The guys at Comicvine and the BUZZFEED have shared a nice preview of the upcoming BATMAN #14 that continues the “DEATH OF THE FAMILY” storyline. Thanks to “G-Man” Guerrero and BUZZFEED’s Donna Dickens for the preview!!!!
(Pictures courtesy of BUZZFEED and DC COMICS)
The guys at CBR have a nifty sneak peek at the upcoming CATWOMAN #13 (a prelude to the Joker story arc in the Bat-titles), an issue that helps set the gears in motion for Joker’s confrontation with the Feline Femme Fatale. Without giving much away of the preview, I like the way the mystery is woven at the beginning. A memory that ‘was taken away from Selina”? Really? What secret does Joker know about Selina to force her to her knees and surely out of the Batfamily??
I guess we’ll just have to read the whole issue that goes for sale this WEDNESDAY (October 17) at your local comic book shop. Please click on the picture below to be taken to the preview at CBR.
I was going to tell my on impression of the panel, but found a much more detailed recollection of the events that transpired in the panel. Here is CBR repor which is basically a transcript of the panel. My insights are indicated in bulleted items in italics:
In the last day of the Comic Book Convention in New York DC brings the creative teams of most of his Batman titles for a summary of where it is heading with the Joker return and the future of the titles.
At the New York Comic Con DC Comics: Batman — Death Comes To Gotham panel the writers and artists behind the Batman family of titles at DC Comics gathered to speak to fans about the books and the Joker “Death Of The Family” storyline begun with “Batman” issue #13.
As scores of fans bearing Batman and Court Of The Owls masks poured into the crowded convention hall, Moderator and DC Entertainment SVP of Marketing John Cunningham began the panel by introducing the panelists: artist David Finch (“Batman: The Dark Knight”), writer Kyle Higgins (“Nightwing”), writer Gregg Hurwitz (“Batman: The Dark Knight”), writer Grant Morrison (“Batman, Incorporated”), writer Scott Snyder (“Batman”), artist Greg Capullo (“Batman”), colorist FCO Plascencia (“Batman”), inker Jon Glapion (“Batman”), writer Peter Tomasi (“Batman & Robin”) and writer James Tynion IV (“Talon”).
“Don’t kill Nightwing!” fans from the audience yelled at Higgins as the panelists sat down.
“Why does Nightwing have to be Dick?” Higgins countered as the audience laughed and gasped.
Snyder then showed the image for “Batman” issue #16 where Joker grinned at the audience, festooned with costume parts from Robin, Batgirl and all the other Bat allies. Snyder said Joker believes that he truly is Batman’s jester and it’s his job to challenge Batman because “He believes if Batman survives them he comes out stronger, he’s a better king,” Snyder said.
“A year ago he allowed his face to be cut off…and he also has a secret on Batman that’s going to come out later on,” Snyder said adding, “Joker [says to the Bat allies], ‘You don’t deserve him….I’m going to show you how he loves us more than you and he wishes you dead, and then we’re going to make you dead.’”
- Joker wants to involve all the other Bat-foes, because he sees them as he sees himself, serving society by securing the strength of the Batman. It is the foes duty to make sure the king is strong and so be the best Bat-king he could be
- In Joker’s mind: “My doings will make him [Batman] stronger”
- Joker is convinced that the Batman has gone astray and the presence of the Batman family is a mistake that has made the Bat-King weak, and sees the need to eliminate the whole family so this ‘wrong’ could be righted and his king could regain his strength and be the Bat King he deserves and his city deserves
Capullo then admitted he read the internet buzz over the comic and asked the audience if they thought “Batman” lived up to the hype, smiling as the audience screamed back in unison, “Hell yes!”
“He’s so nice…but behind that mask, he’s got this deep, dark black well that’s a very frightening place — I’m afraid of the guy!” Capullo joked about Snyder as the audience laughed.
“I’ll call him about what the Joker should do…and he’s like, ‘Hold on, I’m at a soccer practice. I’ll be right there, kids! So he’ll cut off his own face,’” Higgins said as the crowd laughed again.
Cunningham then brought up “Batman Incorporated” writer Grant Morrison and artist Chris Burnham as the audience cheered.
Talking about “Talon” Tynion told the audience he didn’t want to spoil too much about the storyline but promised, “new characters, brand new corners of Gotha’s history to explore,” Tynion said.
The audience gasped as Higgins brought up an image of “Nightwing” wearing the Joker’s makeup and grinning like the Joker under his mask. “I was walking on the show floor and people are building the sticks from the Gotham City game…the fact there are things people are making from a character I’m working on is awesome,” Higgins said.
“I don’t want to get into what the Joker perceives about Nightwing’s [fears]…but it ties into and dovetails into everything we’ve been doing for the first year and a half now, with Dick’s nest in Gotham,” Higgins added.
Batman group editor Mike Marts took to the podium and asked the audience if there was any better group of creators at the con, to which the audience screamed in unison, “Hell no!” He then showed cover images for “Batgirl,” “Red Hood” and “Teen Titans,” all also looking like Joker.
Tomasi showed the image for “Batman and Robin” #16 where Joker-faced Damian and Batman fight each other. “It’s been great to explore this cool character Grant created and take him to some hard places emotionally,” Tomasi said of his book.Tomasi also told the audience there was a “kick-ass” cover by Andy Kubert coming out soon for the “Batman and Robin” annual.
Marts labeled the “Catwoman” Joker tie-in as, “Lots of fun,” adding that seeing Ann Nocenti’s Catwoman take on the Joker.
- Catwoman has always dancing between good and evil, and now she will dance the real prince of evil and this will affect her deeply.
- In the JLA panel was revealed that Catwoman will be part of the newly developed JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA along with Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, and other new and old characters.
An image for “Batman Incorporated” issue #7 came up on the screen and Morrison told the audience, “We’re not part of ‘Death Of The Family’ but we do have family and there will be death!”
Labeling the issue as the wrap-up of everything he’d been working on and that issue #5 would revisit the future Damian world. “There’s things I’ve never done with Batman before that I’m doing in this storyline,” Morrison added.
“Batman: The Dark Knight” issue #15 was the next image teased showing Scarecrow and Batman. “This story just gets bigger and darker and enormously grand in this huge scope,” Hurwitz said. Marts showed an image of new “Dark Knight” artist Ethan Van Scriver’s beginning of Batman showing Batman climbing out of the Mad Hatter’s hat.
“The one guy I wanted more than anybody else was Ethan,” Hurwitz said, adding, “I called and…the first thing he said was, ‘Hey I’ve been looking into you all morning because I heard Finch is leaving the title!’”
Fans then rushed to the floor microphone as Cunningham opened the floor to audience questions and Marts told the first fan questioner that there were no plans to involve Huntress in the “Death” storyline.
“Harley has a really big story in Suicide Squad with Joker,” Snyder told the next Harley Quinn fan, adding that readers will see more of the Red Hood gang after the Joker story, before launching into the next arc that may involve the Riddler.
A Scottish fan asked what Morrison thought of Snyder’s work and vice versa.
“Grant’s probably the greatest influence on me as a writer…his fearlessness, issue to issue and to take these visionary ideas…seeing that play out is something that, even though our writing is different, challenges me,” Snyder said.
“Scott Snyder who?” Morrison joked as the audience laughed. He then told the audience more seriously, “Having to keep up with him is great, it’s inspiring me to do better work…this is the best time to be a Batman comic fan, and a Batman movie fan.”
A fan who Morrison advised to try magic out four years ago told him, “It worked!” He then asked if what the Bat group was working on would actually change things forever.
“Yes, it will,” Snyder assured the fan, explaining that the Joker idea organically arose from the writers. “It’s not like there’s one big death and that’s it…each book is changed because the Joker challenges the characters in each one of those books…and that will have massive ramifications,” Snyder added.
Higgins told a “Nightwing” fans that there was no Titans cameos coming up but Dick had adventures with some of the old Teen Titans. The audience then cheered and whistled as the fan pleaded for a Tim Drake solo book.
The next audience member to the microphone wanted to know if there were plans for Bat Cow. “We’re taking Bat Cow on the darkest journey he’s ever been on,” Morrison joked.
“I just called Bat Cow him, but he’s a lady!” he added as the audience laughed.
Snyder stated that in his mind the Batman continuity stood, but he didn’t want to trip up fans with trying to talk about every single detail of the past decades. “We’re moving forward with him as a character who has a rich history,” Snyder added.
To a fan who labeled himself a Damian fan Morrison asked the audience, “Do you remember when people hated Damian?”
“It’s a likeable hate!” Tomasi said as the audience laughed.
The panelists stated what they loved about Batman, all of them citing the fact that he has no superpowers — he’s a man yet has to tackle “his inner demons” to fight for good.The next audience member told the panelists he loved how each one had such a distinct tone.
“No one’s ever mistaken me for Grant Morrison,” Higgens joked.
“Who wants to watch me shave Kyle Higgins?” Morrison asked as the audience laughed.
A man dressed as Starro ended the panel by asking what Joker though what Batman’s mission was and why he wanted to make them stronger. “Joker sees himself and the villans as Batman’s real family and having the family is forsaking his family…he doesn’t see it as Batman as serving his mission, he sees it as being abandoned,” Synder said, closing the afternoon’s panel.
ADITIONAL COVERS
(The panel is reprinted from CBR transcritp posted HERE today)
It was past midnight and could not help myself. Even when I have a few copies of BATMAN #13 reserved and waiting for me at home in Fla. I had to read it so I bought a digital copy and OMG!!!
You have to start reading this Joker story arc. I was a little concerned with the characterization after all the radical changes they have made to Joker since his reboot, but after reading BATMAN #13 I guess I can put my fears aside because Joker seems to be in good hands with Snyder and Capullo.
This is definitely no pre-52 Joker but is not a Ledger Joker remake either (thank God for that). Like Snyder had promised, this Clown is all Joker at the core but reinvented with a nightmarish twist and so far I am pleased with wha I’ve read in this first issue.
1. It is a normal day in GCPD until a “Forget Me Not” delivery truck arrives with a very special package…
Truth be told. Joker’s wa arrival to GCPD was quite theatrical. From theirony in the name on the truck to the whole set up, it is all just a big performance for the Clown. He enters GCPD and delivers his own brand of mayhem and death leaving corpses behind and torturing Gordon along the way. This Joker is much more personal as he asks “How is Barbara?” and teases Gordon with a hide and seek game.
2. Everything returns to the begining.
And when I say the beginning, I mean the 1940’s beginning, as Joker announces he’s going to take down the mayor in a scene that reminds readers a lot of Ledger’s “Are You the Batman” video scene from TDK. The Joker has spoken, but that does not mean he has to follow the same old script he did so many years ago. This Joker is improvising, renewing his act andthis time it is not the Mayor, but the Mayor’s protective escort who get snuffed. Batman is left in the fog, as he himself realizedhis was not what he has expected. The Clown has become really unpredictable.
3. Harley as the Red Hood…just delightful.
She’s wearing the clothing, but she’s not the heart. It is the Joker’s voice all through the re-enactment at the ACE Chemical company. Joker is bringing everything back to the beginning and Harley serves as messenger that things are now very different as she stated…”this is not my Mr. J” anymore. This scene makes much more sense after reading the backstory which is Joker’s reunion with Harley…and the new chemistry that comes between them. Now if this is not Joker….where the hell is the Clown?
4. The ending… totally AWESOME!
Joker makes a visit to the Wayne Manor and finds Alfred Pennyworth an unwilling victim. Makes you wonder if Joker DOES INDEED know Batman’s identity or he’s simply selecting random victims he knows are somewhat related to the Batman…
5. The backstory…literally terrifying.
Forget the Harley-Joker chemistry of the BTAS, this is just humilliating and taunting. Joker plays with Harley in every level possible, beating on her emotionally and mentally…all this without a single punch or push. Joker reminds Harley HE MADE HER to his image, and that there was no emotion or physical attraction in the process of creation. Joker is totally detached from any emotion as he focuses on Harley as part of a plan, much like a wheel is part of a car. I am sorry for those of you who were expecting a…more romantic reunion, but I think this Joker is more attoned to his reality within the comics. I am not saying they should not be together…is just that this Joker has become much more than one can really handle, even Harley.
I personally think that Snyder and Capullo have been able to bring forth the best of all posible worlds (comicverse, Nolanverse, Arkham City, maybe even more) and mix it in a pot to reinvent a Joker that respond to his surrounding world with such a violence that I don’t know if even Batman knows what he has in his hands. And it promises to get even more personal.
It is really early to say if this story arc is going to be successful or not since many Joker stories started with so good intentions only to disappoing on the execution and conclusion, but while speaking with Mr. Snyder briefly during a signing today, he promised that there is much more to come. That Joker’s revenge has just started and that the Clown’s mind was a “strange and dark place to be”. From previous interviews and what I have just read in this issue, I think he does have a grasp of the Joker’s psyche, and this might just be one of the most interesting exploration of the most iconic villain of all times, and this might change Batman deeply as he is unable to keep Joker far, but instead…like a cobra, the clown keeps hissing and attacking at the Achilles’s tendon of his enemy.
I am willing to follow Snyder and Capullo on this journey so far.
Can’t wait to read what happens in the next chapter….oh, and don’t forget the tie-ins! Let’s see where all this takes us.
CBR announced to day that artist Greg Capullo will be issuing DIE CUT COVERS for the multititle story arc “Death of the Family” that launches with BATMAN #13 in October 10th. Here is the CBR report:
When Batman’s arch-nemesis makes his return to the Dark Knight’s world this fall, the Joker will be coming with a horrific new “face mask” made up of his own torn off skin. And to help accentuate the frightening feel of the “Death Of The Family” event that kicks off with October’s “Batman” #13, DC Comics has tapped series artist Greg Capullo to draw a series of special die-cut covers featuring the faces of Batman’s closest allies.
Below, CBR News has an exclusive first look at Capullo’s art for the covers. Capullo’s art graces “Batman,” “Batgirl” and “Catwoman” #13 in October, “Suicide Squad” #14 in November and “Detective Comics,” “Batman & Robin,” “Nightwing,” “Red Hood & The Outlaws” and “Teen Titans” #15 in December.
When he spoke with CBR earlier this month, Capullo called the cover creating process “a bit of a challenge. The die cut itself had to have straight edges. The other challenge was working within the limitation of using only have of a characters face and reusing the same angle for all. Trying to show individual personalities within these confines. I think I pulled it off.”
(Original article by Kiel Phegley. To see full size pics, visit CBR HERE)
OK Jokerholics,
Are you all ready for the Clown Prince of Crime’s return? If you are, then get your release dates clear as DC has revealed the whole “DEATH OF THE FAMILY” checklist. No excuse for missing an issue now, right?
(Checklist courtesy of DC Blog)
Our friends from NEWSARAMA have made a nice rummary of the facts we have about Joker’s return, and bring forth some of the worries some of us have regarding the Clown’s return. Here is a transcript, make your own conclusions:
Now that all the Batman family books have revealed their #0 issues, the stage is set for October’s start of “Death of the Family,” which brings Joker to the Bat-books in a big way.
The event, which will have tie-ins in several DC comics, spins out of a story starting in Batman #13 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. After the success of their “Court of Owls” storyline and the subsequent tie-in event “Night of the Owls,” DC is hoping this event will be even bigger.
Snyder is getting to utilize his favorite Batman rogue for his follow-up to “Court of Owls,” calling this the biggest, most impactful Joker story in years.
“This is really my big exploration and love letter to the Joker,” Snyder told Newsarama.
So what clues have we been given about the New 52 version of The Joker? How will his return impact the Bat-family characters, now that their histories have changed? And what have the Bat-writers been hinting about their tie-ins to “Death of the Family?”
Secret Identity
At the heart of the “Death of the Family” storyline appears to be the question of whether or not The Joker knows the identities of the Bat-family and, in turn, Batman himself.
The solicitations for the “Death of the Family” issues of Batman includes this question: “What must Batman do to protect his secret identity and that of those who fight alongside him?”
Scott Lobdell also revealed a similar description to Newsarama in our recent interview:
“Joker may or may not know your identity, and that is maybe the most horrifying part,” Lobdell said. “Imagine, as crazy as the Joker is, you can at least go to bed secure in the knowledge that once you take off the mask you are a little safer. But if he knows who you are….aiyeee!”
Changed Joker?
Although there have been several changes to DCnU characters thanks to last year’s reboot, Snyder indicated in an interview with Newsaramathat this isn’t a different version of the Joker.
“You will see the iconic face and the grin, and he might look a little bit different and scarier,” Snyder said. “But you’ll find that he’s still himself at his core. And he’s really here in his blood-stained clothes going to work.”
The history of the relationship between The Joker and Batman — like The Joker being his greatest enemy and the terrible things he’s done to Jason and the other members of the Bat-family — are still a part of the DCU history. And according to Snyder, they fuel this storyline.
And although The Joker has been gone from the pages of the DCnU for the last year, according to Snyder, he’s been spending that time planning and planting traps. “A year ago, Joker decided, I’m going to walk away from Gotham, I’m going to plan my revenge, and I’m going to come back in a year and bring it all back,” the writer said. “So this is what he’s been planning to do for a long time. And all of those things are set in motion.”
“Of The Family?”
While Snyder has promised that the story in Batman will be “100 percent self-contained,” the story crosses over into several other titles.
From the latest solicitations, we’ve learned that Joker’s revenge is not just aimed at the good guys. Harley Quinn apparently wasn’t involved in the planning by “Mista J,” because DC is touting their “reunion” in Suicide Squad #14 and #15. The Joker will also target a few of Gotham’s criminals in Catwoman #13 and #14, Detective Comics #15 (The Penguin), and the back-ups of the Batmantitle.
As James Tynion IV told Newsarama earlier this week, “There’s always something electric when two iconic villains are on a page with one another, and when one of those characters is The Joker, that electricity is quite a bit more deadly.”
Former Robin Dick Grayson will be confronted by The Joker in Nightwing #15 and #16. Series writer Kyle Higgins told Newsarama that Barbara Gordon/Batgirl shows up within the Nightwingstory.
“The Joker story is really a huge turning point and changes a lot of things” for Nightwing”, Higgins said. “There will be seismic shifts coming out of the Joker story.”
The Joker also gets to battle the current Red Robin, Tim Drake, in Teen Titans #15 and #16, and the current Robin, Damian Wayne, in Batman and Robin #14 & 15.
But perhaps the most anticipated reunion will be those between The Joker and the two more immediate members of Batman’s heroic family who have been traumatized by him in the past.
As readers found out in Red Hood and the Outlaws #0, Jason Todd is more closely connected to The Joker than her realizes. Joker claims that he orchestrated most of the major events in Jason’s life, from his father going to jail to his mother’s OD on a drug laced with a chemical that simulates death. It appears that The Joker built Jason up, just so he could tear him down.
This adds more gravity to their meeting — something Lobdell hinted about in his interview with us. “Joker feels a lot closer to Jason than people have realized. Giving birth to someone is a very intimate experience, but so too is taking their life. In that way, Joker feels a sort of proprietary relationship with Jason that he doesn’t with any of the other Bat-family.”
In Batgirl, readers will also finally see the resolution of Barbara Gordon’s conflict with The Joker, although series writer Gail Simone is reluctant to say it “resolves” the emotional trauma she’s been portraying within Barbara for the last year.
“‘Resolved’ is kind of a tough word, here,” Simone told Newsarama in July. “There’s definitely a feeling out there regarding this stuff that someone is fixed or not fixed, like an on/off switch. It’s not that binary, but she is facing this stuff head on. And I am pretty sure a Joker/Batgirl story is inevitable, but I can’t say more than that. Think of two trains on the same track facing towards each other…there’s nowhere for either of them to go but towards collision.
“It is the once-and-for-all confrontation between the Batgirl and the man who shot and paralyzed her. It does not go as he expected,” she said.
“This story starts in issue #14, and I have to say, it’s pretty shocking. That’s all I’ll say right now, however.”
The Mask of Joker
One of the most obvious changes to the Joker we’ll see in “Death of the Family” is that he’s wearing the loose skin of his face as a mask.
“He really is going to, obviously, have a new look. At the same time, we want it to echo his iconic look,” Snyder told Newsarama. “So it’s Joker in a much more horror movie fashion.”
In Detective Comics #1, released in September 2011, a villain called Dollmaker literally surgically removedthe skin of The Joker’s face at the end of the issue. The police ended up with the “face” and put it on ice, but The Joker himself had gotten away…. and has apparently been walking around the DCU without a face ever since.
Or perhaps he has been wearing a different face? Maybe even the face of someone close to the Batman family?
It’s doubtful, since Snyder didn’t build this story from the Detective ending. He told Newsarama his “Death of the Family” story was formulated before Detective writer Tony Daniel chose how to end his first issue last year.
Thanks to that ending, The Joker has not been seen again in the New 52 universe until just last month in Detective Comics #12, when only his eyes were shown and he said, “Time to put on a happy face.”
So what will Joker look like when he returns?
On the cover of Batgirl #15, DC revealed the basics of how the Joker will now “wear” his familiar smiling face. He has constructed a mask out of the skin of his face, using hooks and a belt wrapped around the back of his head.
But artist Greg Capullo intends to make that look even creepier than we’ve seen on that cover. “I’ve established the main look with the belt in the back and the hooks in the mouth, kind of holding everything in place, but think about that,” he told CBR. “You move in different ways, and that skin can shift on you. Maybe a hook busts loose, and part of your face is flapping free.
“I’ve even talked about the fact, with Scott, that being that the face isn’t on ice in Gotham P.D. evidence anymore, it’d start to decay, right?” he said. “And things that decay stinks a bit and attracts flies, and it might be cool for little touches with flies swimming around his head here or there. It can change is what I’m trying to say. It’ll probably look different through the story than the prototype face you’ve seen so far.”
But perhaps the most telling comment Capullo has made about the way Joker will look was in his Newsarama interview a couple months ago, when he said, simply, “it’s going to be over-the-top, over-the-edge Joker stuff.”
(Copied from original article by Vaneta Rogers for NEWSARAMA HERE)
Newsarama contributor Vaneta Rogers sat with BATGIRL ‘s writer Gail Simone to talk about some aspects of the title. Among them they spoke of the effects of the upcoming DEATH OF THE FAMILY Joker storyline in the Batgirl storyline. Here are just some highlights of the interview. You can read the whole interview HERE:
Batgirl #14 will begin the title’s “Death of the Family” tie-in, with Joker and Barbara Gordon colliding for the first time since the villain brutally attacked and injured her.
(…)
Nrama: Now that readers have been introduced to Barbara’s status in the New 52 and you’re finishing up your first year of issues, how would you describe Barbara now, in comparison to her debut in issue #1? How do you think she’s grown, and how do you think she’s still dealing with some of the same issues we saw in her introduction?
Simone: I spent a lot of time speaking with specialists and survivors about this, and one thing we saw with trauma survivors over and over was, the nightmares often go on even after the body heals. It’s not weakness, it’s not self-pity, it happens to the bravest people on Earth; soldiers, police, on and on. And Barbara being who she is, she finds herself wondering why she is regaining her mobility when so many will never have that option. Because of her experiences over the first year, she’s having to grapple with it. But again, she’s Barbara Gordon, she will find a way.
Nrama: Looking back at the first few issues of your run, the events of The Killing Joke played a big part in Barbara’s introduction as Batgirl in the New 52. Why did you feel like that was important to incorporate that into the title after introducing the character in #1?
Simone: Here’s the thing, Barbara has always been about inspiring people. She may have been created to boost ratings or whatever, but, the sheer force of having a brainy woman kicking ass in the comics and on television can’t be overstated. And of course, Kim Yale and John Ostrander turned lemons into the best lemonade ever by giving Barbara a purpose and glory after the Killing Joke. I didn’t want to do the book if that element, that inspiring quality, wasn’t part of the mix. I get that not everyone agrees, but we have had endless lines of people who have experienced some massive trauma who found something to believe in with Barbara’s story. In the end, it’s supposed to be entertaining, first. That’s still the primary goal. But heroes who struggle are so much more meaningful to me. Most of us have struggled, but we don’t often see that portrayed as comics move more towards big stories and spectacle.
Nrama: Her emotions over the events of The Killing Joke still don’t feel completely resolved, because she hasn’t had to deal with the Joker again. Since we’ve heard about the return of Joker in “Death of the Family” in the Batman title, and DC has implied it will touch other members of the Batman family, will Barbara be confronted more directly by the villain in your title?
Simone: “Resolved” is kind of a tough word, here. There’s definitely a feeling out there regarding this stuff that someone is fixed or not fixed, like an on/off switch. It’s not that binary, but she is facing this stuff head on. And I am pretty sure a Joker/Batgirl story is inevitable, but I can’t say more than that. Think of two trains on the same track facing towards each other…there’s nowhere for either of them to go but towards collision.
Nrama: And that collision occurs in your “Death of the Family” tie-in to Scott’s Batman story?
Simone: Yes. It is the once-and-for-all confrontation between the Batgirl and the man who shot and paralyzed her. It does not go as he expected. This story starts in issue #14, and I have to say, it’s pretty shocking. That’s all I’ll say right now, however.
In a recent interview with NEWSARAMA contributor Veta Rogers, Nightwing’s writer Kyle Higgins reveals that the confrontation of the Clown Prince of Crime and the former Boy Wonder will “be a monumental yet emotional showdown between Dick Grayson and Joker.”
After a short hiatus from the series, Higgings and artist Eddy Barrow’s join the tittle once more just in time to join the DEATH OF THE FAMILY story arc and it seems that Joker will be rocking the young hero’s world out of balance. Here are the the DEATH OF THE FAMILY highlights from the interview. You can read the whole interview HERE
(…)
Nrama: As you mentioned, there’s a two-issue story arc by Tom DeFalco. Why is he filling in for a couple issues?
Higgins: Because the Joker issues are so important and so big, the decision was made to give me a chance to get ahead on them and jump forward and set some things up, as well as develop pretty in depth what’s coming after the Joker story.The Joker story is really a huge turning point and changes a lot of things. When you see what happens during “Death of the Family,” it will be much clearer why there was a need and a desire for me to jump forward and spend a lot of time developing everything coming out of that.
Nrama: In the New 52, what is the mindset of this Dick Grayson toward Joker. And who is Dick Grayson or Nightwing to the Joker?
Higgins: Who Nightwing is to Joker is an interesting question. And that really taps into what Scott is doing in Batman, and what all of us are doing in our books. The Joker has a very specific opinion on the Bat-family. As that relates to every individual member of the family, there are slight twists on it. I know I’m being quite cryptic. But I’ll just say that the Joker has a very particular opinion of Nightwing, but I don’t want to get into what it is, because it would give a lot away. But Nightwing’s opinion of Joker is pretty much what you would expect and what’s been seen before. He recognizes that this is probably the most deadly and threatening villain in Batman’s rogues’ gallery. So he’s not taking the Joker lightly.And the second that Nightwing hears that the Joker is back, it puts him into a Defcon-5 mode to expect the unexpected. Like I said, he’s not taking it lightly.
Nrama: Are you working pretty closely with Scott Snyder on “Death of the Family?”
Higgins: Yeah. I flew out to New York back in May, and we had a little powwow in the DC offices between myself and Scott and Pete Tomasi and James Tynion IV, who’s doing all the back-ups in Batman as well as launching Talon. And then Gail [Simone] and Scott Lobdell were conference called in. And we all worked pretty closely developing this story and what the particular pieces were going to be. Even coming out of that, I’ve been working pretty closely with Scott, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a lot of fun. That said, Scott’s given me a ton of freedom — as he’s given all of us really — to make this a story unique to Nightwing. His only mandate was: Make it the scariest, most impactful Joker story that you’ve ever seen for your character. What’s so exciting for me is, aside from a couple instances, I can’t think of a really big Nightwing/Joker story. The moment that comes to mind would be during, what Last Laugh by Chuck Dixon. It was a big crossover where Nightwing killed the Joker.
Nrama: Yeah, yeah, and Batman brings him back.
Higgins: Yeah, so that’s only big one in recent memory that I could point to.
Nrama: Are you having fun writing the Joker as you delve into your “Death of the Family” issues?
Higgins: Yeah, and I have a very specific version of the Joker that I like, and so it was fun to start working on that. And I plan to tell a huge story that will be lasting. I know it has big ramifications. But I hope that, when people think of Nightwing versus the Joker, this is the one that they’ll think about.
Nrama: How many issues is your tie-in to “Death of the Family?”
Higgins: It’s two issues: #15 and #16. And issues #13 and #14 have some set-up and development for my Joker story. I coordinated with Tom a little, giving him a heads up about some of the plot points I needed set up for the Joker story. And then there will be some fall-out for several issues afterward.
Nrama: That sounds dire.
Higgins: That is certainly one word you could use to describe it.
(….)
Higgins: There will be seismic shifts coming out of the Joker story. Big things are coming for Nightwing [in 2013], and there will be big changes ahead for Dick Grayson.
December’s solicitation for DEATH OF THE FAMILY related storyline and spinoffs continue to hit the charts (Guess the world was ready to a Joker comeback). Look what December has in stores regarding Joker’s return to the spotlight:
BATMAN #15
DETECTIVE COMICS #15
BATMAN AND ROBIN #15
BATGIRL #15
CATWOMAN #15
RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS #15
SUICIDE SQUAD #15
TEEN TITANS #15
NIGHTWING #15
LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #3
BATMAN ARKHAM CITY: HARLEY QUINN STATUE
BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS ACTION FIGURE 4-PACK
DC COMICS SUPER VILLAINS: THE JOKER BUST
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