TALKING TO BATMAN: DEATH MASK'S YOSHINORI NATSUME

[MattBrady]

by Steve Ekstrom

In April, DC Comics will be releasing Batman: Death Mask—a prestige format limited series—introducing renowned Japanese writer/artist Yoshinori Natsume to the American mainstream comic book market. In Batman: Death Mask, the Dark Knight must hunt down a mysterious, new serial killer with connections to Bruce Wayne’s initial globe spanning training that led to his transformation into Batman. It’s possible that this deadly killer may even know who Batman is. Batman: Death Mask is an original four issue mini-series that blends an iconic American superhero with the Japanese Manga style of storytelling.

Newsarama had the opportunity to talk to Yoshinori Natsume about his perceptions of the Dark Knight; the origins of the Death Mask project; and the method to the madness behind someone who not only writes a project but handles the artwork as well.

Newsarama: When considering an iconic character like Batman—what are some fundamental concepts that you as an artist find immediately appealing?

Yoshinori Natsume: Batman is an established character and everyone has his or her own idea about what he is supposed to look like. But I think it’s a lot of fun seeing how different artists interpret the character, and how they each bring their own unique “take” to the Batman.

NRAMA: Are there any aspects of Batman’s visual that presents an immediate challenge to you?

YN: There weren’t any particular challenges in that regard. But if you want a more interesting answer than that, I guess I wish I could’ve reinterpreted the costume more to make it suit my style. But the costume was one of those things I knew going in that I couldn’t mess with.



NRAMA: What was your motive for creating a story with connections to Batman’s core mythos via his ‘pre-costumed’ years training to be a vigilante? Does working within the established content like this make your job easier as a storyteller or do you feel confined?

YN: The history of the city of Gotham and its insane criminal population (in “The Age of the Batman”) is already well documented and has a very tight continuity. Rather than try to squeeze a story in there, I thought I’d try telling about a “lost episode” that happened before Bruce Wayne became the Batman.

NRAMA: Can you tell readers a little bit about the serial killer Batman is after?

YN: I’m not sure how much I should give away here, so I’ll just say that the killer casts the same shadow as Batman…

NRAMA: What are aspects of Batman/Bruce Wayne that you relate to?

YN: Like Batman/Bruce Wayne, I have faith that I can overcome hardship through diligent effort. Bruce’s humanity also resonates with me, in that he hasn’t had super powers given to him but has chosen the way he wants to live his life.

NRAMA: Are there any other DCU characters that you would like to create stories for? Would you like to stick to this prestige format or try something monthly?

YN: There are a lot of other appealing characters in the DCU and if I did my homework on them, I might very well come up with some interesting images, but this time it was all I could do just to research Batman. As for format, sure, I’d like to try doing the periodical style too.

NRAMA: What do you think is the most important aspect of telling a story when you’re both the writer and the artist of a project?

YN: I would’ve never been able to become a professional if all I had to rely on was the ability to write a complete script. What I do is start with visual images and try to think of art that’s interesting to look at. This is what usually controls the direction of the story. Or I’ll find that when I draw something, it’s like life blows into the character and gives me a better way to tell the story. So I quite frequently use that kind of inspiration to guide the progress of the story. Having an integrated storyline and visuals is my strong point.

NRAMA: Is there a point where you begin lose your reconciliation of the duality of the roles you play in the production of the material? Is it easier to do a project by yourself? Or does having only one pair of eyes hinder you from creating without the ability to be influenced by outside stimuli?

YN: With this project, I’m working the way I always do, so it’s been easy for me. As I said before, the story and images operate together for me, so it’s not a matter of choosing one over the other. As a matter of fact, I imagine that as a writer, it would be difficult to get your ideas across to an artist, even when you speak the same language. And as an artist, what if you draw something completely different from what the author intended? And then who knows if your get-together meetings (to get on the “same page”) would go well or not. It just seems like working with somebody else would be a pain to me. At first, I had a little trouble working on the project because I lacked an outside stimulus to spur me on, but talking with an author friend and an editor let me see things from another point of view.

NRAMA: How did this Death Mask come about?

YN: When I was first asked to do Batman, a strong image came to mind, that of Batman and an oni having the same silhouette. So I expanded on that initial image to create the story.

NRAMA: Will there be a great deal of exposition on Bruce Wayne’s time spent training abroad before he became Batman?

YN: My image of Batman was that his dark past made him addicted to fighting, so I thought I’d try looking at this from a different angle; but that being said, the scenes set in the past are only one part of the story. Also, just on a personal level, I wanted to try drawing Bruce when he was younger.

NRAMA: When you sit down to work on a project that you’re writing and drawing—how do you develop a project—can you explain your methodology?

YN: Well, for this project, the total page count and number of volumes were already decided, so it was mostly a matter of deciding on the flow of the entire story, and then dividing the story into “episodes”, making sure that each one had highlights and would keep the reader’s interest.

At first, I sent my editor at DC the basic plot, divided into four parts. Then I would actually start sketching, deciding on pages and panels as I went, filling in the details of the story, and putting a structure on it. Then I would scan all the data and send it off to the company. If there was a part that didn’t quite come across, they’d let me know and I would make an adjustment. The next step was penciling, during which time I made even more tweaks to make the story easier to read. Once my pencils got the green light, I started to ink. Finally, I scanned/sent the completed manuscript pages. That’s it in a nutshell.

NRAMA: How is working with a property like Batman different from Togari or Metal Gear Solid?

YN: Well, I didn’t have anything to do with the story of Metal Gear. It’s just that my very first completed work for Konami was the polygon model of Snake (the main character), which was used on the cover of American magazines. But I do feel like there’s some connection between that and being able to work for DC Comics now.

As for the difference between working on Togari and Batman, of course there’s the obvious, i.e. creating a main character whole cloth versus using a pre-existing character. But what made it surprisingly smooth to work with Batman was the commonality both characters share, which is that they’ve both grown by overcoming their pasts.

Another difference, though, is that with magazine serialization in Japan, a new episode is produced for every issue, reader opinions are taken into consideration, and the story proceeds with no ending decided on. With this Batman mini-series, I knew the beginning, middle and end of the story before I started working on it.

Batman: Death Mask will be presented in four 48 page volumes, beginning in April..

[Binker]

Yeah, Batman is turning Japanese. There's the Death Mask manga and the Gotham Knight anime.

Hmm, FIRST!!!

[trachmanred]

[Cartoon Jay]

I don't like the art... it's too "Americanized"... the layouts, the camera angles... it's stiff and bland, none of the energy and dynamism manga usually has. I'd love to see Ryoichi Ikegami or someone similar take on Batman. Kia Asamiya's Batman was pretty good. This just looks dull, like a weak compromise between the two styles.

[Groovie Mann]

i like the art. i'll try it out.

[astronato]

Looks good to me. I'll be getting it.

[aylwinatrix]

Count me out. Natsume seems like a swell fella in this interview and I wish him and DC the best on this project, but the art just doesn't appeal to me.

[batmansgirl]

Hear that? That's the sound of hundreds of manga fangirls who also love to read comic books squeeing because of this *awesome* news. Thank you, DC!

[brannahdel]

The art is definitively Japanese. If you are used to seeing manga only as the art like BGZ or the art from Ranma or Naruto, etc, then you are missing on the rich history that Manga really has. Look up titles like Crying Freeman and Fist of the North Star to see other artists working in manga.

[Zenstrive]

his work is better than when he was at Togari...that one gives me the creep.

[korubin]

AWESOME! Can't wait to see this. I was just talking about this earlier. I hope they don't flip the panel style and keep it right-to-left. Sad part is it probably won't sell well. Too many American fans will ignore it because the style isn't "Western" enough and the story will be too complex with plot and sub-plot and theme and characterization--y'know, actual storytelling and not just about super-gigantic, world-changing (but it'll be undone in four years anyway) crossovers.

[ahaman85]

Originally Posted by Cartoon Jay

I don't like the art... it's too "Americanized"... the layouts, the camera angles... it's stiff and bland, none of the energy and dynamism manga usually has. I'd love to see Ryoichi Ikegami or someone similar take on Batman. Kia Asamiya's Batman was pretty good. This just looks dull, like a weak compromise between the two styles.

I disagree with your assessment of the art. It actually looks morel like manga from the late sixties/early seventies. I don't think it is Americanized because you could easily find the same art detail in a book from that period.

Looks good to me.

[Cartoon Jay]

Maybe the rest of this book will be better, but here I'm really seeing a Japanese artist pulling too much from American style comics. The panel layout is all 90 degree angles and dosen't follow the flow of action, the tone work is unsophisticated, the shadows are angular and overused with no hatching to suggest texture...

I could go on, but just compare this to Ikegami-san's action pages in Sanctuary, Mai and especially Crying Freeman. His pages are kinetic and intense.. dense line work that really carries the force of action at the reader, panel shapes and layouts that proel your eye through the story.

Or look at Takehiko Inoue's work in Vagabond, Buichi Terasaw's Space Adventure Cobra or Takao Saito's Golgo 13... this pales by comparison.

[dcloud]

would have to agree its not a topnotch art. its better than countdown though. heheh

[samnoir]

YN: The history of the city of Gotham and its insane criminal population (in “The Age of the Batman”) is already well documented and has a very tight continuity. Rather than try to squeeze a story in there, I thought I’d try telling about a “lost episode” that happened before Bruce Wayne became the Batman.

What is “The Age of the Batman”?

___________________________________

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[belgarion19]

Batman's turning Japanese, I think he's turning Japanese, I really think so!

[beta-ray]

Doesn't "turning Japanese" have a certain... meaning?

Anyways, would love to see Bats go up against Snake.

[Dagman]

Originally Posted by belgarion19

Batman's turning Japanese, I think he's turning Japanese, I really think so!

No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women, no fun, no sin, no you no wonder he's dark.

Everyone around him is a total stranger, everyone avoids him like a psycho ranger. Everyone.

[greeneclipse]

Originally Posted by beta-ray

Doesn't "turning Japanese" have a certain... meaning?

Depends on who you ask. If you ask the Vapors, the answer will be a steadfast no.

As for the manga, if it's half as good as Child of Dreams (best Batman story I've read this decade), we're in for a treat.

[skl183]

What - Did they brainwash Bruce Wayne switch his mind with the current Hand Jonin's lover and in turn make him a Japanese woman?