, the Daily Planet is on the downward slide...it's where new reporters come to learn and old reporters come to die. It's what begins to happen in the aftermath of Superman's appearance that starts to reverse their fortunes.
BUG: How do you deal with the delicate tightrope walk of telling stories that matter vs. not straying so far from the status quo that you don't recognize these iconic characters anymore?
http://www.aintitcool.com/images2009...umn09/jms3.JPGJMS: I think it's a matter of respect and keeping the character first. Again, you don't change things just so you can say "I changed that." You have to ask if it proceeds from character. So for instance, one of the elements of the story is the fact that growing up, Clark would have been even more of an outsider than we've seen previously. Every kid gets in schoolyard fights, but Clark would have had to walk away or just take the punches, because if he slipped for even a second, he could kill the other kid. This would have gotten him a reputation as a coward, a weirdo, and he'd have to hear that every day in the schoolyard...and the one thing you know as a kid is that you don't hang with the cowards or the weirdos. So he would've lived a very solitary, rough, and very controlled life, because even a brief lapse could have disastrous consequences. We see a very real sense of isolation in him, which informs his arrival in Metropolis which represents the first time when he can choose the life he wants, rather than having to endure the life he had to endure.
BUG: How does SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE fit in with current continuity? The name suggests that it could be either part of it or an all new start from square one for the character.
JMS: At this juncture, the book operates outside DC continuity. At some point way, way down the road, some of that may be folded in, but again that's a long ways away.
BUG: It seems there is a pretty even split when it comes to whether someone is a Batman fan or a Superman fan. What is it about the character of Superman that appeals to some but not others?
JMS: I think it's a difference between power fantasies and revenge fantasies, with Superman more the former, and Batman more the latter. Not to belabor the previous point, because we all have our childhood horror stories, but I grew up in the mean streets of Newark and Paterson and some of the poorer parts of other towns. We moved 21 times in my first 17 years. Guys like me didn't become writers, they ended up pumping gas or working in machine shops. It was a dead-end lifestyle filled with no. So on the one hand, there was no one I wanted to get revenge against...I just wanted a chance to be somebody, a chance to learn to fly, and to become someone who couldn't get hurt. So I latched on to Superman at a very early age. I've said it before, and it's true: most of my morality I learned from Superman. One of my very earliest memories is an image from a Max Fleischer Superman cartoon where he has his cape over Lois, protecting her from molten metal. I searched for that image for decades before I found it and it's one of the first things you see when you enter my home...that and a mountain of Alex Ross and Curt Swan artwork, and The Triptych: a sketch of Superman signed by Siegel and Shuster, with an autograph by George Reeves tipped into it.
BUG: Can you tell me a little bit about the art in this one and how you worked with artist Shane Davis?
JMS: Because I tend to write from emotion to action, I live or die by the degree to which the artist is able to express emotion. So when Dan DiDio and I began the process of finding an artist, that skill was number one on the list. As soon as I saw Shane's art, I knew he would be right for this, because he can not only get that degree of expressiveness, but he's also really great on action and composition. There's an insane amount of detail in his work. We had a lot of back-and-forth in terms of character design that led to some really cool stuff.
BUG: How do you respond to criticism you've received for delayed titles that you've penned? Was it easier for you to write in this graphic novel format than the monthly grind?
JMS: Let me dive into this for a second, because this is a sore point with me. I was on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN for over eight years, and with only a couple of small glitches that book came out like clockwork. BULLET POINTS: on time. SILVER SURFER REQUIEM: on time. MIDNIGHT NATION: on time. BRAVE AND THE BOLD: on time. When I took on THE TWELVE, I wanted to do it the same as BP and SSR: let me write it all the way through, get most of the art done, then announce it, because in particular I was concerned that there might be some conflicts in scheduling not just with me but with the artist. But when PROJECT SUPERPOWERS was announced, the powers that be at Marvel decided to go ahead before it was ready, and what I was afraid would happen, happened. He got busy, I got busy, then he got busy again, then I got busy again, and it fell off the grid. (Note: the last scripts will be in by year's end.) With Thor, I'll take the rap for a couple of delays, but Marvel also delayed the book to buy time to find another artist. Between the time I finished the script for the last issue, for instance, and its publication, almost four months went by. I have the timestamp on the file to prove it. That ain't my choice, but I get the rap for it.
With all that being said, for me, it's best to do it then announce it, so there are no delays. So when DC came to me about this project, I felt it was important to again say nothing specific about it until it was nearly done. As I write these words, the script is very close to being finished (we're talking a book of well over a hundred pages), and we've got oodles of art finished.
BUG: The graphic novel format has been a preferred reading experience for a growing number of fans. Trade-waiting is a pretty common term I hear thrown around these days. What do you think; does the release of such a high profile product in a graphic novel format signify the end of the monthly single issues?
JMS Not at all. It's like saying that the production of movies signifies the end of dramatic series TV. Each serves a different need, and fills a different niche. If there's anything that is signified by trade-waiting, it's that we need to write better stories. If a reader can wait until it's all done to buy it, then we're not doing our jobs right. We should be writing stories that the reader can't wait to buy as soon as the next installment hits the stands, and then at the end, wants to gather together for ease of re-reading. If a reader can wait it out, then we as creators need to re-evaluate our work. Seriously.
BUG: Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.
Bug continues the EARTH ONE goodness
with BATMAN: EARTH ONE writer Geoff Johns!
To read his work is to love his work. Geoff Johns has become THE man at DC with a track record of hits like few others. Geoff had a chance to answer some questions about the upcoming BATMAN: EARTH ONE graphic novel.
AMBUSH BUG (BUG): So what is BATMAN: EARTH ONE all about?
GEOFF JOHNS (GJ): It’s Gary Frank and I joining together to be a part of the first line of ongoing graphic novel series ever from the big two.
BATMAN: EARTH ONE is more in line with the European idea of releasing chapters of an ongoing series in graphic novel form. We’re planning on doing two novels a year and set in this new universe, we’re getting unlimited creative freedom that we couldn’t have in current continuity.
When Dan Didio asked if Gary and I would be interested in something like this we were onboard immediately. We’re taking on Batman, and the world around him, and rebuilding it from the ground up.
BUG: How do you make an iconic origin like Batman's fresh and different than previous takes on the story?
GJ: Our Batman is a decidedly different Batman yet it is, of course, Bruce Wayne.
I want to let the book will speak for itself, but Batman, Alfred, Detective Gordon, Arkham Manor, the twisted origin behind Gotham City, the Bat-Mobile and, of course, the world’s greatest group of villains are all a part of the world we’re creating. Some of it the characters will more closely resemble the classic interpretations while others will be wildly different. We’re introducing a lot of new characters and elements to this Batman.
http://www.aintitcool.com/images2009...n09/johns3.JPGThe first graphic novel features an entirely new villain.
BUG: Apart from event books and maybe the occasional guest appearance or team book appearance, this is the first time I recall you doing a Bat book. What was it about this project that finally attracted you to Gotham?
GJ: Three words: “Gary Frank” and “freedom.” Obviously, I love long form storytelling. I gravitate to projects I can dive into and reinvent and add to, like Green Lantern. I’ve wanted to work on Batman, but I wanted to wait until the project was right. BATMAN: EARTH ONE allows Gary and I to break the restraints of any continuity and focus on two things: character and story. Add to that the idea of working on a line of graphic novels instead of being limited to twenty-two pages, it’s a challenge and I love a challenge.
BUG: I know you're a multiverse freak. How does BATMAN: EARTH ONE fit in with current continuity? Is it another universe, an Ultimate/All Star style take, or something completely different?
GJ: All of the above.
BUG: I've observed somewhat of a split between those who like Batman and fans of Superman. What is it about Batman that appeals to so many readers?
GJ: I think the grounded nature of Batman. And if there is one word that might sum up our version of Batman it’d be grounded.
BUG: The Joker: insane or sane? And will he be showing up in BATMAN: EARTH ONE?
GJ: If anyone knows my work they know how much I love villains. I’ve been dying to crack into the best rogues’ gallery in comics for years. Eventually, yes -- you’ll see the Joker, but the first well-known villain we’ll be focusing on early in the BATMAN: EARTH ONE graphic novel series is the Riddler.
BUG: Gary Frank has been one of my favorite artists since his INCREDIBLE HULK run. Can you tell us a little bit about how you and he collaborated for this project?
GJ: First off, Gary Frank is one of the greatest partners-in-crime a writer could ever ask for. The amount of thought, care and effort he puts into his work along with the brilliance of his talent makes him someone that I’m chaining myself to. My aspirations are nothing less than to work with Gary Frank until I’m dead.
The fact is, Gary Frank is the single best Superman artist of this generation, but he’s actually a Batman guy. Before we started Superman, we’d talk about Batman at length. We’ve spoken about ideas for Batman since we started working on Superman together. We started brainstorming this project before it even started, discussing what we would do with Batman and where we would take him.
BUG: After doing this project, which do you prefer writing: monthlies or graphic novel sized stories?
GJ: Ask me again in five years.
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BUG: What does this graphic novel format say about where the industry is going? A lot of folks are waiting for trade these days. Is this the first step of DC dropping monthlies and cutting out the middleman and going straight to trade?
GJ: I don’t think it has to be the case with either or. Monthlies, graphic novel series, digital, etc. DC is exploring every avenue of publishing. It’s a changing market, but it’s an expanding and growing market, and I’m psyched to be riding the wave up front with Gary and Batman.
Thanks, Geoff, for chatting with us.
not interested. DC is obsessed with redos.
^^^true, but the concept of out of continuity original graphic novels sounds to good to pass up, and these are quality creative teams. and it doesn't sound like complete retreads...johns said he's going to introduce a new villain right out of the gate.
so you're not interested in a geoff johns/gary frank batman?
really the whole original graphic novel thing is something they should've done years ago.
what do u mean shouldve done years ago? specifially for this material or in general..cuz DC does have OGNs and ya thats a good team but idk
in general, and I know they've done shit before, but not as a series...i mean making material that's self contained and aimed directly at casual fans who might go to border's or barnes and noble or whatever but not to a comic store every wednesday.
i don't know...i read the interviews and aside from the fact that everyone involved is talented, it sounds intriguing.
the american comics industry is a joke.
the top selling american comic sells like 1/10th of the top selling manga. they need to do something...when it seems like there's a comic adaptation every month that does good box office numbers but comics themselves are still looked at sideways in the mainstream, they need fresh methods...
really, you're right that rehashing batman and superman may not be the way to go...the way to go to appeal to new readers would be entirely new characters in self-contained stories....
look at watchmen, over 20 years later and that still sells because anyone can pick it up and read it and be done with it. i gave the first volume of criminal to one of his boys and his first question was "do i have to buy a bunch of other shit or can i just read this and understand it?" that's pretty pitiful.
imagine giving dark reign or blackest night or whatever to someone who's never read comics before but is interested because they like 'dark knight' or 'iron man.' hilarity would ensue.
sorry for the ramble.
speaking of OGNs, 'Luna Park' from Vertigo was very good...did anybody read 'Filthy Rich' from Azzarello?
about filthy rich...i was thinking of readin.
DCU IN 2010: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE hits in April
Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
By Alex Segura
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The World’s Greatest Detective is facing his toughest mystery.
Lost in the timestream, believed to be dead by his friends and enemies alike, Bruce Wayne must use every bit of intelligence, every ounce of strength and training he’s acquired over the years to find his way back to the city, and adopted family of vigilantes, he’d left behind.
Blasted by the mysterious and powerful Omega Effect in the pages of FINAL CRISIS during a deadly battle with the malevolent New God Darkseid, Bruce Wayne must battle back through the waves of time to reclaim what was his – his city, his life…his cowl?
From the kinetic and awe-inspiring imagination of writer Grant Morrison and an all-star cast of artists, including Chris Sprouse, who’ll handle art chores on the first issue, BATMAN: THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE #1 (of 6) hits in April and will prove to be Bruce Wayne’s defining moment as a hero, and his toughest challenge yet.
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But enough from me – what do the players have to say about this breaking news? Well, suffice to say, Morrison is calling the mini-series: “The latest chapter in the long-running, ‘definitive’ Batman epic.”
And how ’bout those amazing Andy Kubert design sketches?
For a bit more,swing by USA TODAY.com, where John Geddes sits down with Morrison to get more insight on where Bruce Wayne – and the entire Bat-universe – is heading.
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Grant Morrison on return of original Batman Updated 5h 37m ago | Comments 24 | Recommend 31 E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | http://images.usatoday.com/marketing/_images/rssbox.gif http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2...ve_sketchx.jpg http://i.usatoday.net/_common/_images/clear.gif http://i.usatoday.net/_common/_image...de/enlarge.gif Enlarge Batman copyright DC Comics, art by Andy Kubert http://i.usatoday.net/_common/_images/clear.gif Character sketches from the upcoming DC Comics series "The Return of Bruce Wayne," available Summer 2010.
http://images.usatoday.com/life/_pho...te_sketchx.jpghttp://images.usatoday.com/_common/_...de/enlarge.gif EnlargeAndy Kubert, DC Comicshttp://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gifSketch from DC Comics upcoming "The Return of Bruce Wayne"
By John Geddes, USA TODAY
Where in the world is Bruce Wayne? Or, to be more accurate, when in the world is Bruce Wayne?
It has been nearly a year since comic book readers last saw Wayne, better known to most as the original Batman. While battling a god-like villain named Darkseid during DC Comics' Final Crisis series, Batman was hit by an energy beam that sent him hurling out of control to an unknown place in time. Bruce Wayne hasn't been seen or heard from since. Until now.
In 2010, DC Comics will launch a new series created and written by legendary comic book scribe Grant Morrison. Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne finds the original Batman trying to reclaim his memory, his identity and his proper place in time and space. The series marks the return of one of comic book's most iconic characters and, Morrison says, begins an important new chapter in a complex series of Batman stories that the author has been developing and intertwining over the past five years.
Morrison recently took time with USA TODAY's John Geddes to answer questions about the upcoming series and provide some insight and hints about where the story will lead.
Q: In Final Crisis, the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, is hit by the Omega Beam during a battle with the villain Darkseid. This beam sends Wayne spinning into the unknown, cast off into the time stream. He is thought to be dead by both friends and enemies. In the aftermath, the role of Batman is assumed by the original Robin, Dick Grayson, and the role of Robin is assumed by Bruce Wayne's son, Damian. What else should readers know as a lead-in to The Return of Bruce Wayne?
A: Could there possibly be anything else to know after that masterful summing-up?
To be honest, I don't think readers need to know even that much in order to enjoy Return. Although it's also the latest chapter in the long-running, "definitive" Batman epic I've been trying to pull off since 2005, Return has been structured and written to read as a complete story on its own — everything a new reader needs to know will be in the pages of the book itself. Read all the graphic novel collections together, however, and a much bigger, more complex and involving story will emerge.
Return is a fairly intricate time-travel story in which the world's greatest hero, the optimum man, is up against the supreme challenge to his ingenuity and skill. How does Batman get out of the ultimate trap? It has a mystery and an apocalyptic countdown going on, there are some major twists and reveals, and it sets up big changes to the Batman universe status quo.
Q: It's my understanding that Return will follow Bruce Wayne through different eras as he makes his way — presumably — back to the modern day. Any hints on which eras we might see Bruce exploring in his quest to find his proper place in time?
A: The first episode is set in the Late-Paleolithic Era, the second is in Pilgrim-era Gotham Village, and we also get to see Gotham in Western or noir style.
Each of the stories is a twist on a different "pulp hero" genre — so there's the caveman story, the witchhunter/Puritan adventurer thing, the pirate Batman, the cowboy, the P.I. — as a nod toward those mad old 1950s comics with Caveman Batman and Viking Batman adventures. It's Bruce Wayne's ultimate challenge — Batman vs. history itself!
I've tried to thoroughly research each time period so that the stories work not only as at least fairly plausible reconstructions of life in the real 17th or 19th centuries but also as romanticized "pulp" versions too, while at the same time referencing the more extravagant history of the fictional DC Comics Universe in the background.
Q: How many issues are planned for The Return of Bruce Wayne series?
A: There are six issues of Return. The first one's 38 pages long, the rest are 30.
Q: Without giving away any spoilers, how will/would the return of Bruce Wayne to the present day affect the dynamic of the current Batman & Robin duo? Might we see Damian Wayne develop into a new character?
A: As I mentioned above, the status quo of the Batman universe will be changed completely after this book. This is the beginning of a new and different take on the idea of Batman as we approach the 010s — the latest of these ever more fleeting and flimsy modern decades!
Q: There are certain readers out there who will undoubtedly complain about yet another rebirth or reincarnation of a famous comic book character. What about Return is going to be different from these past stories in which iconic characters have been brought back to life?
A: As we saw at the end of the Final Crisis book, Bruce Wayne was never dead, only AWOL, so this was never a literal "back to life" story. And I like to think the series will have a wider general appeal than some of the continuity driven "death and rebirth"-type stories we've seen before.
This is more for me about putting Batman/Bruce Wayne through my own, and my collaborators' version, of the ultimate test of who and what he is. So far I've had him overcome the Devil, Madness and Death; now we see him, truly lost, amnesiac, and stripped down to basic human survival mode in some extremely hostile environments and unfamiliar situations. He's the best fighter in his world, he's one of the smartest and most driven men who ever lived, but we've seen him outwit the Joker 10,000 times. This was a way of taking the character off the grid, as they say, and reminding readers what kind of man he is and what he's capable of. If you wonder why Batman is so cool — here's why Batman is so cool.
This is an attempt to look at a very familiar character from some unusual angles. And it's about Bruce and who he is — I want to remind people how the man and the mask are inseparable parts of a terrifying whole.
Q: You're a writer who has never been afraid to experiment with storylines involving major characters. What are some of the challenges you face when developing stories specific to such a high-profile character as Batman/Bruce Wayne?
A. The challenge is to keep everything familiar while making what appear to be far-reaching changes and having characters react as if those changes are permanent!
Batman needs to be eternally young, renewed like some pagan Fertility King to suit the changing tastes of his audience in each fresh generation. Batman can never grow old or die — and stories, no matter how good, which depict these events cannot be considered "canon." Batman was born in 1939 and would now be a sprightly 70-year-old if he aged like the rest of us. The "real" Batman, however, enjoys godlike immortality and must always be 30-ish moneyed orphan, Bruce Wayne, who dresses as a bat to fight crime. The trick is to tell stories which expand the limits of how far you can go and still maintain the integrity of the basic idea. And everything has to be done with the knowledge and understanding that I — as the current writer — am only a tiny link in a long chain of all the people who already have or will one day tell stories about Batman.
Q: Your writing for Batman over the years has seen you interpret the character through a variety of lenses (a Zen-warrior, a darkly philosophical detective, the traditional hero, etc.) With Return, what type of Bruce Wayne are we going to see?
A: All the elements that make up this great pop icon will be upfront — his intellect, his detective skills, his martial arts abilities, his heroism and compassion and grit. His chiseled cheekbones! In this series, in particular, he represents us, humanity, at our very best and most resourceful. And, in the first issue, we get to see the many advantages ninja training has over the traditional caveman grunt-and-lunge technique.
Batman's story begins with Bruce Wayne, kneeling by the bodies of his murdered mom and dad. To me, at the most basic root of Batman is the story of the ultimate survivor. The Return of Bruce Wayne— a title that becomes increasingly ominous as the story progresses — puts that aspect of Batman under the microscope.
Q: Themes play such a huge role in most, if not all, of your writing. Is there an overarching theme running throughout the story of Return?
A: Survival. Not only the physical survival of our hero but the survival through time of memories, grudges, artifacts, ideas. What persists? What endures?
Q: Over the years, you've been involved with some of the most well-known and beloved characters out there — Batman, Superman, JLA, X-Men and Fantastic Four, just to name a few. Are there other iconic comic characters you'd like to reinterpret or for whom you'd like to develop storylines?
A. I'm very happy with the take on the Captain Marvel/Shazam universe that appears as part of the upcoming Multiversity series of books, but that's it for the moment. Along with Geoff Johns and Marv Wolfman, I'm part of the consulting team at DC Entertainment involved in rethinking some of DC's big characters for the screen. So between that and the comics, I think I've had my say on just about every comic book character I've ever had any interest in.
Q: Who else comprises the creative team attached to Return? Can you speak about how it's been to work with this team?
A: I haven't seen any of the art yet. The book launches in the summer and each issue is drawn by a different artist, so that side of it has barely got underway. I know Chris Sprouse is penciling the first one, so I'm fairly confident it'll be the best comic set in the Late Paleolithic Era that you'll have seen for a very long time. I'm a huge fan of Chris' work, so I'm keen to see what he's done. I think Frazer Irving might do the second one, cementing his reputation as the comic world's most prominent Puritan Goth Adventure artist.
Q: Aside from Return, what new work can readers look forward to from Grant Morrison in 2010?
A: Mostly Batman work — I'm doing at least another year of stories with Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne in the Batman and Robin book before that book starts to dovetail with Return and we rush headlong and screaming into the next big, earth-shattering, game-changing twist in the life of Batman.
I'm slowly working my way through the Multiversity sequence of books and loving it. I've set myself the task of making each issue the best superhero story I've ever written, so I'm growing them patiently and all together before I hand the scripts out to artists.
There's also the Joe the Barbarian book with Sean Murphy, which starts in January at Vertigo and is my first new, creator-owned comic for a while.
For more information on Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, check out the official series announcement on the DC Universe blog.
Grant Morrison on return of original Batman Updated 5h 37m ago | Comments 24 | Recommend 31 E-mail | Save | Print | Reprints & Permissions | http://images.usatoday.com/marketing/_images/rssbox.gif http://i.usatoday.net/life/_photos/2...ve_sketchx.jpg http://i.usatoday.net/_common/_images/clear.gif http://i.usatoday.net/_common/_image...de/enlarge.gif Enlarge Batman copyright DC Comics, art by Andy Kubert http://i.usatoday.net/_common/_images/clear.gif Character sketches from the upcoming DC Comics series "The Return of Bruce Wayne," available Summer 2010.
http://images.usatoday.com/life/_pho...te_sketchx.jpghttp://images.usatoday.com/_common/_...de/enlarge.gif EnlargeAndy Kubert, DC Comicshttp://images.usatoday.com/_common/_images/clear.gifSketch from DC Comics upcoming "The Return of Bruce Wayne"
By John Geddes, USA TODAY
Where in the world is Bruce Wayne? Or, to be more accurate, when in the world is Bruce Wayne?
It has been nearly a year since comic book readers last saw Wayne, better known to most as the original Batman. While battling a god-like villain named Darkseid during DC Comics' Final Crisis series, Batman was hit by an energy beam that sent him hurling out of control to an unknown place in time. Bruce Wayne hasn't been seen or heard from since. Until now.
In 2010, DC Comics will launch a new series created and written by legendary comic book scribe Grant Morrison. Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne finds the original Batman trying to reclaim his memory, his identity and his proper place in time and space. The series marks the return of one of comic book's most iconic characters and, Morrison says, begins an important new chapter in a complex series of Batman stories that the author has been developing and intertwining over the past five years.
Morrison recently took time with USA TODAY's John Geddes to answer questions about the upcoming series and provide some insight and hints about where the story will lead.
Q: In Final Crisis, the original Batman, Bruce Wayne, is hit by the Omega Beam during a battle with the villain Darkseid. This beam sends Wayne spinning into the unknown, cast off into the time stream. He is thought to be dead by both friends and enemies. In the aftermath, the role of Batman is assumed by the original Robin, Dick Grayson, and the role of Robin is assumed by Bruce Wayne's son, Damian. What else should readers know as a lead-in to The Return of Bruce Wayne?
A: Could there possibly be anything else to know after that masterful summing-up?
To be honest, I don't think readers need to know even that much in order to enjoy Return. Although it's also the latest chapter in the long-running, "definitive" Batman epic I've been trying to pull off since 2005, Return has been structured and written to read as a complete story on its own — everything a new reader needs to know will be in the pages of the book itself. Read all the graphic novel collections together, however, and a much bigger, more complex and involving story will emerge.
Return is a fairly intricate time-travel story in which the world's greatest hero, the optimum man, is up against the supreme challenge to his ingenuity and skill. How does Batman get out of the ultimate trap? It has a mystery and an apocalyptic countdown going on, there are some major twists and reveals, and it sets up big changes to the Batman universe status quo.
Q: It's my understanding that Return will follow Bruce Wayne through different eras as he makes his way — presumably — back to the modern day. Any hints on which eras we might see Bruce exploring in his quest to find his proper place in time?
A: The first episode is set in the Late-Paleolithic Era, the second is in Pilgrim-era Gotham Village, and we also get to see Gotham in Western or noir style.
Each of the stories is a twist on a different "pulp hero" genre — so there's the caveman story, the witchhunter/Puritan adventurer thing, the pirate Batman, the cowboy, the P.I. — as a nod toward those mad old 1950s comics with Caveman Batman and Viking Batman adventures. It's Bruce Wayne's ultimate challenge — Batman vs. history itself!
I've tried to thoroughly research each time period so that the stories work not only as at least fairly plausible reconstructions of life in the real 17th or 19th centuries but also as romanticized "pulp" versions too, while at the same time referencing the more extravagant history of the fictional DC Comics Universe in the background.
Q: How many issues are planned for The Return of Bruce Wayne series?
A: There are six issues of Return. The first one's 38 pages long, the rest are 30.
Q: Without giving away any spoilers, how will/would the return of Bruce Wayne to the present day affect the dynamic of the current Batman & Robin duo? Might we see Damian Wayne develop into a new character?
A: As I mentioned above, the status quo of the Batman universe will be changed completely after this book. This is the beginning of a new and different take on the idea of Batman as we approach the 010s — the latest of these ever more fleeting and flimsy modern decades!
Q: There are certain readers out there who will undoubtedly complain about yet another rebirth or reincarnation of a famous comic book character. What about Return is going to be different from these past stories in which iconic characters have been brought back to life?
A: As we saw at the end of the Final Crisis book, Bruce Wayne was never dead, only AWOL, so this was never a literal "back to life" story. And I like to think the series will have a wider general appeal than some of the continuity driven "death and rebirth"-type stories we've seen before.
This is more for me about putting Batman/Bruce Wayne through my own, and my collaborators' version, of the ultimate test of who and what he is. So far I've had him overcome the Devil, Madness and Death; now we see him, truly lost, amnesiac, and stripped down to basic human survival mode in some extremely hostile environments and unfamiliar situations. He's the best fighter in his world, he's one of the smartest and most driven men who ever lived, but we've seen him outwit the Joker 10,000 times. This was a way of taking the character off the grid, as they say, and reminding readers what kind of man he is and what he's capable of. If you wonder why Batman is so cool — here's why Batman is so cool.
This is an attempt to look at a very familiar character from some unusual angles. And it's about Bruce and who he is — I want to remind people how the man and the mask are inseparable parts of a terrifying whole.
Q: You're a writer who has never been afraid to experiment with storylines involving major characters. What are some of the challenges you face when developing stories specific to such a high-profile character as Batman/Bruce Wayne?
A. The challenge is to keep everything familiar while making what appear to be far-reaching changes and having characters react as if those changes are permanent!
Batman needs to be eternally young, renewed like some pagan Fertility King to suit the changing tastes of his audience in each fresh generation. Batman can never grow old or die — and stories, no matter how good, which depict these events cannot be considered "canon." Batman was born in 1939 and would now be a sprightly 70-year-old if he aged like the rest of us. The "real" Batman, however, enjoys godlike immortality and must always be 30-ish moneyed orphan, Bruce Wayne, who dresses as a bat to fight crime. The trick is to tell stories which expand the limits of how far you can go and still maintain the integrity of the basic idea. And everything has to be done with the knowledge and understanding that I — as the current writer — am only a tiny link in a long chain of all the people who already have or will one day tell stories about Batman.
Q: Your writing for Batman over the years has seen you interpret the character through a variety of lenses (a Zen-warrior, a darkly philosophical detective, the traditional hero, etc.) With Return, what type of Bruce Wayne are we going to see?
A: All the elements that make up this great pop icon will be upfront — his intellect, his detective skills, his martial arts abilities, his heroism and compassion and grit. His chiseled cheekbones! In this series, in particular, he represents us, humanity, at our very best and most resourceful. And, in the first issue, we get to see the many advantages ninja training has over the traditional caveman grunt-and-lunge technique.
Batman's story begins with Bruce Wayne, kneeling by the bodies of his murdered mom and dad. To me, at the most basic root of Batman is the story of the ultimate survivor. The Return of Bruce Wayne— a title that becomes increasingly ominous as the story progresses — puts that aspect of Batman under the microscope.
Q: Themes play such a huge role in most, if not all, of your writing. Is there an overarching theme running throughout the story of Return?
A: Survival. Not only the physical survival of our hero but the survival through time of memories, grudges, artifacts, ideas. What persists? What endures?
Q: Over the years, you've been involved with some of the most well-known and beloved characters out there — Batman, Superman, JLA, X-Men and Fantastic Four, just to name a few. Are there other iconic comic characters you'd like to reinterpret or for whom you'd like to develop storylines?
A. I'm very happy with the take on the Captain Marvel/Shazam universe that appears as part of the upcoming Multiversity series of books, but that's it for the moment. Along with Geoff Johns and Marv Wolfman, I'm part of the consulting team at DC Entertainment involved in rethinking some of DC's big characters for the screen. So between that and the comics, I think I've had my say on just about every comic book character I've ever had any interest in.
Q: Who else comprises the creative team attached to Return? Can you speak about how it's been to work with this team?
A: I haven't seen any of the art yet. The book launches in the summer and each issue is drawn by a different artist, so that side of it has barely got underway. I know Chris Sprouse is penciling the first one, so I'm fairly confident it'll be the best comic set in the Late Paleolithic Era that you'll have seen for a very long time. I'm a huge fan of Chris' work, so I'm keen to see what he's done. I think Frazer Irving might do the second one, cementing his reputation as the comic world's most prominent Puritan Goth Adventure artist.
Q: Aside from Return, what new work can readers look forward to from Grant Morrison in 2010?
A: Mostly Batman work — I'm doing at least another year of stories with Dick Grayson and Damian Wayne in the Batman and Robin book before that book starts to dovetail with Return and we rush headlong and screaming into the next big, earth-shattering, game-changing twist in the life of Batman.
I'm slowly working my way through the Multiversity sequence of books and loving it. I've set myself the task of making each issue the best superhero story I've ever written, so I'm growing them patiently and all together before I hand the scripts out to artists.
There's also the Joe the Barbarian book with Sean Murphy, which starts in January at Vertigo and is my first new, creator-owned comic for a while.
For more information on Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne, check out the official series announcement on the DC Universe blog.