John Layman has told some memorable stories during his extended vacation in Gotham City. He created a new villain in Emperor Penguin, reinterpreted Man-Bat, introduced The Wrath in The New 52, and is now having Batman deal with a hallucinated fantasy world. In the conversation below he discusses his tenure on
Detective Comics and his upcoming work in the pages of DC's new weekly book,
Batman: Eternal.
During your time on Detective Comics several crossover events took place in the Batman books, notably Death of the Family and Zero Year. How were you able to accomplish the feat of remaining consistent with those events, yet telling a great story that could be read as a standalone?
John Layman: I just went in with the philosophy of trying to give people their money's worth, so every issue should have value in and of itself. So I tried to make every issue it's own "case" that wraps up in an issue, while always staying aware of what was going on elsewhere, and in Batman's "big picture."
Damian Wayne's death was probably the most significant tragedy Bruce endured since the death of Jason Todd. Did you find it challenging to write for the character at a time when he was taking on additional emotional baggage?
JL: Well, you have to put yourself in Batman's head at a very dark time. On the other hand, Batman has had a lot of tragedy in his life, so something like this is not entirely new. The tragedy Batman has had to overcome is part of what makes him tick.
How did it feel to be able to write the 900th issue of Detective Comics and issue number 27?
JL: It was awesome, and both issues were something be very proud of. Very cool, and a bit surreal, to be part of a small corner of Batman's long and lasting history.
You had an amazing artistic partner for much of your run in Jason Fabok. Personally, I think he's the best artist currently on a Batman title. What was it like to work with him?
JL: Jason's great. Everything you could ask for in an artist. Fast, enthusiastic, super talented, and improving by leaps and bounds every issue, because he pushes himself. He's on track to be DC's next superstar, in my opinion. It's been a real pleasure to partner up with him.
What can we look forward to in the remaining two installments of your Gothtopia arc?
JL: Surprises! Poison Ivy, Arkham Aslyum, and Scarecrow allies that have to be seen to be believed.
You will soon move on to writing four issues of the upcoming weekly comic Batman: Eternal. What characters can we expect to see you write for?
JL: The nature of
Eternal is it touches on all corners of the Bat-universe. A better question is who am I NOT writing-- in only four issues!!
Will any threads be carried over from your run on Detective Comics?
JL: A few.
Eternal deals with every aspect of Batman's life, and pretty much the entire Bat-cast. Basically everybody who is anybody in the Bat-verse will have a role in
Eternal, so of course that includes characters I've used in
Detective.
You will be joined by several other top writers on Batman: Eternal. Could you explain the book's format to our readers?
JL: Scott Snyder and James Tynion have come up with a rough architecture of the book, and once we all sit down and discuss our ideas we break it into mini-arc and literally pass the baton every few issues to one other, writing our own story, but hitting certain beats to get to the overall story.
(Artwork featured is taken from Detective Comics and Batman: Eternal published by DC Entertainment.)