Cary's Comics Craze: "What kind of ideas did you have for the Retroactive project? Was there anything left over from your Detective Comics and Shadow of the Bat runs that seemed natural to include or you felt needed to be wrapped up?"
Alan Grant: “DC wanted a stand-alone Batman story, but preferably one that grew out of the body of my previous Dark Knight work.
I wanted to try to recapture the kind of stories Norm Breyfogle and I were doing in the early ‘90s. Although I’d have liked to do an Anarky story, I didn’t know what DC had been doing with the character in my absence. So eventually it came down to the toss of a coin between ‘The Nobody’ (Shadow of the Bat #13 (1993)) and ‘Trash’ (Detective Comics #613 (1990)). I decided on ‘Trash,’ because it allowed me to use one of my favorite villains, the Ventriloquist and Scarface — and also because it tied in with the Scarface toy and Arkham Asylum computer game.
There was nothing that needed to be wrapped up in this tale, but the fact that DC is reprinting the original ‘Trash’ story in back of the Retroactive comic was what swayed me — 'Trash' was one of my all-time favorites from my 13-year stint on the Dark Knight.”
Norm Breyfogle: “Alan knew only that he was to write a new story set in the ‘90s, and that it would be published in the Retroactive 1990s book alongside a re-printed Batman story he and I had produced back then (in the ‘90s). Alan (and I, I suppose) were given the choice of what old story of ours DC would reprint and Alan and I agreed that, ideally, the reprint story would be a complete-in-one-issue story and the new story we’d produce would be connected in some manner to that old story. So, I phoned Alan late one night and gave him a few suggestions, but it was entirely up to him to make the story decisions, of course, since he’s the writer of our team.
One of my suggestions was that we revisit the ‘An American Batman in London’ story (Detective Comics #590 (1988)), because terrorism is still a very pertinent subject today (however, that story was actually published not in the ‘90s, but in 1988). Alan finally decided, instead, to revisiting the one-issue ‘Trash’ storyline we’d produced in 1990 largely because, instead of wanting to write about terrorism, he instead preferred writing a story featuring perhaps the most famous Batman Rogues’ Gallery villain he and I had introduced to the Batman mythos: The Ventriloquist.”
Cary's Comics Craze: "Give me your best pitch for your latest project in three sentences or less."
Alan Grant: “What is life, and what does it mean? Batman inadvertently finds out in this fast-moving story.”
Norm Breyfogle: “Neither Alan Grant nor I pitched the idea to DC. Instead, Jim Chadwick (DC Senior Editor) approached us with the offer. Then, Alan wrote a script, and I don’t know whether or not he wrote a short synopsis first. However, I suspect you’re asking me for a plot or concept summary, right? Well … first of all, this is how DC Comics has referred to the story:
'Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle revisit a pair of villains closely associated with their original run on The Caped Crusader: The Ventriloquist and Scarface! Released on a technicality one year after being arrested, this bizarre duo is determined to reclaim their status in the upper echelon of Batman’s Rogues Gallery. This ‘lost tale’ of the era spins directly out of Detective Comics #613 (1990), reprinted in this issue!'
I’d only add that the story includes a new garbage zombie villain character whom Batman must defeat, as well as a young Gothamite couple who are soon to be parents. All collide together in Alan’s synchronistic, climactic ending to his masterfully fluid plot.”
Cary's Comics Craze: "How and when did DC approach you about doing this Retroactive story?"
Alan Grant: “A couple of months back, via an e-mail from Senior Editor Jim Chadwick.”
Norm Breyfogle: “I think it was at the end of April that I received an email from Jim Chadwick asking me if I was available. After not having been asked to do any work with DC Comics for the last 8 to 10 years, the offer came as quite a pleasant surprise to me. Luckily, my work with Archie Comics (Life With Archie: The Married Life #1-11 (2010-2011)) was winding down at precisely that time, so I was able to accept DC’s offer.”
Cary's Comics Craze: "What was it like getting re-immersed in the Batman universe? Were there any creative adjustments you had to make?"
Alan Grant: “I felt almost as if I was coming home, especially with Norm Breyfogle as the artist. I worked with many talented illustrators over the years — and a couple of dogs as well! — but Norm stands head and shoulders above all others as my take on the definitive Batman artist.
No creative adjustments were necessary.”
Norm Breyfogle: “The only adjustment that had to be made concerned which version of Batman’s costume I’d be drawing, for it was in the ‘90s that Batman first adopted the all-black costume reminiscent of all of the modern Batman films. At first I argued for our using the all black design and I was planning on drawing and a having it colored that way, but then we decided that for the vast majority of the time I was drawing Batman, he’d worn the blue/grey or black/grey uniform, and that’s what Batman wore in the ‘Trash’ story, too, so that’s what we went with, instead.
Other than that, it was very interesting to me how perfectly natural it felt to be drawing one of Alan’s Batman scripts again. It was as if the last couple of decades had never passed at all, as if we’d only taken a couple of weeks off! Of course, I know it felt that way for me because Alan’s script was as good any he’d ever written and because I’ve been drawing comics steadily all along and so I haven’t had time to get rusty at all (in fact, I’ve only gotten better). Still, it was an eerie kind of feeling to have entire decades of time seem like almost nothing at all.”
Cary's Comics Craze: "What was it like working again with Norm Breyfogle?"
Alan Grant: “Brilliant! His work has matured over the years, but he’s still the most dynamic artist around. His storytelling, expressionistic art and vision of Batman dovetails exactly with my own love for the character. It’s almost as if we can read each others minds.”
Cary's Comics Craze: "How was the creative process this time around compared to your previous collaborations?"
Alan Grant: “Exactly the same as it used to be. Norm sent me a couple of suggestions — for instance, a lengthy fight scene that I could leave to him to choreograph — and I took it from there. That said, Norm and I often collaborated more closely in the past — I remember once coming home from holiday to find a 52-page fax from him, absolutely bristling with ideas, philosophies and suggestions.”
Norm Breyfogle: “Identical, except that now DC accepts only scans; they no longer send or receive original art through the mail as they were still doing the last time I’d worked with them in 2001 or 2002 (when I was penciling The Spectre (The Spectre #15-27 (2002-2003)).”
http://csa4batman.blog.com/2011/08/...gle-talk-retroactive-ccc-exclusive-interview/
http://csa4batman.blog.com/2011/08/...orm-breyfogle-ccc-exclusive-interview-part-2/
:P
