DC comics recently announced a plan to renumber the entire DC comics line — 52 titles, all getting brand new First Issues with some incredibly talented creative teams behind them — starting August 31st. There’s been a lot of speculation about exactly which titles will be included in the 52, but today DC confirmed that Batwoman will be part of this historic event. We’re really excited to be included in this initiative, and hope that everyone checks out the first issue when it hits this Fall. Cover art below…
Several pages from the first issue of Batwoman have been released at DC’s Blog, The Source! Check out the pages below (click to enlarge).
I can’t really reveal anything about the story yet, except to say that given my preoccupation with ghost stories, urban legends, and “modern” mythologies, the character who appears in the first few panels of this issue is one I’ve been haunted by for years. It’s both terrifying and thrilling to finally see her realized (and beautifully rendered, I might add).
The last few weeks of 2010 proved extremely busy but productive. Here’s some quick updates:
Darth Vader & The Lost Command: I delivered the script for Darth Vader & The Lost Command #5, the final issue in that limited series, right before Christmas. Not sure if this will be my last Vader story, but I certainly tried to treat it that way and take the character to places he hasn’t been before. A lot of the story deals with Vader being forced to confront his past and the decisions he’s made. The whole process was more than a little cathartic… The first issue hits stands on January 26th.
Batwoman: Jim and I finished our script for Batwoman #5, which wraps up the first arc (“Hydrology”) for the new ongoing series. We worked extremely hard to make sure that the arc packs an emotional punch and shows some growth for Kate, and to set up the next arc as well. I think I’m most excited about seeing reader reaction to the new villain and some of the scenes between Kate and Maggie Sawyer. DC posted an update on the series at the The Source, the official DC blog, which is also accompanied by art from the series (including Amy’s variant cover for Issue #1, which I’m reposting here!).
Fearless Studios: We’re working on several pitches for various folks, and we continue to forge ahead with our original IP development. We’ve also selected one of our original concepts to move into a prototyping phase. The concept is built around some very innovative gameplay and a setting that is a unique fusion of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy. I’m very excited about the progess we’ve made on both the game design and prototyping pipeline. We’re putting together a plan to start revealing some of the material, bit by bit, and hopefully I can share more here eventually.
Scrivener Beta-Testing: All my friends with Macs have been telling me about this program for a few years now, but it’s just become available — in Beta form — on PC. It’s basically a really fancy binder program, but it’s powerful and easy-to-use and generally awesome. I’ve been using it for the past few months now (and in fact, used it to write the rough drafts for Issues #4 and #5 of the Darth Vader series, and organize a novel and a screenplay I’m working on). You can find out more here.
I’m still working on various other projects, and some monster-related blog posts as well. Hope to have something up in the next week or two.
Here is Jim’s cover for Batwoman #2, which continues the “Hydrology” storyline, our first 5-issue Arc. I’ve already seen some of the interior art, and it’s pretty incredible stuff — Jim really captures both the horror of the new villain we’re introducing, and continues to humanize Kate Kate.
As with previous issues, Amy Reeder will be doing a variant cover.
The launch event at Red Sky Comics for December 4th has been cancelled for reasons beyond our control. Apologies to anyone who was planning to attend.
Fortunately, the signing at BLUE MOON COMICS in Novato, CA is still on, as scheduled (see details below). We hope to see everyone there! Jim will have art from the Batwoman series on hand for preview, and we’ll have books to sign, including one of our earliest collaborations — a story for Hellboy: Weird Tales (but I only have ten copies of that, so get there early if you want one!). I’ll also have some Star Wars stuff. See you there!
BLUE MOON COMICS 1555 So. Novato Blvd.
Novato, CA 94947
12/11/2010
1:00PM – 4:00PM
Comic Book Resources posted a Batwoman #0 Preview with several pages of art and an interview that Jim, Amy, and I did earlier this week. You’ll see from the preview pages that Jim and Amy did an amazing job collaborating on this issue. As a writer, it was a very cool process to participate in. Jim and I started writing the outline for the Zero Issue several months after we submitted our outlines for both Arc 1 and Arc 2 and a series overview that covers a little over two years of issues. We then completed the script about four weeks after the script for Issue #1, and while we were working on the script for Issue #6, the first issue in Amy’s arc. Although this meant shifting gears a lot, it actually worked out really well because we had a good idea of where the series is headed and could start dropping some clues about future storylines. From an art standpoint, the basic concept was for Jim and Amy to share art chores – but in a rather challenging fashion. Rather than just have Jim do one set of pages and Amy another, we proposed that they would actually both do panels across two-page spreads. As a result, the script for the Zero Issue is fairly detailed, escpecially in terms of the ways in which the action in one set of panels mirrors action in the next.
Batwoman #0 is out today, and the series starts up in February with Issue #1, the first in the “Hydrology” arc.
Batwoman #0 will be on shelves next week (11/24)! Give copies to all of your relatives at Thanksgiving — it’s guaranteed to stave off the effects of tryptophan, watching the Cowboys and/or Lions play, and talking politics.
Top: JH Williams III; Bottom: Amy Reeder Hadley
To celebrate the series launch, Jim and I are doing a NorCal signing in mid-December.
We’re both very excited to be able to support local comic shops, and hope folks show up to get their books signed, buy art and comics, and chat about what we have planned for the series. If you’re a Star Wars fan, I’ll have some of my Dark Horse work on hand as well.
It’s a cover bonaza this week! Solicitations for DC’s February lineup have been posted at Newsarama, so I thought I’d post the cover and solicitation text here too…
We’re fusing horror, vigilante action, mystery, and romance together with this first arc, which is called “Hydrology,” and I think Jim did an absolutely brilliant job capturing the tone of the story with this image. Amy will also be doing a variant cover!
And the solicit text:
The multiple award-winning creative team of J.H. Williams III (DETECTIVE COMICS) and W. Haden Blackman (Star Wars, Force Unleashed) launch the first, chilling arc of the ongoing series fans have been clamoring for! In the 5-part “Hydrology,” Batwoman faces bizarre new challenges in her war against the dark underworld of Gotham and new trials in her personal life as Kate Kane. She quickly finds herself in the deep end facing truths about her past and her future. Who – or what – is stealing children from Gotham’s barrio, and for what twisted purpose? Can she train her cousin Bette Kane (a.k.a. Flamebird) as her new sidekick? How will she handle dark revelations about her father, Colonel Jacob Kane? How is she dealing with the supposed drowning of her sister, the villain known as Alice? And why is a certain government agency suddenly taking an interest in her? The road to the answers begins here!
Batwoman #1 will be on shelves February 23rd, 2011!
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. 🙂
