After taking superheroes down a peg (to put it mildly) with his and Darick Robertson’s successful comic series The Boys, acclaimed comic book creator Garth Ennis is making an eagerly anticipated return to Gotham City in June with the DC Black Label miniseries Batman: Reptilian. Teaming up with Liam Sharp, the six-issue story shows Batman on the trail of a vicious threat that’s targeting his rogues gallery with unrelenting fury.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Ennis shared the origins of the story as a planned reunion with his longtime collaborator, the late Steve Dillion, and his views on Batman and his extensive supporting cast.
Garth, not counting the short story during Dark Nights: Death Metal, it’s been some time since you’ve been in Gotham City. What brought you back?
Garth Ennis: About five years ago I wrote the story for Steve Dillon, figuring that it would be the best way to cement his comeback. He’d been ill for a while but was now keen to get back to where he’d been, and with the Preacher show about to kick off, I thought it would gain the maximum publicity possible — the Preacher team doing Batman (I suppose I could have gone for X-Men or whatever instead, but I have my limits). Probably my most cynically commercial decision ever. Anyway, not long after I wrote the last script, fate intervened in the worst possible way…
I did actually show up in Gotham at Christmas when PJ Holden and I dropped into Noonan’s Bar with Baytor and Darkseid. Batman showed up to cheer on the drinking contest, as I recall. That’s how the character appeals to me the most, actually, on the more absurd side of things.
As someone that’s written one of the most salient, postmodern commentaries on the superhero genre with The Boys, what does Batman mean for you?
Ennis: The Dark Knight was actually the first American comic I read cover to cover, back in 1986. I knew the characters from the old Adam West TV show, which I’ve always had a soft spot for (although a little of it goes a long way). And I was blown away seeing a simple and iconic concept treated with such absolute conviction. I went on to enjoy Year One and The Killing Joke, although not long after that my interest in Batman started to wane — I suppose what it proves is that if you apply absolutely enormous levels of talent you can make almost any character interesting to someone who wouldn’t naturally be a fan, but if you can’t maintain those levels, you’re done.
Beyond that, I had a passing familiarity with the world of Batman back in the ‘90s, when I was writing the Gotham-set Hitman. Because I had to participate in the various Bat-crossovers and events of the era, I got to know what was going on in the books. So you might say Batman is one superhero I know a little bit more about than most.
This is a Batman that is especially single-minded in getting the job done while not compromising his own code of honor. How is it getting to explore that here?
Ennis: What we’re talking about here is a billionaire aristocrat who beats up poor people, as well as the mentally ill. I don’t know what that has to do with a code of honor, but it certainly appeals to my sense of humour — which was probably my way into writing the character and the reason I enjoyed writing him more than I otherwise might have.
Of all the fan-favorite villains in Batman’s extensive supporting cast, what made Killer Croc the one you wanted to focus on?
Ennis: I pretty much despise Batman’s rogues gallery. They put me in mind of a bunch of multicolored idiots tittering and twitching as they try to get into a nightclub, with the biggest, baddest, black-clad bouncer on the door ensuring they’ll never succeed. The Joker is the worst of the lot, probably the most annoying character in all of the comics. I quite enjoyed taking a buzz-saw to them in the first couple of issues. Croc is a bit more physically formidable but is just as lacking in credibility when it comes to taking on Batman. Something in his origin did, however, inspire a new character that I thought might actually be worthy of Batman’s attention.
How has it been working with Liam on this book?
Ennis: Excellent. Liam and I have been good pals for 30 years and have somehow never managed to work together. That’s now been put right.
This book has been described as a tribute to Steve Dillon, someone you’ve worked with for a long time on titles like Preacher and his loss is still felt nearly five years later. How did you want to celebrate Steve’s life and legacy with this book?
Ennis: For me, the book isn’t a tribute to Steve, it’s just something that in practical terms exists because of him. I don’t think anyone would be too surprised to learn that were I to celebrate Steve’s life it wouldn’t be with a Batman comic or any kind of comic — it would be with a large donation to his favourite charitable cause, the Arthur Guinness Foundation. But I do like to think of him having a good old laugh at Mr. I-hate-superheroes ending up writing Batman.
Perhaps the best way for regular Batman readers to think of the book is this: Imagine that the last thirty or so years’ worth of Batman comics never existed. Because as far as I can recall, that’s how long it’s been since I actually read a Batman comic from start to finish, as opposed to just getting a rough idea of what’s happening with the character (it would have been the excellent Mad Love). So I really don’t know what’s been happening with Batman recently, especially since about 2000. Just think Dark Knight, Year One, Killing Joke and not an awful lot more. Think the late ‘80s to the early ‘90s. That’s really when Liam and I hail from.
Written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Liam Sharp, Batman: Reptilian #1 goes on sale June 22 from DC Comics.
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