SDCC: DC's Writers & Artists on the Future of Black Label
Saturday at Comic-Con International in San Diego, a number of writers and artists for DC's Black Label gathered to discuss their respective approaches to pushing the limits of classic superhero stories.
The panel kicked off with executive editor Matt Doyle taking to the stage and he was soon joined by John Romita Jr., Jeff Lemire, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Kami Garcia.
"It's a chance for creators to tell stories that are different from the mainstream DCU," Doyle said of Black Label.
Regarding Last Knight on Earth, Synder said, "I'd started thinking about it when I was doing 'Zero Year.'" He then recalled the advice he received from Grant Morrison about how he needed to do a story featuring Batman's death.
"A lot of our run was about Batman saying 'everything you do matters,'" he continued. "The Joker's goal is to make you feel that nothing you do matters. So with this, the world tells Batman what Joker's been telling Batman. It takes place about 15-20 years after the current DCU. It's very much kind of an Odyssey."
"The opening salvo was a Joker head that talks in a jar," Capullo said before recapping the highlights from Last Knight on Earth # 1. "This is just too good."
As for The Joker in the story, Snyder said, "I've come to the opinion that Joker doesn't want either of them to win. He's very changed and we don't know why he's this head in a jar. The second book, I really believe, is better than the first one." Doyle then displayed several pages from Last Knight on Earth # 2.
"Joker is my favorite to write," he added. "He's a really tragic character. He really wants to make up for what he did."
[...]
Doyle then brought up Garcia's take on the Clown Prince of Crime in Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity.
"I started as a novelist," she said. "I have many conversations with my agent that always start with, 'that's not for teens.' So when DC approached me, I already had a really good idea. When I pitched it, I said, 'how do you make a monster?' What would trigger a boy to become a monster and make someone become The Joker?"
"I wanted to do a real procedural on how this character would evolve," she continued. "You do that by creating an actual profile. We profiled The Joker like he was a real person. How would he become the killer, the anarchist we all know and love? It was not teen-appropriate."
Black-and-white pages from Issue # 1 were then displayed.
"[Harley] has a backstory with him," Garcia said. "When Harley was a resident, her roommate was killed by The Joker. So she's obsessed with this case, she wants to find the person who killed her roommate and pay for what he did. She's a dark chick. She's obsessed with this, definitely to a not-healthy degree. Then killings start happening in the modern-day."
"It was really challenging," she continued. "I have a consultant who's a chemical weapons expert in the marine corps and he was like, 'I need to know what you're writing this for.' He thought I was writing a manifesto or something."
"The book sounds fantastic," Snyder chimed in.
"It's a little dark," Garcia joked.
Next up, Doyle asked about Lemire's take on The Joker in Joker: Killer Smile.
"I think we approach it from a completely opposite way," he said. "It looks very grounded but the actual madness of The Joker, it's sort of a twisted child's fairytale. One element of Gotham I haven't seen a lot is the suburbs so I thought, what happens you interact with this doctor? To me, that was the most terrifying thought I could think of."
"The setup may sound familiar, but where it goes, it's not," he added.
Regarding Andrea Sorrentino's art, Lemire said, "He's the real genius. He'll elevate it into something else."
Source: https://www.cbr.com/sdcc-dc-black-label-three-jokers-harley-quinn-batman/
---
SDCC 2019: DC Black Label Panel
Next up is Joker/Harley Quinn - one of Black Label's numerous Joker and Harley focused titles.
Doyle said writer Kami Garcia "had some dark ideas about the Joker."
"It's like a David Fincher film," said Doyle.
Garcia is a YA novelist by trade - but often gets notes that her ideas aren't "teen friendly." She initially pitched her Joker story as a YA story.
She worked with a forensic profiler to tell a story that digs deep into Joker's psyche.
"We profiled the Joker as if he was a real person... Which was fun..." she joked.
It made sense to bring in Harleen Quinzel as a criminal profiler hunting the Joker.
Back to Joker/Harley, Harley is motivated by Joker's murder of her college roommate.
The story delves directly into Joker's background. Garcia consulted criminal experts to make sure Joker's crimes were fully realistic.
"You look like a schoolteacher to me," joked Romita, saying he couldn't believe she could go so dark. "I was!" she quipped.
She also explained that her step-dad - an undercover cop - taught her to escape the trunk of a car, out of handcuffs, zipties, and other common kidnapping methods. She was also a competitive fighter - she's making a serious case for herself as Batman.
He also made her learn to drive a stickshift - he sounds quite paranoid.
At least, until an intruder appeared in her home and she "escaped with no harm, no therapy" thanks to her training.
"The scariest thing is, in this story, Joker is 100% sane," Garcia explained, going on to talk about how most well-known serial killers are not insane - they're totally aware of how evil their acts are, they just don't care.
Batman won't appear in the book - even though he exists.
Commissioner Gordon will appear.
Source: https://www.newsarama.com/46152-sdcc-2019-dc-black-label-panel.html
The panel kicked off with executive editor Matt Doyle taking to the stage and he was soon joined by John Romita Jr., Jeff Lemire, Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Kami Garcia.
"It's a chance for creators to tell stories that are different from the mainstream DCU," Doyle said of Black Label.
Regarding Last Knight on Earth, Synder said, "I'd started thinking about it when I was doing 'Zero Year.'" He then recalled the advice he received from Grant Morrison about how he needed to do a story featuring Batman's death.
"A lot of our run was about Batman saying 'everything you do matters,'" he continued. "The Joker's goal is to make you feel that nothing you do matters. So with this, the world tells Batman what Joker's been telling Batman. It takes place about 15-20 years after the current DCU. It's very much kind of an Odyssey."
"The opening salvo was a Joker head that talks in a jar," Capullo said before recapping the highlights from Last Knight on Earth # 1. "This is just too good."
As for The Joker in the story, Snyder said, "I've come to the opinion that Joker doesn't want either of them to win. He's very changed and we don't know why he's this head in a jar. The second book, I really believe, is better than the first one." Doyle then displayed several pages from Last Knight on Earth # 2.
"Joker is my favorite to write," he added. "He's a really tragic character. He really wants to make up for what he did."
[...]
Doyle then brought up Garcia's take on the Clown Prince of Crime in Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity.
"I started as a novelist," she said. "I have many conversations with my agent that always start with, 'that's not for teens.' So when DC approached me, I already had a really good idea. When I pitched it, I said, 'how do you make a monster?' What would trigger a boy to become a monster and make someone become The Joker?"
"I wanted to do a real procedural on how this character would evolve," she continued. "You do that by creating an actual profile. We profiled The Joker like he was a real person. How would he become the killer, the anarchist we all know and love? It was not teen-appropriate."
Black-and-white pages from Issue # 1 were then displayed.
"[Harley] has a backstory with him," Garcia said. "When Harley was a resident, her roommate was killed by The Joker. So she's obsessed with this case, she wants to find the person who killed her roommate and pay for what he did. She's a dark chick. She's obsessed with this, definitely to a not-healthy degree. Then killings start happening in the modern-day."
"It was really challenging," she continued. "I have a consultant who's a chemical weapons expert in the marine corps and he was like, 'I need to know what you're writing this for.' He thought I was writing a manifesto or something."
"The book sounds fantastic," Snyder chimed in.
"It's a little dark," Garcia joked.
Next up, Doyle asked about Lemire's take on The Joker in Joker: Killer Smile.
"I think we approach it from a completely opposite way," he said. "It looks very grounded but the actual madness of The Joker, it's sort of a twisted child's fairytale. One element of Gotham I haven't seen a lot is the suburbs so I thought, what happens you interact with this doctor? To me, that was the most terrifying thought I could think of."
"The setup may sound familiar, but where it goes, it's not," he added.
Regarding Andrea Sorrentino's art, Lemire said, "He's the real genius. He'll elevate it into something else."
Source: https://www.cbr.com/sdcc-dc-black-label-three-jokers-harley-quinn-batman/
---
SDCC 2019: DC Black Label Panel
Next up is Joker/Harley Quinn - one of Black Label's numerous Joker and Harley focused titles.
Doyle said writer Kami Garcia "had some dark ideas about the Joker."
"It's like a David Fincher film," said Doyle.
Garcia is a YA novelist by trade - but often gets notes that her ideas aren't "teen friendly." She initially pitched her Joker story as a YA story.
She worked with a forensic profiler to tell a story that digs deep into Joker's psyche.
"We profiled the Joker as if he was a real person... Which was fun..." she joked.
It made sense to bring in Harleen Quinzel as a criminal profiler hunting the Joker.
Back to Joker/Harley, Harley is motivated by Joker's murder of her college roommate.
The story delves directly into Joker's background. Garcia consulted criminal experts to make sure Joker's crimes were fully realistic.
"You look like a schoolteacher to me," joked Romita, saying he couldn't believe she could go so dark. "I was!" she quipped.
She also explained that her step-dad - an undercover cop - taught her to escape the trunk of a car, out of handcuffs, zipties, and other common kidnapping methods. She was also a competitive fighter - she's making a serious case for herself as Batman.
He also made her learn to drive a stickshift - he sounds quite paranoid.
At least, until an intruder appeared in her home and she "escaped with no harm, no therapy" thanks to her training.
"The scariest thing is, in this story, Joker is 100% sane," Garcia explained, going on to talk about how most well-known serial killers are not insane - they're totally aware of how evil their acts are, they just don't care.
Batman won't appear in the book - even though he exists.
Commissioner Gordon will appear.
Source: https://www.newsarama.com/46152-sdcc-2019-dc-black-label-panel.html