DAN DIDIO ON BATMAN: R.I.P.

[MattBrady]

(at right, page one from Batman #676)

In May, Grant Morrison will pull all his dangling Batman storylines together in “Batman R.I.P.,” a storyline which is promising to break the Bat in ways that are far from physical, and, in the end, be a story whose title is, in fact, literal.

We spoke with DC Universe Executive Editor Dan DiDio for a broad look at Morrison and Batman and the upcoming storyline.

Newsarama: Dan, let’s start off with a broad view of Grant Morrison and Batman. While he has handled the character in the past, with Arkham Asylum and Batman: Gothic among others, the announcement of his run on the main series still came as something of a surprise, much like the fact that over a year and a half later, he’s still around, and shows no signs of quitting. What’s the connection for him with Batman, in your view?

Dan DiDio: Grant has such a clear interpretation of Batman in his mind – how he acts and behaves in his world such that his run to date and the upcoming “Batman R.I.P.” are stories that are truly unique to Grant, and something that only Grant can tell. This is something that goes back and touches upon something that he established back in the early stages of 52, when Batman goes missing, and Bruce Wayne goes on his journey of discovery and ends up in Nanda Parbat. He locked himself in isolation and came out a changed man – a person much more in tune with himself, and much more aware of who he is and what he’s about. It was a changed Batman that came out of 52, and it’s clearly a changed Batman that we’ve been seeing from that “One Year Later” jump.

In Grant’s full exploration of the character, what I think you’ve seen is a darkening of the world around Batman as Batman is coming to a better understanding of his own self being. And then, as only Grant can do, he’s going to introduce a better-adjusted Batman, and then that’s going to be ripped away in “R.I.P.” Once again, what readers thought about who Batman is will start to change.

NRAMA: You mention it here, and Grant did too when we spoke with him, that this storyline is something that Grant has been building to for a long time, even dating back to 52. Going back to the start of putting Grant on Batman on the first place – was this your plan for him to be around this long, to be able to implement a long-term plan such as this?

DD: With both Grant and [current Detective Comics writer] Paul Dini, I was hoping for a one-year commitment on the character. We’ve got longer stays from both of them, and I think that everyone benefits from it. I think what happened with Grant was that as he started to write the character, he explored so many facets of it, and each one was more interesting than the last. One of my personal favorites was the “Batmen Around the World” mystery where we saw all of those characters along with Batman and Robin. You don’t realize how strong or how deep Grant's love for the lore of the character really is. If I’m not mistaken, this was Grant’s first chance to really write Batman as a solo character for an extended period of time, and he found that he had a lot of Batman stories to tell.

The best part of it is that we don’t see him coming off the character for the foreseeable future. He’s here to stay because he’s enjoying it so much.

NRAMA: At the same time, he has a reputation for pulling all of the pieces away from a character. More than a few people are starting to equate his Batman run with his Animal Man run in the way that, “What you think you knew may not be what you thought you knew” way…

DD: And that’s the fun part of the marriage between Grant and Batman. If any character can stand the intense heat lamp of a deep psychological examination, it’s Batman. His motivation, his drive, his perseverance – everything that he’s about comes from who he was and how he was born. Grant’s been able to explore the depth of the character on emotional, psychological and physical levels, and has been able to push the character to his extremes on every aspect. He’s brought him to the edge of death in the Ra’s al Ghul story, he’s brought him confront himself in his time in 52, we’ve seen his affect on the world with the “Batmen Around the World,” we’ve seen a very personal story of Batman’s effects on Gotham, and a possible extension of the Batman into the future with the “son” of Batman appearing, not to mention how that changes his current family situation. So Grant’s really been turning Batman over and over to see the various aspects of the character, and is continually finding new twists on each facet he finds.

NRAMA: When did you first hear of Grant’s plans as they would be in “Batman: R.I.P.,” and what were your initial thoughts when it was made clear that the title itself may be more than just an attention-grabber?

DD: Grant threw the title at me, and of course, your first reaction after hearing something like that is, “Ho-kay…where’s this going?” The funny thing about the story though is not about where it’s going, but about where it starts, which is kind of interesting. That’s what I really liked about what he was presenting with “R.I.P.” Actually, there are so many interesting things that have been brought together in his Batman’s run – the return of Ra’s al GHul, the introduction of Damien, and even the prose presentation of the Joker – it’s all been pushing what our expectations of the character have been.

For me, I get to enjoy it just as much as a fan does, and with all of Grant’s Batman stuff, as you hear it, you want to know more, you want to hear where it’s going because you’re watching the story unfold as he explains it. The “R.I.P.” conclusion, and I think I’m not talking out of turn here, it’s really the culmination of his run on Batman to date, and brings to a close so many key aspects of what people’s perception of Batman is today, and it’s a point that will naturally have people wondering what’s coming next. The best part of that, of course, is that Grant’s an integral part of what’s coming in Batman afterwards.

[laughs] And I’ve got to say, this all is tough for me, because I don’t want to give any of this away, but I think in this case, no one really wants it to be given away. Besides, however I could explain it will never do justice to the story as it’s going to play out in the series itself.

NRAMA: Well, let’s touch upon something that you can talk about here – the covers of the series. Alex Ross makes his debut as cover artist on Batman with the first issue of “R.I.P.” Was that all timed out to coincide?

DD: In some ways, yes. Alex is so attached and so integral to how people perceive our characters currently, because his images are so iconic. When we worked out the agreement for Alex to do not only the covers to Batman but also to Superman, we wanted to make sure that when he stepped on board, he’d be doing so at places that were launching points for the series, because we knew it would draw additional attention to both series as well.

So, Alex coming on board on “R.I.P.,” and coming on board when James Robinson comes up to the table on Superman - it’s just icing on the cake for what’s shaping up to be two exciting periods of time for Superman and Batman.

NRAMA: Talk about the synergy between Alex and Grant on the covers – when we spoke with Grant, he mentioned that he had an idea for one of the covers, but that Alex just blew away what he had been thinking of…

DD: Well, remember that Grant loves to sketch things out everything that he’s discussing and talking about. He describes it to you, but he also gives you a sketch as well. The good thing is that Alex was part of the conference calls discussing the series, so Alex was in contact with Grant on several occasions and they talked it through. Again, everything that Grant crafts in Batman right now, every element in the book is integral to where he’s taking the character in the story.

NRAMA: Wrapping things up, even though we’re a month and a half from the first issue, what can you leave us with in terms of a tease?

DD: We open up in part one of “R.I.P.” (Batman #676) with a better-adjusted Bruce Wayne than we’ve seen in years, getting on with this life. Bruce is happy. The issue also contains two flash-forwards, one that reveals a coming confrontation with the Joker, and another that shows just where the Batman is going.

[Blackbeard]

Hmm. Very interesting.

I look forward to seeing where Morrison is going with this.

[Tekkamansol]

So dead Batman hmm I don't think so

[Cupelix]

I'm so confused by that cover to 678. I can't tell what I'm really looking at.

[caats19]

ooo it looks like dick as robin on that first page. i just love seeing that.

[durkadurka]

I'm looking forward to this, and seeing the ramifications it will have on the Bat-family as a whole.
Is Batman going to die? Probably not. Will he get f*cked up? I guess so.

[Will44]

Originally Posted by Cupelix

I'm so confused by that cover to 678. I can't tell what I'm really looking at.

It looks like Ray Palmer killing Batman to me.

[caats19]

grant is really botching him it seems. he freakin crucifies him in final crisis

[GLX]

Looking foward to it.

[SpaceButler]

I, like many other, was rather ambivalent about Morrison on Batman. It mostly felt rather disjointed. But I feel the book has turned around in the last couple of issues and everything that Grant has been seeding started falling into place. I can't wait for Batman: R.I.P.

[Greg Spira]

"You don’t realize how strong or how deep Batman’s love for the lore of the character really is."

Huh?

[Simon DelMonte]

I am also among those with mixed feelings about this series, but it really seems like Morrison has a strong and organized vision of what he is doing. I still don't know if I want it go where Grant is taking it, but the pluses have really started to outweigh the minuses.

[Happyhatter]

The Joker and Killer Croc are the only characters that I can see KILL Batman.

I love Mad Hatter, but those two rogues are the ones who deserve it the most to kill The Batman. The Joker because he's the only man in the world that understands The Bat. As for Killer Croc, he's my third favorite bat-rogue(Joker, Hatter, and Croc.). I always thought Croc was a better muscle character than Bane, once Bane came around and "broke the bat" everyone just looked at Croc as a regular goon. With a good writer he could be more of a threat than Bane. Croc is an urban legend brought to life. A murderous croc living in the sewers, he has so much in common with batman that I'd love to see a serious writer show what he's made of...

But I'm looking forward to "Batman R.I.P."

[hunterjax]

I've said this before, but I have been a huge fan of this run by Morrison since the beginning, including the Joker prose issue.

I simply cannot wait for RIP - it looks to be one of the best Batman stories in years.

I think a few years from now, Morrison's run on this title is going to go down as a classic and really be revered as the way to deconstruct a classic icon and re-build it, using all of the history that has gone before.

[O.J. Flow]

...loads of confidence in the creative team behind this story.
That being said, I can rarely, if ever, get excited for any tale that involves the death of a character I love.
Not to say it can't be done well, but they're just not the stories I'm interested in.

When I think of all the great Batman villains who have yet to be touched in this Morrison run...

[Scott Rogers]

For some reason, the cover of Batman #678 makes me think of Dr. Double X, the 50's Batman villain...

[Ace]

Ross and Morrison talking just seems weird to me.

Not as weird as Ross and Ellis talking, mind you.

[Kevinjt4]

Batman is the only DC title I buy. (Though I'm curious about the Sinestro War story line.)

[Fecal Yeti]

That penciled version looks great. But when it is inked and colored, it will look like ass.

[Sluggo]

I've been off and on Morrison's Batman, as well. The best story he's done was the "Batmen of the World" three-parter and that was because it was self-contained and controlled, though I do feel it ended rather unsatisfactorily.

I may give this story a chance, but I'm not a big fan of Tony Daniel's art, feeling that it lacks panache and a distinctive look. It would need to be accessible, though, as I haven't bought an issue since before the "Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul" story.

Personally, I'm really digging the creative synergy between Paul Dini and Dustin Nguyen (talk about panache and a distinctive look) on Detective. They may just be telling more the kind of Batman stories I want to read, which comes down to personal taste.

[ejulp]

FINALLY after years of standard iconic poses and solid, but boring layouts, Ross is finally doing some interesting things with color and composition. I hope he pushes his comfort limit more.

[Johnny Triangles]

Originally Posted by Fecal Yeti

That penciled version looks great. But when it is inked and colored, it will look like ass.

haha, so true. why is that?

[ejulp]

Originally Posted by Fecal Yeti

That penciled version looks great. But when it is inked and colored, it will look like ass.

I totally agree...I'll see the pencils and double check if its the same artist.

[Joe NB]

Has anyone stated that R.I.P., in this case, really means Rest In Peace? It could be Really Important Person. Or maybe Really Ignorant Prick...

[Xero]

How many times does it have to be explained to certain people that this is a figurative death? It's the "death" of Batman not Bruce Wayne.

Explanation #596