OPTIMAL CONDITIONS

Something I'm always fascinated by, is the creative process. And part of the process of writing and drawing is how this is accomplished. What does one do when they finally sit down at the art table or the computer, for the magic to happen? More specifically, what does one listen to? For me it's split, depending on what part I'm doing.

Talia tells Bruce to be quiet, in an upcoming Arkham Unhinged.  My kind of writer!

If I'm writing, I need silence. I'm talking library, dead-of-night, no phones, people, or distractions. No mailman. No tv or movies. No interruptions. I need to get into my head to form my thoughts, whether I'm working off of notes or a draft of what I've previously written. Or if I'm coming up with something from scratch. For some people, they love having music or background noise on to spur their thoughts. But to me, that actually gets in the way of what I'm trying to do as a writer. A lot of the times, I'm reading and rereading what I've already written. Constantly going over drafts and trying to hear the voices of my characters. And if need be…say the dialogue out loud. To hear if it works. So having a vacuum with no sound present is perfect for me.

But when it comes to inking or drawing, it's the opposite. Then I require sound for long periods of time. I might sit at the table inking a page in an 8-10 hour stretch, and rarely do I do that in silence. Inking is a creative task rather than forming thoughts or stories, so it's nice to have something to listen to. I'll toss on podcasts, have music on in rotation, put on the tv, or even better, a dvd or blu-ray commentary of something I've already seen. I imagine books on tape might be a fantastic way to go, but I haven't ventured down that path just yet. I have plenty of other things to listen to and keep me occupied.

I know writers and artists who do the exact opposite and it's fascinating to me. Those that put on musical scores or soundtracks so they can capture a mood to what they're writing. And those that ink in complete silence. Odd to me, but each of us has our own process.

What's yours?

JUSTICE SERVED #3

With the third issue of Batman Beyond Unlimited, the title got a little more crowded (of course, wait until next issue). The Beyond universe of titles could now expand. Batman Beyond gave way to Justice League Beyond, and now a solo Superman Beyond could continue out of that.

In order to share space having all three under the same print issue, it will be a rotation. One main story will get 20 pages (or two digital issues collected), while the other two titles would get 10 pages each. The feature story will change on a monthly basis.

PAGES 1 & 2

For our Kobra Queen, part of the fun of writing is the research involved. Doing a search for Snake Goddesses resulted in statues and art of a very common deity in Minoan tradition. I sent a couple of these scans as reference to Dustin, who then spun his own take off of them, applying the very cool headdress.

I had only listed a few nondescript guards in her palace chambers, but Dustin went ahead and drew the more dino reptilian inspired versions that were seen in the show. He gave them more of a serpent spin to their appearance here. Always great leaving room for the artist to add their visual interpretive sense to the page.

Watch List:  Batman Beyond episode "The Curse Of The Kobra part 2"


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Probably more of an in-joke gag between Dustin and I, but we just thought it would be a fun running theme to associate Micron's appearances linked to that sort of healing human test tube chamber. It was in the show, and now makes its appearance here (as well as his Beyond: Origin story coming up). Due to his special condition, I could see him being monitored this way , especially in his early years.

Watch List:  Batman Beyond episode "The Call part 1"
 

This is a call back to the Justice League Unlimited episode. An older Amanda Waller mentions needing to take pills for her memory, and I thought it would be a nice way to tie-in exactly what was the cause of that (aside from old age, it would be Kobra and Spellbinder's mind control techniques that damaged her).

Watch List:  Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue"


PAGE 4 

This page goes through a lot of history for the characters throughout the shows as well as setting up some of their Beyond: Origins stories, some still yet to come (Warhawk's parents, how Barda worked with the United Nations, and Aquaman's famous short fuse). And of course this little nugget…a little foreshadowing to Terry and Waller's conversation in "Epilogue".

Watch List:  Justice League Unlimited episode "Epilogue"


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Checkmate, or at least Waller's connection to it, I don't think was ever really integrated into the DCAU. But here was a chance to at least reference it. And a chance to have a blink-and-you'll-miss cameo by Professor Emil Hamilton.


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This is the issue where you start to feel the Kirby love. Pretty much a love letter to Jack Kirby, throughout this entire arc storyline. And we start with the Challengers Of The Unknown. I wanted Dustin to create an iconic cover type image, where they'd always have the team fighting off some giant monster. Dustin didn't disappoint.

Dustin even fished out a panel from the old comics to include as a black and white photo hanging on the wall…back during their younger days.

"The Genesis War" is first hinted at here. We'll explain more about this in the Beyond: Origin story for Barda, still to come.


PAGE 8 

Finally we get to see how Aquaman looks in the Beyond timeline. Very Poseidon, "old man of the sea" look to him. Still with the hook hand, as adopted into the DCAU, and his Atlantean soldiers in their familiar armor as well. And even though the Ouroboros awoke and rose from the depths, to devastate the Atlanteans, I never saw it as Aquaman's death. No worries…he lives to fight another day.


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What can I say about this page? Pure guilty pleasure. Again keeping with the Kirby love, I wanted to show the giant serpent gaining access to other worlds and realities, to test out it's power. So I took four Kirby creations, and had Dustin recreate some of their famous covers or panels and inserting the snake into them. Featured are Kamandi, Atlas, OMAC, and the Forever People.

JUSTICE SERVED #2

As Justice League Beyond continues in Batman Beyond Unlimited, the scope of the stories we wanted was to have them move out of Gotham into other parts of the DC Universe. With Cadmus playing such a large role in the Justice League Unlimited show and in the Beyond timeline, it seemed natural that there would be all sorts of Cadmus compounds scattered around the globe. One such secretive one, as funded by Luthor, would be hidden on Dinosaur Island. And that's where the story continues in this issue before heading over to a secret Kobra base.
 

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The idea was to keep the green & purple color scheme design for the robots, mimicking Lex's own familiar power suit.

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Lex's very focused collection of Kryptonian artifacts (as well as other items) would lend itself to a lot of mystery. We already know that Superman has kept his own rocketship from Krypton as part of his collection in the Fortress Of Solitude. But maybe it wasn't the only one to make it off the planet. Superman's vision when touching this ship yields a saying in Kryptonian here.

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When coming up with where the Ouroboros would be found by Kobra, I had read and heard from friends about the mysterious "bloop" phenomenon (do a google search for it…it's pretty fascinating and Cthulhu-esque). Where deep sea sonar had picked up this sound many fathoms deep that's been a mystery. Instead of inventing some place on the fly for this giant snake to be called forth from (alternate reality, wormhole, etc.), here was something more grounded in actual fact, right down to it's specific location. Always a happy accident when something like this falls in your lap.

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The mind control device that Amanda Waller is being forced to wear, is the same one Kobra has used before in the series finale to Batman Beyond.

Watch List:  Batman Beyond episode "Unmasked"

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This is the first mention of Aquaman in the Justice League Beyond comic. He'll also show up in the next issue as well as the Beyond: Origins story for Aquagirl. For the future Justice League's appearance in the Batman Beyond show, there's a fleeting mention of Aquaman on Aquagirl's database entry on the computer. His whereabouts at that time were "unknown". I'm sure there's a backstory there waiting to be told, but we won't be referring back to that anytime soon.

Watch List:  Batman Beyond episodes "The Call parts 1 & 2"

Not a whole lot of surprises or easter eggs for this issue, but still many more to come as we move forward!

GAME OVER

With the 6-part Arkham City "End Game" story over, I guess it's time to share some final thoughts and reflections.

I think with a lot of stories, one can be under the gun as a writer. Deadlines and schedules are constantly changed around as you're trying to finish everything. Early ideas and drafts of stories probably look a lot different than the finished product, as you apply notes and cut out and add things at your own discretion or encouraged to by the company. It can sometimes be a minor miracle if everything turns out as it should, much less if the reader enjoys it at the end of the day.

I am extremely happy with the way it all came together. And much of that starts with the artist, Jason Shawn Alexander. It was quite the vetting process trying to not only find someone that fit the tone of this dark story, but someone that was available. But when I was presented with his art, I was sold. Jason comes from a very naturalistic style to his work. His characters look very human, and real in all the right and wrong ways. Heroic, innocent, and when needed, very disturbing. He captures all of that in his storytelling and in a lot of very reflective moments with the characters, we're brought into the story and into the panels with them. I look forward to all of Jason's future projects and hope we get a chance to reteam sometime down the line.

As far as the deathtrap scenario of chapter 5 and how that was resolved (or wasn't resolved) in chapter 6, my approach to it was this… I didn't want to make it conclusive. I didn't want to show exactly how Batman could've escaped that locked cell surrounded by all the bombs within. I wanted to leave that to the reader. It's sort of my pet peeve of the dumbing down of entertainment and the over explanation of everything. So many times, you're presented with how something turns out in comics, shows, and movies. And at the end of it, it's inevitable. You'll turn to your friends or think to yourself, "Yeah, but I would've done it this way instead."  Think of this as me allowing that to happen. To bring that imagination back to comics. To not spell everything out. To let each of you to come up with your own reason for how this occurred and how Batman escaped. I know I have my own idea how it happened. And now you can have your own too.

I know there's still a lot of debate over whether the Joker is dead or not. I think comics in general have molded our minds to think, dead is never dead. That characters come back, both heroes and especially villains. That nothing is ever final. But what if it were? The thing I love about the Arkham-verse in the games, is that they don't have to follow those notions at all. It's its own universe, separate from the regular DC comic continuity and universe. What happens together in the games and the Arkham related comics is its own thing. And with that, we're able to explore what actually does happen when the greatest threat to Batman and Gotham is no longer with us. And that's not to say that none of us involved don't like the Joker. Quite the opposite. But it should be fascinating the new ground still yet to be discovered.

There will always be those detractors that think this can be another trick from the Joker, it could be a version of Clayface in disguise, another switcheroo, a clone… any number of excuses why it isn't him. That even if they cried out to see an autopsy shown in the comics, that they still wouldn't believe the results. That any way you presented it, there'd always be disbelief or outright denial. Whether that's because of how comics have always been presented or not, or just the love for the character and wanting to see his return…it's probably all of that. But as a writer, I'm always interested in what comes next. No one really gets to tell the aftermath of death in comics very often, because we're usually spoiled knowing the character is returning before their body is even cold. But here, Joker's body isn't cold anymore. It's very burnt and ashy. I'm ready to accept that and hope the readers are too.

R.I.P.  JOKER

JUSTICE SERVED #1

Just like I'm doing with Arkham Unhinged, I thought I'd go through each print issue of Batman Beyond Unlimited and give some thoughts or easter eggs concerning the Justice League Beyond portion of the issue. So we'll start with issue #1 and eventually catch up to the current released print issue. Also I'll list the episodes that might tie-in specifically with the story, for those of you that would like to follow along as avid watchers or those new to the show.

To launch Justice League Beyond, Dustin and I wanted to hit the ground running. I think some of the best episodes or movies for the DCAU jump right into the action and then flow out from there. And if we could tie into previous Batman Beyond episodes (as well as Batman:TAS, Superman: TAS, and the two Justice League series), then even better. It would bring some familiarity while also moving the story forward.


PAGE 1

• I thought it would be cool to set up a gang war in Gotham between the Jokerz as well as a gang of Splicers. The Splicers would be remnants of the group that was affiliated with Dr.Able Cuvier, who founded the gene splicing technology. But those that've seen the episode, saw his eventual disappearance or destruction. I figured it wouldn't be long before the remaining people would gather together and start their own gang. That they named themselves the "Animal Kingdom", when there was a similar named group that just appeared in the Batwing comic, was just an odd coincidence (especially since we'd been working on this comic a year before Batwing hit the stands).

Watch List:  Batman Beyond episode "Splicers"

I don't know if Dustin drew the character here intentionally or not, but he does bear a striking resemblance to Howard Groote from Batman Beyond (I probably should've added his glasses, but maybe ol' Groote is using contact lenses here).


PAGE 2

Sorry, no Bonk..."dead"

• Enter the Jokerz. Even though the gang from the movie never was seen mixing with the gang from the show, I always figured the Jokerz are a vast gang in Neo-Gotham. Why wouldn't they all come in contact and work together. So there's a lot of familiar faces here from both groups as well as some new ones that Dustin created. Plus I hope to make a running gag of the Dee Dee twins always with different boyfriends (or in this case, boyfriend) with each appearance. Here they've saddled up next to the Jokerz gang leader.

Watch List:  Batman Beyond "Return Of The Joker" movie


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• Whenever possible, Dustin and I wanted to add new characters. This Jokerz member specifically gets the name of "Punchy". The idea was for some demented Jack-In-The-Box styled clown, that wore a box that would have different weapons and contraptions that could pop out of it. And of course, a pet monkey named "Bobo" that could act as both instigator, cheerleader, and early warning device.


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• Having Dana be at Hamilton Hill H.S. during "Homecoming Week" during an attack of GOLEM robots, was a way to put Terry's girlfriend in danger while also being a nice nod back to the show.

Watch List:  Batman Beyond episode "Golem"

• Who didn't love that new metal Batsuit that Bruce wore when fighting Inque? It was a nice call back to that episode by having it in the batcave.

Watch List:  Batman Beyond episode "Disappearing Inque"


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• I wanted to expand on Bizarro's family. That versions of him could've been created through experiments. Dustin did a nice job designing Bizarra and Kidzarro to look a lot like zombified versions of Supergirl and Superboy.

• Instead of just having the standard Phantom Zone device from the Superman: TAS that put the criminals inside the device, I thought it might be interesting to have an additional way to imprison, collect, and store villains that they caught. The flat plates they'd be contained in, could be moved by one of the League's robots to be stacked and filed away in a secure area. Of course it has a close resemblance to the Phantom Zone from the Donner Superman movies.


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• With Micron gone rogue, it isn't the first time something like this has happened. The League reflects on the earlier incident where Superman was mind controlled by Darkseid, even wearing a new uniform.

Watch List:  Superman TAS episode "Legacy part 1"

• Also the time the whole future League was under control of Starro. Definitely a fitting call back since this was the first appearance of the future League in Batman Beyond.

Watch List:  Batman Beyond episode "The Call part 2"

So yeah, there are quite a lot of nods in the very first issue towards the old shows. And that will continue in future issues, although maybe not as many as we put into this first issue. But it sure was fun to see. That should provide some background on the first issue. And we'll cover more issues in the days and weeks ahead.

Special thanks for screenshots provided by World's Finest Online, a real go-to source for anything and everything animated in the DC universe!

THE END IS NEAR

The next to last chapter of Arkham City End Game came out this week. With this chapter, I felt it was important to sort of come back to the beginning. Since the Arkham-verse of the games started with Arkham Asylum, it would seem fitting to bring it back full circle here. And you get to see the passage of time with how the island appears today, over a year since the first game took place.

The whole purpose of End Game was to really put Batman through an emotional wringer with the Joker, in life and in death. And of course the chaotic effect that has on everyone around them.

I recall reading a tumblr feed where someone said the story and flashbacks had the feel of "Silence Of The Lambs", and I take that as the highest of compliments. There's plenty of knockdown action stories out there with Batman in them. But I'll always gravitate to the more psychological aspects, which is what I was attempting in End Game. Especially when pitting Batman against the Joker for the fate of their souls. And having it all take place in a dark cell in a long abandoned Asylum seemed fitting. As if Arkham couldn't get any creepier.

THE CONTINUITY CONUNDRUM

A question that gets asked often about the Beyond universe (for Batman Beyond, Superman Beyond, and Justice League Beyond) is where does it all fit? Is this the canonized future of the DC new52 universe? Is this the future timeline of the shows? Is it somewhere in-between?

It is one of those things I understand why people would want to know, but it's also probably one of my biggest pet peeves of comics…continuity.

Continuity can be a necessary thing, to have characters grow, change, and adapt in the long lives of comics in general. It's that whole illusion of change. Things happen, characters marry, die, come back from death, join teams, quit teams, become enemies, become allies…and eventually still sort of revert to status quo. The idea is that the comics and characters have to stay relevant to each generation that buys and reads them, so they can't realistically age them with their audience (of course, that's where future stories can play with the idea of these youthful characters at an elderly age).

Continuity can be the lifeblood of these stories, but it can also be the aneurysm that kills the entertainment to the audience. I always feel, once the audience starts asking where and when a story takes place…once they get that concerned with the specifics of it…then it feels like comics are just being filed away in a numerical dewey decimal system in their library collection. My answer is always, try not to think about it. Hopefully my job is to entertain you with the story being told, rather than how it fits if my future character hasn't had the same experiences as the same character in the current DC universe.

What also goes hand-in-hand when it comes to continuity is…are all these comics accessible? And I can see the argument for and against it on both sides. There are many comics where it's tough to jump in, due to the vast continuity and history of all the stories previous to the current one. That it makes it tough for a new buyer or even a regular reader to keep up with everything. And that will probably always be a struggle for the companies and creators to attempt to work around. But at the same time, I always wonder to myself….SO WHAT? 

My problem is the dumbing down of entertainment. You know what I mean. When movie trailers show you the entire film in that 2 minute preview, where you know everything before you've seen it. Where tv shows will eventually do a "clip show" that replays all of the previous highlights of the season to get a new viewer brought up to speed. Or even in comics, where sometimes every new storyline or every issue would rename and reintroduce all the main characters before the story would begin (X-Men was notorious for this back in the Claremont days). I understand the mentality that every comic or every show might be someone's first, but I also feel it starts to dumb down the entertainment and leans more towards the audience being idiots that can't figure it out for themselves. Maybe they have a point and need to do this, but I think that sells the audience short.  If you're constantly dumbing it down, then don't be surprised the audience you will get…a dumb one.

I think back to when I was a kid picking up comics for the first time. My first foray into reading comics didn't come with a number #1 issue or a self contained mini-series. It was right in the middle (issue 24 for one title and in the 300s for another). Now did the comics do a good job recapping everything I missed? Or were they well told enough that I could get an idea of who the characters were and just be entertained by the story? Definitely the latter.  Plus…get this…once I bought these titles and was interested, I actually sought out previous back issues. And today, is even easier with stories that get collected into trade paperbacks and hardcovers.

With all my vehemence against the idea of continuity, it's probably ironic that Justice League Beyond relies pretty heavily on it. It's a comic based on a show that had it's own continuity spread out over many series, much of which I tied into the stories being told. It definitely caters towards the hardcore fan that grew up watching those shows, with plenty of easter egg references to storylines and episodes that happened for shows that are over 5 to 10 years old now. At the same time, it gives me a lot of joy when I've read reviews from people with either a passing familiarity with the shows, or never watched them at all; but still found the Justice League Beyond comics entertaining. They might not know who these characters are or their history, but they're onboard for how we're telling the story today. And maybe they'll seek out the shows to further their enjoyment. It means I've done my job.

So where does Justice League Beyond take place in the continuity of the DC Universe? The answer…wherever you want it to. I leave it up to the reader to decide if this is THE future, a possible future, alternate timeline, alternate world, animated canon…whatever they want. And if it doesn't match up to how they want the characters to be towards the current DC Universe, well…there's always the new52.