IGN Comics: Besides DC acquiring the rights to all the properties involved, how did the idea for First Wave come about?
Azzarello: Well…DC acquired the rights. [laughs]
IGN Comics: Fair enough. Well then how did the idea to put all these characters together in one world and story come about?
Azzarello: That was Dan's [DiDio] idea. He came to me with that idea, actually.
IGN Comics: So what attracted you to the project?
Azzarello: He and I had been looking for a way to get me back into the DCU for a while. I really had no interest in doing any super-powered characters. I didn't want to touch Batman when it wasn't Bruce Wayne. So this was a nice little back door in. We have actually been trying to get this going for years now. Dan first contacted me about it almost four years ago. At that point, none of the DCU characters were part of it. That was something I brought to the table. Why don't we include some of these other guys that haven't been used in a while?
IGN Comics: You're obviously known for writing hard-boiled crime stories. What's the difference between writing a crime or noir story and writing this type of pulp tale? Is there one?
Azzarello: Motivationally, you have to be a little bit purer. Because you're dealing with people that are heroes. Which is tough for me, man. [laughs] I have to come at this from a different place.
IGN Comics: Right. They all can't be deeply flawed.
Azzarello: Yeah. I have to come at these characters from the other side of the bars, I guess.
IGN Comics: Bringing together characters from different backgrounds, origins and companies – ones that originally had nothing to do with one another – hasn't always worked well from a story standpoint. Some would say Captain Marvel hasn't really stuck at DC precisely because he wasn't created in the context of the DCU. How do you plan on making the various characters involved in First Wave thrive together in the same universe?
Azzarello: Well you have to tweak the characters. Captain Marvel doesn't work in the confines of the DCU because the characters itself hasn't been turned a little bit at his core. I think you have to do that to make these things work. You need to reinvent them to a certain extent.
IGN Comics: That's a good place to jump over to a discussion of the various players involved. DC ran your notes on a lot of these characters in a number of their comics a month or so back, and it made for a fascinating read. Your take on Batman in particular was rather interesting, as you note that one your of the problems with Batman is that he's been depicted as fully formed once he took on the mantel. You have the rare chance in First Wave to put Bruce Wayne/Batman through a more pronounced character arc or journey than we typically see in the DCU comics. Can you describe your take on the character and what makes it different, besides maybe the idea that this version of the character carries a pair of guns?
Azzarello: I looked at some of those older, original issues, and Batman had a bit of a mean streak, but also enjoyed his work. That's something that's been taken away from the character. But then again, his work hasn't been enjoyable. I want to put that back in. I want to cast him more as a rookie cop. There's an idealism there. He hasn't been soured yet. He also doesn't have to do it, so it's like this crazy hobby of his. He's not obsessed yet.
IGN Comics: Besides Frank Miller, no one has really been able to tackle the two extreme ends of Batman's journey –his beginnings in Year One and then the more extreme, exaggerated far end of his growth in Dark Knight Returns. Are you going to run as wide of a gamut in your take on Batman, or are you more concerned with showing his formative years?
Azzarello: More so the formative years. But even in Year One he didn't really laugh at himself. Listen, it's a cliché, but if he's a millionaire playboy, why can't he act like a millionaire playboy? With Bruce Wayne acting as such a dark character, why doesn't everyone know he's Batman? The guy never smiles. If he's going to have a secret identity, it shouldn't be so easy to say this guy is depressing to be around.
IGN Comics: It also sounds like you're going to bring out that lighter side in your depiction of Bruce in costume, at least as far as his enthusiasm for the job is concerned.
Azzarello: Yeah. This Batman likes doing what he's doing. There's a bit of a rush there.
IGN Comics: Can you talk about your decision to move Gotham to the West Coast?
Azzarello: Well Doc Savage is Manhattan. I think people tend to think of Gotham City as Manhattan as well. I didn't want to have both in the same city. Geographically speaking, I just figured we'd move him to the other side of the country. There's something about Los Angeles – or at least there was – where it's this fairly new city. I wanted to make the city as vital as the character.
IGN Comics: So you're almost going for something like James Ellroy's take on Los Angeles?
Azzarello: Exactly.
IGN Comics: How about Doc Savage? Were you a fan of the character going in to your work on First Wave, or did you have to go back and do some reading?
Azzarello: I had to go back and read. I had read some of those books as a kid, but I had to go back and read a few of them again.
IGN Comics: You describe him as the story's "superman", emphasis on the lower case. What do you find appealing about the character?
Azzarello: For one thing, he's completely human, even if he's been engineered by his father to be the best. And so many characters owe so much to that character. He's one of the first actual (lowercase) "superman." There are plenty of vigilantes, but there's only on Doc Savage.
IGN Comics: You bring up the fact that he's been engineered by his father, and the character really comes across as the perfect human or uberman, so to speak. There's definitely a creepy element to that, and I'm curious if you're planning on playing up that creepiness at all?
Azzarello: I'm not playing up the creepy aspect so much in Doc. Other than that when he's in the room, everyone knows he's in the room. He's famous. He doesn't hide his identity. He's out there. He works with the police, or rather the police turn a blind eye when he's working.
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