Nightwing writer Kyle Higgins recently spoke to Newsarama about his upcoming work in the digital-first Batman Beyond. In the interview, Higgins talks about how quickly he’s taking the known lore and changing it.
In Higgins’ first issue of Batman Beyond, several things have drastically changed. Terry and Dana aren’t together. And Bruce and Terry? Well, something big has happened there as well.
Higgins:[…] what I’m doing is bringing a little bit of a mystery back into the series, as far as what happened in the past.
In order to do that, I’m actually advancing time by a year. So Terry is in college when our first issue hits. And he and Dana are no longer together. And the dynamics between him and other characters are different.
There’s a question as to what happened during the time between the end of Adam’s run and the start of mine. And those are questions that are going to create the atmosphere for the book going forward, much in the way the animated series induced questions of what happened between Batman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond to create the atmosphere for the show.
For those worried that Higgins is needlessly changing things in Terry McGinnis’ life, he had some reassuring words for them.
Yeah, it [the opportunity] came from Alex Antone, who’s the editor on the Beyond series, both Justice League Beyond and Batman Beyond. He and I had talked at some point about characters we both liked, and I had told him that the animated universe was something I was very fond of. And a lot of my take on different characters in the DC Universe actually comes from their animated counterparts. And I told him that Batman Beyond in particular was something I loved. Return of the Joker might be my favorite Batman film that they’ve ever made.
So just in the course of conversation, Alex got a sense that I was a fan of the character.
So months later, he reached out and said that there were going to be some changes coming on the book. And he had been reading my Nightwing and thought I’d be a good fit for it. And would I be interested? And I said, “Of course!”
[…] I was pretty up-to-date on what was going on with the book. So that was the genesis of it.
I worked up a pitch on what I would do. And that part took me a little while, because I wanted to do something different. I wanted to try to do something that was kind of a shocking first issue. […] I’m not changing what has come before […]
Higgins also let it be known he’s sticking around for at least a few arcs.
I have a specific trajectory that I can’t actually talk about too much because I don’t want to give away the story. The first issue will make it more clear what we’re doing.
There is a plan, and the first arc is already written. I’m writing the second arc now, and we already have plans for a third and fourth arc.
It’s all big, world-building stuff.
It seems Higgins has some great things planned for this series, and considering his exciting work on the Nightwing series, especially the more recent issues, Terry seems to be in great hands. But what do you all think? Let us know with your comments below, like us on Facebook, and follow our Twitter @DKNewsCom!
Source –Newsarama