With Rebirth, DC Comics upcoming line-wide relaunch, Scott Snyder's critically lauded run on the flagship Batman title is coming to an end. He passes the reigns over to former CIA Officer and rising comic-writing star Tom King, co-writer of "Grayson" at DC and "The Vision" for Marvel, both projects recieving wide spread praise. Snyder will not be gone long from the dark knight, however, for he will be returning to pen "All Star Batman", starting in August. The two authors sat down with Newsarama to discuss the future of Batman on the comic pages.
Tom King - What the New Job Means to Him
Writing Batman is never the logical next step in your life! It’s an opportunity. It’s crazy to say this, but it’s like winning the lottery. When you win the lottery, are you like, “Oh, this is the logical next step, that I won a billion dollars.” No! It’s an amazing step, and it’s wonderful, but it’s not logical.
I’m a super fan-boy. I read Newsarama and other comic book news sites. I grew up with comics, wanting to write comics. And to be on Batman, you never expect your dreams to come true. I’ve seen a lot of Disney movies and they tell you that, but you don’t think it’s actually gonna happen. So no logic at all is involved in this.
Tom King - On the Influence of His Time in the CIA
Yeah, this is the place for that! To me, what makes Batman special, what makes him amazing, is that he doesn’t have powers. He’s you or me. All he has is what happened to his parents and his family, and his obsession, and his will, and his wits. But what makes him a superhero? What makes him someone who can do what nobody else can do? And to me, it’s that he can get into the gutters of Gotham and not go crazy, not be driven insane by it. And sometimes he’s right on that edge.
And I relate that a little bit to my C.I.A. stuff. Cause that’s what it’s like in the C.I.A. You want to get as close as you could to the horror without becoming the horror. And I tried to do that, and sometimes I didn’t do it right, and sometimes I slipped up, so I’m trying to bring that experience, of seeing the other side and both being empathetic to it, without being destroyed by it.
Tom King - On What to Expect From His Series and Following a Legendary Run
In the first issue, it deals right those themes. We start with classic Batman – this is Gordon on a roof, this is Alfred in the cave, we’re seeing a Robin-esque figure, Duke Thomas, who is his new ward. He’s going through the clock, pressing 10:48. The new Batmobile is a take on the classic Batmobile. The whole theme of this book is using every modern storytelling technique I know to connect with classic Batman stories.I’m following probably the greatest run in the history of the book with what Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have done. I’m utterly intimidated by that, and humbled by it, but the only I can do is to honor it by trying to outdo it.
Scott Snyder - Comparing His Upcoming All-Star Batman to KIng's Main Book
No, I’m serious! So for me, it became very much about coordinating. I’ve shown him everything I’m doing and it became very much about being good friends. I run all the story by him, and he runs stories by me, but we’re trying to give each other enough room to deliver very different Batman books. He’s doing Batman in Gotham, in a really big, epic way with a new threat you’ve never seen before, something really fun that redefines Batman’s relationship to Gotham. I wanted to do something that reinvents the classic villains in ways you haven’t seen, so those villains will be really different in terms of the ones he’s using, and the ones I’m using. We wanted it to be something where, it’s the same Batman, but everyone has enough room to do something really special. And I can promise you Batman is in good hands. It’s gonna be really special.