Today The Source posted an update on the Batwoman ongoing series I’m writing with J.H. Williams III. You can follow the link for quotes from everyone involved, but the basic details are this: The Zero issue will hit stands in November, with Issue #1 of the ongoing arriving in February. Both artists (Jim & Amy Reeder) are doing covers for the Zero Issue and are splitting interior art chores — but in a very organic and well-integrated way. And as you can probably guess from Amy’s kickass cover below, Batman shows up in the issue as well, giving us a chance to see Batwoman through his eyes…
This spread has made it online to accompany some interviews Jim has done in support of the series. Not much I can reveal about what’s going on here, other than to say that our first arc is more or less a horror story… And you’ll also see some of Batwoman’s supporting cast returning, including Detective Maggie Sawyer.
Note that this is a two-page spread: we’re trying to carry over some of the conventions from Jim and Greg Rucka’s run, including using two-page spreads for Batwoman’s scenes. I think the thing I appreciate the most about working with Jim is his attention to small details — from the toys flying off of the windowsill to the poster on Maggie’s office wall, it’s all the little touches that make these feel like real spaces inhabited by real people.
Because Jim’s arc will be followed by an arc with art by Amy Reeder, we’re writing the two arcs simultaneously so both have plenty to draw. This has been a unique challenge: Jim and I started with an overview of several arcs, then detailed outlines of Arc 1 and 2. As part of this process, we broke down each issue for both arcs. After that, we wrote Issue 1. As we were finishing that up, we agreed to write a Zero Issue. Then we leapt ahead several issues to write the first issue in Amy’s arc, which we just submitted yesterday. And now we’re back to writing Issue 2. I think that the only reason we’re able to jump back and forth like this without losing our rhythm and our voice (or our minds) is the fact that we wrote those incredibly detailed outlines — we tried to envision almost every scene, and even brainstormed key pieces of dialogue during that phase. We’ll likely throw some of that out as we go, but it gives us a great starting point.
I hope to be able to post an update about my new Vader limited series for Dark Horse soon, as well as a little post about what’s next after leaving Lucasland after nearly 13 years. :)
