tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66420780152736061862024-02-20T11:44:28.491-08:00DEREK FRIDOLFSThe Art Of Writing &
The Writing About ArtAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.comBlogger84125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-69311998057048938792015-11-26T03:42:00.000-08:002015-11-26T03:42:23.236-08:00THANK YOU "JOE"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYRl-RnhMOiIt-29FEpDwRPRWiWXtVIlH8aM6km3Ses5gUXsNP42S2-8rGuB_Ug_sEk1fQtPECtJcwPkHKh4rnf0tNqWdSGT346c4fa_5CQzpyIPPnEc5ViQYMGlxYh2r4RL_kke0usC1/s1600/GIJOE_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVYRl-RnhMOiIt-29FEpDwRPRWiWXtVIlH8aM6km3Ses5gUXsNP42S2-8rGuB_Ug_sEk1fQtPECtJcwPkHKh4rnf0tNqWdSGT346c4fa_5CQzpyIPPnEc5ViQYMGlxYh2r4RL_kke0usC1/s640/GIJOE_1.jpg" width="412" /></a></div>
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If it weren't for G.I.JOE, I wouldn't be working in comics…and possibly not even reading them. Such a profound impact it had on my youthful life growing up!<br />
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Marvel's Joe comics were the first comics I ever bought and read on a regular basis. It was the '80s and I was in grade school. I'd rush home every day to catch the cartoon, and those beautiful 5-part episodic mini-series events. I was captivated by the toys. And they even ran animated commercials back in the day advertising reading the comic. I'd buy those comics from drugstore spinner racks and magazine shops, back when those were a thing. The monthly wait for each issue was excruciating, stopping by each week to see if the new issue came in. And through a friend, I was introduced to a local shop that sold nothing but comics. A way to dig through the back issue bins and get caught up on issues I had missed. Comics nirvana!<br /><br />I remember proclaiming quite profoundly that G.I.JOE (and Transformers) were the only comics I'd need. They seemed "realistic" enough for my tastes. No need bothering with any of those spandex superheroes in tights and capes. Of course, that would change, and I'd get hooked on plenty of Marvel, DC, and Image books throughout the years. But those Joes were my first.<br /><br />It was Larry Hama's writing, those beautiful Mike Zeck covers, and the multiple artists that had runs on the book. The backstories for Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. The Silent Issue. The characters that died, some that came back and others that didn't. Heroes and villains and patriotism and freedom. And eventually, the title ended at Marvel and that would be it.<br /><br />After high school, college, and art school, I'd find myself working in the industry that meant so much as I was growing up. And the Joes came back, published by a few companies. But it was Hama's Joes that would always be my version. So it was a pleasant surprise when IDW got the license and picked back up again with Larry writing his Joes.<br /><br />I was happy it was back. And even more enthused to drop them a line, checking in from time to time, if they ever had an opening to work on it. And with the multi-part "Cobra World Order", I'd get my shot.<br /><br />In the back of my mind, I always thought it would be one of those full circle moments if I ever got to work on a Joe comic…and it totally is! But I never would've thought it would be on a Hama Joe comic. The comic that at one time was cancelled. The writer and staff having moved on.<br /><br />But now my 30 year journey has arrived with my name credited on the cover underneath the writer whose stories gave me so much entertainment, inspiration, and now a career. I've gotten the chance to ink four issues for this story. And hope to do more in the future.<br /><br /><i>YO JOE!</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-90643876107437037612015-03-25T07:14:00.000-07:002015-03-25T07:14:46.830-07:00THAT'S NOT ALL FOLKS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In addition to drawing some covers recently on DC's Looney Tunes comic, I also got the chance to write a story. All those years of waking up at the crack of dawn and watching the show on a Saturday morning sugar cereal high, finally have paid off. I pitched a number of different story ideas, but truth be told, DC and WB picked the one I was most interested in doing. Such a huge love for all those great Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons, it was a blast to do my own.<br /><br />First things first, the cover. Unlike previous covers where they like to see three or more ideas to pick from, I already had a strong idea of what I wanted to do. So with the layout in mind, it was more a manner of trying to find the right expression for Coyote to have. Because it's as much about getting it cleared through WB standards as it is DC. Also why I have the greatest amount of respect for the animators and sequential artists that work on cartoon licensed books. They have to draw these characters "in movement" across the screen or page, multiple times, from multiple angles and situations. Something I'm not entirely comfortable doing. But a one-image cover, I'm always striving to see if I can accomplish that.</div>
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For the story itself, it's always a matter of respecting the property. Trying to have an understanding of what's come before and the tropes of the universe it inhabits. So on animation based properties, I always sit down and watch a lot of them and take notes. Break down what works and what doesn't. And it'll always spark the imagination. </div>
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With ACME such a prevailing part of every Roadrunner cartoon, it was pretty easy coming up with a story that involves Coyote running out of funds and going to work for ACME in order to get more items to use in his never ending quest to get the Roadrunner. It was fun playing around with the idea of ACME being sort of another high-tech version of Amazon or Google.</div>
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The one sight gag I wanted to put early in the story, and I wasn't sure if it would even be allowed, was to have Coyote and Ralph Wolf pass each other in the same panel. I couldn't for the life of me remember if they'd ever been shown together before. But I liked the idea of finally putting to rest any question that they were the same character (Coyote with his black nose and Wolf with his red one).</div>
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When I found out that Dave Alvarez would be drawing my story, I was very excited! I'd followed his work before on his own creation "Yenny", as well as other stories he's drawn for Looney Tunes and Scooby. He's always had a way of faithfully capturing the style of the animation property he's drawing, while making it come to life in his own fun way. And I think the art he did here looks like a lost episode from the show. So clean. Tightly drawn, with solid colors by Candace Schinzler-Bell. Hope to get the chance to work with them again!<br /><br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-34622808237185553432014-10-03T08:39:00.000-07:002014-10-03T08:39:17.975-07:00THAT COVERS IT<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looney Tunes #222 cover</td></tr>
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Man it's been awhile since I've been around these parts…<br /><br />Apologies as I've been absent from posting much here. I'm in an interesting transition period of work. Have wrapped up most of my inking commitments. Writing various short stories and special issues for a range of places (drawing a few of them too). And venturing into the Children's Book Market for the first time as I'm in the early stages of working on what will be a huge publicized project in the coming years. Equal parts daunting and exciting.<br /><br />And another phase of work is getting the chance to draw covers, which I always consider another form of "storytelling"…just with less space involved.<br /><br />The career I'm stumbling through to chisel out, I never expected to work on covers. Or even draw sequentials. I was pretty comfortable just inking for a long stretch of it. But eventually you want to try different things. Opportunities surface. And you're just sort of happy for the chance.<br /><br />Working on Looney Tunes has been pretty exciting. It doesn't seem that long ago (although it's been 25 to 30 years in the past) that I was waking up at the crack of dawn on Saturday mornings, getting hopped up on sugary cereal, and lying on the floor to watch hours of cartoons. Of those, repeats of those great classic Looney Tunes were part of that experience. Now all these years later, working with one of my editors on Batman Li'l Gotham, I'm fortunate to draw some covers for the Looney Tunes comic that DC is still putting out.<br /><br />Drawing such recognizable animated characters is probably the greatest challenge. Unlike most comics where companies (and fans) are interested in an artist's distinct style, it's much different for cartoons (and cartoon based comics). The artist isn't the star attraction, the character and their design is. And being focused to draw them as close to "on model" as you can is the most important part.<br /><br />For a couple of years before I got into comics, I was in art school specifically to get into animation. Character animation, inbetweening, clean-up, storyboarding; and shopping my portfolio around animation studios. And even though comics always was the bug that bit me first, I've always enjoyed animated material. But it's also tough to try to fit into that style on a consistent basis. But doing covers is a little easier than drawing or animating these characters more sequentially or frequently.<br /><br />Below are some of my thumbnail ideas for this cover. Covers usually happen one of two ways. You either just randomly draw whatever you feel like and it doesn't have to relate to the story. Or you get the script and come up with ideas around it. This was sort of a mix of both. I got to read the script, and drew some space themed ideas, even though the cover scene never specifically happens in the story itself. Still it's a fun exercise to try to capture a theme in one image that will make the reader want to buy the comic.<br /><br />I have another cover I'm doing for the comic as well as writing the story for it too. But I'll cover that (no pun intended) in a future post.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-54728948691474763892014-04-30T07:01:00.000-07:002014-04-30T07:01:57.276-07:00EXPERIMENTAL STEPS<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Just like all science experiments, there are steps involved in order to create. It's no different here, bringing back a beloved cartoon to comics. So here are six steps involved in creating the new <i><b>DEXTER'S LABORATORY</b></i> comic at IDW . . .<br /><br /><br /><b><u>STEP 1: THE PITCH</u></b><br /><br />In this industry, I've found this rule-of-thumb applies best…<br /><br /> <i>It's always better to be asked than to ask.</i><br /><br />I've tried pitching for various titles and companies in the past. Cold call submissions. You might know someone at a company, or sometimes not at all. But you're hopeful your resume of past work will help them consider you, so you contact them first. For the most part, it generally never works that often. Pitches get turned down for any number of reasons (similar projects in the pipeline, they're not looking, or they just flat out hate the idea). But when a company comes to you, you at least know they're interested in the project, and more importantly, in you.<br /><br />I was approached by Sarah Gaydos, who had previously edited me on Batman Li'l Gotham at DC. Now that she was at IDW and in charge of the Cartoon Network line of kids book, she asked if I'd be interested in pitching for Dexter's Laboratory. It was a show I fondly remembered when it came out during my latter years in college before I graduated. I loved the humor, and felt this would be an ideal follow-up to the fun stories I helped write in Li'l Gotham.<br /><br />Pitching is just like a job interview. You have a resume of past work and connections that can get your foot in the door. But it really comes down to presenting yourself (your idea) as best you can and just hope that they like it. Add to that, that you're not the only one pitching. You assume, and rightfully so, that others were asked to present their ideas as well. So you're in competition with others as well as yourself, right out the gate. Putting your best foot forward and coming up with the idea itself can be the most nerve wracking part of the process.<br /><br />When pitching for a licensed title, the research involved means watching cartoons (or as I call it…the perks of the job). Dex had many seasons of shows, and a lot to go through in a limited time. But the idea for my story came within watching just a few episodes. Really it came down to seeing the opening title sequence for every episode. Seeing the antagonistic relationship between brother and sister, and no matter what Dexter created, it would be inevitably destroyed by Dee Dee. I started forming the basic plot for a 4-issue storyline, jotted it all down on a one page pitch and sent it off. Of that, the premise became:<br /><br /><b><i>There is one thing that has always ruined every experiment Dexter has ever created…his sister, Dee Dee. Realizing the only way to ever succeed is by removing this error from the equation, Dexter believes he's created the perfect world in which to reach his ultimate potential. Instead, his dream becomes a nightmare once he realizes he needs Dee Dee, and will go to the end of the world to bring her back.</i></b><br /><br />As the case is with pitching, sometimes you hear back but usually not at all. You cast away, hope for the best, and move on. I can't recall if it had been weeks or months when I heard back, but I was out of town and checking my email on my phone when I got the word that Cartoon Network liked the story and greenlighted it! Before I could celebrate, it was time to start drafting up the outlines to each issue, and get the ball rolling.<br /><br /><br /><b><u>STEP 2: THE SCRIPT</u></b><br /><br />There are actually a few steps for the process of writing comics. For me, it's turning in an outline for each issue (generally a page or two long that plays out the various beats and ideas for the issue). There's writing the scripts themselves (I always write full script…breaking down every page and panel with description and dialogue). Writing is rewriting, so once you get notes back from the editor and the licensor, it usually only takes one more draft to turn in. And towards the end of the process after all the art and lettering is done, is the proof stage. To see how it looks and turn in any last minute notes (usually to add or take out dialogue as the case may be).<br /><br />For Dexter, the scripts came pretty easy. A lot is watching enough episodes to get a feel for how the show writers helped give voice to the characters. I always try to remain as true to the show as I can. I want to hear the actors in my head when scripting them for the comics. It's the best compliment to get when someone reads the comic and says it reads like the show or they hear the actors. And you always hear horror stories of various networks asking for lots of changes and being tough to work with. But Cartoon Network has been very easy. I noticed that when writing the Adventure Time comics and it was no different on the Dexter's Lab comics.<br /><br /><br /><b><u>STEP 3: THE COVER</u></b><br /><br />Knowing that IDW publishes multiple covers for each issue of their comics, I wanted to see if I could draw one (especially for a title I'd be writing). So it was agreed I'd do one for the very first issue. From this point, it was a matter of drawing up some thumbnail ideas for what the cover might look like. And the idea for what would become my cover, came while sitting in traffic. Stuck on the 405 in LA, bumper to bumper, I had a notepad in my passenger seat. And when the idea of Dexter stuck in a tube held by Dee Dee in his lab popped into my mind…I drew up a rough sketch. I later revised it into a few different designs.<br /><br />Once approved by Cartoon Network and IDW, I went about drawing it up in blue pencil, then ink, then passed it along to the colorist, Pamela Lovas. Aside from web comics and convention prints, this is her first professional published work that I know of, and I think she did a fantastic job. Actually added so much more to my very basic idea. And I've worked with her again on an upcoming Adventure Time story.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8QbWSg-ZIrpZh9jocjq4LD6S8J3o8aO1e-NHx_NjKf-V2yLK-jhRYQybUAXs1p_hIGrIBMA4GY-MQetxH5ELCKrzEx7GNlT-Y_O7OIjiwqRsTJZrKGCJST09BoJUTxCoRHAZCcwuNhmZ_/s1600/DexterPrelimArt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8QbWSg-ZIrpZh9jocjq4LD6S8J3o8aO1e-NHx_NjKf-V2yLK-jhRYQybUAXs1p_hIGrIBMA4GY-MQetxH5ELCKrzEx7GNlT-Y_O7OIjiwqRsTJZrKGCJST09BoJUTxCoRHAZCcwuNhmZ_/s1600/DexterPrelimArt.jpg" height="500" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cover Process with thumbnails and rough pencils (art by Derek Fridolfs)</i></td></tr>
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<br /><b><u>STEP 4: THE LAYOUTS</u></b><br /><br />Not every project I'm on, do I get to see the rough pencils before the art is finished. A lot of time, books are already under tight deadlines, and the writer doesn't see anything until the proofing stage (and sometimes not even then). But we were on schedule or ahead of it, that I'd get sent some of the rough layouts by artist Ryan Jampole. And even at this stage I was excited, because his roughs looked on-model and clean. I could already imagine what the finished art would look like!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLeLlKR5O8eckWcdVAPOgIzqGIXh8m5Ue-iJYkO4CNmOoLeU8q-W1DETLAbE1FWa2Q1XigCKaV_05EMSlM7VQzKLAX8ItZyGerPtR7Q_l9WXWNAKkcnk0d1tB6tnpCloYx5tDISYrYx-Eo/s1600/Layouts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLeLlKR5O8eckWcdVAPOgIzqGIXh8m5Ue-iJYkO4CNmOoLeU8q-W1DETLAbE1FWa2Q1XigCKaV_05EMSlM7VQzKLAX8ItZyGerPtR7Q_l9WXWNAKkcnk0d1tB6tnpCloYx5tDISYrYx-Eo/s1600/Layouts.jpg" height="484" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Layouts by artist Ryan Jampole</i></td></tr>
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<br /><br /><b><u>STEP 5: THE ART</u></b><br /><br />Ryan Jampole on pencils & inks. Jeremy Colwell on colors. I'm not sure how close they worked together, but I think they blend together extremely well. The cartoon is heavily centered around blues and greens. And sometimes, that might get drab or come across flat on the comic page. But I think a nice balance has been reached. To the point that the art looks so close to the animation cels from the show.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAj1YfZJOlBGg1UCXbgBuPq5pzSfI012L1vQVYQptiJJYz2sc82cbW-wKpc0-urO70FtQc25q88zku2OyD0HMeFRCi0g-9AyqB6aro0OlaKASKC18xNH-1_SAYiDYIv4kUGWYDdY2AMcmb/s1600/Pages1-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAj1YfZJOlBGg1UCXbgBuPq5pzSfI012L1vQVYQptiJJYz2sc82cbW-wKpc0-urO70FtQc25q88zku2OyD0HMeFRCi0g-9AyqB6aro0OlaKASKC18xNH-1_SAYiDYIv4kUGWYDdY2AMcmb/s1600/Pages1-2.jpg" height="496" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Art by Ryan Jampole and Jeremy Colwell</i></td></tr>
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<br /><b><u>STEP 6: THE STANDS</u></b><br /><br />And the final step….you the audience!<br /><br />The first issue, in all its covers, hits stands today. And I'm hopeful that new and old fans will like it. And I'd love to hear from ya. Feel free to comment.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGj61T6DDbY84h94q7wRMpJSgjxfinYYmNQEcBe623gFLb3BpQusUyG_DM20yAUsYCHWsTai6XKidy_A8_c2sbPTppXs1RczyxmUrOwWtmJYrMokRfaQEXEZ-KaT_f6fNGpYW0DlPRvabg/s1600/Covers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGj61T6DDbY84h94q7wRMpJSgjxfinYYmNQEcBe623gFLb3BpQusUyG_DM20yAUsYCHWsTai6XKidy_A8_c2sbPTppXs1RczyxmUrOwWtmJYrMokRfaQEXEZ-KaT_f6fNGpYW0DlPRvabg/s1600/Covers.jpg" height="328" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Covers by Ryan Jampole, Derek Charm, and Derek Fridolfs with Pamela Lovas</i></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-83775449319461966072014-03-24T10:04:00.000-07:002014-03-24T10:04:55.582-07:00UP UP AND AWAY!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Zs5ORu_d0_3WrUMdCjm1_id1Q2Q1hvmO3wSp6WrlbXlZwoH4BUvFgqOh0764tfSLcoTIWdukv2SSzndGhXmxYNMhnZlFcDrAKekwRBlRew6mH83Xy9Rx2bQ62oBiuPKmDDkkd6nfDueL/s1600/SupermanCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Zs5ORu_d0_3WrUMdCjm1_id1Q2Q1hvmO3wSp6WrlbXlZwoH4BUvFgqOh0764tfSLcoTIWdukv2SSzndGhXmxYNMhnZlFcDrAKekwRBlRew6mH83Xy9Rx2bQ62oBiuPKmDDkkd6nfDueL/s1600/SupermanCover.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></div>
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Superman is one of those characters you never think you'll get a chance to work on. Arguably <i>THE</i> #1 recognizable superhero and trademark for the industry. The cape, bright colors…truth, justice, and the American way. And when the DC Digital First "Adventures Of Superman" title was announced as an out-of-continuity anthology where creators could put their stamp on the character, it would provide an opportunity to do a story that might be a little old fashioned. One that wasn't tied into the current look or feel for the character at the company. And one I couldn't wait to tackle.<br /><br />The longer I work in comics, the more I see the chances to work on some of these icons as fleeting. The directions for these characters, their titles, and their creators, all get set up many months if not years in advance. Very few spots become available and very few fill-ins anymore. So when you do get to tell a story with them, you really feel like this might be the only chance you'll get. You really feel the pressure of the "kitchen sink"approach. That you better have a great story to tell and put in everything you want to say about that character, because you might never have another chance. And that's really the approach I took with my story.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuL3yjTwRcy0yghrTVf5yb7Rxh80hvG6trFwwSHs12wktsHg18sUnp8B-TGsRsaJYqbIE9G_CrMKYyHa8Iyd3-eSUmL4e03u596VhWuBSrn1_1tq3WVdCg-Zo-wxl-3ogwYq1kdUdget5J/s1600/Superman1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuL3yjTwRcy0yghrTVf5yb7Rxh80hvG6trFwwSHs12wktsHg18sUnp8B-TGsRsaJYqbIE9G_CrMKYyHa8Iyd3-eSUmL4e03u596VhWuBSrn1_1tq3WVdCg-Zo-wxl-3ogwYq1kdUdget5J/s1600/Superman1.jpg" height="497" width="640" /></a></div>
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Everyone has their favorite version of Superman, whether it's the film interpretation by Christopher Reeve or the era of the comic they first started to read. My approach was more animated. I loved both the Fleisher era and the Timm/Dini/Burnett show that also drew from it. I wanted to include all the classic tropes…The Daily Planet, Lois not knowing Clark's secret identity, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor and Brainiac cameos, Superman put in an unenviable position with a life on the line and no easy answer, and of course, the underwear on the outside. I wanted to split the time in Metropolis as well as a rural small town farm community. And I had to find space for it all in 20 pages.<br /><br />I don't remember exactly how I landed on the idea of "Letters To Superman". Just that it's probably been done in the Superman comics of the past, as well as for other characters. And it provides for an interesting story angle. For Clark to step outside of his Superman persona for a brief moment and see how others view him. It's something I've recently experienced myself from time-to-time when DC will forward some letters from school students to me asking questions or sending along their words of appreciation. You get so used to sitting in front of the computer or art table, alone in a room, working on comics by yourself; that it's nice to get a handwritten or typed letter from someone you've reached with your work and realize there are people out there enjoying it. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUKXHiq49YjuaHq0wfhFlFxA03XikxeIZ_zkIfVh89WpOCw3UQ0yvdojG7v6CyA3eLnBCHhwT7xTEtx3LAvmVanmj-WIUZRHC8205wwcsJ3-XQpQVCH31CJI6Fki-Ky15zxgnATwMoKTu/s1600/Superman2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUUKXHiq49YjuaHq0wfhFlFxA03XikxeIZ_zkIfVh89WpOCw3UQ0yvdojG7v6CyA3eLnBCHhwT7xTEtx3LAvmVanmj-WIUZRHC8205wwcsJ3-XQpQVCH31CJI6Fki-Ky15zxgnATwMoKTu/s1600/Superman2.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></div>
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One thing that surprised me after my story came out was a comparison to the "Man Of Steel" film. One even pointed out that it might've been in direct opposition to it. That the movie had all sorts of collateral damage by keeping the battle in the city and lives lost, while my story took the fight out of the city and into the farmland. To keep any casualties to a minimum. And my enemy wasn't killed at the end but saved through other means. Of course, none of this was on purpose or some kind of statement on my part. I had no idea at the time of writing my story how it might be compared to a film that hadn't come out yet. I had turned in my script at the start of 2013, and a film I didn't know the full details about wouldn't get released until that summer. And while I prefer a more throwback approach to the character in my story, I still am a big fan of the "Man Of Steel" version as well. I think Superman is a large enough character (much like Batman) that I appreciate all variations and that there's room for various interpretations.<br /><br />But the most amount of fun I had working on this was with my good friend Sean "Cheeks" Galloway on art. I met Sean online waaaaay back before he had broken into the industry. And seeing him rise through the ranks of comics and animation has been a fun journey to witness. As someone who has his own studio of creators working for him at Table Taffy, I wasn't sure how busy he was. So it was perfect timing that he was able to fit this story into his workload. I knew since we both grew up at the same time and have similar interests, that this would be a story he'd enjoy working on and geared to a more all-ages mindset. And he'd be able to give it that sort of cartoon cel shaded style that he's known for (having been the designer on the Spectacular Spider-Man show and Hellboy Animated films). And you'll be seeing more from us in the future as well, as I've written for some of his Kickstarter created projects.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvdjNS_-QZKYA9WJhcq_eIIepfv-xARraexlcQvLXenmAEcYSfFz6vZwaZlwProV_9UQKhu7ea5ZMF9IkYEltjSGz4t8Q-snj1BcoxDLU3Lz-1tuskW8rebN0VoLOsbBK7jv15utsHk7Z/s1600/LayoutColors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXvdjNS_-QZKYA9WJhcq_eIIepfv-xARraexlcQvLXenmAEcYSfFz6vZwaZlwProV_9UQKhu7ea5ZMF9IkYEltjSGz4t8Q-snj1BcoxDLU3Lz-1tuskW8rebN0VoLOsbBK7jv15utsHk7Z/s1600/LayoutColors.jpg" height="496" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Layouts and finished color art by "Cheeks"</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-53229957204441582982014-02-25T04:03:00.000-08:002014-02-25T04:03:12.638-08:00A LI'L FINISH<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo6JaJOKnR5_nftc8IsFdNYtFuv9XBq35qWyS4QKl5-NNMQFP1kHbNhgfqL5d3lEYADvC_z63M_ClWf7ARpxFw9r8TdsOcUE-drHL7Q3wuycki8KUm_X7XV6NpGq7XT3Ocj-f2auzkiBd1/s1600/Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo6JaJOKnR5_nftc8IsFdNYtFuv9XBq35qWyS4QKl5-NNMQFP1kHbNhgfqL5d3lEYADvC_z63M_ClWf7ARpxFw9r8TdsOcUE-drHL7Q3wuycki8KUm_X7XV6NpGq7XT3Ocj-f2auzkiBd1/s1600/Cover.jpg" height="640" width="417" /></a></div>
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It's been a little hectic around these parts as I've been juggling all sorts of jobs lately the last few months. Writing in comics and the computer game industry, back to inking fairly regularly again, and also found the time to draw an upcoming short story as well. Whew! But in the end, I've been neglecting to keep things updated here on this blog. Going to see if I can change that and update things a little more frequently.<br /><br />Batman Li'l Gotham finally concluded what became an insanely fun ride. What started as Dustin pitching chibi characters for a line of snow globes, turned into a couple short backups in the Batman Annuals, and eventually to a full blown digital and print series. Out of all the projects I've written, it might've been one of the easiest to write for. Dustin always had the tough task of having to draw and paint it all on a tight schedule that never let up. But I got to kick back, brainstorm with him, and come up with some of the silliest ideas…and it somehow just clicked. Very little in the way of rewrites. Most of the stories were set to run as-is, which is a huge blessing in this industry.<br /><br />For the very last Li'l Gotham story, I'd had the spark of an idea very early on. I think early in our run after the book had found a very excited and vocal audience, it sort of dawned on me that it would be nice to really think out a nice ending that would wrap our run. To really stick the landing. It's very rare for creators to have a chance to plan an exit long in advance. Usually a book gets cancelled prematurely or the creators pulled from a book with very little time to wrap things up to their satisfaction. So as we went along, I know I was always nervous about wanting to find out exactly when we'd finish. Was it going to be the original 12 stories, the expanded upon 24, or even possibly more after that? I wanted to have a story in the bag so when the time came, we could present it as the last one.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9OcPB7CSHhxSFNtPhLt7oFTD5rIB046W7FtLUC_6YCYx8WdNUHENdcJAf61yqCu882Mwwb50KqsErZjkWOr6sCEViZyv41WCmRrUp1Ph0GDLMQ4IP5u3hyvbcblMHJbZP2B6-V-YkVimM/s1600/TPBcover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9OcPB7CSHhxSFNtPhLt7oFTD5rIB046W7FtLUC_6YCYx8WdNUHENdcJAf61yqCu882Mwwb50KqsErZjkWOr6sCEViZyv41WCmRrUp1Ph0GDLMQ4IP5u3hyvbcblMHJbZP2B6-V-YkVimM/s1600/TPBcover.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
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I don't know where I came up with the idea for having a family album look back, but it just felt appropriate. Li'l Gotham's cast actually grew very big over the year. Lots of friends and family for the Bats, as well as villains. And trying to fit in everything and everyone for a final bow would be a crazy task. At one point, we toyed with the idea of doing a 2-part Christmas story. Sort of a Batman ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. What life in Gotham might be like if Batman wasn't in it. So Bruce would be visited by an early version of himself as Batman (or possibly the Grey Ghost), a current version of Batman, as well as a trip into the future with Batman Beyond. Dustin and I even toyed with having our idealized version of the future. Superman and Old Bruce with kids carrying on the tradition. Have a brighter outlook than the darkness that permeates most of the current books. But as things got closer to Li'l Gotham finishing, we were running out of room with stories we'd already committed to. So we decided on just doing one 10 page story to wrap things up. And the family album concept would be a nice visual treat to look back on all the characters fondly. And of course, give me one more chance to toss in a song by rewriting the "12 Days Of Christmas" Li'l Gotham style. </div>
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While finished, Li'l Gotham remains firmly on my mind with a smile. A chance to continue the collaboration with Dustin and see his vision of this project finally become a reality after taking years to get it greenlit. It helped open a lot of creative doors for me being associated with it. And it's just nice to have something I've worked on be so easily accessible to kids of all ages. I think the trick to how our book worked, was Dustin and I were just having a lot of fun. I don't think I ever thought of trying to write to fit a certain age bracket. I kind of just approached it with the mindset of the animated series with a lighthearted angle to it. To write something I'd enjoy reading. And I think the darker the main books got, the easier it was to go the opposite way and shine a light on the silly absurdity of these characters. But always in good fun.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkpDKFd1pHEspnwSVdtiSjPqpARzN_0KLcSh62Wwpl-9Ikxpv3CVuF8BoaMANl0ufBq3Hxib-NUEzoeZThMepILbvG8OQqPvmCkj8PtcMgv5P0Ru_vAcZf9NzlXfMm2JLxp4yNZ_yl97r/s1600/Toys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkpDKFd1pHEspnwSVdtiSjPqpARzN_0KLcSh62Wwpl-9Ikxpv3CVuF8BoaMANl0ufBq3Hxib-NUEzoeZThMepILbvG8OQqPvmCkj8PtcMgv5P0Ru_vAcZf9NzlXfMm2JLxp4yNZ_yl97r/s1600/Toys.jpg" height="273" width="640" /></a></div>
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So what does the future hold? Our first trade paperback collection is hitting stores, so all these stories will eventually be collected. I think the sales of these can help determine if there's enough demand to bring back the series. And we're going to get some Li'l Gotham action figures coming out this year as well. And hopefully those do well enough to continue past the initial four being offered (I totally wanna get a Li'l Gotham Mr. Freeze…make it happen)!<br /> </div>
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Out of the Li'l city and back into the big city again.</div>
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Thanks for everyone's support! <br /><br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-79087593324406012082013-12-21T05:36:00.001-08:002013-12-21T05:36:50.908-08:00PLAYING A LI'L CATCHUP<div style="text-align: justify;">
It's been a busy last few months juggling a lot of things, that I sort of neglected my blog. So now on the eve of our very last story for Batman: Li'l Gotham, I figured I should go back and share some thoughts on all the previous issues I haven't covered here yet. Provide a little insight for how some of these stories came about…</div>
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<br /><u><b>SAINT PATRICK'S DAY (digital issue #7)</b></u> = Some of the stories based around the holidays were pretty easy to pair up with certain villains. Anything winter would go to Mr.Freeze. Thanksgiving has a turkey so any bird related stories could have Penguin. With this one, all I could think of was the color green for the holiday, and Riddler wears green. Sometimes it's as simple as that. Now Riddler, as I'm sure most writers and fans would say, is probably one of the toughest characters to write stories for. He's a genius, so already he's smarter than…well…all of us. And trying to work in the riddle or puzzle aspect to his crimes can also rack the brain trying to come up with something. But this was a fun one to have Batman go detective trying to solve the crimes, and get a chance to see a lot of the heroes and villains. Having old-school Lobo in this (my favorite version of the character) was from me. And the large backseat in the batmobile gag…pure Dustin. What I'll remember most about this story is Dustin drawing pages in the hotel at Seattle's Emerald City Con. We were already putting out two stories a month, and with no time to spare, he would be at the convention all day, and in the hotel drawing these all night. Not enough gets said for his commitment putting out a monthly painted book. It's not easily done.<br /><br /><u><b>EASTER (digital issue #8)</b></u> = I think this one came about because of the white rabbit being associated with both <i>Alice In Wonderland</i> and Easter. So it would be a Mad Hatter story by default. I was always looking for ways to make these stories fun for Dustin to draw (and for me and the readers to see), so having stuff like the pixelated video game Damian was playing were things always being added in. Same with different art styles and color schemes that would come into play in later stories. Having Damian tackle the Easter Bunny and fight off mind controlled zombunny kids…just your normal type stuff we'd giggle putting into these stories. And even though it's implied that Hatter ate the egg bomb at the end of the story, I always felt they were playing a joke on him and he didn't really eat it. The bomb's ticking sound was all in his mind. We'd always try to skirt the line between implied or fun fights and not gory violence.</div>
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<u><b>APRIL SHOWERS (digital issue #9)</b></u> = This was always intended to be a 2-part story. "April Showers" being the first part with Mr.Freeze, and the follow up issue would be "May Flowers" with Poison Ivy in an overgrown Gotham from the rain and the plants. What we didn't see coming was Dustin just being overworked with the schedule never allowing time for him to breathe once we started doing two stories a month. So we ended up having a break so he could get caught up, but we'd lose one of the stories this month. So the 2-parter got shortened to 1 issue, which is why Ivy's release from Arkham and quick re-arrest only hinted at what the second issue would've been. One of the aspects I loved most about writing Li'l Gotham was being able to write in familiar nursery rhymes and songs, but adjust them to fit in the story. I got one in here and in other issues as well. Mr.Freeze is probably my favorite Batman villain. Forever always our <i>Charlie Brown</i> in Li'l Gotham, with good intentions but never getting what he wants. And the thank you card at the end of the story, I believe, was drawn in crayon by Dustin's daughter.<br /><br /><u><b>CINCO DE MADNESS (digital issue #10)</b></u> = This issue was spearheaded by Dustin. When we could, we'd sort of divide up stories. He ran with this one and I came in for any additional dialogue or scenes after he finished his first draft. I know Dustin always liked the idea of a Gotham Boys & Girls Club, having a chance to draw Damian, Colin, Tim and the others. The younger kids away from the adults. So this was their chance to shine. Stuff like the scrabble game and taco challenge, again…pure Dustin.</div>
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<u><b>MOTHER'S DAY MANIA (digital issue #11)</b></u> = We begin with a Paul Dini cameo. Dustin and I loved working with him on <i>Detective</i> and <i>Streets Of Gotham</i>, and it felt like a fun nod he'd be in a scene in an issue with his creations (Harley Quinn and Colin Wilkes "Abuse"). I apologize for the bad pun dialogue I gave him. The more we wrote these issues, the more we wanted to keep putting Damian in them. He's a good obnoxious comedy foil for anyone around him. And I admit, I patterned a lot of him after me (right down to his favorite sandwich from a previous issue, choice of pizza toppings in this one, and that I played the trumpet throughout high school and college). It was very easy to vicariously write through him. Most don't know this, but had we continued to work on <i>Streets Of Gotham</i> if it didn't get cancelled, Dini was planning on doing more with Abuse. Including him having his own costume that would be a unique design variation on Batman. Which is why I thought it would be fun to have that show up in this story when he changes into the new costume. I grew to really love doing this sentimental stories. There's really no space for them in current darker books, but we found they fit perfectly in our Li'l universe.<br /><br /><u><b>FATHER'S DAY FUN (digital issue #12)</b></u> = You can't have a Mother's Day without a Father's Day, so this was sort of a paired two-part story. My original influence for this was the episode of <i>Seinfeld</i> where they couldn't get a table at the Chinese restaurant. With that in mind, I thought putting the two opposing families on opposite sides of the same table would lead to some fun heated dialogue. I think having all the boys cooking for Alfred in the kitchen was Dustin's idea. So goofy yet perfectly fitting for this type of story.</div>
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<br /><u><b>MINAZUKI (digital issue #13)</b></u> = For the longest time, Dustin wanted to write and draw this issue. The ocean provides for a very colorful visual with all the sea life and Aquaman. That it happened to have giant robots fighting monsters at the same time that <i>Pacific Rim</i> came out, wasn't intentional but a fun coincidence (as we had pitched this story a long time back). I think I was always aware for us not to fall into having a lot of guest staring stories (but cameos yes). I think I wanted to keep the brand very focused on Batman and his family of characters, and I didn't think it would be ideal for it to turn into a <i>Brave And The Bold</i> or <i>JLA</i> book. Especially since there was some thought at one time about doing a separate title with the rest of the DC characters. Still, this was a fun one to do. <br /><br /><u><b>INDEPENDENCE DAY (digital issue #14)</b></u> = I think out of all the stories we did, this one we had the least idea about. When we pitched a year's worth of stories, before it doubled up, we picked out all the main holidays with loose descriptions of what they'd be about. I think we left this one pretty vague in the pitch about bbqs, beach, and fireworks. So when it came time to write it, it was a bit slapdash trying to figure out what the story would be. I think as the stories continued along, I got tired of seeing the same villains in every story. That it would help to space them out so characters wouldn't reappear so often. And also have a chance to rotate in lesser known characters…which is why we get a chance to have Roxy Rocket, Firefly, and Solomon Grundy. Also I'm guilty of these stories being very villain focused. They're so much fun to write, that sometimes it was easy to forget to put Batman and the good guys in them. The "Batdad" line, was sort of my influence of the tv show <i>Alias</i>, where it was very common for Victor Garber's character to be nicknamed "Spydaddy".</div>
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<br /><u><b>GOTHAM COMICCON (digital issue #15)</b></u> = This was another idea that Dustin had very early in our pitch. To do a story to come out around San Diego Comicon (perfect cross promotion). And Gotham's version of that would poke fun at so many of the things we've experienced in the years going to that show (I can't believe I've gone to San Diego Con 19 years in a row…you see a lot in that amount of time). It would provide a chance for us to actually cameo in our own comic. A chance to have the Grey Ghost show up briefly (no surprise that Li'l Gotham is heavily influenced by <i>Batman: TAS</i>). And ultimately a chance to make a statement and begin the healing process of how fans feel towards comics. We all have favorite characters, creators, and runs. And whenever they stop, we're disappointed, saddened, and angered. But our story would be a reminder that just because the version you like isn't happening; that you shouldn't let that stop you from enjoying those old stories.<br /><br /><u><b>TROPICAL GETAWAY (digital issue #16)</b></u> = Finally we'd have a chance to do a real 2-part story. In the first part we'd have Batman and Catwoman off on their pirate adventure, and the second part would see what the rest of the heroes and villains did while they were away. And anytime Dustin gets to design a new Batman uniform, he always jumps at the chance. This one turned into a bit of an <i>Iron Man</i> (Iron Bat?) design, with the uniform in the suitcase and boot jets. Sort of like Batman Beyond as well.</div>
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<br /><u><b>BIRD WATCHING (digital issue #17)</b></u> = With Batman away, it was up to the rest of the heroes to band together. I know originally, Dustin and I just thought of this story as having all the different Robins get together in their clubhouse to protect Gotham. But with so many of the heroes having a bird theme (Birds Of Prey, Hawk & Dove), it was fun to extend the cast in this one. Same goes for the underused villains. This story was top heavy and out of control with the cast of characters, and I'm guilty of packing it with as many as I could think of just to see Dustin draw them. I always liked Penguin's Iceberg Lounge, and wanted to feature it more in one of these stories. And having the heroes arrive as part of the jazzy swing band seemed a great visual (I didn't even realize the Birds Of Prey already had appeared as singers in an episode of <i>The Brave And The Bold</i>, so this ended up being an unintentional nod).<br /><u><b><br />LABOR DAY (digital issue #18)</b></u> = I think no one loves the Carpenter more than Paul Dini, Dustin, and I. Created by Paul in <i>Detective Comics</i> and <i>Streets Of Gotham</i>, I always love these sort of fun quirky characters. I also felt this story might be a risk having it center around her, even if the holiday matched up perfectly. She's not as known as many of the villains. But it gave me a chance to show all the villains that she's worked with building their hideouts. It has a very children's book quality to the gag and payoff through the issue, as she's constantly interrupted on the phone. And fun to see Dustin once again, draw a range of characters. I thought it would be fun to give her a Boston Terrier, which is the same type of dog that Paul and his wife own. Hush finally made a longer appearance here to do a riff on the <i>"Who's On First?"</i> gag.</div>
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<br /><u><b>IVY IN THE FALL (digital issue #19)</b></u> = Another of the stories that Dustin was clamoring to write and paint. Ivy is his favorite character and this became a tour-de-force for his art. To show her in different seasons. Probably the most beautifully painted story he did on our run. We also always liked the Gotham City Sirens, so any time we could do stories that had the three of them together, we'd jump at. This story I probably had the least amount to do. The draft that Dustin provided was so pitch perfect, aside from maybe any grammar corrections or some added dialogue, it was good to go.<br /><br /><u><b>HORROR STORIES (digital issue #20)</b></u> = This was another one that Dustin headlined. And one that actually caught me by surprise. I didn't know he had planned to paint all of the kids' separate ghost stories in a different style. It really made the whole thing very special. I know as it got closer for this story to be worked on, the original idea was to see if we could have <i>Scooby Doo</i> and the gang in there, either as part of the story or even a short cameo with the <i>Mystery Machine</i> in the background. But I think they're so particular on how those characters look and are portrayed (needing to be almost animation on-model all the time), that it was decided against using them here. Also I think since they were going to have Batman & Robin crossover with <i>Scooby</i> in another comic, it might be confusing or steal that thunder. Regardless, this was a ton of fun to work on, as we really played up their exaggerated horror stories.</div>
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<u><b><br />ALL SAINTS DAY (digital issue #21)</b></u> = Since we were now getting close to our full year on the book, we didn't want to fall into the habit of revisiting the same holidays over again. So technically while still a spooky issue, this isn't Halloween but All Saints Day. And keeping with that religious theme, it seemed one of the perfect places to have Azrael show up. Also I think after the nice unexpected reception to Damian's family Halloween (of fighting off reanimated corpses from the Lazarus Pit in issue #1), I was looking to do a much longer zombie story. And I'm such a fan of Talia and Ra's it made for one of the more offbeat shared custody holidays in the comic. I wasn't sure if my playful dig at the New52 being Damian's dehydrated hallucination would fly…but it was all in good fun. Same goes for the 1-900 Kill Robin death call joke (Dustin has a morbid sense of humor…which I fully endorse and enable).<br /><u><b><br />TIME TROUBLE (digital issue #22)</b></u> = The Clock King is another one of my favorite villains during his time in <i>Batman: The Animated Series</i>. He rarely gets used in comics but doing a Daylight Savings Time story was the perfect excuse for him here. Also maybe a little too late in our run, I was feeling that Batman wasn't getting as much time in our stories. So I thought here was a chance to not have him partnered up with anyone other than…himself. Lots of Batmen. A fun way to use various Elseworlds versions of the characters (or entirely new like Fruit Batman). I know had we done another year of stories, Dustin and I would've gotten around to doing some in the future with Batman Beyond. Instead, we had to find a way to fit in Old Bruce and Terry near the end of our run.</div>
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<br /><u><b>SANDWICH DAY (digital issue #23)</b></u> = Sometimes these issues write themselves. Seriously! Not wanting to repeat another Thanksgiving story, it just so happens that November has a sandwich related holiday. So who better than the Condiment King to show up to be angry at the more popular Thanksgiving holiday. Again, the longer we were into our run, the more fun I was having dusting off the more offbeat villains. Also I thought it worked well to have the story about a missing pet; something I think younger readers might sadly relate to. And this quite possibly has the most puns used in any of our stories. Dustin and I would go back and forth in drafts, one-upping each other and adding more puns to the story. The brand new villain, The Zookeeper, was my nod towards the ending of Pixar's <i>The Incredibles</i> (Batman, Damian, and Jerry all ready to jump into action). At one point in the script, I even had Jerry wearing his own mask here at the end, but Dustin didn't draw it in. Probably for the best. heh<br /><br /><i><br />WHEW!!! That's all of them…or almost all of them. Our very last issue of Li'l Gotham goes on sale digitally tomorrow. And I'll be back with my final thoughts after that.</i></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-47479616044148219572013-09-25T06:21:00.000-07:002013-09-25T06:21:50.767-07:00PICK YOUR POISON<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6IKrygw_PsITEI1OCDV2gvCz6oCxo-7bWhdc4orC8x2ZtSwv0MS7CQ_3Jt6ZG3D7ADU2AbjhVJZb0RKqbZxffg-AJywLqV7WGsAZqOBDfG6tJESGwHNOmOrg2-h3N76SI7DKffMc009o/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY6IKrygw_PsITEI1OCDV2gvCz6oCxo-7bWhdc4orC8x2ZtSwv0MS7CQ_3Jt6ZG3D7ADU2AbjhVJZb0RKqbZxffg-AJywLqV7WGsAZqOBDfG6tJESGwHNOmOrg2-h3N76SI7DKffMc009o/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<b>DETECTIVE COMICS #23.1</b><br /><br />Getting to write Poison Ivy during "Villains Month" started out as a means to explore the extent of Ivy's powers to wild abandon. This was a Gotham without Batman, nor any other heroes around in her story to stop her. A chance for her to run free and do whatever she wants without any opposition, in a city of chaos. And while it started out that way, I also felt some responsibility to give her a revised origin. With the New52 relaunching the entire DC Universe, so many of these villains (Poison Ivy included) became fresh slates again or even for the first time. While it wasn't mandatory to include her backstory here, I felt it was an opportunity I couldn't resist.<br /><br />Doing any sort of revisionist retelling of a character's origin is a treacherous line to walk. It really feels like a no-win scenario. Change nothing and it's seen as a retread of something everyone already knows. Skew too far off the path with a new take, and readers are quick to hate and want the old version. The approach I chose was to honor the basics of what we know or like about the character, while filling in some history to Pamela's early formative years to show how she became the villain she is today.<br /><br />Most of Ivy's origins or stories in past comics and cartoons have always shown her already as an adult. But I felt it would add to her story if we saw her as a child. What was her home life like? Her college years? What helped shape and form Pamela before the incident that created Poison Ivy? These were all things I wanted to address. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pamela's research would include mammal, reptile, and insect pheromones. But
in the end, it would be the plant based vial that would spill on her to trigger her new abilities.</i> </td></tr>
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I also felt that past origins for her always had her as more of a victim; poisoned or injected by men she worked with. After becoming a very recognizable feminist icon in comics, I never quite liked the approach of her being used as a guinea pig and injected with the toxin to turn her into the villain. So my approach was to try to make her a bit more self-made. She had bad things happen around her during her early years. But in the end, her own research and development of the power of animal & plant pheromones, and her ambition to use them to great extremes, would be her undoing. In some ways, I wanted to explain her backstory in a very relatable real world approach. The fantastical part of Ivy and her powers could grow out of that.<br /> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>John Kalisz's coloring technique over Javier Pina's art, made these flashbacks really stand out.</i></td></tr>
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I don't know where the idea generated to give Pamela a skin condition during her youth, but it felt like something unique or different to add to her character. As Poison Ivy, being linked towards plants and their ability to feed off the sun, it was a nice way to show the opposite of that as a child. That some extreme case of photodermatosis afflicted her. That exposure to the sun would react to her abnormal immune system, to cause rashes. The very beginnings to show that Pamela's biological makeup wasn't normal. Because of that, she might be interested to pursue botanical research in school as a means to find a cure. It didn't hurt that her mother had a fascination with flowers and gardening that could also be shared. And by gaining an immunity to toxins and viruses through her transformation into Poison Ivy, it would cancel out her adolescent sun allergy (although one might gather that it transferred those rash-like symptoms to anyone she touched).<br /><br />Going back to the original intent of the issue, I wanted to explore Ivy's powers. While I've always been a fan of her classic green leafy clothing, her redesign in the New52 also had promise. I always saw it as a type of living costume. It's draped in leaves, but that's not all. I wanted to show that she'd be able to access this living suit to grow vines, wooden bark to help shield her, and shoot thorny projectiles out of it. I imagine it can do so much more (generate spores; provide fallen leafs as a smoke screen or camouflage when trying to evade capture; even grow leafy wings to glide or fly with). Very forest nymph qualities. And of course being able to grow sentient topiary type animals from nature around her was a given. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ivy's living suit as well as her surroundings, provide her with plenty of means for offense and defense.</i></td></tr>
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Writing the Bruce Wayne scene might've been my favorite for the issue. Ivy always struck me as someone that could quietly be one of the most powerful in the DC Universe if given the chance. I think it's easy to see the giant gods and cosmic threats as all-powerful, but her ability to control minds through pheromones has such wide ranging potential. Getting a few people or even one head of a company under that control, could raise or ruin a business very quickly. Or get her into places she couldn't or shouldn't be. Her powers are like having the keys to the kingdom. So why wouldn't she think like a business woman and try to use it initially to benefit her employer and herself?<br /><br />Also in a sly way, I think it was my way to explain away how Batman might be one of the only people immune to her powers. There's always been a great flirtation between Ivy and Batman throughout past comics; alternating between being seduced at times but also has been shown to be unaffected by her powers. By keeping her research as a proprietary right to Wayne Enterprises, it leaves that door open for Bruce to investigate her findings further. For the Dark Knight to realize how dangerous her research is, and probably come up with an antidote so he's not affected. A very unassuming way to explain if he ends up being the only person immune to her, without her specifically knowing the reason for it. But that's just the backstory in my mind.<br /><br />Working on this issue would be nothing without the other people involved. Javier Pina and John Kalisz made a perfect artistic combo on this issue. Javier had done some nice work on Birds Of Prey. And John I've worked with in the past on my runs with Detective Comics and Streets Of Gotham. I remember when John wrote me to ask how I wanted the coloring to go on the flashbacks, I think I wrote in the script to make it lighter and almost pastel looking so it would offset the current parts of the story. He basically replied by saying he had an idea he'd like to try and see how it turned out. And I think it's probably the most talked about art of the issue. The way it looks almost watercolor in appearance, the implied paper texture grain apparent, and the lack of hard panel borders. It turned out so beautiful. Jay Fabok turned in a visually arresting and enticing cover that really pops in 3-D. Taylor Esposito added some nice design work for lettering the credits and the captions through the issue. And working with my editors Joey Cavalieri and Kyle Andrukiewicz was a neat process as I was constantly bouncing ideas off them until the story took shape.<br /><br />A couple other behind-the-scenes moments...<br /><br />I think readers assumed we were blowing up another Wayne Tower in this story, as it's constantly blown up across other issues and titles. Rather this was the Wayne Enterprises R&D facility, formerly the Kane Chemicals building before the merger. Batman Group Editor Mike Marts got in on the fun by helping with design suggestions, passing back and forth photos of various real constructed buildings out there to give Javier some thoughts as he designed it. Looking at these buildings these architects created is a work of art in itself.</div>
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Originally the story would end with Ivy's jump off the GCPD building and she would float away into the night air on a giant dandelion. It was a visual I always thought might look cool, that I hadn't gotten around to using in Li'l Gotham and thought I'd try it here. But after seeing it, it just didn't fit the scene as well as I'd hoped. So we made the decision to show Ivy swing off into her Green Kingdom on a vine. But here's that original version…</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-9301382810675366302013-09-09T03:20:00.000-07:002013-09-09T03:20:34.193-07:00INTO THE GREAT BEYOND - PART 2<div style="text-align: justify;">
Wrapping up my final thoughts on some of the larger stories that would've comprised my <i>"Recruitment Drive"</i> extended arc for Justice League Beyond. After such a long stretched out <i>"Konstriction"</i> story, made longer with how everything got spread out in release; I made a concentrated effort that adding new members to the League would happen in quicker shorter stories. A new Flash, Captain Marvel, and Lobo would at this point be part of the team.<br /><br />At one point, I even considering adding Martian Manhunter but in a much different format. I thought it possible that in his martian race, their people would eventually fade away into ghosts as they lived into old age. I thought it only made sense with his intangibility powers of being able to disappear, that it would be a precursor towards how they'd fade away in death. So if I added Martian Manhunter to the team, he would be sort of an "Obi-Wan Kenobi" type…a ghost that would appear in the Watchtower to provide a voice of experience. But he wouldn't be able to do more than that. But once I found out that Martian Manhunter would be used differently in the Superman Beyond storyline, I just nixed that idea.<br /><br />But here are the last of the larger ideas that we never got to…<br /><br /><b><br />SUPERWOMAN / BRAINIAC / LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES</b><br /> </div>
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Anyone that knew Supergirl from the animated continuity, knew her struggles to fit in on the Justice League and her longing for something more. She decided to travel into the far future (much further than the Batman Beyond timeline) to join up with the Legion Of Superheroes, and with a budding romantic relationship with that future version of Brainiac; leaving her cousin Kal behind. And that was the last we saw of her. But the story I had planned would be the next large arc. Here's my original outline to her story:<br /><br /><i><b>In the far future, Supergirl is dating a fellow member on the Legion who happens to be a heroic Brainiac. His death leads to a Brainiac War, with multiple versions of Brainiacs across multiple realities and timelines being drawn to the future, all with the intent of killing Supergirl.</b></i></div>
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<i><b>The idea was that by introducing love into the equation of an artificial intelligence, it damaged Brainiac's programming and caused a sort of rift amongst all the different versions of Brainiac. They'd travel to the future to kill the perpetrator, leading to the destruction of the Legion. Going against the very guidelines set up by the Legion not to affect the past through time travel, Supergirl makes a last ditch escape to jump back in time and find a way to fix things. To warn her past self not to go to the future (feeling responsible for setting all this in motion). But something goes wrong with the wormhole and she ends up in the Beyond timeline. It's in her past, but not far back enough. Her Legion ring is damaged so she's now stuck permanently. Luckily her cousin Kal is still alive but he too is older than last she remembered.<br /><br />Since she wasn't able to stop herself from going into the future, she now goes to Plan B. She'll need to find the Brainiac of this timeline and upload a program (virus) into him that essentially stops Brainiac from ever creating the version that she fell in love with. It will prevent it's creation which led to its destruction that creates the Brainiac War in the first place. Essentially, this is like some future norplant story to stop Brainiac from ever reproducing both good and bad versions of itself.<br /><br />In the Beyond timeline, Brainiac is living a quiet peaceful existence having turned a new leaf. It's come to the realization seeing its past failings, it sees the solution to humanity. Instead of attacking and trying to end them, it's up to Brainiac to evolve them. To "upgrade" humanity so they're part of the equation rather than the problem. It's decided to share its technology with everyone for the advancement of the planet. The truest of altruistic intentions without any trappings of money or power. Much of Neo Gotham and even Metropolis owes its technological advances to Brainiac, regardless of how Bruce and Superman feel about their past adversary.<br /><br />Brainiac now resides in his own living city. An island of technology and high rise buildings. It's a part of everything there and also it's own individual amongst it. A nation or island unto itself. Supergirl with the JLU travel to the city for their mission. To confront Brainiac, explain the situation, and hope it understands why they must do this to him.<br /><br />The Legion ring that Supergirl was given to her by the Legion Brainiac as a show of love and acceptance to the team, actually contains part of Brainiac's technology in it. So when Supergirl traveled back in time, a future version of Brainiac came with her. And even though the ring is damaged, it still allowed for a new female Brainiac emissary to emerge who is tracking down Supergirl. The ring is left with Bruce Wayne to study its technology, not knowing the secret Brainiac it's about to unleash in the cave. The Emissary is able to tap into the Batcomputer to gain access to information of this timeline and become even more powerful. It leaves to go hunt down Supergirl in Brainiac City.<br /><br />When Supergirl confronts Brainiac, the fear is that he won't accept. That he'll decide his time of peace has expired and it should go back to its evil ways, collecting technology, and killing their hosts. Instead Brainiac understands the proposition and agrees to the procedure. But not before the Emissary arrives with it's own plan. Not just to kill Supergirl but to mate with Brainiac and start breeding new offspring. To take over the planet with multiple Brainiacs, and then the galaxy.<br /><br />Both Brainiacs are stopped, possibly sacrificing itself. Brainiac City is destroyed and sinks. And Supergirl joins the team, heartbroken for the loss of her friends, her love, and her life in the far future. But hopeful for new opportunities to reconnect with her cousin Kal. And of course, that young Batman is kinda cute. Supergirl would have an updated costume and name, now going by "Superwoman".<br /><br />With this longer story arc, there's no need for a Beyond: Origins, since much of it will be covered in the actual story about Supergirl and her decision to go into the future with the Legion.</b></i><br /><br /><br />So there's that. A first pass at a much longer story arc. It would've been about half the size of <i>"Konstriction"</i>, but definitely longer than the preceding recruitment issues. And I just liked the idea of someone even further in the future, now stuck in the Beyond universe. And after so much tragedy that befell Superman, he now had a familiar family face to relate to again. To see that his younger "cousin" had grown up since last he saw her. Of course, he is much older as well, so there'd be plenty of humor to be had between the two of them.<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>WONDER WOMAN</b><br /> </div>
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I think right around the time with all the press concerning Superman and Wonder Woman pairing up in the New52, there was talk about having Wonder Woman show up in the Beyond universe. I brainstormed some ideas with my editor just to explain the continuity of the character from the Justice League shows and how she wasn't in Batman Beyond. But in the Justice League continuity, they had developed a growing relationship between Diana and Bruce Wayne. With that insight in mind, the brainstorming quickly lead to the idea of them having consummated their relationship with a child.<br /><br />Now…adding offspring to any established character has all sorts of headaches that come with it. And giving Bruce a kid here, when he already had Damian in the New52 (and Terry was already his biological son in the Beyond universe, even if Terry didn't know it at this point of the story), well…my initial reaction was a groaning reluctance. It felt like ground that had been covered. But then I thought, does it have to be a boy?<br /><br />Bruce has only ever had sons, either surrogate wards, partners, or biologically (at least in the animated continuity…discounting the Huntress of the alternate comics universe). But here was a chance to try it out. That once Diana became pregnant, and keeping it a secret from Bruce, she decided to quit the League and retreat from the world of man to raise her daughter back on Themyscira. Diana would become queen, to replace her mother. But now some threat would bring the Trinity back together…older Superman, old Bruce, and Diana. And it would concern this daughter, introduced to Bruce for the first time here. Feeling too old to play "dad", Diana would still encourage Bruce to introduce her into man's world, to train her, and at the same time he would get to know her. By the end of the story, she would eventually become the new Wonder Girl. And might depart to go explore the Beyond universe (ultimately joining the Teen Titans Beyond, which was being toyed with as a new comic title they might do).<br /><br />There was a lot still to be hashed out, but DC was pushing for a Trinity Beyond story to be the first big crossover between all the Beyond titles: Batman Beyond, Superman Beyond, and Justice League Beyond. I think it was going to be a 6 part arc that would last two months. The only problem…every one of our titles was already in the middle of our stories, and planned out for the year. Even knowing this, they wanted to put this Trinity storyline smack dab in the middle of all of our current arcs going on. As if the fans weren't already annoyed by the release schedule of all of our titles grouped together in Batman Beyond Unlimited (including the Origin stories that were sprinkled in), now we'd have this Trinity story on top of things, to interrupt our main stories. I don't think we were halfway through the <i>"Konstriction"</i> arc when this idea was trying to be pushed forward.<br /><br />Thankfully after a lot of back and forth between all sides, it was decided to wait to do this. There were too many wheels in motion and this would've really thrown a wrench into each of our titles. If it had gone through, the already stretched out <i>"Konstriction"</i> arc would've taken over a year to complete, for something that was essentially a 6 issue story (minus the Origin stories). Whew!</div>
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<br />It would've been an interesting story. Some unrequited love between Diana and Bruce. A lot of unfinished business that could only add to the drama. Bruce feeling betrayed by both Diana and Clark. She had kept his daughter a secret, and requested Clark not reveal it to Bruce in order for him to continue his mission as Batman. She would raise the daughter on her island like all daughters before her did. Also without knowing it, Terry would have a chance to spar and team-up with, what would essentially be, his step-sister. All sorts of interesting avenues to explore.</div>
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I've no idea if Wonder Woman will eventually show up in the Beyond 2.0 books, but I wouldn't doubt at some point she'll be brought in. Just that I doubt it'll look anything like this version we were starting to set up.<br /><br /><br /><b>OTHER ABANDONED IDEAS</b><br /><br />- The mention of the <i><b>"Near Apocalypse Of '09"</b></i> (in the Batman Beyond show) was something brought up as the last time Batman and Talia paired together to fight and defeat Ra's, resulting in his apparent death. But as we learned, he found a way to live and inhabit his daughter's body. I always felt this was a flashback story ripe for the telling, since it was always brought up by the fans of the show wondering what exactly happened (and the show creators always saying they had no plans for it).<br /><br />- Also I wanted to eventually do a story that showed what happened to the Justice League in the past that caused them to disband or move on. That there would be some great battle that tested them, frayed them, and possibly even killed a lot of them. And afterwards, they never were the same until an older Superman started to rebuild the League. I thought it could be a way to introduce a new villain that was responsible in the past, and now resurfaced in the future, causing Superman to relate what had happened. I always felt this was a huge arc in the making as it was always something the fans wondered about as well, how the future League was so small and what happened to the original League with all its members.<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>GOODBYE BEYOND</b><br /><br />And with that….I bid the future, farewell.<br /><br />Justice League Beyond was one of those dream projects. Something that started back when Dustin and I were wrapping up our commitments on <i>Streets Of Gotham</i> and <i>Batgirl</i>, and DC asking us what we wanted to do next. First it was to take over Batman Beyond, but then it turned into Justice League Beyond. The New52 wasn't even known at this point. We got to do all sorts of crazy stories, in a future world with open possibilities and less constraints than the regular DC universe. Worked with a whole bunch of great artists. And had a blast! I look back on my time on the title very wistfully. Someone growing up a fan of all the animated shows during my high school and college years, never dreaming I'd get to play in that sandbox to continue the stories of the characters of those shows.<br /><br />My thanks go out to my editors at various stages… Hank Kanalz, Ben Abernathy, Alex Antone, and Mike Marts.<br /><br />To all the artists, colorists, and lettering that brought the stories to life.<br /><br />And to all the fans that followed our crazy release schedule, whether digitally or in print.<br /><br /><i>THANKS!</i></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-57850624693199669212013-09-06T05:44:00.000-07:002013-09-06T05:44:37.842-07:00INTO THE GREAT BEYOND - PART 1<div style="text-align: justify;">
To wrap up my experience writing Justice League Beyond, I thought I'd share a peek into the future. The Beyond that I had planned, but would not be.<br /><br />I think most working writers are hesitant to share untold or unused stories. And they probably should be. Ideas for writers are commodities. We get paid to create them and then they're brought to life. In many cases, if a story idea isn't used, we just file it away. You never know when you might be able to come back to it and use it later in some other fashion (sometimes even for a different company altogether).<br /><br />When it comes to the stories I was planning for my second year on Justice League Beyond, I don't have that desire to lock 'em away. Some I've kept to myself for personal reasons or possibly to retool later. But most of these are so particular to the Beyond universe, that they just wouldn't be reused anywhere else. They're tied so specifically to that future and to the animated series continuity, that I'm not losing anything by sharing them. Plus I think, it gives you guys a peek behind the curtain to what could've been…<br /><br /><br /><b>JUSTICE LEAGUE <i><u>UNLIMITED</u></i></b><br /><br />As one of those continuity geeks that likes to remain as true to the source as possible, I was a bit horrified when I saw the team would end up being called the JLB (Justice League Beyond). I figured, sure, you can keep that as the title of the book since it takes place in the Beyond universe. But the future Justice League were never called that in the show (the same reason Terry wasn't called Batman Beyond in the show). It had always been the JLU. It didn't make any sense for this change. But it was one of those things that got added in in print and not part of the script, while introducing all the members of the team. By the time I saw it, it was too late to change, and was considered such a minor thing that they just kept it. But I just knew any hard core fans of these characters might decry it, just as I was a bit unnerved by it. Not a big deal in the long run, but one of those things I felt like shouting, <i>"I didn't do it!"</i></div>
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<br /><br /><b>STATIC</b><br /><br />Fans always wanted to know why Static wasn't on the team, and I always felt that his appearance in the Beyond universe was in a time-travel episode. It could be seen as the future or a possible alternate version of the Beyond future. That's not to say that Static wouldn't be on the team or join the team, but just that he hadn't joined it yet. I kind of imagine I would've gotten around eventually to telling a story with him, but just not in the original outlines I had planned.<br /><br /><b> </b></div>
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<b>THE WATCHTOWER</b> </div>
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I never liked the idea of the Justice League's base being located in Metropolis, or any populated city for that matter. As we know with super villains, they're prone to attacking it, and it just puts a city of innocent civilians at great risk. Aren't they in danger enough as it is? So after proving this point at the end of the <i>"Konstriction"</i> arc by having it destroyed, my plan was to have some time off during the recruitment for new members, for Superman to start construction on the Watchtower away from Earth. The original one was seen as a floating laser, pointed at the Earth in the Justice League show (with many governments not at ease with that). So I thought the New Watchtower would best be built on Earth's moon. To really act as a Watchtower to the galaxy, and Earth's first line of defense for any invading force. While they would have access to a jet shuttle, they'd mainly be using some zeta beam technology to transport back and forth between the Earth to the moon. And while I never got the chance to unveil the New Watchtower, I believe the current version of Justice League Beyond 2.0 had it built on the moon as well. Just one of those coincidences, as I never shared any notes or thoughts with the next people in line to work on the title.<br /><br /><b> </b></div>
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<b>LOBO</b><br /><br />I'm a bit amused by the backlash of the New52 redesign for Lobo, not that I didn't agree with the outcry, but because he was next in line to be recruited into my future Justice League. And had things continued, I would've debuted my visually different version of Lobo before the one that the rest of the DC Universe is seeing now.<br /><br />A couple things to bring up on this. My version of Lobo wasn't the one that showed up in the Superman Beyond story. As things go, I had already turned in notes and outlines for my story before Superman Beyond got off the ground. Only later did I find out that Lobo was used in that one, which sort of mucked up how I was going to debut him in JLB. Chalk it up to the common occurrence of various creative teams not really knowing what everyone else was doing, as well as outlines and notes turned in in advance getting lost in the process of getting stories out in a timely fashion. When I saw Lobo's Beyond appearance in print, visually I was disappointed. He didn't look very different from how Lobo had always appeared in the comics. For my version, I was looking at playing with his age and appearance some. He still would be the recognizable big bruiser that we know and love from his appearances in <i>Superman TAS</i> and <i>Justice League</i>. But I wanted to show how the years has visually changed him. In my mind's eye, I saw Lobo very much like Ron Perlman's "Clay" in <i>Sons Of Anarchy</i>. Older, shorter hair starting to grey but keeping the black mustache, and wearing a bandana. He'd be a bit paunchier in his midsection. But still a hardened thick brute.<br /><br />As for the why and how he'd be on the team…I thought he'd be a true wild card. Someone quick to argue and ruffle feathers. Someone in it for himself. But someone whose power would be desperately needed on a team starting to rebuild. That the dangers in the Beyond universe were so great, that they'd feel the need to recruit outside their comfort zone. If you remember, Lobo had tried to join the League in the show, but was turned away. So I thought it only fair that Superman offer it to him this time, and Lobo's as shocked as anyone.<br /><br />The following is the full pitch outline to the story…<br /><br /><br /><b>"THE HUNTING GAME"</b><br /><br /><b><i>The head of a company that produces death traps, has brought together a group of mercenaries. He's created an ultimate death trap with specs provided to him from an interested private buyer. But the buyer requires the device to be tested on the greatest escape artist of all time.<br /><br />He turns on a remote view screen behind him, where we see photos of Mister Miracle in action…breaking chains, hanging upside down, and getting out of metal containments. Of course, their target isn't interested in volunteering, so they need to go find and bring him here.<br /><br />Now we get to see who the bounty hunters are: </i><u>LOBO</u><i>, </i><u>CURARE</u><i>, and </i><u>STALKER</u><i> (mentioned as being killed in the Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond arc but he can mention "the rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated").<br /><br />After the head of the company dismisses his mercenaries, he calls his buyer to let him know. On the other end, the buyer (who we won't see yet), has his own hunters he'll be using in secret, for his own agenda. The interested buyer is </i><u>THE COLLECTOR</u><i>, a villain with a history of collecting rare species (at one time, he had captured Superman and Lobo since they were both the last Kryptonian and the last Czarnian; and now he seeks revenge in getting them back). The two hunters he's hired for himself are a mystery woman named </i><u>MATTIE</u><i> and </i><u>BIZARRO</u><i> (who has an alien dog Krypto that will join him).<br /><br />We cut to the moon over Earth. The American flag is still floating in the moon's low gravity as it's pole sits firmly in a crater. We get our chance to see the completed new Watchtower on the moon. Inside the Watchtower, we see the League has gathered and we can see more of the facility. Superman, Green Lantern Kai-Ro, Warhawk, Aquagirl, Barda, Mr.Miracle, and Micron are there. Only person absent is Terry/Batman. Some of them might be arriving from Earth by Zeta beam transport; a gift from the Rannians and Adam Strange. There also might be a giant viewscreen where we see Aquagirl trying to track down future League members (we might have headshot photos of new members Captain Marvel and Flash, but also scouting out other possibilities like Aquaman, Deadman, The Question, etc).<br /><br />The American flag is knocked down when Lobo and the hunters quietly arrive on the moon. They are able to infiltrate the Watchtower as it's still new and not fully online yet. Curare is able to silently slice an opening for her and Stalker to get into the building. Lobo does a frontal assault with his bike, blowing a hole through a wall. His distraction allows the other two to find and capture Mr.Miracle. Superman and Barda both go out to meet Lobo and fight him. Having a large throw down with both of them delights him to no end. Especially with Barda, who he's smitten with.<br /><br />Inside the Watchtower, Stalker is able to ambush and take out Aquagirl, Warhawk, and Micron. Curare faces Kai-Ro, who she shares a past with (having grown up with him and the monks). This is the first time he's seen "sister" since then, and the new dark path she went down with dark magic that gave her that blue skin. She was part of an assassin's organization until she killed them off, and now she operates as an independent hunter. Just before defeating him, she removes her mask to show him her true face (still hidden from us), so he realizes who she is, and then knocks him out.<br /><br />Lobo backs off from fighting as he radios the others to ask if they got the "Miracle Man". The jig is up, as Superman and Barda realize they were set up and distracted. Barda runs to go find her husband. But Superman looks down to find his ankle bit on by an alien dog he's familiar with. And when he looks up, he's knocked out by Bizarro. Mattie Hex also enters the scene.<br /><br />Lobo tells them that they're too late. They already got the package. So their boss wasted his time hiring some extra hunters. She mentions they don't have the same boss. And then Lobo is shot by Mattie Hex with a tranq dart, making him pass out.<br /><br />Cut to captured Superman, Lobo, and Mr.Miracle in a room together. Superman and Lobo bicker with one another, arguing why is it every time Lobo shows up there's trouble. Lobo shrugs it off and says it's just business, nothing personal (well…slightly personal). It's possible we can reference Lobo's appearance in the Superman Beyond story.<br /><br />Superman says it looks like Lobo's employer betrayed him. Lobo says it's his funeral if that's the case, but he thinks it was someone else involved. They wonder why they were after Mr.Miracle. Lobo says they wanted him for some death trap they were building. Miracle says they lied to him. That he gets out of everything (and we see he's already gotten out of the cuffs he was in). I know why they needed me…bait. You both must've been the real catch. Lobo groans. Now he knows who it is.<br /><br />The door opens and we see the death trap company owner and the private contractor…The Collector. The Owner wants to know what he wants to do with them. Collector says he'll keep the last Kryptonian and Cyzarnian, and the death trap. He doesn't need the other so they can do whatever they want with Miracle.<br /><br />Miracle says they'd be smart to let him go free. They wouldn't like the alternative. "She has a tendency to come looking for me when I don't call home. My wife isn't the greatest negotiator." Lobo agrees out loud. The Owner decides to keep Miracle. That he should be able to find some buyer for him. The Collector takes the other two to his ship.<br /><br />When they go to his ship, The Collector says he has a special room for them. The last of their kind. The last Justice League. And we see ALL of the members of the Justice League have been captured. He places them all inside the death trap box he had bought. Lobo says he ain't one of them. He ain't a part of the League. The Collector agrees…no, you definitely aren't. You are free to go. And there's some money for your trouble.<br /><br />Lobo looks at the guy, after all they've been through in the past, how Lobo was caught and almost killed. That he just expects Lobo to forget all that and to leave. Lobo says, "You know me too well. Money talks, Lobo walks. Cya losers." Lobo hops on his bike and takes off. The League are left prisoner.<br /><br />Time passes and they're out in deep space. The Collector notices something on radar approaching quickly. Doing his best Han Solo entrance, Lobo has come back to attack the spacecraft (after he's rescued Mr.Miracle, which no one will realize until he's gotten inside the craft). And once again, he plays the distraction while Miracle goes inside and is able to release each of the League from their death trap prison. The spacecraft blows up as the League (protected by Green Lantern) are able to escape. They wonder if Lobo died in the explosion.<br /><br />Back in the Watchtower, the heroes arrive and begin work on fixing the wall and the security system. Lobo shows up and makes a joke about the hole he made. He also rubs it in that he rescued the entire Justice League. That if it weren't for him, they'd still be prisoners in some sick alien collection. Superman responds by saying if it weren't for him, they wouldn't have been captured in the first place. Or have a hole in their Watchtower wall. Lobo says they're welcome.<br /><br />Barda approaches him. Lobo's expecting thanks for rescuing her husband. She thanks him the only way she knows how, by punching him in the jaw and yelling thanks by walking away with her husband. Lobo is still smitten as he growls back. "That's a helluva dame. Does she have a sister? Or even a hot mom?"<br /><br />The rest of the League go back inside the Watchtower, leaving Lobo and Superman alone. Superman gives him a death stare, and says at one time, Lobo wanted to join but they wouldn't allow it. Now Superman extends his hand in a handshake gesture. "Seems I was wrong about you then. And now." Lobo chuckles, "Naw, you were right. But don't make me go all misty eyed in my old age."<br /><br />Superman starts to walk away as he says, "You're welcome to join the League…" Lobo looks cocky. Superman smiles and finishes his statement as he walks away, "Associate Member". Superman continues, "Don't call us. We'll call you. And thanks."<br /><br />Lobo steps over to the fallen American flag. Picks it up, and sticks it back into the ground of the moon, knowing he's being watched by Superman. After Superman leaves, we see the flag pole has been bent a little as one last dig towards Superman, and Lobo flies off on his space bike. <br /><br />As an Epilogue, we show some sort of space cantina. On the wall are posters and holographic images of various "WANTED" signs and rewards. Some of the aliens have already been caught (maybe even The Collector has a sign on there that is stamped with "DEAD" on it). Our female hunter grabs a sign that shows Lobo's face on it with a reward. Someone behind her asks if she's looking for a job. She says she's always looking. They tell her this is a tough business to be in, and she might not be up for it. She responds that her family has been in this business for generations. and they've done just fine. They ask her name and she tells them. "Name's Mattie…</i>MATTIE HEX<i>." And that's the stinger we end the story with.</i></b><br /><br /> </div>
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So there ya go.<br /><br />Lobo would've also gotten himself a Beyond Origin story. One that would show what he'd been up to in the years after his last <i>Justice League</i> appearance through to the Beyond timeline. The battles he'd been in, the people he'd come across, the jobs he'd be hired for, the universes he'd destroyed or saved. A real tour-de-force for the character. For a short origin like this, it would've been fun to get an artist that was known for working on him…maybe a Simon Bisley, or Val Semeiks, or Keith Giffen. It would've been a nice nod back to their work over the years.<br /><br />In Part 2, I'll be going into more heroes that would join in the <i>"Recruitment Drive"</i> arc. And some other big stories that were planned in various stages.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-77803668643583557232013-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:002013-08-26T09:16:16.116-07:00JUSTICE SERVED - "BEYOND ORIGINS"<div style="text-align: justify;">
The origin behind the Origins. About midway through working on the first arc for Justice League Beyond, it was decided that it might be worthwhile to do some origin stories for the members of this future League. We wouldn't have to retell Terry/Batman or Superman, since their origins are known enough. But this would be a good chance to showcase the other members, most of whom new readers might be unfamiliar with if they hadn't seen their brief appearance on those few Batman Beyond episodes. The fun thing creatively about this, is most didn't have any backstory established. So it would be a chance to flesh out everyone and give more depth to their character.<br /><br />I guess the problem, or the challenge, is that this came sort of suddenly. I'm sort of a stickler for planning things out as much in advance as I can. I'm quick enough to roll with the punches if something is sprung on me. But I also think it's more of a benefit to the company as well as the people involved working on these (and to the reader), when we have time to plan it out. When the Beyond Origins were decided upon being placed in-between the ongoing digital issues of JLB, I knew it would be seen as an interruption. Anything shoved in can hurt the flow of an ongoing story, especially one that was being released semi-weekly in small 10 page doses already. Add to the fact that we thought we'd launch as a JLB solo book, then pairing up with Batman Beyond, adding Superman Beyond, and now the Origins…essentially we'd all be vying for space once the "Unlimited" print issues came out. There were times where all four were in the same issue (four separate 10 page stories) and it aggravated not only the fans but I think those of us that worked on it as well. Consistency and momentum is a cherished thing to a reader, so these added hiccups would be unfortunate.<br /><br />Even though the Origins would be added late, Dustin and I were still well enough ahead of writing JLB that we could try to integrate the stories. In fact, the entire "Konstriction" script was finished by the time Dustin started drawing pages. We could now introduce things in their Origins that we could allude or tie-in to the regular ongoing story. I always love continuity nods like that because it makes the world feel that much larger and integrated. So that is the reason why you get things like…Aquagirl being kidnapped as a child to be raised as a Female Fury (only to symbolically join the Furies when attacking the giant snake on Apokolips later with the Justice League). Helping set up Barda's banishment from her homeworld and why it's that much more painful when she goes back and finds it destroyed. Micron was an athletic football player in high school that always wanted to play quarterback, which he'd get to live out when he'd toss the book controlling the snake in a Hail Mary throw into the Boom Tube "endzone". Just a few of the examples.<br /><br />After the "Konstriction" opening arc was done, the Origins would continue. And it could be something I could plan for a lot better from the start. The next story arcs would be shorter during the "Recruitment Drive" arcs, and would be a way of introducing new members to the team as well as their Origins that followed. Of course, plans change. And no sooner than I was setting up the origins for the next batch of added characters, that it got decided midway through that they wanted to stop them altogether (I think in an effort to wrap up everything in a clean sweep before they'd head into the relaunch. I just didn't know it at the time). Such is the way things can be.<br /><br />So contained below are my final thoughts on those Origins that made it and those that didn't. Add to the fact that some of them never did get printed in the comics even though they were released digitally. In sad irony, two of these not only became "Digital First" releases…but "Digital Only" since that's the only current way to read them. I'm hopeful they'll eventually collect them into print in a future trade paperback.<br /><br /><u><b><br />BEYOND ORIGINS: KAI-RO</b></u><br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi26LlvoKTmqXViGYt63r-n4sDJ4YcIaWeahAXle6-a7qwdY4FOQkVK1SxOqYcg02jmap8zTDihSrAIxdMCIVBoToWwuzSCeJdEduAi9dx1mbH1sYZcbUBIvAD29pwoZ0c8gk-kSfuToUqN/s1600/Ring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="483" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi26LlvoKTmqXViGYt63r-n4sDJ4YcIaWeahAXle6-a7qwdY4FOQkVK1SxOqYcg02jmap8zTDihSrAIxdMCIVBoToWwuzSCeJdEduAi9dx1mbH1sYZcbUBIvAD29pwoZ0c8gk-kSfuToUqN/s640/Ring.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Out of all the newer heroes in the future League, the Green Lantern kid was probably Dustin and my favorite. He was younger, had more tranquil Buddhist leanings, so we could really play that up in forming his backstory. And I just love the real process of how they find the next Dalai Lama. The tradition and ritual aspect of it. The spirituality. It makes it fascinating even before you bring in any superhero aspects to it.<br /><br />A lot of the things that happened in this story, I have no idea how they came about. I do a lot of free thinking when it comes to story creation. And a lot of ideas seem to just form right out of the ether. Kai-Ro is one of the many Green Lanterns. But that his ring would be the one that John Stewart lost, was a nice way to bring the Origins full circle. It started with John losing the ring and it would end with the ring finding Kai-Ro. Setting that up in advance was a bit of kismet. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVdpF0iSe-jHVhlKGdB3sRF-BP0Mqhev-IfXpKf-KDYSEVAnX6t0mbHIU9XZctqJHOghlEXlWxYVNr5Z8z0nPnBgO_aU2elOdgcSR-Otrdy94wFJcGOsP2AflGDjKWL_m_qalJ7J2DPm9U/s1600/Kai-roCurare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVdpF0iSe-jHVhlKGdB3sRF-BP0Mqhev-IfXpKf-KDYSEVAnX6t0mbHIU9XZctqJHOghlEXlWxYVNr5Z8z0nPnBgO_aU2elOdgcSR-Otrdy94wFJcGOsP2AflGDjKWL_m_qalJ7J2DPm9U/s640/Kai-roCurare.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The other thing that came as a bit of surprise was creating an arch-villain for Kai-Ro. That this wouldn't just be his origin story, but that of the villain Curare. I always loved that silent female assassin in the show. Always wondered what her backstory would be. And being able to show these two growing up together would add a bit of tragedy to where each of them ended up apart. Their stories might be my favorite contribution to the mythos behind the characters during my entire run on Justice League Beyond.<br /><br />Creatively speaking, most of the Origin stories would be a chance to have other artists draw them. But for this one, it was something that Dustin wanted to draw. It didn't hurt that we were both fans of Avatar The Last Airbender and Kai-Ro was it's spiritual predecessor in a way (since his show appearance came out years before Avatar). And at the time we were writing this story, the idea to help his Origin stand out from the rest of the "Konstriction" issues that Dustin was drawing, was he would paint it in watercolor. But the familiar adage of "things change" surfaced again. Batman: Li'l Gotham in the interim got the greenlight and then Dustin was too busy watercoloring that to keep on schedule to do the same here. So instead, he just left Kai-Ro's story in pencil, I inked it, and we got our old "Streets Of Gotham" colorist John Kalisz to reunite with us to color it. It turned out pretty beautiful regardless.<br /><br /><br /><u><b>BEYOND ORIGINS: FLASH</b></u><br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8b1hIExke0pwt4b5tcRQl-y5za19mOKuouTSzBnkdbCmZ1TrcSV240EMgJInlquYTDLsNglQtZQkkzx1oHW4fcmuhL5wjFKrV6AQyifeVnxEKbLzTneslpXEqS8NhLps7xjGkn5hAa9N/s1600/SpeedForce.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8b1hIExke0pwt4b5tcRQl-y5za19mOKuouTSzBnkdbCmZ1TrcSV240EMgJInlquYTDLsNglQtZQkkzx1oHW4fcmuhL5wjFKrV6AQyifeVnxEKbLzTneslpXEqS8NhLps7xjGkn5hAa9N/s640/SpeedForce.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I had a lot of fun working on this new Flash. While I didn't grow up a reader of the character, I know Flash has one of the most adamant and faithful fan bases in comics (in all his incarnations). So more than anything, I wanted to be very respectful to the history of the Flash. It's a legacy based character and that continues even in the Beyond future. And while most of the other Flashes were the result of lab accidents, I liked the idea that there was something special about Dani. That she was able to tap into and see the Speed Force at a young age, and her fandom and appreciation of it would bestow her with its powers when the time came. I also wanted to have her family involved. So many heroes have to keep their identities secret from those they love. But given the work that her father did and how closely her mother was to her, I thought it would be better if they were just as involved in her superhero life to try to be as active participants and help her out. I think it sends a good message that way.<br /><br />I admit when it comes to the origin of our future Flash, that I was trying to plan in advance. To actually use this story as a setup to her own series if it ever happened. To use television terms…I wrote her origin as a "backdoor pilot". Everything anyone would need to know about the character, could be setup here…her family, the city she lives in, how she developed her powers; even a brand new rogues gallery that could be further exploited. And maybe at some later date, they might develop her into her own title. That would be a lot of fun to see. But I think their plan is to keep the Beyond Universe small. Superman's own title fell to the wayside, and now it's just Batman and Justice League that are continuing. It's too bad.<br /><br />The acceptance by the fans for our future Flash was the most surprising thing. You hope to write stories that connect with characters that the readers will enjoy. But the support for Dani seemed like an overnight success. The fan art and tumblr postings were very rewarding to see. That a character that only had a very brief appearance in her JLB story and in this Origin had captured the fans hearts. I've included some of the wonderful fan art below. It's nice to know that she'll live on past the brief time I had to work with her.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB47VEcL4_RW3Ddm0JIIoXw9xFq7eSXkyV3fi1b8y3fcE0LiNw3ufWn7a3m0M6W4b6TJ1L4Atd0XhQ4pZrgtQ7qGOZvchYnoCxiRwKHNf6f8LsCFPQd_n9uCwlOqWTUuLGgB93pe-_332f/s1600/Flash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB47VEcL4_RW3Ddm0JIIoXw9xFq7eSXkyV3fi1b8y3fcE0LiNw3ufWn7a3m0M6W4b6TJ1L4Atd0XhQ4pZrgtQ7qGOZvchYnoCxiRwKHNf6f8LsCFPQd_n9uCwlOqWTUuLGgB93pe-_332f/s640/Flash.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Art by Kalinina Valeria - http://creatrixtiamat.deviantart.com Art by Just - http://xxjust-a-nobodyxx.deviantart.com</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnWtE20maaawZA5SeTtx07bn3ykgfS1GIPJtvwhUsucPvmz-KDwYgBcy3BXxx8sOLY5ETdLErW1LE4VIntn7nbJcA_Ld7vpzuMWloBSXkOJaAWRA9Vgcw58uRs8Giuv4L5Gn7dszSrrEY/s1600/Flash3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYnWtE20maaawZA5SeTtx07bn3ykgfS1GIPJtvwhUsucPvmz-KDwYgBcy3BXxx8sOLY5ETdLErW1LE4VIntn7nbJcA_Ld7vpzuMWloBSXkOJaAWRA9Vgcw58uRs8Giuv4L5Gn7dszSrrEY/s640/Flash3.jpg" width="414" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Art by Flash Beyond co-creator Jorge Corona</i></td></tr>
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<u><b>BEYOND ORIGINS: CAPTAIN MARVEL</b></u></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKkw13kmJ8J3rl7y8c6hHrtJDiYidBfJZvBkdS6iVolT7SWIeEgG4HyheQ-TaorIyRoddPJk6eAyadXszqfDQ0Ua4lRVDyNhNVE8Yyl1FdP81F0v2S2aNsOuhVCOTqwYHGp7Q1fHYQCKE/s1600/BillyExplains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="493" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKkw13kmJ8J3rl7y8c6hHrtJDiYidBfJZvBkdS6iVolT7SWIeEgG4HyheQ-TaorIyRoddPJk6eAyadXszqfDQ0Ua4lRVDyNhNVE8Yyl1FdP81F0v2S2aNsOuhVCOTqwYHGp7Q1fHYQCKE/s640/BillyExplains.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was one I was the most excited about getting to write and turned into my greatest disappointment when it didn't happen. I only hinted at what happened to Billy Batson and Captain Marvel in their JLB story, knowing that I was going to tell it in the Origin. But after completing the Flash Origin was when they pulled the plug, and there was really no room to try to cram it into the "In Gods We Trust" storyline without feeling forced.<br /><br />In my own mind, I had the origin story planned out that would explain the disaster that happened that was able to merge all the identities into Billy Batson (as well as his sister). That it would be this roulette wheel of powers that could manifest at any given moment…a body timeshare where the heroes (and villain) would have brief moments to appear before reverting back to Billy. It would've been great.<br /><br />Add to the fact that I planned to have it drawn very retro, just like the character and his early appearances. I thought it would be fun to have a very Sunday newspaper strip style and even dot pixel coloring, to retell the origin of Billy being granted the powers by the Wizard Shazam. And then the final battle with Doctor Sivana that lead to the disaster and transformation into how the character was portrayed in the Beyond universe. I even had an artist already hand selected…Evan "Doc" Shaner. An artist after my own heart that loves the character and could draw in that throwback style. That could finally get his chance to officially draw the original version of the character that we both love. But it just wasn't meant to be. Look at some of the art below that he's done as a fan, and just imagine what could've been...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP2-DjNcU6bzXnXeazS582WXYQ0BYO-zg4W-6Kau5vDQHQk9adQjnokx1T4P1e3JnYCo18ZDHrBwJxtZUTlTucyNO0rmdHwG1gwPJ_YeZ4RGRLVo9923uSK8tBLP7V0Om1eAkPpievHUPI/s1600/Shazam2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP2-DjNcU6bzXnXeazS582WXYQ0BYO-zg4W-6Kau5vDQHQk9adQjnokx1T4P1e3JnYCo18ZDHrBwJxtZUTlTucyNO0rmdHwG1gwPJ_YeZ4RGRLVo9923uSK8tBLP7V0Om1eAkPpievHUPI/s400/Shazam2.jpg" width="262" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBBTil1jFWq_3WWpHe5nbv76oilaf8OpRh_1Nk8kqhiXXe6mzNJ8mLGjAcQeXOYRR3LebsND7v9SSQ1oNlixEAX2Q_xeaKm4xCTg1I08Y7BCiTVaR9R8K3mVu9gKNyotq76S5TxRWywiD/s1600/Shazam1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheBBTil1jFWq_3WWpHe5nbv76oilaf8OpRh_1Nk8kqhiXXe6mzNJ8mLGjAcQeXOYRR3LebsND7v9SSQ1oNlixEAX2Q_xeaKm4xCTg1I08Y7BCiTVaR9R8K3mVu9gKNyotq76S5TxRWywiD/s400/Shazam1.jpg" width="262" /></a></div>
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<br /><u><b>BEYOND ORIGIN: MARTIAN MANHUNTER</b></u><br /><br />This was an origin that was brought about late in the process. We had gotten a new editor on JLB, and also at that time, J.T. Krul's Superman Beyond story would feature the Martian Manhunter. There was some talk about doing an origin for him. Of course this is one of the characters who's had his origin portrayed in the comics, so he's not exactly new to the Beyond universe. But it could be an area to play with the continuity, to explain his time in the Justice League Unlimited show and what he'd been up to in the years since that time, leading into the Beyond timeline. While I had come up with a rough outline, it got killed on the vine as soon as all the Origins were abandoned.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-77432259784232557692013-08-09T03:18:00.000-07:002013-08-09T03:18:03.391-07:00JUSTICE SERVED - "IN GODS WE TRUST"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_az5WsNoZBkAsVj-nBi0_CkvNQIDsUo2UPh7GNK1KMhecO1zwUE8rqTG-L2BWgo7ZfHu0_8MbecqGlDDCZgDO0qJYvx235SsCkZYo05LEKJC6qBy0uukNNTNr1kwMfwZ7dy5n5AXQg8D/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_az5WsNoZBkAsVj-nBi0_CkvNQIDsUo2UPh7GNK1KMhecO1zwUE8rqTG-L2BWgo7ZfHu0_8MbecqGlDDCZgDO0qJYvx235SsCkZYo05LEKJC6qBy0uukNNTNr1kwMfwZ7dy5n5AXQg8D/s640/1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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With my run on Justice League Beyond finished, it's time to wrap up some of my final thoughts on my last few stories. It's so weird to look back on this now, only because the team building I had planned for the future League barely got started before the change of direction was implemented. So I only got to add Flash, and for this story Captain Marvel (I know DC seems keen on the rename of Shazam, but it was Captain Marvel in the Justice League Unlimited show…and it's Captain Marvel in my storyline). I had planned to grow the team much more in offbeat ways. A story worth telling in a future post.</div>
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I don't know what first prompted me on wanting Captain Marvel to join the team. I guess it was a number of reasons. I've always loved the character as a real throwback to the fun superheroes of the past. It's one of the few that my dad remembers reading as a kid. And as a character of magic, it would be possible for Captain Marvel to still be around in this future (for reasons being…I won't divulge at the moment). I like the idea that he also had some history with Superman. Where things left off in the Justice League Unlimited episode he appeared in, he quit the League and was disappointed in Superman as the hero he once looked up to. I figured with enough time, there'd be a chance for them to consider their past actions and patch things over. And Captain Marvel would feel right to join the League this time around. And I also liked the fact that there was a chance to show Billy Batson and Mary, both still magically young. An age of stuck adolescence. And one of the few age appropriate characters that young Kai-Ro would be able to relate to.<br /> </div>
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I also liked the idea of getting out of Neo-Gotham or Metropolis and showing some of the other areas in the Beyond universe. Fawcett City would be one of the few to remain untouched by society. No hi-tech future technology. No flying cars. A city from the past still frozen in time. Very "Mayberry" as I like to put it. I thought it would be a nice clash of cultures for the people living there and the League when they arrived.<br /><br />For the villains, I always wanted to see more of Alan Burnett's creation of the "Brain Trust". Basically your sort of evil X-Men (or Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants) for DC's Beyond universe. A group that was going around and collecting special powered kids for some nefarious purpose. The shows they appeared in (Batman Beyond and later in Static Shock), they had such a small group. So this was a chance to build them up as well. Add more faculty to this teaching staff. So that's always fun to come up with names and powers to grow the enemy against the League. I even squeezed in a danger room sequence and a Blackbird type jet for them to fly off in, to keep the X-Men motif.<br /> </div>
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As a huge fan of these shows, part of writing Justice League Beyond was always my chance to throw in cameos and nods to not just the Batman Beyond show but the rest of the shows in that continuity. So "Krypto's" appearance here ties back to the Superman animated series with him being Bizarro's pet. I planned for so many of these special appearances to not be throwaways but actually followed up later for a reason. There would've been a story that involved Superman and the League being absent from earth, so in their place, Bizarro (with Krypto in tow) would end up "protecting" Metropolis in his own misguided way. Even though I never got the chance to continue that story, it was fun to have Krypto in here briefly. I love that slobbering alien dog.<br /> </div>
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More cameos came in the form of some of the other teams operating in the Beyond universe that Bombshell would mention here. Little cues I could plant and come back to later if I wanted, or leave it open for the readers to guess at. I wanted to show that the League wasn't the only team operating out there. There would be others that could pose a threat to the Brain Trust. "The Circus Of The Dead" would be deceased members that formed a group to heroically haunt from the afterlife. Deadman being their leader, with Wildcat, the Creeper, and Vixen in there (which could always lead to some uncomfortable feelings if John Stewart and Shayera Hol showed up again in a story, since that tragic triangle was thought to have already played out). <br /><br />The Terrific Trio were the media-publicized and disgraced "Fantastic Four" knockoff in the Batman Beyond show, that perished in their only appearance. I thought it would be a fun way to do what comics have always done…when one team is killed, disbands, or disappears; there's always an "ALL NEW" version that takes their place. Their team name would remain, but it would be composed of new members. And mimicking the Fantastic Four, they might have a few visual nods as well. Lead by an older version of Plastic Man (the stretchy Reed Richards of the group), the return of the Earth Mover (filling our "Thing" spot on the team, even though it looked like he died in the show), and Zeta (to keep this a "Trio"…although we maybe could include Ro in the "Sue" role, if it were to be more like the FF).<br /><br />Bombshell would even mention a new Titans group in passing. At the time I was writing this story a year ago, there was the possibility of there being a Teen Titans Beyond title spinoff I had heard from my original editor. I didn't know who would be on it, neither the team members or the creators involved, or when it would come out, but I thought it would be fun to vaguely plant mention of them here. Of course, I kind of hoped I'd get a chance to write it and had some crazy ideas for it, but things changed. That editor left and any chance for a Titans Beyond title seemed to disappear with him.<br /> </div>
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Green Lantern Kai-Ro really grew into a favorite of mine, as well as Dustin's, while working over the course of this title. I loved the peaceful innocence and wide-eyed optimism that he brought to the team as well as the Beyond universe. And I always felt he might quietly struggle being the youngest member on the team. Maybe having trouble to relate with the adults around him and not really having any friends his own age. So featuring him in this story where he develops his first feelings towards a girl his own age, are moments I kind of miss in comics. There's always this focus on making things dark, depressing, and battle-worn. But it's the little moments of feelings and relationships these characters have towards one another that I always strive to find space for when I write. I want these characters to live and breathe less like action figures. Less like plastic toys being mashed against one another. And more like real people that love, argue, and care for one another. Of course to further complicate matters, is that Kai-Ro's crush happens to be a girl that shares the same body with a few other magical personalities. Imagine a first date between these two with a magical roulette wheel of possibilities of all the other Marvels appearing at any given moment, making every situation uncomfortable. No one said love is easy!<br /><br />Lastly let's talk about the art. Anyone following JLB had seen Ben Caldwell's work drawing the "Beyond Origin" story to Barda. I always wanted to bring him back to draw the series regularly as the ongoing artist once Dustin had stepped down to concentrate on Li'l Gotham. So it was fun to get Ben on this story, with such a wide range of characters to draw and design. It was a bit nerve racking for me, since I was going to end up inking him on this. Artists I like as a fan, always puts more pressure on me to not ink them badly. I'd almost rather sit back and just watch them do the art as a reader. But I felt some ownership of wanting to keep the inking consistency over the ongoing story, that I've been a part of since issue one.<br /><br />I've included some of the preliminary designs and pencils from Ben during the process of working on this. I think he was interested in doing a very youthful redesign of Captain Marvel, which in any other circumstance in the Beyond universe, would be the right idea to do a different take. But for Captain Marvel, I specifically wanted him to look exactly how we last saw him. That he's a living legend unchanged throughout time, and would still look the same. But you can see some of Ben's ideas in these rough pencils below. And also the great cover, from concept to execution, by artist Khary Randolph!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-57299008417894690612013-07-11T01:23:00.000-07:002013-07-11T01:23:21.142-07:00TWO-FACE / TWO WRITERS<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Concluding the last part of my interview with co-writer Ken Jones on Legends Of The Dark Knight <i>"The Beautiful Ugly"</i>. Digital issue #58 goes on sale today at Comixology. So be sure to read that before coming here, as we'll discuss a few story related topics...</b></div>
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<b>Dr. Leslie Thompkins is a character rarely used in Batman. I've always appreciated that she has a history with Bruce. She along with Alfred, were two adult figures in Bruce’s life after he lost his parents. And one of the few in his inner circle that knows his exploits as Batman.<br /><br />It's funny because originally, our early draft of the script opened the story with her scene and then we find out what happened to Aiden and Marissa flashing back. But as we did more drafts, it was a better fit coming much later, to tell Aiden and Marissa's story in real time. And to actually start our story with Batman in action, making a better bookend to our story.<br /><br />Talk a little about the inclusion of Dr. Thompkins in our story.</b><br /><br />It’s funny because it’s a small scene, but the whole story kinda pivots on it. Dr. Thompkins is fascinating to me because she’s a gatekeeper to the world of Batman. She’s one of the few people with open access to him and whom he trusts at their word. <br /><br />Most of the other characters with that interact with Batman are more directly involved with what Batman does; other masked vigilantes, cops, like that. But with Thompkins you have this regular, ordinary person in Gotham who just happens to be able to contact Batman whenever she wants. She’s a very world-building type of character, a bridge between the reality the audience knows and the unique reality of Gotham<br /><br />Of course, I was completely unaware of Thompkins before <i>The Beautiful Ugly</i>. But you talked about wanting to include her pretty early in the process. I think that’s a knack of yours; telling stories within worlds—whatever ‘those worlds’ might be—that have a sort of object permanence. I think it stems, at least in part, from your ability to sort of pull characters out of the ether that make the story realer to that universe. <br /><br />Sometimes you come up with characters on the spot during our brainstorming sessions that fit perfectly. It’s a pretty impressive gift.<br /><br /><b>It's an interesting point about Thompkins as a sort of bridge for the audience and Gotham. In some ways, the few people that Batman keeps close to him (Alfred, Gordon, Lucius Fox, and Thompkins) provide a sort of tether for him as well. A sort of working class humanity aspect to provide insight and rein him in from just becoming immersed in Batman fully. To either remind him to stay the course, or recognize when he's starting to stretch and go too far.</b><br /><br /><br /><b>The fate of our lead characters is unknown by the end of our story. Why the choice for this ambiguity?</b><br /><br />Actually, I’m more interested in your thoughts on that since the concept and main storyline were your ideas. In fact, you even had the major beats of the story worked out by the time we sat down to brainstorm, including this sort of ambiguous ending we have. So Mr. Fridolfs, what inspired you to come up with the story I the first place and what prompted to you take it in the direction that you did?<br /><br /><b>While not every story calls for it, I do tend to like the idea of not knowing the finality of a character's fate. To leave a little mystery and some areas open for the audience to surmise on their own what might happen. And the way the audience comes to their own conclusion, might stem to their own outlook or perception on things. In this case, it comes down to the jury results. Guilty or Not Guilty. And in either case, I don't know if there really can be considered a happy ending for either party in this.</b></div>
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<b>I know when coming up with the title and the last page of dialogue for this story, who it belonged to felt very interchangeable. That it could just as easily refer to Two-Face as much as it does to Batman. What does <i>"The Beautiful Ugly"</i> mean to you?</b><br /><br />I think it’s all-encompassing. Not just for Batman and Two-face, but for Marissa and Aiden as well. Gotham City too, for that matter. It even extends to the larger concepts of justice and revenge and redemption. We kind of unpack it all and leave it in the audience’s lap. But we don’t do it to avoid answering the question. I think the duality is the answer. The city, the people in it, and the ideals they’re striving for or running from all contain and compose both beautiful and ugly things.<br /><br /><b>See, I never even thought to associate Marissa, Aiden, Gotham, or the larger concepts for it, and yet that's a great point! The things one learns after the fact.</b><br /><br /><br /><b>Switching topics, there are very few black writers working in comics. And quite possibly none at the Big Two companies currently, which seems pretty unfathomable. For an industry that has so many diverse voices and styles, and as a black writer, how do you feel about this? What do you think you can bring to comics?</b><br /><br />Damn the Man, I says!<br /><br />Actually I think it’s a systemic issue. Working in comics is about who you know. Fact of life. And I don’t know why there’s so much diversity on the art side but so little on the writing side except to say that there may be less diversity in the private lives of many comics writers. <br /><br />On the flip side, comics might not be a readily pursued career path for black writers. I do know firsthand that there is cultural pressure for black writers—black creators of any stripe—to identify as “black” writers, artists, or whatever. It’s patently absurd. It’s a description of a person’s ethnicity and occupation. But I think it’s a core tenet of the human condition to heap as much cultural baggage as humanly possible on anything and everything we can. And maybe that results in fewer black writers considering comics.<br /><br /><b>I'm all about diversity of characters and creators. That each of us brings a whole different set of life experiences, backgrounds, and heritage to the table. That it's fascinating to have as many diverse points of view. </b><br /><br /><br /><b>Any final thoughts to having your first big mainstream story published?</b><br /><br />It’s very, very cool. And hopefully, it’s just the beginning. So back to work.</div>
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<b>So there ya have it. It was a real pleasure getting the chance to introduce everyone to Ken, and to especially work on this story together with him. Many a day and weekend are spent hanging out, talking about life, politics, social problems, entertainment, and brainstorming stories. Much of the published work I've done has been through a great filter as I've shown Ken my work, gotten feedback, and opened my mind to the greater process of writing. He's always been a great sounding board if I'm struggling with something or just want to float an idea out there to get his opinion. That we finally got to work on something published together isn't the end of this great journey but only the beginning. And I'll keep you posted what we'll be working on next.<br /><br />A final bit of thanks goes to editor Hank Kanalz and artist Jason Shawn Alexander. Hank I've been working with on all the digital work I've done through DC in Burbank. I sort of caught him by surprise by sending this story pitch to him out of the blue, not knowing if there were any openings or even if he'd like it. And he was extremely generous and patient getting it all set up. And what can I say about Jason, that I haven't gushed about before? I wasn't quite aware of his work before Arkham City End Game (and a nod to editor Jim Chadwick for bringing him to my attention). But I've gotten to be a huge fan since that time. It can be rare to find the chance to rework with people in the industry. To strike lightning in a bottle twice. We all have separate goals and schedules. Lots of projects being juggled in work and in life. But that Jason found the time to work on this story, I felt very lucky. And he brought his "A" game once again, drawing and inking the characters emotions all over their faces and body language, the weariness of Batman and the city of Gotham, and the fractured soul that is Harvey Dent.<br /><br />And thanks to all of you that have bought our story, read this blog, and have commented. Every little bit is like fuel to keep the fires burning. And very much appreciated!<br /><br /></b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-63899730570808637812013-07-04T06:41:00.000-07:002013-07-04T06:41:17.164-07:00TWO-FACE / TWO WRITERS<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Continuing the second part of my interview with friend and co-writer Ken Jones, about writing Legends Of The Dark Knight "The Beautiful Ugly". Covering our working process as well as some of the characters and themes of our story…</b></div>
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<b>What is the writing process like when working together with another writer on a script? From the initial thought, to outline, to execution? How do we break down a story?</b><br /><br />Wow. That’s an expansive question.<br /><br /><b>Yeah, there's a lot to cover. But I think most readers are used to one writer per story and might not understand the division of labor involved when two writers collaborate. And I'm sure every 2-man writing team has their own approach. But explain how we go about it.</b><br /><br />Our process starts with spit-balling ideas until something sticks. Sometimes the heavens open up and the story gods rain blessings down upon us. Most of the time, it comes from trying to develop points of interest, combining disparate ideas, or even just talking out thoughts and observations we might have until it becomes a story concept.<br /><br />From there, we usually pool multiple concepts together and go with the best one. Of course, circumstances play a role in that, too. But it really helps us figure out why we want to write a particular story. This might be the single most important step in developing a story—the reason why you’re doing it. Virtually every decision you make will be based on that. And the reason can be anything really. You just need to be aware of it. Sometimes you know why you want to write a story as soon as the idea comes to you. Other times it takes some mulling.<br /><br />Typically, we start brainstorming, overloading the story concept with ideas—ideas for scenes, jokes, dialogues, plot points, etc. Those ideas ultimately get whittled down in the outlining process, but I think it helps us in deciding what to cut and what to keep.<br /><br />From there we flesh that mess out into an outline. <br /><br />That’s when our jobs tend to separate. You typically take over breaking the outline down into whatever format the story is going to be in, fleshing plot points out into scenes. From there I take over with the scripting. Obviously, we’re both free to input in each stage as we see fit. You might throw in a line of dialogue or narration. I might decide to emphasize a different beat in a scene. The last step is us taking another pass or two at the script, sometimes making dramatic changes, as was the case with The Beautiful Ugly.<br /><br />For my part, while it seems like a long process, I think it’s pretty efficient and we end up with something that I feel is stronger than what I might have done on my own. Plus, we can do it in half the time!<br /><b> </b></div>
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<b>I think for "The Beautiful Ugly", I started with the basic germ of an idea. The concept of Two-Face revisiting the very first case he lost as Harvey Dent during his District Attorney days. And now he could come back later and set it right in his own twisted mind. The more we talk about our stories when we're just hanging out, the more the ideas start to grow and breathe. And I felt this one started to blend cohesively, leading to pitching it together.</b><br /><br /><b>What makes the world of Batman and Gotham interesting to write about?</b><br /><br />As with any good fiction, it holds a mirror up to nature. And what makes Batman’s world brilliant is that it allows us to explore such a wide range of human themes. It can go anywhere from sci-fi, to fantasy, horror, monsters, noir, crime, to super heroes, seamlessly. It’s hyperreal and operatic. Plus, everything about it is just cool in terms of style and mood.<br /><br /><b> </b></div>
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<b>You'd always use the line "Writing is re-writing". Obviously stolen from some greater source out there, or as a motto that all editors adhere to. We went through quite a few drafts to settle on the final one. What is your process towards what to keep and what to get rid of when it comes to re-writes?</b><br /><br />Whatever helps the story. That might sound simple, but it’s really not. In fact, I think it’s the hardest part of writing. The proverbial killing your babies. A scene or event or character that absolutely made the story work in your first draft—perhaps even the reason you wanted to write the story in the first place—might be completely unnecessary in the second. Worse, it might be the thing that keeps your story from coming together. This is where knowing why you want to write the story and remembering the audience can help make those decisions. Nothing is sacred. Not even why you’re telling this story. But in comparison to the why, everything else is expendable.</div>
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<b>I always loved your explanation of Two-Face by way of Anton Chigurh from <i>No Country For Old Men</i>.
Can you explain a little about the pivotal scene from that movie and
the similarities you see concerning Two-Face and his coin?</b><br /><br />I
just think flipping the coin plays a similar role for Two-Face and
Chigurh. So often, the coin is a gimmick for Two-face. In some
stories, stopping him is a matter of knocking the coin out of his hand.
It’s too thin.<br /><br />Chigurh, as the embodiment of fate in No Country
For Old Men only uses the coin as the final determinant of an outcome.
In his mind, anyone who crosses his path did so through a series of
choices and events. So if he’s pulling his gun on you, it’s probably
meant to be. However, if you can convince him that fate may be
mistaken, the only option left is to flip a coin . If fate is on your
side, the coin will land in your favor.<br /><br />With Two-Face, it’s
different in practical terms. You have the broken ego of Harvey Dent
sharing consciousness out with his pure, uncontrollable desires. They
actually both want the same thing but the Two-Face side is willing to go
farther to get it. When Dent’s desires take him father than even his
broken ego is willing to go, the coin flip is a way of arbitrating the
dispute. But think about how horrific that is. A man is literally
arguing with himself about killing you and ultimately decides to flip a
coin to determine the outcome. It gives Dent a sense of order and it
gives Two-Face a measure of control. Either way, the coin is not the
central thing even though it is a key component. The gas station scene
in No Country is a good demonstration of how I see the coin being
used---thematically—for both characters.<br /><b> </b></div>
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<b>In our story, Marissa and Aiden almost steal the show. I remember at one point early in the process, our editor giving us the reminder that this is "Legends Of The Dark Knight", not "Legends Of Marissa and Aiden". Tell a little about what you found fascinating about writing these two characters. Why do they feel like another example of the misery that Gotham seems to bring to everyone in the city?</b><br /><br />It’s about context. Superhuman feats don't seem superhuman if everyone is capable of them. Comics (movies, and TV) often forget that. It's actually become kind of rare. For all the Superhero stories that have been told, so few have been written about life for regular people living alongside these demigods. It's been done; I'm not saying it hasn't. Kingdom Come is perhaps the best example. And a lot of Adam Hughes' work revolves around the theme. But in comparison to the 'wowza' approach typically used in the modern superhero genre, it's a bit uncommon. I guess that’s a good thing, though. It gave us a somewhat novel perspective to use for our story.<br /> </div>
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<b>Penguin found a way into our story relatively easy. He's arguably one of those villains that writers seem to gravitate towards writing. What makes him interesting to you?</b><br /><br />I see the Penguin as a hub, one of those people all types of folks go to for a variety of reasons; some legal others not so much. I would imagine the Penguin committing far fewer actual crimes than the Joker or Two-face, but in aggregate, if you look at every major criminal player in Gotham you’ll find a Penguin puppet string somewhere. I also think the same would be true for the legitimate world in Gotham.</div>
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<b>I think something I'm always aware of while writing, is trying to be true to each character. To make each voice and each person different, so they don't all sound like they're being written the same way by the same person. Some writers struggle with this, where everyone has the same cadence and pattern. What is your approach to finding the voice of your character?</b><br /><br />Hmm…tough one. There’s no simple answer except to be cognizant of the voices. Research dialects and occupations like cops, doctors, teachers. Learn how different people talk. Learn jokes. Write down funny conversations you have and overhear.<br /><br />I try to imagine my characters existing outside of the story, even incidental and bit characters. Say we come across a guy in a toll both. What’s his story? Is this his dream job? Does he like people? Or is he making chump change and living under a mountain of debt? Has he had traffic all day? Is he from Chicago or London or Kansas? Is he friendly? I always try to have a sort of sense of that. They don’t need to say or do anything specific to inform us of any of that but it helps give me an idea of who this person is. And that helps me give them a voice.<br /><br /><b><br />What was it like to see the art as it started to be finished and you saw it visually presented for the first time?</b><br /><br />It’s been my favorite part of the process thus far. As a writer, you see the story in your head when you’re going along, but it’s not in the format. It’s not really even visual. You’re just thinking scenes up and trying to figure out which moments to capture.<br /><br />When we get the art back from Jason, we’re not only seeing how he sees the story, but how he would tell the story in an actual formatted way. That’s huge. It’s another dimension of storytelling. And because it’s collaborative, he’s free to emphasize or depict things we might not—or might not even think of—and the story takes on a whole new life.<br /></div>
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<b>Legends Of The Dark Knight digital issue #57 should be on sale today at Comixology. And then come back here in one week as I wrap up our interview with some final insights towards it.</b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-38477554321521921822013-06-27T01:09:00.000-07:002013-06-27T01:09:20.442-07:00TWO-FACE / TWO WRITERS<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>I thought I'd change things up and interview my good friend and co-writer Ken Jones. We worked together on a three-part Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight story that comes out today (digital issue #56). It's Ken's first big pro work, having done some published and unpublished small press work beforehand. So I thought I'd take this chance to ask him questions. To get to know the man behind the writing, while sprinkling in some fantastic art from Jason Shawn Alexander who is drawing our story and painted the cover. Let's get started...</b><br /><b> </b></div>
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<b>Tell us a little about yourself. The history of Ken Jones. Where did you grow up?</b><br /><br />Ha! The History of Ken Jones-a mundane tragedy. But seriously, I grew up all over the place, mainly New York, Omaha, Nebraska, and Fresno California. We bounced around quite a bit, for a variety of reasons. <br /><br />I guess I would call Fresno my hometown as I’ve lived here longer than anywhere else, even though I haven’t lived here the majority of my life. I’m not sure there’s a narrative there, except to say that I’ve learned that people everywhere are mostly the same. The differences that we think are so profound are mostly just dressing. I think that perspective has helped me considerably as a writer.<br /><br /><b><br />What were some of your earliest memories reading comics that captured your mind?</b><br /><br />Conan and Spider-man. That’s where it all began. My uncle used to collect comics and at some point he just gave me a bunch of them. The stuff he was into was pretty much horror—which helps explain a lot for anyone who knows me—and classic Conan, that great Ernie Chan stuff. Understand I was about 8 or 9 at the time. And these books were not necessarily kids’ fare, but they set my imagination alight. Reading stories about unnamable horrors lurking in swamps and a barbarian wandering an ancient fantasy world made things possible in my mind that I never conceived of before. It was so lush and detailed compared to the cheesy movies and TV shows at the time. I was unaware of the pulps at the time. So my little mind was blown. The Conan stuff is actually what got me into drawing comics. I started writing to have something to draw. And that was my introduction to comic books. <br /><br />Prior to that and for a long time afterwards, I didn’t really collect comics. From time to time, I’d buy a book off the grocery store rack, but that was about it. It wasn’t until my teens that I started collecting regularly. So early on, comics were a treat.<br /><br />When I did I get into collecting comics, it was pretty much just Spider-man at first. I’m not sure how. I liked Superman a lot, too, but for whatever reason, Spider-man just did it for me. He was the bee’s knees. From there, I started getting into the Hulk, X-men, Silver Surfer, and Superman. I don’t know what started it. But thinking about it now, I probably got into comics from cartoons. Super-friends, Mighty Mouse, Space Ghost, Herculoids, Thundar the Barbarian-my favorite, He-man, G.I. Joe, Transformers, Bugs Bunny, Scooby-doo, the gamut; I was a cartoon junkie. I’m talking Kung-Fu Louie and Grape Ape. And I read a lot of print books.</div>
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<b>I miss the grocery store and magazine racks. Those are some of my earliest memories of picking up comics as well. A sign of the times we lived in back then.<br /><br />You've worked a lot of odd jobs in-between writing. What were some of them and how did any of your experiences help inform your writing?</b><br /><br />Since most of my jobs were menial jobs, the main thing I learned is that getting to work in comics—or whatever your dream job might be—is a blessing. I think I read about a survey recently that said 70% of people hate their jobs. Hate them. Think about that. So if you get to do something you love, you’re definitely one of the lucky ones. The politics, the pressure, the editorial interference that you might come across that’s nothing compared to, say, coal mining. There are people out there for whom coal mining is the only option. So overall my storied work history has given me perspective.<br /><br />Otherwise, two jobs stand out specifically. I had a job at Blockbuster Video that taught me how important the audience is. Not just that they’re our bread and butter, but that we really need to be mindful of what they’re picking up our product for. As creators, we can sometimes get caught up in the idea that a story or project is ours and chafe at any compromise of our vision. But having a story is pointless. We’re in the business of telling stories. That takes two (though hopefully a whole hell of a lot more than two) to tango. Having something to say is only as important as how it is received. Outside input can give a creator a clue to that. Comic book fans are different that television fans. Comics serve a slightly different function for them. It’s important to be aware of that.<br /><br />The other job was as a manufacturing supervisor. I did reports and presentations for executives, marketing people, even customers and it gave me good perspective on the business side of things. The product is largely irrelevant. You can be selling warships, health services, or entertainment; the principles of business, particularly good business remain the same; challenging but attainable expectations, good communication, effective organization, and acknowledgement of achievement. You know you’re with a good employer if all those things are in place. If not, you tend to have people who are disgruntled, or at least uneasy, and it’ll show in your turnover. If you work people to death, or they don’t know who’s responsible for what, or if they’re even doing a good job, it will make people miserable and probably affect your product. I think knowing that will help me be a better team player, regardless of the setting.<br /><br />Why does this suddenly feel like a job interview?<br /><br /><br /><b>You're hired! Congratulations.<br /><br />It's weird to think I've known you now almost half my life. Close to 20 years. When did we first meet and what were we involved in that first brought us together creatively?</b><br /><br />Well you ran that guy over with your car and were looking for a place to stash the body. No. I kid. That…that would be wrong…<br /><br />We were working for an independent comic book publisher (read: we drew some guy’s unpublished comics for free). You were somewhat of a late comer to the thing. I think your first tracing inking job with us was a piece that I penciled.</div>
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<b>Yes, you were my first. Makes me all gooey just thinking about it. Also, it lets me know who to be angry at and to blame for my tracing career. Kevin Smith is now off the hook.</b><br /><br />I believe you inked it with a sharpie, so now it’s probably brown and curled up like a scroll. Thinking back, it’s probably best that it never sees the light of day anyway. But I thought it was great at the time. Even though we were on different projects we all became one big group of friends. Lifelong friends at this point.<br /><br />Eventually, we broke away from the Hive—literally; that was the name of the publisher—and started working on our own creator-owned stuff. You started inking me on a project of mine. We got 3 issues in and…yeah. Still, those years were the fondest of my life. Everything didn’t just seem possible, it seemed inevitable. Of course, life’s what happens between your plans.</div>
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<b>I know you both as a writer and as an artist. What has been your experience going to conventions, the submission process, and trying to break-in?</b><br /><br />Impenetrable, really. Of course, this is back when access to publishers was limited. You could go to portfolio reviews at conventions, but unless you were the next Jim Lee, it was an exercise in futility. You could mail in submissions, but that was a roll of the dice. Editors don’t have time to pour over submissions. And getting work is really about being at the right place at the right time, meaning you have to be in editors’ faces a lot (without pissing them off too much) so that you can be there when they have something they need done. And as hard as it is for an artist, it’s even harder for a writer. Writing is more time consuming to review and requires more projection. I don’t say this because it’s sad; I say it because it’s important to note: the best way to get into comics is to know someone. At least, that’s the most reliable way. <br /><br />That said, with the complex series of tubes known as the interwebs, there is more access to editor’s eyes nowadays. In fact, editors and art directors will often peruse sights like Deviant Art as a way of scouting. So ostensibly, it’s better.<br /><br />Nevertheless, I think it’s a system flaw for the entertainment industry to be so inaccessible for new talent. Whether you do comic books, video games, television, or movies, you’re basically in the idea business. Why then don’t any of these industries invest more time and energy into finding—and developing—new ideas? They’re notorious for diving back into the same small pool of talent over and over again. It’s gotten worse now with cross-contamination; comic artists doing storyboards and designing video game characters and vices versa, script writers writing comics, J.J. Abrams directing every movie made, and so on. Many of these companies would rather troll the established talent for a crack in their schedule than give a new creator a shot.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPZSfwGXxFtnb110FJLNQIrq8EWHFtLrrSWvnsbe6H7J7fdtMBuR9xkCrw2xgRS9p8LALtOUc719DPbt-JtAhcbwAX2XDkd-33NtgWzAxI26dlVDHAK71z6D6S43nE3RAmYbUfjRsoXVJ/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqPZSfwGXxFtnb110FJLNQIrq8EWHFtLrrSWvnsbe6H7J7fdtMBuR9xkCrw2xgRS9p8LALtOUc719DPbt-JtAhcbwAX2XDkd-33NtgWzAxI26dlVDHAK71z6D6S43nE3RAmYbUfjRsoXVJ/s400/3.jpg" width="232" /></a><b>Persistence and networking seem key in the entertainment business. And of course, talent is an ingredient in there somewhere. And if you have all three, then you might just get your shot.<br /><br />Do you remember your first experience working on Batman? This is going back to those sample sequential art pages you drew when you were going to conventions to show your work. It's funny to think back at those compared to you working on a Batman story now. What do you remember from that time?</b><br /><br />Stairs. And stairs. And more stairs. Then we get to the stairs. <br /><br /><b>For some reason, I had written a story with Batman being the detective, and searching through a house. I got hung up on a lot of visual scenes of Batman in a dark staircase. Panel after panel of him walking up or down stairs. I wish I can say, my writing has improved since that time.</b><br /><br />I actually liked it though. It was a cool little story. Batman going after Mr. Freeze in this snowed-in cabin/castle. At least I got to draw Batman walking up and down those stairs. More importantly, I think that was the first collaborative project we did. It probably started laying the groundwork for how we work together now, even if at a rudimentary level. It was definitely consistent with our character-centric themes. And we learned a little something about the benefit of 2nd drafts.<br /><br />Funny to think we’ve kinda come full circle now.<br /><br /><br /><b>Give us a little summary about the story in Legends Of The Dark Knight. What is it about and what interested you in writing it?</b><br /><br />It’s a story about Two-Face revisiting his past and the collateral damage that brings. If you want to know more you’re going to have to check out The Beautiful Ugly at Comixology. But I do think we use some interesting perspectives to tell the story. And it’s definitely a different kind of ending.</div>
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<b><br />Couldn't have said it better myself. The first part of our story in Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight "The Beautiful Ugly"debuts digitally at Comixology <u><i>TODAY!</i></u> </b></div>
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<b>And come back here next week for the second part of our conversation, where we begin breaking down the process of working together and some of the characters and ideas in the story.</b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-14262051990846639162013-06-26T23:44:00.000-07:002013-06-26T23:44:44.281-07:00UNHINGING #15<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Nz53UTW_lY4FUAOX4LJ-asfF075sISrYAUaXhi5c_5dig6EK3HJ8QF5TryBr30ZmGNAIsfjG_T5SPUaNe5kL0Fyktl3NrnKyAZD-0LpLCYR1pNd6Ti_tnc_K8iDlETtWGNoVyozOs_xp/s1600/ArkhamUnhinged15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Nz53UTW_lY4FUAOX4LJ-asfF075sISrYAUaXhi5c_5dig6EK3HJ8QF5TryBr30ZmGNAIsfjG_T5SPUaNe5kL0Fyktl3NrnKyAZD-0LpLCYR1pNd6Ti_tnc_K8iDlETtWGNoVyozOs_xp/s200/ArkhamUnhinged15.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
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This issue was another rare chance to spend some time with the supporting cast of Batman. The trouble with Batman being locked inside Arkham City for one long night in the game, is that it didn't allow for much interaction with the rest of his family outside of its walls. Robin showed up briefly and was gone just as quick. Alfred would be on the radio sporadically. And Nightwing, not at all. So there was always the lingering questions and comments from fans about what the rest of these characters were up to in Gotham while Batman was away. And trying to find space for a story with them that could still fit into the timeline of the game. I found my answer in how the Protocols would come into play.<br /><br />As Hugo Strange activates "Protocol 10" to wipe out the criminals and the entire population of Arkham City, he also activated "Protocol 11" to self-destruct Wonder Tower. It got me thinking…what might the other nine Protocols be? And as self serving and grandiose as Hugo considered himself, with his knowledge of Batman's identity, he even talked about his plans to enter Wayne Manor. So there was our story. "Protocol 9" would be the assault on the Manor. It would be a last stand for Alfred and the boys to protect the homefront with Batman currently preoccupied trying to stop Hugo Strange inside Arkham City. And it would be a chance to show off the mansion as well as the Batcave from the DLC challenge levels in the game.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4arz3f8unpm-E63gpUI0Ha_vkpVAYjbWk9N67ACaQG9WDp2e0dw7gBMbjM1Ax4u8ioz4-GD7OWlpjNff6op_ziGsXJIaFl0AqdU3DNo-cy1W6EVdUumxOYjEZ88wQxnp5HRBTMMQ6NmG/s1600/Hugo1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4arz3f8unpm-E63gpUI0Ha_vkpVAYjbWk9N67ACaQG9WDp2e0dw7gBMbjM1Ax4u8ioz4-GD7OWlpjNff6op_ziGsXJIaFl0AqdU3DNo-cy1W6EVdUumxOYjEZ88wQxnp5HRBTMMQ6NmG/s640/Hugo1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This story became a full circle moment. I hadn't known it at the time, but it would be the last story planned for me on Arkham City. And poetically fitting in the story itself, that we'd find out what happened to Captain Vincent Garrett. This was the same Captain that I scripted on my very first Arkham related story that Paul Dini and I crafted for the first digital exclusive Arkham City issue. In that one, Vincent was being interviewed and hired by Hugo Strange. And in this Unhinged issue, we see what happened to him after he served his usefulness to Hugo.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr783YPpxPog7m7Ed8f3zt3NTBNX3cxGRLV-b5b0BreFikBwU2brtFoj5q45zzYdSBMH_-gE_qZAZMT7DrX00mX7wPRX76Pq8cQmM5ioirox7JX-GhMF-1FJHnOyn9JtwhrO90yq3s0WIm/s1600/Vincent1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr783YPpxPog7m7Ed8f3zt3NTBNX3cxGRLV-b5b0BreFikBwU2brtFoj5q45zzYdSBMH_-gE_qZAZMT7DrX00mX7wPRX76Pq8cQmM5ioirox7JX-GhMF-1FJHnOyn9JtwhrO90yq3s0WIm/s640/Vincent1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2xuWjxQekG6Gj-wEqmXYGTsuxjFFTzy93sCOLpFAwawUBy5mOljxRUg_JNBOkzP2NSFb3_PeXNAMEMsVeRUZTLs_WzkUIZfreyPwaxnMbtcKkrJE0VmRh4Kg1vl3e7Fn8ZQkR9OP9Xjw/s1600/Vincent2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_2xuWjxQekG6Gj-wEqmXYGTsuxjFFTzy93sCOLpFAwawUBy5mOljxRUg_JNBOkzP2NSFb3_PeXNAMEMsVeRUZTLs_WzkUIZfreyPwaxnMbtcKkrJE0VmRh4Kg1vl3e7Fn8ZQkR9OP9Xjw/s640/Vincent2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I also wanted to take the time to show Hugo's grand plan to open up other versions of Arkham City in other areas across the DC Universe. He explained it briefly in the game, but I could hint at it even more here. We see Keystone City (I only wish we could've shown more of a red blur zipping across the screen for the Flash, but we ended up with just a fast gush of wind), Coast City (we'd show the airplane hanger and airbase that Hal Jordan once worked at), and of course Metropolis. I always felt the comics could be allowed to show some of these scenes and characters that the game couldn't, but even still we were limited in what they felt we could imply.<br /> </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3x8zvP97ErTTd1zKjkxIIxS4IcTK6PALefPC1Uk3BkRlMRvHCVc6hBjMO4dcMd1lkCbDbGNjJWldL9qDJM2YK6X2ehnVgR3TLBcl_F8eJuJYUf3XVUW1dT3LzW9Es7EX4x4DvF26PX5I/s1600/FabbriWIP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg3x8zvP97ErTTd1zKjkxIIxS4IcTK6PALefPC1Uk3BkRlMRvHCVc6hBjMO4dcMd1lkCbDbGNjJWldL9qDJM2YK6X2ehnVgR3TLBcl_F8eJuJYUf3XVUW1dT3LzW9Es7EX4x4DvF26PX5I/s640/FabbriWIP.jpg" width="438" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fabbri's art...a work in progress showing the pencils, shading, and inkwash</i></td></tr>
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I thought it would be a fun twist to the reader familiar with the game, that the Tygers we'd first see in the Batcave would be a training simulation program for Robin to practice on (just like the DLC). But then the real Tygers would show up and the real assault on Wayne Manor would begin.<br /> </div>
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David Fabbri did such a beautiful job on the art for this story. I had seen his work before at Wildstorm. You could tell he spent a lot of time referencing the locations of the game in his fully realized background drawings and characters. He had this style that seemed like a mixture of pencil shading along with inkwash, that brought a real nice attention to detail. Below are just a few of his sample pages they tried him out on that got him the job to draw this story.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJ2f401P7r5GHpT9ZcuCoDESvfXOTycTP2jrXkgnhdtNE4gokgzun3hdspbosEOZM9gY54qvADLtxLVD9mGb50bvEplzNLj4U0v-SdUHc_WxzRfZ4fiAEZGnhevfr4mtdRQSxtOA5e8qp/s1600/Sample1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJ2f401P7r5GHpT9ZcuCoDESvfXOTycTP2jrXkgnhdtNE4gokgzun3hdspbosEOZM9gY54qvADLtxLVD9mGb50bvEplzNLj4U0v-SdUHc_WxzRfZ4fiAEZGnhevfr4mtdRQSxtOA5e8qp/s400/Sample1.jpg" width="270" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79Dd9b9WQkDb87FRxeQX5pktbdBnT9Kr7SH1j8jGGURzmZMQl3-k3fnRiSU1x8A9qjyoG92uT35L-cqcr9DMNN0kp3RrKq6OOqii-lc3ExQePQM7mI6oYGM5LfFwdXHejV_6YI8QH38fF/s1600/Sample2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh79Dd9b9WQkDb87FRxeQX5pktbdBnT9Kr7SH1j8jGGURzmZMQl3-k3fnRiSU1x8A9qjyoG92uT35L-cqcr9DMNN0kp3RrKq6OOqii-lc3ExQePQM7mI6oYGM5LfFwdXHejV_6YI8QH38fF/s400/Sample2.jpg" width="258" /></a></div>
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My final thoughts of my time on Arkham Unhinged and Arkham City, I have so many people to thank...<br /> </div>
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Paul Dini was instrumental in not only writing the first two Arkham games, but also in getting me onboard the comics. When his schedule was starting to get busy and DC wanted to bring on a scripter/co-writer for the first digital exclusive stories, Paul was the one that helped recommend me for the job. Up until that point, I was mainly just inking his stories on Detective Comics and Streets Of Gotham, but had a fun time scripting a few issues off of his plots. To my editor through the trenches, Jim Chadwick. Again, I was pretty much a writing unknown at the time (still am to some degree) when I came onboard to help co-write. And when they decided to launch Unhinged as an ongoing, much less a weekly regular title, Jim and DC showed a lot of faith in allowing me to write the project fully. To have to put out as much content as we did in such a short window of time, always under the gun, we really had to hit the ground running. Jim was patient and guiding. Giving me a lot of room to maneuver as well as keeping me in line if I strayed too far outside of the boundaries they needed. He made an extremely stressful title very easy to proceed with. And sad once my time on it came to an end when they wanted to go in a different direction. To Shawn Kittleson and Tori Setian, who were my envoys from the gaming side of Warner Brothers. My fondest memories working on Unhinged will be my visits to the Burbank office to spend those days playing the game before it came out as they guided me through it, answering all my questions, and passing along screenshot references to the artists on my stories. To Hank Kanalz, overseeing the entire digital line of titles (which has only grown in abundance since Arkham kicked things off). To all the artists that came on and drew these stories that turned into so many of my favorites. I was introduced to so many new people and styles, got to work with artists I was already fans of (even before working in comics), and have been blessed to continue to work with a few since our time on the title.<br /><br />Lastly to all the readers and game players. Thanks for your support. I immersed myself in these games leading up to the job of writing them. Playing it before it was released to the public. Reading gaming sites to find out what the fans were interested in and talking about. Getting the chance to meet some of you at convention and store signings. Getting feedback good and bad. It's been one heckuva ride!<br /><br />I don't know what the future holds for the Arkham property. The new game will spawn new Arkham Origins comics, but I have no involvement in them. Yet I hope to get the chance to return to the Arkham-verse at some later date. It is such a fully realized world with a vast assortment of characters that continues to grow with each game. And there's so many more stories to tell…</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-59588799486411274602013-06-23T04:27:00.000-07:002013-06-23T04:27:56.674-07:00UNHINGING #14<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFELfKEx13Vt8DpCzYCOyLzDslpXSQnbdybN-n36nFbwB7lPFMnu9ab6HOenznl3NF55bM2ARHaLMiOMOb02Smv6TYgAszoVkpf9OcLE3983_pik9fywyc5cB_3VJfEaYdpIkAFPimUv2/s1600/ArkhamUnhinged14cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFELfKEx13Vt8DpCzYCOyLzDslpXSQnbdybN-n36nFbwB7lPFMnu9ab6HOenznl3NF55bM2ARHaLMiOMOb02Smv6TYgAszoVkpf9OcLE3983_pik9fywyc5cB_3VJfEaYdpIkAFPimUv2/s200/ArkhamUnhinged14cover.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
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One of the perks of working on Arkham Unhinged was being able to tell stories with the versions of the characters that I was a fan of. They had to merge with how they were portrayed in the Arkham City game of course. But DC and Rocksteady still allowed a lot of leeway in the stories I was able to tell and the versions of the characters I wanted to write. The most perfect example being Talia Al Ghul.<br /><br />In the New52, and more specifically in Grant Morrison's Batman Incorporated, Talia is portrayed as extremely vile to the point of insanity. Someone willing to threaten Batman with choosing to either save Gotham or save their son, and putting a price out on Damian's head that ultimately leads to his death. For better or for worse, that's one of many interpretations of the character over the course of her creation. Just not the one I cared for.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFOI8jjcqvK2x3Vdfxv3iLcuL4YokbyYB-FEEYVBnoHurSerPkpxpVitnt8sJ2p6_duebaEKO7PpTDA7fGx8krdCKXbQgGhrgYAjV0Q8MA04jTZ1QpazQqK9MKH_h9FqkhzGpHwU49GrM/s1600/TaliaRasBatman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="491" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaFOI8jjcqvK2x3Vdfxv3iLcuL4YokbyYB-FEEYVBnoHurSerPkpxpVitnt8sJ2p6_duebaEKO7PpTDA7fGx8krdCKXbQgGhrgYAjV0Q8MA04jTZ1QpazQqK9MKH_h9FqkhzGpHwU49GrM/s640/TaliaRasBatman.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The version I always liked was how she was presented in the animated series, and closer associated with her comic origin. A woman stuck in the middle between two men in her life; the loyalty she shares with her father and her romantic feelings towards her "beloved" Batman. I like that grey area for the character. Not outright evil, but with each confrontation between the two men in her life, the choice of which side to take always hangs in the balance for her. The type of stories good soap operas (or comics) can take full advantage of.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9KVclUSXsKibSOQjWxlQ1xbhFKN8dwOIRnfsYk_F2XhSgypndFTjwutWdfqwo1qogJfHZvRJ3PeqyYhtFE-CQmf0Kp5bQI6ZGq3iByWiWS-bYfai4Kd64MXR_-5a7FD5OdQhPC7D4Hif/s1600/Talia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii9KVclUSXsKibSOQjWxlQ1xbhFKN8dwOIRnfsYk_F2XhSgypndFTjwutWdfqwo1qogJfHZvRJ3PeqyYhtFE-CQmf0Kp5bQI6ZGq3iByWiWS-bYfai4Kd64MXR_-5a7FD5OdQhPC7D4Hif/s640/Talia.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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When Talia first appears in the game, it's to help save Batman's life. And during their conversation, she mentions the night they spent together in Metropolis. Immediately it was like a bell going off in my head…there's a story there to tell. It also allowed me to flashback to earlier in their history together. To tell their first meeting in the Arkhamverse timeline. And a nice excuse to revert back to the way her hair was in the animated series…longer, darker, and hanging over one eye. Femme fatale!<br /><br />Getting a chance to also tell a story outside of Arkham City and outside of Gotham, would be another interesting venture. Since the game mentioned Metropolis, that brings to mind some very familiar characters from that city. Yet aside from showing the Daily Planet building and S.T.A.R. Labs, I couldn't show or mention any of those familiar people. Such is the way these video games can be set up. You don't always have the particulars of the decisions behind this, but have to work around what you're allowed to do. Or to put it another way: It's a bird, it's a plane…and that's all it was.<br /><br />The story I ended up writing followed some familiar beats to their relationship. They meet, they're saved, Batman is brought back to the family to meet her father, Ra's wants Bruce to join his family, but once the darker threat is revealed about who Ra's is, then Batman will forever oppose him. And while Talia has feelings towards Bruce, she'll never be able to convince him to join or kill her father. So her loyalty will stay with her own family, for now.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0uUT3zl7STvQmj1eSh5s_NQJhvYxXGqYjooGGqzmacW4JyHxe_5QZZaEdtyqjTif9vouFeItPQ2eXMykoNDf-MY-qJ2t32IaGv4cmRyBPq2y5Otk0Wqr8dY2STPJl0M4zosKCFRhrzcy6/s1600/WonderCity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0uUT3zl7STvQmj1eSh5s_NQJhvYxXGqYjooGGqzmacW4JyHxe_5QZZaEdtyqjTif9vouFeItPQ2eXMykoNDf-MY-qJ2t32IaGv4cmRyBPq2y5Otk0Wqr8dY2STPJl0M4zosKCFRhrzcy6/s640/WonderCity.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I always found the idea of Ra's being in Gotham during the time of Wonder City to be a missed opportunity. A chance to portray an earlier Gotham and a younger Ra's. And I believe even when writing the game, that Paul Dini had some ideas in mind for wanting to write more about that time period even outside the game. But it wasn't meant to be, for either of us.<br /><br />Also I had a slightly different ending to this story in mind when I turned in my first draft. I thought it would be a cool nod at the end of the story, after Talia fails and returns to her father, if Ra's would mention that Talia's son is waiting to see her. He could've said Damian or left the child nameless. But the implication would be that Talia got pregnant during Bruce's stay at Ra's home all those years ago, and secretly had the child without Bruce knowing. But understandably I think it left too many questions or concerns, that they didn't want to broach. Fan-service denied! Yet... if you look at the very last panel, I sort of came up with the alternative. Talia is touching her belly (slightly covered up with the caption box in print, but more visible here). A possible hint that she got pregnant during their meeting in Metropolis. At least…that's what I wrote in the script and choose to believe.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiTC-fbiWI2zmdpwrYNXBXpuoydGkrTzl3dsNr9Cod5kMYan9KPo3ckcpzhv8En73T5Kjuhz8vfNCgEXlpY8X2NfybbVsFz13399W8ZBwSzpdpFd4xtsIJC5_rCwRqA6X-NJLF9TPzNSnI/s1600/Damian%3F.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiTC-fbiWI2zmdpwrYNXBXpuoydGkrTzl3dsNr9Cod5kMYan9KPo3ckcpzhv8En73T5Kjuhz8vfNCgEXlpY8X2NfybbVsFz13399W8ZBwSzpdpFd4xtsIJC5_rCwRqA6X-NJLF9TPzNSnI/s640/Damian%3F.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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Federico Dallocchio turned in a great performance drawing this story, as well as Alejandro Sanchez on a subdued coloring palette. They'd have to juggle the action scenes along with the quieter, tender moments between these characters. Federico drew a wickedly staged delusion that Bruce is in as he's fading in and out of a poison induced fever dream. There was this gory scene of crows picking away at Batman's eyes, and tearing an eyeball from its socket. It was more graphically presented in the original art, but was edited down for digital. And then reverted back to the original version again for print.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFDNEdaWvxgRDKVmVK6MiqSFd1Cq7WlQ8M2jeJ4zIrqXFAPAC3x3m95Y0OGABY3QZnejwFHWfspprWLPFbiRadsY_zxiUDjCAKS9RbB96uSP77FEo7WiMHka9Yhb-3pO6Hjfi5E3OQb9A/s1600/Crows.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiFDNEdaWvxgRDKVmVK6MiqSFd1Cq7WlQ8M2jeJ4zIrqXFAPAC3x3m95Y0OGABY3QZnejwFHWfspprWLPFbiRadsY_zxiUDjCAKS9RbB96uSP77FEo7WiMHka9Yhb-3pO6Hjfi5E3OQb9A/s640/Crows.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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When tasked with drawing Metropolis, Federico I believe referred to a map design of how the city looked off an old roleplaying game supplement that he had or found online. Only after he drew it, was it decided that Metropolis shouldn't look like that older version on the edge of a cliff and waterfall. So he changed it to reflect the more natural New York style look to the city. You can see the earlier version below to compare the two.<br /> </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHGbv5Qa5D5Lf7ugwkxBGcYCX7ijlGLgOsv9jst0gwnrI_R83L099JPifeheXEqzUI5QLyT9giKxld7LWQGOhp1DJBMS4wc4rd4EzfVZaiwP6_Kd4Y_2Ccboru85sdbrWHaniGPVOJolL/s1600/Metropolis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHGbv5Qa5D5Lf7ugwkxBGcYCX7ijlGLgOsv9jst0gwnrI_R83L099JPifeheXEqzUI5QLyT9giKxld7LWQGOhp1DJBMS4wc4rd4EzfVZaiwP6_Kd4Y_2Ccboru85sdbrWHaniGPVOJolL/s640/Metropolis.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Metropolis: Before & After</i></td></tr>
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I was really happy with how this issue turned out. I'm a sucker for a good tragic character or failed romance, and it was nice to visit these characters in happier times as well as sad ones. It remains one of my top favorites of my entire run.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-80952180978720264912013-06-19T04:55:00.000-07:002013-06-19T04:55:28.426-07:00UNHINGING #13<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6Cjqbhzfp4GYikX2cUA4WXpZ0B8HEqGZpm_fvwuycVBfsRW2H3nsBO6g8GlvGZeHNY2nLyLeywVmoRI8aV7R6orPEOuMka-WhroTLz5CSui0sQo7TVQMqjXhvauTazPRoUPUo3ej_tfW/s1600/ArkhamUnhinged13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL6Cjqbhzfp4GYikX2cUA4WXpZ0B8HEqGZpm_fvwuycVBfsRW2H3nsBO6g8GlvGZeHNY2nLyLeywVmoRI8aV7R6orPEOuMka-WhroTLz5CSui0sQo7TVQMqjXhvauTazPRoUPUo3ej_tfW/s200/ArkhamUnhinged13.jpg" width="130" /></a></div>
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It's been a long time since my last update. This ends up happening when I've got a lot on my plate. A lot of script writing, pitch writing, drawing, and inking. So I apologize for the long wait for some of this. But it's time for me to play catch-up and start to say my final thoughts on a lot of past comics I've had a part in.<br /><br />Each issue of Arkham Unhinged was a chance to shed light on some of the lesser used characters in the game. And that definitely was the case with Black Mask. Aside from his brief appearance at the beginning of Arkham City, as well as his challenge map train level, his time was short. Of course, it looks like that's going to change in Arkham Origins.<br /> </div>
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Telling Black Mask's story was about going through the history of the character, and adapting an origin for him in the Arkhamverse. To help set up the reason he hates Bruce Wayne as well as Batman. And I also wanted to incorporate the train sequence into the story before the start of the game itself.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28QgNAer7XLhdy7qp-h_wLcQqOtXr9fKJvzNYDdbiMoJJedcCb3cK4y1y17tUr9lORmBVU9aTjApib3-x_4YCmNQhpx_nQwYnru04pXkW-eO1p22u0wUnuyz0YqugZxydNS5YV1OmjAYl/s1600/BlackMask.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi28QgNAer7XLhdy7qp-h_wLcQqOtXr9fKJvzNYDdbiMoJJedcCb3cK4y1y17tUr9lORmBVU9aTjApib3-x_4YCmNQhpx_nQwYnru04pXkW-eO1p22u0wUnuyz0YqugZxydNS5YV1OmjAYl/s640/BlackMask.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The fun came in how to depict Black Mask. Sionis always had a chip on his shoulder, from his upbringing with bad parents, to losing the family company and fortune, to being disfigured. He was a top mob heavy that got dropped a few pegs once he was caught and couldn't get back into his factory inside Arkham City. But I admired his tenacity and brutal stubbornness. For a villain, he sort of exudes a strong work ethic. And never content with what he's been dealt. Always looking for a way to gain ground and get back on top. And we put him through his paces here…captured, escaped, recaptured.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLKw79B4gO17GtNBsk7UadxFq_B2VzHPu-XkgiXgzOs-9UwbVSpvqVrEnnxY_8m1fOr4j1S8uCtrPEi3g89a9EHibdJ6B8tv1dYAe30eMOvm8Q2oy0AZ5Di5hd2Y-FhEwsJE_hRm5Yg2S/s1600/harleyhyenas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="494" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFLKw79B4gO17GtNBsk7UadxFq_B2VzHPu-XkgiXgzOs-9UwbVSpvqVrEnnxY_8m1fOr4j1S8uCtrPEi3g89a9EHibdJ6B8tv1dYAe30eMOvm8Q2oy0AZ5Di5hd2Y-FhEwsJE_hRm5Yg2S/s640/harleyhyenas.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Harley's hyenas showed up strictly because I've always enjoyed then in the animated series. And I felt they could be worked into this story fairly naturally. I didn't like the idea of them being stuffed in Penguin's museum. If that did end up happening in the Arkhamverse (and wasn't just Penguin bragging), then it happened after this story. Poor Bud and Lou. I choose to believe it never happened. <br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWw-0fPDqhL2qq9V_EeVkYp3Uxe_Dy3Y6EnI6cLKkUoYIPD6_iy7zfh2ywoCDeI3lL1lHrpenRFX7gzr1fg3YMDRdDNR61Mr6dGC6O5uWRMuB5377H_mjwyD-APQvpZN2mgCIeXjVuj57Y/s1600/Firefly.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWw-0fPDqhL2qq9V_EeVkYp3Uxe_Dy3Y6EnI6cLKkUoYIPD6_iy7zfh2ywoCDeI3lL1lHrpenRFX7gzr1fg3YMDRdDNR61Mr6dGC6O5uWRMuB5377H_mjwyD-APQvpZN2mgCIeXjVuj57Y/s400/Firefly.jpg" width="353" /></a></div>
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I also found a way to stick Firefly into the Arkhamverse. Roman and Garfield Lynns had some past history together, so I thought it would be fun to have him show up in our story (even if it is a glorified cameo). I always hoped I'd have more time to explore the two of them, but my run ended before I got that chance.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJiB5vDAaGKNnBh93zf2ksRK_yFw1ST4PMyJtzgRin8d01dqVb4hnuS_npQ71D1XsX9SDVNx93o8hvabL3qOIuSAOd4r3LVgMP_wYTxDWt_dm1SqcQpm6G6OyWT5NaRZYakcd5TrpR-52F/s1600/theater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJiB5vDAaGKNnBh93zf2ksRK_yFw1ST4PMyJtzgRin8d01dqVb4hnuS_npQ71D1XsX9SDVNx93o8hvabL3qOIuSAOd4r3LVgMP_wYTxDWt_dm1SqcQpm6G6OyWT5NaRZYakcd5TrpR-52F/s400/theater.jpg" width="290" /></a>Sadly, the thing I'll remember most from this story was the timing of it. The movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado was fresh on everyone's minds. Out of that horrible tragedy, DC decided to delay putting out an issue of Batman Incorporated due to some of its content. But then my story was brought to some attention for the part with Black Mask's shootout in a theatre. It had come out around the same time as the real incident and wasn't pulled or delayed. I just hated the idea that this got mentioned at all. You never write these stories wishing for any of this fantasy to happen. Or to get wound up in any controversy over it. Not when the real life tragedy was horrible enough.<br /><br />Artist Eric Nguyen did a fantastic job drawing this issue. We had worked one time before on an origin story in Justice League Beyond. For that, he adapted a more animated style approach. But for this story, he changed his style a little more hard edged and it really fit. He draws one creepy looking Black Mask.<br /><br />Also below are just a few panels that changed during the production of the issue. Sometimes the art didn't fit exactly the first time around, and would get corrected and redrawn. Baby Roman was in an awkward position in the first panel and looks better in the second. Same with the idea of Roman burning down his parents' home. We decided not to show him actually doing the deed, and focusing more on the actual results. All a part of the behind-the-scenes magic that goes into the making of a comic.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-3895839713941272742013-06-04T02:41:00.000-07:002013-06-04T02:41:15.841-07:00POISON CONTROL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYCgcySVZ2baHI_IeFbEOqQIOAeoMXTCjd-q1UuUIjsrehekaaPXPbhyphenhyphen-bB6P2Ze87NHmI9QEuV7kxspbkcCD51M8ZnC6f53z7-HgKNeMEL3fAbLSDDxVKkisX-JylmLRKkVoZsRjYJaZ/s1600/poisonivy_lg.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYCgcySVZ2baHI_IeFbEOqQIOAeoMXTCjd-q1UuUIjsrehekaaPXPbhyphenhyphen-bB6P2Ze87NHmI9QEuV7kxspbkcCD51M8ZnC6f53z7-HgKNeMEL3fAbLSDDxVKkisX-JylmLRKkVoZsRjYJaZ/s1600/poisonivy_lg.gif" /> </a></div>
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It's been a busy last few days as preparations have been underway for DC's announcement of their "Villains Month" for all its September released comics. While there are those that hate the interruption between their regular titles they pick up and these new stories, I'm always a strong advocate for done-in-one stories. Probably because I came from that generation that grew up in the 70's and 80's where comics were mostly told in one issue. There were continuing stories throughout the comics. But generally you could go into a comic shop or drug store spinner rack, and pick up any issue, and be told a full story. Not a part of a 6 or 12 issue series, but one fully realized story. And that this "Villains Month" gets to focus on all the villainous rogues at DC, is a great way to do a lot of interesting character based stories. To get at the heart (the dark heart) of what makes these villains evil. To let them run with wild abandon. And maybe in the process, shed some new light on who they are and what motivates them.<br /><br />I was invited to work on the Poison Ivy story, and am more than happy for the opportunity. While it might not look it, I haven't done much writing for DC's publishing arm in New York. The majority of my writing comes from the Digital arm of the company out in Burbank (Arkham City, Arkham Unhinged, Justice League Beyond, Batman: Li'l Gotham). To be asked to join the event over in NY, was out of the blue, and very exciting. And that I get to write one of my favorite femme fatales in Batman's rogues gallery was the added treat.<br /><br />I won't get into what the story is about just yet, other than my focus on character, character, character. Where Ivy comes from and where she's going. What motivates her and what's her desire. If I do this right, she can be seen as more than just an eco-terrorist. That there's something driving her to do what she does.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-69429491121736159502013-05-23T04:49:00.000-07:002013-05-23T04:49:59.915-07:00THE STRETCH<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuckCXTBiy5ITJJ5fL2M4s2hho9uLENTU16kkNMNkw6ORqVYGJCixtKuPFCNQRRBBuAGxXJobnGhyphenhyphenf_y7T6zoRPlOPNVhyr1XUtK0_wgG8h7kiQh_H0MoxvsK__U3oLQ_vgMmexks9MuWX/s1600/Stretch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuckCXTBiy5ITJJ5fL2M4s2hho9uLENTU16kkNMNkw6ORqVYGJCixtKuPFCNQRRBBuAGxXJobnGhyphenhyphenf_y7T6zoRPlOPNVhyr1XUtK0_wgG8h7kiQh_H0MoxvsK__U3oLQ_vgMmexks9MuWX/s320/Stretch.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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Laziness. It's the kryptonite to any creativity. Heck, to any living and breathing person. Add to that…comfortability. To sort of settle in to something, get locked in, and bunker down. To get too comfortable.<br /><br />I've been working in comics now going on 14 years. At my most ambitious would be those years just trying to break in. The hours spent chained to a table, working on your craft throughout the day into the middle of the night, and forgoing time spent with family, friends, other entertainment, food, and sleep. You're juggling school, a day job (in my case, a night shift), and still working on samples. Sending photocopies off through snail mail (ahhh…those were the days before the internet really took over). And attending as many conventions to talk to editors and get portfolios reviewed. It's a time of great ambition to get that foot in the door. That toe in the door.<br /><br />And it doesn't stop there. After you're in, then comes the true test. The work. The deadlines. Juggling projects. The downtime between projects. The hunt for work. The networking. The conventions (now behind the table instead of in front of it). You're now "in", but can you stay in.<br /><br />For the longest time, I was very comfortable being an inker. It's a very technical, grueling, and arguably under-appreciated profession. Applying ink over another artist so you can collaborate to create a final image. A final product. In some ways, I'd even say it can cater to a lazy artist. A comfortable artist. In that, you don't have to start from scratch. You don't have to stare at that blank page. You get pencils sent to you, or in some cases you print them out, and you have everything right there before you to start. You don't have that trepidation that comes with an empty piece of paper. The frustration that comes with trying to create from scratch, erase, try again, erase, get frustrated, tear the page up and try again. Once an inker gets a page, they can literally grab a good night's rest, wake up, roll out of bed, pick up their brush and pen, and start. Sure we might slowly warm up and get adjusted the longer we ink on that page. Or some days the ink doesn't flow as nice as we'd like. But there's a comfortability factor of having the page already half done in front of you on the table, and then you come in and complete its journey.<br /><br />I was content being an inker. Just an inker. For many years of my career. It can even be both an enviable feeling along with feeling sorry for those that only want to ink. Again, it's a thankless profession, admired mostly by the penciller that works with the inker, as well as the hardcore fan that appreciates the delicacy of the work. And I was comfortable doing that. Years of it and only it. But you get restless and you want more. You want to achieve more.<br /><br />Props to all the inkers that only ink and make a long career of it (20 or 30 years of it). They hone their craft. They get known working over various pencillers. Some of them become interchangeable while others are known as a team, when you think of one, you think of the other. But I'm always surprised and slightly saddened by those inkers that last as long as they do. The ones that stick it out and actually retire ONLY as an inker. To be so focused. To be so content. I see it as liking pizza. I love pizza. But I don't want to eat pizza every day, every year, for 30 years. Even with different toppings. I still have other tastes. I still want more variety.<br /><br />Writing definitely scratches that itch. What I'm not able to achieve visually, I'm unhindered by with my words and imagination. And we've had some great inkers in comics that started out but then grew into great writers. And I'm quite surprised there aren't more of them out there. As inking jobs start becoming few and far between, that we don't start seeing more inkers try their hands at writing and pencilling. Some do. But there are those just happy where they're at. Inking got my foot in the door. And once there, it was maybe a sideways attempt at using that opportunity to have a chance to write. Plus it's nice to know my time in college and my English degree can actually can start paying off!<br /><br />I've also been enjoying the collaborative aspect of writing with other writers. I think so few do that. So many, understandably, have their own ideas. Their own solo voice to tell the stories they want to tell. I have that too. But I also enjoy the aspect of working with a writing partner on various projects. You learn from each other. You find out your weaknesses as well as your strengths. You balance each other out. You learn to adapt, to focus on what's important (and cut out what isn't). You become generous and learn how to share. You champion the end goal. You share the reward.<br /><br />Drawing is probably the next goal at this point. It's been a frustration of not being able to apply what I see in my mind, through my hand, to the pencil, onto the blank page. Artists are our own worst critics, and self hate always keeps me away from the pencil. But when I would pick it up, drawing was always something I did to humor others, and when inspired, also myself. But I'm slowly starting to get that itch. To maybe start to do something more with it. Draw stories. Have fun again. Just another facet to explore when I feel creative.<br /><br />At this point, I feel like I never want to only ink or only write or only draw. Ideally I enjoy a little bit of everything. A smorgasbord (very appropriate to part of my Swedish heritage)…a buffet of some inking, some writing, some drawing. Every day you end up scratching a different itch. It keeps things alive and moving forward. <br /><br />In the end, it all comes down to doing what you love. You might just love one thing and doing that forever to perfection or trying to reach that perfection. Others might like to try a range of stuff. Dabble in a few things. Stop with one, start with another. But I think it starts to come down to getting out of that comfort zone. To be scared but also exhilarated. To grow. To reach for new things.<br /><br /><i>To stretch!</i><br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-49976968457008425362013-05-06T04:41:00.000-07:002013-05-06T04:43:32.635-07:00JUSTICE SERVED - "FLASHDRIVE"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQq-agEz61jxOGBvNwLxei1X6JIJq4DZFo_aglMIhU54sq0HubtvJ_G2N7h6Yl9hQp9x2siQlWbjJy-h4UnUIBY_v2jfpazbr2NQiINiQ3OAeHy147SBz5pLsCBR1JBuaboebSigj9ong/s1600/FlashdrivePart3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUQq-agEz61jxOGBvNwLxei1X6JIJq4DZFo_aglMIhU54sq0HubtvJ_G2N7h6Yl9hQp9x2siQlWbjJy-h4UnUIBY_v2jfpazbr2NQiINiQ3OAeHy147SBz5pLsCBR1JBuaboebSigj9ong/s640/FlashdrivePart3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<u>PART 3 - FLASHING BACK & FORWARD</u><br />
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Start your engines!<br />
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The story of creating a new Flash for the Beyond Universe was all about building the team. In the future, the Justice League already had its Superman and Batman (Terry), it's "Wonder Woman" (Barda), it's Green Lantern (Kai-Ro), it's "Aquaman" (Aquagirl), and even it's Hawkman (Warhawk). In a way, Terry does provide a bit of that youthful cutting humor that is prevalent for Flash. But I knew one of the number one characters that the fans would want on the team was a future version of the Flash.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbmGF6DkGKkrIJlBrbocYjKdWxGdiU_9_09FpqvSaW98PmX1H4aONpVdrY269oj_LarW3CsB3f-5ynfdbnYbMIW4QBREQFZcsY4Y14AoeOcCJwizo4CTQvR3KDpG28v8b3H5UCilSC1Qv/s1600/DanicaRafer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqbmGF6DkGKkrIJlBrbocYjKdWxGdiU_9_09FpqvSaW98PmX1H4aONpVdrY269oj_LarW3CsB3f-5ynfdbnYbMIW4QBREQFZcsY4Y14AoeOcCJwizo4CTQvR3KDpG28v8b3H5UCilSC1Qv/s640/DanicaRafer.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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In a way, our Beyond Flash has two real life athletic inspirations. The first one was obvious probably from the outset. Back when Dustin and I were planning on continuing on Justice League Beyond after our opening "Konstriction" arc (and before Batman: Li'l Gotham got greenlit and he couldn't do both), he came up with her first name, in reference to race car driver Danica Patrick (a female name synonymous with "speed"). The other is less obvious and more personal. Back in high school, my father was close friends with and ran track with Rafer Johnson (who would go on to be a gold medal winning Olympian, carried the torch to ignite the Olympic Flame in the opening ceremonies to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and went on to act and be a spokesperson for various causes). He's one of those athletes that has gone on to do a lot of good, yet is hardly remembered or recognized by the black community. So I thought it would be interesting to have our future Flash be portrayed both as a female and as a person of color. Plus it's really nice to see a range of nationalities present in the future League. That hopefully there's someone that each of us can relate to or be inspired by.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkff8mViS_B7YnqFowDC-tPr-Ehqd2fawWDH4HtPLxXWt53DK9a-Wx4uLDAocRKc0oYxwp0QJPBAG6gaoGPa1VbmDV5X7Tp6ea5y2niA822VA60bEpyijFblCWJGNoLhr7wPz-ZioUNDW/s1600/FlashBeyond1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvkff8mViS_B7YnqFowDC-tPr-Ehqd2fawWDH4HtPLxXWt53DK9a-Wx4uLDAocRKc0oYxwp0QJPBAG6gaoGPa1VbmDV5X7Tp6ea5y2niA822VA60bEpyijFblCWJGNoLhr7wPz-ZioUNDW/s640/FlashBeyond1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFg3VCwzbCSBSfM_j5yoTwlksKsPq1VY5bDWnbdeS6necJGbiKW0kmMZjw0sEhTQ-dxQx_0qo8-nIHp6uDA6SPes7kcVppg7AQ4lCtL4FIfatKT7U0lIgXL-fAQfgMDHz99zxsHKvnxuTj/s1600/FlashBeyond2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFg3VCwzbCSBSfM_j5yoTwlksKsPq1VY5bDWnbdeS6necJGbiKW0kmMZjw0sEhTQ-dxQx_0qo8-nIHp6uDA6SPes7kcVppg7AQ4lCtL4FIfatKT7U0lIgXL-fAQfgMDHz99zxsHKvnxuTj/s640/FlashBeyond2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Flash Beyond designs drawn by Jorge Corona</i></td></tr>
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Designing the costume for the Flash turned into a committee decision. I know when originally thinking up the concept for her, or for any future League members in Beyond, my first thoughts were to keep things streamlined and be as bold and different as possible. This is the future. We don't need to always go by the same visual conventions that all Flash characters have been in the past. If anything, this would be our chance to try something new, even if that meant getting away from the standard red and yellow/gold costume. We could keep the lightning bolt symbol of course, but shouldn't feel like everything needed to remain the same. Needless to say, my feelings on the matter were shot down pretty quickly (ha)! I did think adding black to her outfit would at least keep with the black color scheme that we saw in Terry's Batman and Superman Beyond. But the rest of the outfit would be drawn up and decided upon by the artist (Jorge Corona) and the editorial staff. I got one vote in there, but the idea was to keep the red and yellow. I do admit, it does look nice after the fact, and the fans seem to have latched onto it immediately. But I know after the first color designs were coming back…I just couldn't get "The Incredibles" and "Invincible" out of my mind. It seemed too similar to both, like some all-too-recognizable blending of the two.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8eama6LpLoRFO4Chl_qDXlYhCt_s1xk78XQbzuNpjFrr_6sQsOBuBGKUJZoiZbwex9OB4K7-5bJrS9ba0NpDtU_8qusnJo43WMirL006zbcxgJhuiRPpFSUqdt4NvAe-T8Hj5HrCfLz5/s1600/FlashMindslide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8eama6LpLoRFO4Chl_qDXlYhCt_s1xk78XQbzuNpjFrr_6sQsOBuBGKUJZoiZbwex9OB4K7-5bJrS9ba0NpDtU_8qusnJo43WMirL006zbcxgJhuiRPpFSUqdt4NvAe-T8Hj5HrCfLz5/s640/FlashMindslide.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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If there's one thing I learned in the process of writing the story, is that the fans of the Flash (in any timeline or universe) are pretty fanatical. And while I never grew up as a devoted reader to the character, I knew I wanted to be as respectful of the character and its legacy as I could. And staying with the continuity established in the animated universe, there wasn't a Barry Allen version. Wally would end up being a mixture of both himself and Barry. But I still wanted a way to feature some of the other people that carried the name (and those that would talk to Dani in her mind). Of course, ending things with a Superman vs. Flash race seemed like the traditional way to cap off the story.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8t_282qHaLhRDLyDOVjA-XA-tcoLzJ98XTeM0jSuVf9uUYJCz9seES5OWk0aPxNp3qZirUKZoV6oO-Oxa4-FiY9sALXy3Be86L_7g44lK7eMlDHl7DNJ0FMIV9BJFfgdYPAptAlRKuxw/s1600/Race.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU8t_282qHaLhRDLyDOVjA-XA-tcoLzJ98XTeM0jSuVf9uUYJCz9seES5OWk0aPxNp3qZirUKZoV6oO-Oxa4-FiY9sALXy3Be86L_7g44lK7eMlDHl7DNJ0FMIV9BJFfgdYPAptAlRKuxw/s640/Race.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The traditional fastest man (or woman) alive race!</i></td></tr>
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Fans clamoring to know more about Dani will get a chance to see her back story told in an upcoming "Beyond Origin". It was a fun way to show where she grew up and traveled to around the Beyond Universe, as well as explore the legacy of the Flash and how she's able to hear all the voices of the previous Flashes. I even created some new villains in there as a possible back-door "pilot" if she got her own series or more stories to help flesh out her world. But at this stage, I'm kind of doubtful it'll ever happen.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2gkE6HYzduIRi8kGrfckJf4bd5P1cpHdQ8IXj41ZPRy2Q-e4qOs-Z3RtK1RgIqhCcszdPWCOLabZ0EyOkjIoSQ-9JEfVaAbrLu-J_fLE257fqjfxKPfZixlWRNER4Xqi5oWQOkwaJSX4X/s1600/BeyondOrigin1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2gkE6HYzduIRi8kGrfckJf4bd5P1cpHdQ8IXj41ZPRy2Q-e4qOs-Z3RtK1RgIqhCcszdPWCOLabZ0EyOkjIoSQ-9JEfVaAbrLu-J_fLE257fqjfxKPfZixlWRNER4Xqi5oWQOkwaJSX4X/s400/BeyondOrigin1.jpg" width="265" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7szpmZZD9zquBVsoMnJHiccIz1vIELGqyOJqxwBc_9eG7eq9wURy3Szys9LSdMIVcjBFOdoN0518wVYEHtQKBsTKG5OVcyAWTvmxDOhkONzt3nhM9HA6-PKkYBqRPN7dCnhICMl5b7-HT/s1600/BeyondOrigin2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7szpmZZD9zquBVsoMnJHiccIz1vIELGqyOJqxwBc_9eG7eq9wURy3Szys9LSdMIVcjBFOdoN0518wVYEHtQKBsTKG5OVcyAWTvmxDOhkONzt3nhM9HA6-PKkYBqRPN7dCnhICMl5b7-HT/s400/BeyondOrigin2.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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Since the "Flashdrive" story is all about fandom (how one enemy took his fandom to the extreme while Dani was a fan that tapped into the legacy of the Flash to do good), I'd like to end things by talking about the fandom of the readers. It's been refreshing to see how a majority of people really took to the character. Her spunky, witty attitude and brief appearance, actually lead to a lot of cool fan art. That she would be so warmly accepted by the audience to draw her, is a lot of fun for me to see and share below. I have mixed feelings as a "creative" parent to Dani; one of a few that helped breathe life into the character, but who won't get a chance to continue her story. That's up to the creative teams that will continue on the title after my exit. I hope they continue to use her on the Justice League and forge a new path for her.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLLDqFwZDhD_rUX-2wviZaFkF4mR6Pz4PUTq4FUopzPzwLGGxC8aupXzkaA-bzB_l-yO6rcyBDbrPx2AETR-kRsuJwE-nN0jm62hNMNDvVFkVRSWeYzPm2NgPwDvhnA6kAaueSgNsARIyE/s1600/KalininaValeriaFlash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="568" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLLDqFwZDhD_rUX-2wviZaFkF4mR6Pz4PUTq4FUopzPzwLGGxC8aupXzkaA-bzB_l-yO6rcyBDbrPx2AETR-kRsuJwE-nN0jm62hNMNDvVFkVRSWeYzPm2NgPwDvhnA6kAaueSgNsARIyE/s640/KalininaValeriaFlash.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fan Art by Kalinina Valeria - http://creatrixtiamat.deviantart.com</i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAScVbzM01OFPu7z-6fIib9kcCeLWme60MIvZ4XS2HAOwKzlktTg6avyj4WdJizDG7rttLAYC3fBk62TSH7QhM_f7gBPHGsKKzRi-wsyWn0kc3LcsWWZWK2wbwTBPdDjdMmyEJrFAk2jRv/s1600/MarkTorresFlash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAScVbzM01OFPu7z-6fIib9kcCeLWme60MIvZ4XS2HAOwKzlktTg6avyj4WdJizDG7rttLAYC3fBk62TSH7QhM_f7gBPHGsKKzRi-wsyWn0kc3LcsWWZWK2wbwTBPdDjdMmyEJrFAk2jRv/s640/MarkTorresFlash.jpg" width="492" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fan Art by Mark Torres - http://mytymark.deviantart.com</i></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-69690102178596682302013-04-26T02:55:00.000-07:002013-04-26T02:55:43.117-07:00JUSTICE SERVED - "FLASHDRIVE"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvstJXGeRToQWdGbr7ytPzrseDYbdgXdgTZqFKfBYr9tLhuLw1OA5xVKYYBieiUiMDr5qfS-JWdSV7FsBT2k4rA3rjb3y1HwaPEywr2GAW8KUPNJYv0L1EzKi8g3hQ14SwtxUeIsEf6jP/s1600/cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZvstJXGeRToQWdGbr7ytPzrseDYbdgXdgTZqFKfBYr9tLhuLw1OA5xVKYYBieiUiMDr5qfS-JWdSV7FsBT2k4rA3rjb3y1HwaPEywr2GAW8KUPNJYv0L1EzKi8g3hQ14SwtxUeIsEf6jP/s640/cover.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<u>PART 2 - THE ACT OF CREATION</u><br /><br />My approach for Justice League Beyond was always two-fold…to revisit and see familiar DC characters (either from the shows or the comics) and what they were up to in the future. But also, to start creating new characters in this future world. The Beyond universe, maybe even more so than any current DC universe, was wildly open to invention. To do what our job title implies…to be a comic book <i>CREATOR</i>.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMP2vUTrAPwwlHULC1Nr9JYLH7nHhc6y4cU4ilA489qR_8tm3_qJdvXl1_vpSz5jki3da8hJGanEbXesu-YMj3-GnysVBDB4JfhTRYqsIsim7AGbNHuCgRivFBAdad5nowLjKcaarg7rl/s1600/Mindslide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMP2vUTrAPwwlHULC1Nr9JYLH7nHhc6y4cU4ilA489qR_8tm3_qJdvXl1_vpSz5jki3da8hJGanEbXesu-YMj3-GnysVBDB4JfhTRYqsIsim7AGbNHuCgRivFBAdad5nowLjKcaarg7rl/s640/Mindslide.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Since I wouldn't be able to use Solomon Grundy as my villain for this story, it really gave me a chance to go back to the drawing board and invent someone new. And I always saw this "Flashdrive" story as being one centered around the idea of fandom and how that affects people differently. Our new female Flash would become the ultimate fan. A torchbearer towards the legacy of all the Flashes that came before her. To the point where she'd work in a museum dedicated to that hero. And on the flip side of that, we have Mindslide. Someone consumed with the pursuit of the fame and celebrity that surrounded super heroes and villains. And in the end, his new ability would allow him to collect all of their powers and be an enormous threat. Fandom gone bad.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDpGR-_FN7LP9gJSJI1B70yEP_GuZC2LEQRNmzzld4J5DNqfl7GHj-y-MvCgpJ1PEJND9BAo4fJ3DxNRy1pk_5RlE0JZRaSg80Tdicyk-5HBEfiJY1GCYXHGRI9zCWf49MYY2g4SY7i74/s1600/RigorMorris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioDpGR-_FN7LP9gJSJI1B70yEP_GuZC2LEQRNmzzld4J5DNqfl7GHj-y-MvCgpJ1PEJND9BAo4fJ3DxNRy1pk_5RlE0JZRaSg80Tdicyk-5HBEfiJY1GCYXHGRI9zCWf49MYY2g4SY7i74/s640/RigorMorris.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The silly side of me also looks at character creation much like a kid would. Come up with a crazy name and draw something cool. To just have fun with the concept of creating a villain, and not feel so mired in the dark seriousness in comics. That's done wonders for Dustin and I having fun doing Batman: Li'l Gotham. And I'd use that same frame of mind when coming up with the other villain in our "Flashdrive" story…Rigor Morris. It's a curse made abundantly clear to the reading audience, my love for bad puns or play-on-words. But also I feel, when thinking up a rival to go against your hero, you try to find a new approach or a way to test the hero. Having this undead villain's powers actually literally stiffen his competition, would be a huge problem to any hero (especially one that relies on speed as their power).<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl9cUouyuOdeYcBOh3Vr_4hVMBkVztXncO0v4fsObsfKxIh-lDAaUVOmfRTSL3m798wOv7ljA_lbneUob-Rtqwtf80m5KaCFs5yGA-fBnXq1VMOhn8ReoW4Q7Y8oeEivE6-n7yB9GiQqin/s1600/ROTJ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl9cUouyuOdeYcBOh3Vr_4hVMBkVztXncO0v4fsObsfKxIh-lDAaUVOmfRTSL3m798wOv7ljA_lbneUob-Rtqwtf80m5KaCFs5yGA-fBnXq1VMOhn8ReoW4Q7Y8oeEivE6-n7yB9GiQqin/s640/ROTJ.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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One more thing to discuss was my choice to revisit "The Return Of The Joker" movie. I believe I've said it before on my blog, but it remains probably my favorite animated film that DC/WB has put out. How they were able to essentially do the last Joker story in the animated continuity in flashback, in-between the Beyond storyline of the film. Extremely dark to the point where they had to animate an alternate version of the movie for release, due to the pressures surrounding world events at that time (the Columbine shooting if I remember correctly). I still remember back in those days, having ties to someone that worked in a video rental store. These rental outlets would get advance copies of movies they'd rent before they'd get distributed and sold to the buying market. And they had the uncensored original version on vhs tape before WB decided to censor it. I was able to get that store copy to see it, and it just burned into my mind how well written and composed that flashback was. The idea they'd be able to go darker than they could in any tv show, without fear of needing to continue from that point on. To really have Joker find out Batman's true identity, the torture of Robin, and the death of the Joker. Brutal stuff. And being such a huge fan of that movie, you never think you'd ever get a chance to homage it. To do a story that plays in the aftermath of that moment, ever so briefly. To indulge your inner fanboy. And then how that would tie into the Beyond universe…how that incident would help set the path for how Barbara Gordon would quit being Batgirl to end up as the Commissioner. And how dead villains would be dealt with in the animated universe.<br /><br />Yep…pure fanboy indulgence on my part.<br /><br />Come back for Part 3, where I wrap things up by talking about our new female Flash. How she came about, her past history, and what lies in her future.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-38462464266326707902013-04-11T06:17:00.000-07:002013-04-11T06:17:43.770-07:00JUSTICE SERVED - "FLASHDRIVE"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<u>PART 1 - DEAD ON A MONDAY</u><br /> </div>
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After the way the first Justice League Beyond story arc "Konstriction" was stretched out due to the way it would be released, I knew right away I wanted to change things up with the direction of the stories immediately following. I wanted shorter stories of three chapters each, that could essentially be done-in-one type issues. It would be both a shot in the arm to make it easier for new readers to jump on board, as well as allow us to move around the Beyond universe quicker.<br /><br />Also the idea behind it all was that I wanted to expand the team roster. The future Justice League was so small in comparison to the Justice League Unlimited show as well as any of the comics. For this future League to thrive, they would need to start adding members. So we'd start an open ended "Recruitment Drive" plan to start touring the Beyond universe, outside of Neo Gotham and Metropolis. To see what else and who else was out there.<br /><br />Stories change and adapt over time. It's one of the interesting processes of working in comics, especially ones ahead of schedule, before they arrive online or in print. Not long after JLB was pitched, I was already starting to develop the next stories after "Konstriction"; pitching those even before Superman Beyond became a reality and joined the lineup in Batman Beyond Unlimited. When it came time for this "Flashdrive" story to be worked on, the villain in my initial pitch was already involved in Superman Beyond. It sort of threw me for a loop, as I try to allow myself enough time to plan stuff out in advance. Whether it just got forgotten up the editorial ladder or they decided to use the villain in a separate way than what I had planned, it meant getting rid of the idea and starting over from scratch.<br /><br />My initial idea was to provide the new Flash with her main nemesis in Central City. To have her own sort of Lex Luthor type rival, who would provide the city with a lot of business and future technology. My initial pitch outline described it:<br /><br /><b><i>The main threat in town is King Solomon whose golden building towers over the landscape of the city. Sol and his forces have a stranglehold on the city. Imagine Capone's mafia run Chicago, except the prohibition of this time is for technology. Sol controls all technology that enters the city, and his mobsters might look like throwbacks to an earlier era, but their future tech laser tommy guns say otherwise. With Intergang trying to establish themselves in this area outside of Metropolis, we have a growing gang war problem that threatens the city. And one that Flash has been having trouble trying to keep the peace.</i></b><br /><br />The reveal was that King Solomon was actually Solomon Grundy. His ability to come back from death over the years would provide him with experience and ties to the past. And this Grundy would be well spoken and competent, unlike the previous versions of the character. Only when he'd start to get angry, would he Hulk-Out into the Grundy we're all familiar with.<br /><br />To add to the fun, Sol also had an older Consigliere as his right hand advisor. A man that went by the name "O'Brien", who dressed fashionably in his old age (slicked back white hair, tailored white suit with front pocket red handkerchief). If it wasn't already noticeable, we'd find out this is none other than Eel O'Brien, the original Plastic Man. He had always started out in a life of crime before he got his powers and turned legit. We'd be able to explain, either in the story or in an Origin special, that O'Brien had fallen on hard times, ditched his hero persona, and went back to his old ways falling in with bad people. But by the end of the story, the heart of a hero would emerge and he'd help the League take down Grundy.<br /><br />But once Grundy was being used in the Superman Beyond story, it threw a wrench into my story. I'd ditch both Grundy and Plastic Man, and have to start over. It was recommended I might make Grodd the villain and shift the theme to ape mobsters, but I decided against that as well (I'd end up using apes in the story in a different way).</div>
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Come back for Part 2, where I'll dive into the creation of new villains as well as ties to the past revisiting the aftermath of the "Return Of The Joker" movie in relation to our story.<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-36691233463668145802013-03-26T02:49:00.000-07:002013-03-26T02:49:52.810-07:00UNHINGING #12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I knew writing this issue would be a departure from what most of the Unhinged stories were. As well as a great risk to keeping the audience's attention.</div>
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We'd had plenty of villain centered stories as well as Batman in action. But this one would be mostly the opposite. Very little Batman, and relying heavily on some minor characters and flashbacks to before the game. Still I felt it necessary as the series continued, to try to find ways to bring in some of the lesser used side characters and try to breathe some life into them.<br /> </div>
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This one also took a little more legwork than normal. I remember when Azrael debuted in comics decades back, but I never kept track or followed the character since that time, as it became a different user under the mask. And it would be that different iteration of the character in the game itself. He had such a small role as just a side mission in the game, and sort of vaguely cryptic in his appearances, that I wasn't sure if there would be a chance to use him in any Unhinged story. But I remember early on that it was a character that readers and fans of the game were interested in seeing more of, so it was something in the back of my mind as I was trying to develop a story for him. It just conveniently worked out that his origin could tie in with another minor character in the game, when they both were cops in Gotham.</div>
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I liked the idea of the church being this fortified safe haven in the game. That various people that Batman saved or those seeking shelter, would hole up inside the church. And even on these hallowed grounds, it would turn into a last stand against the outside forces trying to assault the compound. In the game, you'd see all these characters that you might talk to briefly (Vicky Vale, Mayor Sharp, the cops) and here we'd get to see what might play out in the game with all of them there and Batman not around to help.<br /> </div>
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Part of the fun of writing these stories is some of the confrontations and battles that never showed up in the game. Almost like you're building your own fight card of heroes verses villains. It's how we had Bane fight Grundy in an earlier issue, and once again we'd have Bane now fight Azrael here. Sadly, Bane became very one-note in the game itself, which I ended up carrying over to these stories as well. I wanted to remain as true to the game version as I could, even if I didn't really like that version displayed. He was less of a smart and powerful strategist, and more of a drug obsessed roided out thug. But you sometimes just have to work with what you're given.<br /><br />In the end, this story might've been my least favorite of my run. Usually I think writers rarely voice that opinion or if they do, they might feel that way if they're forced to write a certain story by their editors. But that wasn't the case here, since I brought this one to them. Now that time has passed since its completion and I can look back in hindsight, I'm not entirely sure if I was able to accurately convey what my original intent was. The newer Azrael has a convoluted back history that I was unsure I could properly cover in what little space I had or if I should. But like most of the Unhinged stories, they would be 30-page, 1-and-done issues. So even if the results weren't as expected, there would always be another story for the next issue.<br /> </div>
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Our artist, Jheremy Raapack, did a fantastic job in this issue. He found a way to humanize the backstory, while also individualizing the cops and medical workers, as well as an army of inmate gang members as they tried to break into the church. His gritty detailed style really worked well for this type of story, and fans are now getting to see him continue with that style over in the digital Injustice: Gods Among Us stories.</div>
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Funny side note…for some reason, during the early stages of drawing pencil layouts for the story, Jheremy ended up mistaking Killer Croc for Bane. While Croc had the briefest of flashback cameos in our story, I think he must've just continued with him in mind for whatever reason. But then it was quickly pointed out by the editor that it was Bane in the script. He then drew the correct villain for the story. These are the crazy inner-workings the audience doesn't see happen as these stories are created. But thought it would be fun to show what some of those original Croc rough layouts looked like. Would've made for a fun story in itself, but Bane had more purpose for why he was in the story than Croc.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06919915634381327047noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6642078015273606186.post-67179574391098567932013-03-23T08:02:00.000-07:002013-03-23T08:02:37.418-07:00LI'L BEHIND THE SCENES #6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIplQ9R4Hj9ZIFuSPfKkjVr3DNmQ8q5CQCR_BliIoYuDBL05j_kkh6uPW_FR5EtB6X151S1oNmQr1wnGdR5u_F0uaWK6FdfF9oVd578hvw5AYyhxwDUM1YIIG0os_Ay1xnwzpirQlu4T7k/s1600/LilGotham6cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIplQ9R4Hj9ZIFuSPfKkjVr3DNmQ8q5CQCR_BliIoYuDBL05j_kkh6uPW_FR5EtB6X151S1oNmQr1wnGdR5u_F0uaWK6FdfF9oVd578hvw5AYyhxwDUM1YIIG0os_Ay1xnwzpirQlu4T7k/s200/LilGotham6cover.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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With the success of Batman Li'l Gotham, it didn't take long for a decision to be made to double production. We were already doing one 10 page story a month, and now essentially we'd be putting out a 20 page monthly painted comic (still broken down into 10 page stories every other week). And that's also why duplicate covers are starting to appear, with slight coloring changes.<br /><br />I think the fans thought of it as a mistake or lazy. But anyone familiar with the digital releases that DC has been putting out might notice that one cover is used for multiple stories in a given month. Usually it works out good for stories broken down into 2 or 3 chapters (examples being Arkham Unhinged, Batman Beyond, and Justice League Beyond to name a few). It gets a little more awkward with Li'l Gotham which has a different story each chapter, so two separate stories have to share the same cover in any given month now. Since the increased production sprung up on us quickly, it didn't really allow a chance to alter covers other than different color schemes. But I know in the future, we'll be trying (who am I kidding….Dustin will be trying) to incorporate both story elements into the one cover used for the month.</div>
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Until then, our "Lunar New Year" just happens to have nothing in common with the reused cover of poor Joker still trying to run away from the ladies on Valentine's Day. So the joke was on all of us.<br /> </div>
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As for the story itself, I think it was Dustin's idea for us to do a Lunar New Year story. It would be a nice visual change of pace having a Gotham Chinatown story and all the cool visuals that could go with it. Having the villains be from Kobra (characters we were already familiar with during our opening arc run on Justice League Beyond) kept with the theme of the "Year Of The Snake" for the holiday this year. It was also a chance to have the story center around Damian and Katana. Ends up there's a little history between those two characters.</div>
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It comes as no surprise that Dustin and I enjoyed our runs working with Paul Dini on Detective Comics and Streets Of Gotham. A lot of the characters and stories and situations all sort of draw from our time there, as well as other influences like the animated shows and our own interests. It would be during those early Streets Of Gotham issues where Damian showed some interest in Katana. So in Li'l Gotham, it's more of a sibling rivalry, and they play off each other well.<br /> </div>
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Another flashback was introduced towards the end of Streets, when we saw Alfred in his younger days. He had a cool visual look as the driver for the Wayne family, and a bit of a kick-ass bodyguard. I always loved that appearance of him and thought it would be fun to revisit a version of that in this story by having a flashback sequence to Bruce's early days as Batman.</div>
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Without a Robin in his life, it would be Alfred that would be his partner-in-stopping-crime. And of course, a bit of a Kato homage as well. That Dustin decided to paint it in a more sepia tone for the flashback was the perfect choice. We wanted to fit in a little nod foreshadowing where Batman would get his first Robin, by having the circus come through town. Originally I wrote it to have the car stop at the tracks as the train passed in front of them. But Dustin suggested an even better visual of having them drive over a bridge, never realizing how closely their two paths would cross. One of the more beautiful panels he's drawn in our entire run so far.<br /> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3GTtc8lWcuL2IZDJC2ERXQpS8MxagGTRvuCs73Nt5RZsA-a7XbflEYG_ofcfl2g0zXZ6MFI-OPJNxRjA9_6yj7NjiijhB8qaPOjeUo6BiLDg_pw3i1kErx4kq6xJrvPi2zRG0udHpv2I/s1600/Snakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp3GTtc8lWcuL2IZDJC2ERXQpS8MxagGTRvuCs73Nt5RZsA-a7XbflEYG_ofcfl2g0zXZ6MFI-OPJNxRjA9_6yj7NjiijhB8qaPOjeUo6BiLDg_pw3i1kErx4kq6xJrvPi2zRG0udHpv2I/s320/Snakes.jpg" width="160" /></a></div>
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Animals, animals…everywhere…<br /><br />It's been a bit of a running gag that was never originally intended but has turned into a happy accident, of having animals and pets in most of our stories. It really started with Dustin's promotional piece that announced Li'l Gotham, with all the baby birds scattered around. Seeing those silly cute things ended up sparking us into having other creatures show up in each of the stories. There's been a history of Damian being a bit of an animal lover in the New52. And that's carried over into our stories. Except for snakes.<br /><br />Lastly, part of the enjoyment of these stories is coming up with the silly phrases some of the characters say. I think a lot of the puns and humor is just an extension of some of the late night online conversations that Dustin and I have as we go over the scripts and the art. Things have a way of jumping out as we rattle off puns back and forth.</div>
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The one I'll end with below, is definitely all Dustin.</div>
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