[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”18327″ img_size=”800×450″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]The Detective Batman series is about to release its 1000th issue, which is a huge milestone considering the long run and the fact that this is the series that gave DC Comics its name. We’re serious! That’s what the acronym stands for, so of course, this 96-page special which will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the series is a subject of excitement and talk.
There’s multiple contributors such as Warren Ellis, Brian Michael Bendis, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Greg Capullo, Becky Cloonan, and Joelle Jones. Creators Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke also have included a story “Medieval” in the book, which is 12 pages long. This story brings in the Arkham Knight, which was a nemesis that was created for the 2015 video game Batman: Arkham Knight.
Both creators sat down with Heat Vision to speak about the short:
Your Detective Comics No. 1000 story is a wonderful way of celebrating the 80th anniversary of Batman; it re-examines the character, and makes a case that he’s actually this villainous creature all along. Where did that idea come from? What made you think, “Oh, for this big high profile issue we’re going to do a story we essentially argue that Batman is a is a bad guy”?
Peter Tomasi: It comes from the Arkham Knight, from their perspective as it plays out from that from that story — and then of course through the subsequent storyline. We really start to peel back the layers to their perspective which, due to their upbringing, is very much tainted by [the idea of] Batman being a villain. In Arkham Knight’s eyes, Batman is just a dark black hole over Gotham, and continues to suck the life energy out of it.
So it all stems from really examining Arkham Knight, and what this new character is all about, and making sure it played a central part in the origin. In the origin of the Arkham Knight, Batman is most definitely a villain.
It’s funny because it’s actually a convincing argument to make. It’s played out in this story; from a certain perspective, Batman is a villain, or at least, not a good guy.
Tomasi: That’s definitely what we wanted to do. We wanted, with Doug’s artwork, to balance out people’s ideas of Batman. There’s no quiet moments. Batman is definitely in all-action mode.
Doug Mahnke: He’s got to be the easiest character to draw in that way. He’s a good guy who actually looks primarily like a bad guy half the time. That’s one of the most enjoyable things to even do with Batman. You draw this character, who is always angry and grimacing, but he always has to bring his A-Game, which has got to be really brutal.
The interview then went into why it felt like the right time to bring in the Arkham Knight?
I’m curious: Why is now the time to bring in the Arkham Knight? They’ve existed in video games since 2015, and there was a comic book tie-in to the game, but why now to bring them into the mainstream DC universe — and why this particular version of the character?
Tomasi: It actually came up during a breakfast with me and [DC publisher] Dan DiDio. We were just trying to figure out what could shake up Batman’s rogues gallery and at this point in time so we just started looking at things and I had written a lot of Arkham Knight — I had written a lot of chapters of the comic book prologue leading up to the recent game and, kind of really enjoyed writing the character. But my main thing was I was like, “Look if I do Arkham Knight, I want to just bring someone into the character who is someone different.” They have a whole new origin and just really embraces the Arkham Knight name, and just really kind of run with it. Dan really liked the idea and said, “Let’s go, let’s do it.” We double checked with the guys behind the video game and they were hyped up with this version of the character.
The reader goes through the entire story and gets their point of view very clearly — you know who this Arkham Knight is, but also you have no idea who this character is on the final page. The first time you seem them, they’re in the costume, they’re in the armor and there is no clue as to their identity.
Mahnke: Anytime you do an upshot, when you get to frame that character looking up, which is also such a heroic device to use, to try to create an image of greatness, I mean that’s pretty much why we are using that type of imagery: To cap off the whole concept, like this character is believing it’s a force for good.
Tomasi: It’s playing with that whole adage that the best heroes really truly believe they’re the hero. in this case we really wanted to be the to the Nth degree, and this character really really feels it’s there to save Gotham and destroy Batman for no reason like, they’ve been in jail, or being disturbed. It’s purely a person who wants to do good.
Mahnke: To see justice served.
You will be able to pick up this 1000th issue on March 27th. Head to THR for the full interview![/vc_column_text][vc_images_carousel images=”18328,18329,18330″ img_size=”411×631″ speed=”3000″ autoplay=”yes” wrap=”yes”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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