Meet N' Greet: Royal Mcgraw - Newsarama

[marcofthebeast]

Info on Dini's fill in for december.

MEET 'N GREET: ROYAL McGRAW

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

Not everyone is a big name creator like Bob Kane, Alan Moore, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid, Dennis O’Neil, Frank Miller, Mark Millar, Brad Meltzer, Jeph Loeb, Neil Gaiman, Kia Asamiya, Tony Wong, Warren Ellis, etc.

And not every writer has written Batman.

Nevertheless, all of those mentioned above have had their own takes on Batman at one point in their successful careers.

Most recently, Paul Dini, best known as the writer, producer and editor of Batman: The Animated Series, came on board as the writer of DC’s longest continuously-published comic book, Detective Comics.

However, a new writer enters into the world of the Dark Knight with November’s issue #825.

Fans of Dini have been assured by the writer that he’ll be back in December by Dini himself at his blog. “With the rotating roster of artists still being worked out, it was decided shortly before comic con to let that issue be a fill-in. As most of the issues during my run are designed to be stand-alones, this does not effect the on-going continuity of the book and will give a chance for the team of Royal McGraw, Marcos Marz and Luciana del Negro to dazzle you with a Bat-tale of Dr. Phosphorus. I'll be back in December with a story involving Robin and a very jolly guest star (trust me, it ain't Santa) and continue on into the New Year with a slew of new adventures.”

So, who is Royal McGraw?

Newsarama.com sat down with the up and coming writer for a “meet and greet” session.

Newsarama: Now that the solicits for November are out, the whole world knows that you're filling in for Paul Dini on Detective Comics. Almost everyone went "Who?!" when they saw the solicits...

Royal McGraw: Actually, they went “Who the %$#@ is Royal McGraw and what the %$#@ did he do with Paul Dini?” It seems like nearly everybody thought that Royal McGraw was some sort of pen name.

Then somebody posted a picture of the Burger King guy!

I laughed so hard, I fell out of my chair. For the record, my full name is Royal Alfred McGraw IV.

NRAMA: You graduated with degrees in Cinema - Television Production and Filmic Writing from the University of Southern California, correct?

RM: Correct.

NRAMA: With short stints a legal assistant, host, retail sales associate, casting assistant, television extra, graphic designer, character assassin, film compositor as well as a background dancer for the REM video Shiny Happy People, how did you view the comics industry from an "outsider looking in" point of view?

RM: Mmm, for one, character assassin is more of a joke. But I’m not sure I’m a total outsider. I’ve read comics all my life. The interesting thing about my education in and around film and filmic writing is that I’ve had the opportunity to study, in a very focused way, how the masters of that craft tell their stories. Theater didn’t make the above list because I’ve never been lucky enough to be paid to be a part of a theater show, but during undergrad I burned a lot of units and extra-curricular hours writing, directing, and learning about that craft. If you want to get even weirder, my mother is a Professor of Music Education and my father is a geneticist. Somehow that ends up producing two children who compulsively read lots and lots of books.

NRAMA: What kind of comics did you grow up with?

RM: My grandfather bought me The Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics for Christmas one year when I was very small. That book, more than any other, shifted the direction of my life. It had “Corpse on the Imjin”, some Pogo, two classic Spirit stories, and a few Mad Magazine excerpts among other works of quality. I’m not sure you’re going to meet anybody who wants to work in comics who was not profoundly affected by both EC Comics and Will Eisner’s work on The Spirit.

I also think I was precisely the right age for the DC Death of Superman and Knightfall storylines to make an enormous impression on me. And, because I can, I also want to mention the DC imprint Impact Comics which published The Comet by Mark Waid. While the Impact Imprint itself was off and on, The Comet was nothing short of divine. The arc of the protagonist from bright-eyed and optimistic college student *** superhero to the penultimate supervillain of the entire Impact universe really resonated with me as a kid. I think his work here foreshadowed some of the major storylines in comics today. Kind of off topic, but I also read Wizard Magazine with religious fervor.

NRAMA: With The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-winning entry for your script, The Voyage of the Beagle, and The Josh Schwartz Scholarship, an annual USC School of Cinema-Television scholarship program funded by the creator and executive producer of Fox's The O.C., in your bag, your future in TV, film and animation certainly looks bright. So, what brings you to the world of comics?

RM: Film, television, animation, comics, even video games: they’re all visual story-telling mediums. I’ve really never felt like there was much of a divide. I mean, there is – I don’t want to give the impression that I think there isn’t any difference – but the broad strokes are surprisingly similar. And I write everything I do the same way: I write dialogue and little ugly squiggly-line illustrations on white paper and then I move to Movie Magic Screenwriter to type up a more polished presentation. Whether I go film or comics is simply a matter of typing “PANEL #” or not. Actually, and this is just my opinion, but I feel some of the more modern decompressed comic books ([Brian] Bendis on Daredevil or Alias or [Ed] Brubaker on Sleeper, for example) share a pacing and narrative flow that feels to me like a good HBO series. I’d say the line really is beginning to blur.

NRAMA: The comic book industry has seen writers from the TV, film and animation world adding comics into their expanding resume. Notable creators include Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Serenity), Damon Lindelof and Javier Grillo-Marxuach (Lost), J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5), Paul Dini (Batman: The Animated Series), Christos N. Gage (Law & Order: Special Crimes Unit), Richard Donner (Superman), and Allen Heinberg (The O.C., Grey's Anatomy). In your opinion, what kind of "world view" do these people bring into the comic book making business, specifically in the areas of writing and storytelling?

RM: As I said before, the broad strokes are surprisingly similar. The creators you’re mentioning all have a proven track record generating high-quality stories in film or television. That they would continue to maintain that track record in comics is unsurprising. Cut and dry, they’re good writers.

As to what they bring to comics, I think they showcase a strong sense of structure, character development, and narrative unity. But these things are not unique. Bendis has all of those traits in spades. So do Ellis, Millar, Morrison, [Brian K.] Vaughn, Brubaker, [Greg] Rucka, Waid… just to name a few. But what I’ve just done is generate a list of quality writers - the medium they choose to work in seems almost secondary, doesn’t it?

NRAMA: Moving on, how did you land this Detective Comics gig?

RM: David Tischman, a really fantastic writer and co-author with Howard Chaykin of Bite Club over at Vertigo, forwarded some of my work to Peter Tomasi at DC. He must’ve seen something that he liked because he asked me to put together a few pitches. I do have to say a few words about Peter Tomasi since I have a minute. The man is not only an eagle-eyed editor; he is also a truly excellent writer. Pick up Light Brigade if you haven’t already – it’s a thoroughly wonderful read. There’s a joke in it about a woman who sends her husband (who has gone to the Front Lines in WWII) a photograph of the dashboard with “Is it time to change the oil?” written on the back. God, that one joke had me laughing for days. I’d just be driving along, look at my dashboard, and bust out laughing.

NRAMA: How are you portraying the Dark Knight Detective in this standalone tale?

RM: As little as possible actually. I prefer a Dark Knight who shows up late to the party and leaves before anybody notices he stepped out. But, absolutely, you’re right. The personal take on the character matters a whole lot. The very first thing I did was write up a little playbook, kind of a bible, that contained a list of actions that I thought were and were not appropriate for the character. Generally, I did my best to do commit as few of the ‘sins’ as possible. We’ll see how well I succeeded come November.

NRAMA: What're some of the definitive Batman stories that you'd researched prior to taking on this assignment?

RM: Well, to be honest, getting this gig was a nice excuse to re-read my back issues and fill in the blanks in my collection. Specifically, the story “The Return of Dr Phosphorous” references the [Steve] Englehart Dr Phosphorous run – collected now in the Strange Apparitions trade. Rupert Thorne, Alex Sartorius, a few other supporting characters too, they’re all cribbed directly from Englehart.

NRAMA: What's his greatest strength as a detective?

RM: His keen ability to detect. That sounds like a facetious answer but, really, when is the last time Detective Comics read like a detective story? The answer, of course, is the quite excellent Detective Comics #822 by Paul Dini… but I would argue that this transition back to form is recent. More often than not, Batman books read like action-adventure tales. Which isn’t bad, per se, but I prefer the bat books that synthesize equal amounts of action-adventure and detective procedural.

NRAMA: As mentioned, issue #825 features the return of Dr. Alex Sartorius aka Dr. Phosphorus, a character with radioactive powers created by Steve Englehart back in Detective Comics #469. Though mentioned as having been killed in the pages of Starman, the character was mentioned as being active during Brad Meltzer's popular Identity Crisis limited series. So, what's your take on Dr. Phosphorus?

RM: What I love about the character is that his origin is incredibly tragic. Rupert Thorne bilks Sartorius out of his life savings by tricking him into investing in a nuclear power plant scam. When Sartorius goes to try and get his money back, an explosion at the shoddily built plant turns him into Dr Phosphorous. At no point before the explosion is Sartorius portrayed as evil so, unlike most origin stories, Sartorius isn’t externalizing his internal mania – not like phobia-fixated Crane becoming the Scarecrow, for example. Because of this, my working principle is that there is a good man somewhere beneath all that flame and rage. Also, it isn’t just a cool name. Dr Phosphorous was actually a legitimate medical doctor pre-transformation. I think he should talk as smart as he is.

NRAMA: Without spoiling it for the readers, how does Rupert Thorne fit into the picture?

RM: Thorne is integral to the origin of Dr Phosphorous. They make sense together.

NRAMA: If given the chance, which other characters from Batman's rogues gallery would you like to write next? Why?

RM: That’s a difficult question to answer. The truth is that the villains matter far less to me than the characters of Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, and Jim Gordon. Especially, Jim Gordon. I know that everyone says “I want to write a Joker story” but the antagonist storyline really ought to service the emotional journeys of our heroes. The villain should fit the problem, if that makes sense, but the problems chiefly belong to the aforementioned three. Four if you add Robin, I suppose. So, if I had any wish, it would be an opportunity to really work the emotional angles of those four in a true and sympathetic way. God, I would kill for that opportunity.

But if Mr Freeze put a freeze ray in my mouth and made me put together a list of villains? Ventriloquist, Killer Croc, Joe Coyne, and Zsasz all probably make the top ten. Zsasz, especially. With the exception of The Last Arkham, I’m not sure I’ve read the Zsasz equivalent of Joker Fish or The Killing Joke. All of these characters (and more) have the capacity for strong emotional journeys if treated with the appropriate dignity. I hope I get the chance!

Finally, I do have another project upcoming in the Batman universe. Although I can’t tell you too much right at this moment, I can tell you that it should be a huge treat for comic fans young and old. I’ll be sure to let you all know more as publishing details become available.

 

[marcofthebeast]

He actually has some cool ideas, But I wonder if he has the ability to follow through.