Bat-Signals: Letters to Batman Inc. #1

[Admin]

Please let us know what you think!

[Fantômas]

Quick plug for the very talented cover artist, seeing as he's from outside DC2, Marco Greco (or Granamir), whose dA account can be found here.

He was very enthusiastic about the work, and we may well see a few more of his dynamic images fronting Batman Inc. issues in the future. I think myself lucky that two issues in there have been two fantastic artists, and hope my meagre writings don't pale too badly in comparison.

[Fantômas]

Next issue was intended to be a Halloween special, but looks like it won't be ready for All Hallow's tomorrow, unfortunately.

So in the meantime, enjoy the company of this happy Dollotron, and a select few articles and sites that I think work well as companion pieces to the issue.

Not essential at all, just might prove interesting as broader context.

Companion Reading

Hugh Feriss - Delineator of Gotham - Big influence on how Inc. will portray Gotham's architecture.
Mindless Ones and Deep Space Transmissions - Annotations to the DCU Batman Inc. title, pre- and post- reboot. Exceptionally informative.
Various Articles on High-Tech Military Uniforms - Often out-dated, given the pace of technology, but good material to crib when depicting and out-fitting the Batsuit.
European Crime Tour - Interesting article on current trends in detective fiction.
Clichy-Sous-Bois - In photographs.
Various Articles about the 2005 Riots in Clichy - About the riots and the longer term effects. Interesting as context.
Les Vampires, at Archive.org - 1915 crime serial (by the director of the Fantomas serial, as it happens). It's French, it's filled with costumed criminals and terrible misdeeds, "beyond fashion, beyond taste".

[HoM]

“It's my case.”

Now that was cool. I like the ownership that Bilal took for his role. Just because Nightunner is now in the Shadow of the Bat, doesn't mean he bends over and starts wearing a pointy cowl and starts putting on a gruff voice. I wasn't exactly a fan of the DCU Nightrunner... his character felt like an attempt to get media attention ("A MUSLIM BATMAN WHO DOES LE PARKOUR? CALL 'THE TIMES'!") but he grew on me in the few appearances he made, but he was never truly fleshed out as he could have been (though was there an Annual? And a Batman & Robin arc where there's a breakout at the French Arkham? Was he in that?), but this was a fun, bouncy introduction to a character I hope to see plenty of moving forward.

I love the Monster Men as a concept, it's a little bit cooler than guys on Venom, because it's not a steroid, it's a POTION, and the potion turns you in a monster. That's just... c'mon, the imagery there is potent. There's especially something cool about monsters on the streets of Paris. I don't know if it's down to the earliest issues of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, when the League meet Hyde on the Rue Morgue, but I love that visual, and this evoked that emotion in me, so congrats.

I would say one thing, and it's tiny-- you make a big deal about setting the scene by telling us what time period we're in (1900 at the beginning of the issue), but after the bat-break (I love the images you used in the first issue, by the way. I meant to say but my last feedback just DRAGGED) we were thrown back into the present (kinda, you skipped back again down the line) without warning. So we were introduced to Solomon Wayne, and then the next Wayne, after the break, is Bruce. It took me a second, and a second is all it takes!

Okay, so a good issue, solid, it marks some territory and it sets us up to move forward. I think I have to cool down for the day now else I'll burn out, but I'm liking what I see!

[Fantômas]

Thanks for reading and offering such comprehensive feedback, Charlie, it's definitely appreciated.

I like Nightrunner as a character. I remember news reports about the Clichy riots and I remember talking to people - exchange students - who came from Paris and had some pretty strong opiniona on the matter. So seeing a Batman type emerge from that was pretty cool, I thought. And he's so low tech. He's got parkour and a good attitude, and maybe a little martial arts. And not much else. He's miles away from the other, much more established Incorporated heroes.

So I have some ideas for where Bilal is going. He's got a much more pacifist mindset than Bruce, I think, and is very clearly victim-oriented rather than revenge-driven. When I get around to doing more solo adventures with him (and there are drafts, believe me) it's going to be testing of the waters, with Bilal far from comfortable with the gadgets and the violence, still testing out his detective skills, and trying to find the right relationship with Paris. For anyone bored of the high-tech genius 'Bat-God', Nightrunner offers the chance to tell more grounded, Year One style stories against the Corsican mafia and weird, old school villains like Pierrot Lunaire (the arthouse, more morose and much more European take on the brash American Joker).

Which is a digression, but still.

I do jump about at times in terms of structure and time, but in the early stages of writing Inc (a year ago now...huh...) I was thinking more about creating ambiguity and confusion to simulate how Incorporated inflates the mytery of the Batman myth, cranking up the conspiracy levels. You'd have to work to follow the treads of it all, with Bruce's movements around the world especially being hard to track.

In the end I jettisoned alot of that in exchange for more mirrored structures and themes, trying to pull up parallels to Batman and Bruce more than confusion, but I think some of it still lingers. With Pyg and his mind-altering chemical weapons coming up there will be more structural confusion, as you follow degenerative mindsets and Pyg's own twisted thoughts...there are some Burroughs influences in how I'm treating Pyg that I think will come out nicely...more rambling from me, but hopefully it'll pay off in upcoming issues.

Thanks again for your thoughts, Charlie.