Newsarama recently interviewed Batman writer and current architect, Scott Snyder, on the many new developments in last week’s Batman #28.
Last week, Scott Snyder, the current architect of the Batman universe of comics, took a break from his current arc, Zero Year, a
For those of who have not yet picked up the book, it’s probably a good idea for you turn away as the interview is, as you would expect, full of spoilers. So here’s the warning, SPOILERS AHEAD!
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If you stuck around to this point, that means that you’ve read the book and are interested to see what Snyder had to say about Bluebird and his new team of female companions. Though I was not particularly fond of him getting a brand-new sidekick, I suppose it was to be expected. Harper Row was being groomed for something and it wouldn’t be very tasteful to name a new Robin when Damian is still fresh in people’s hearts and minds. Being possibly the biggest and most eye-popping, heart-stopping developments, Newsarama made sure that it was in fact on their list:
Newsarama: While the Batcave girl is a mystery, you’ve revealed what’s going to happen with Harper Row. As you were coming up with her character, did you know her eventual path? Or was this something that evolved?
Snyder: It definitely evolved. One of the things I wanted to do when I created her was not to have a set point in mind, in terms of her eventual costume and status. Part of me thought it might be fun to keep her entirely out of costume, and part of me wondered if maybe there was room for her to be Robin, and part of me wondered if we’d do something brand new with her.
And really, it became about feeling it out as it went, and trying to put the emphasis on her and her brother Cullen, as real and viable and, hopefully, exciting characters to readers, before anything else.
What she is for me is, she’s someone who lives and struggles in Gotham, and serves as a tribute to the type of characters you see in Gotham Central and a lot of the animated series — the people on the street, that we can forget about when we get all wrapped in the giant figures that we know from Gotham.
So that was the most important to me, to make sure she was a character, and her brother was a character, that people responded to. And then to figure out her status after.
N: Where did the name Bluebird come from?
S: Actually, nobody has really said this yet, so it’s a spoiler… but there’s actually a piece that says “Bluebird” and one that says “Lark” in the Detective [Comics] #27 short that I did with Sean Murphy.
And one of the hopes, eventually, is… for me, I think Batman should always have a Robin, eventually. Robin is such an iconic figure that you know he will.
But one of the things I love, reading Pete Tomasi and Pat Gleason’s book, and other books, is seeing him team up with other… birds, basically. [Laughs.]
You know, seeing him team up with Red Robin or with Nightwing. There are different colors as well. I wanted to think about, with some of the stuff that’s going to happen, trying to create figures that would be fun to see Batman next to, that didn’t necessarily have the baggage of a Robin, and didn’t have the weight of that mantle on them at the same time.
So for me, creating a character like Bluebird, and the implications there — it has a lot to do with the mystery of who her mother is, and all of this stuff that we’ve been playing with — was to try to give Batman a sidekick that was very different from anything you’ve seen before.
One of the reasons I think she’s so different is that she doesn’t want to know who he is under the mask, ever. She shows up when she knows he needs her, because of the police scanner. She teams up with him. And whenever he tries to let her in at all — to a cave, to anywhere that’s close to him, she doesn’t want any part of it, because she thinks that people really let each other down.
So ultimately, she’s a really interesting character to write by his side, because she’s just an ally in costume.
Overall, it seems like a fantastic and well-thought out dynamic that will bring about some very interesting developments. It’s clear that Harper was very much a fan of Batman and while some people would simply froth at the mouth to meet their heroes and discover every detail of their lives, some are simply too scared of disappointment. So rather than shatter this strong and seemingly invulnerable image she has in her mind with a normal man, she chooses to stay away. Not to mention, Batman may start having some trust issues.
And on the Dark Knight’s new band of female fighters, Snyder seems somewhat interested in a feminist agenda, which may be highly fallacious and could be reading too much into it. Just a thought, but ever the savvy and articulate individual, it was skirted from that political agenda into something that simply makes sense in terms of plot. Again, I could be still reading too much into it as Snyder could have simply did what he thought worked best for the story.
Newsrama: After reading the issue, someone asked me to, what’s the first reaction you have to it? And I said, “Girl power!” There are all these women on his team! Was that intentional? What was the thinking behind it?
Snyder: Yeah, absolutely, it was intentional.
Batman has had some incredibly strong female characters in Gotham. And he still has allies and villains that are some of the best female characters in comics, from Batgirl to Poison Ivy and beyond.
But one of the things we thought was, with the Robins in new roles and Damian gone, it’s time to start thinking about — for Batman’s 75th anniversary — new characters that we could bring in, or old, familiar characters that we could bring back in new ways.
It would be a new generation of allies for him.
That doesn’t mean in any way that our plans for the older generation and the established allies and family are any less bombastic or important this year, for the 75th. But it’s also a celebration of all things Bat, and that means giving Batman some new people in his life. So we wanted to start in a way that made it clear that we’re interested in doing some new things.
And really, this issue is just the top of the iceberg — both in terms of the characters that are going to be introduced, and the characters that you know and love who are going to get new statuses.
Overall, an interesting concept. The Batfamily is well-established and all busy with their own adventures. At the same time, some situations seem a little too overwhelming for just 6 individuals, even if they’re all extraordinary. I mean, I have to admit that I was slightly skeptical about the Batfamily somehow containing the Night of the Owls. Extending the family seems like the logical solution. Well, the immediate family. It’s probably easier to do that than somehow acknowledge the events of Batman Incorporated.
Whether I agree with the direction that Snyder is going in or not, the dude always knows how to back them up. His choices are very purposeful and are always within reason. I trust the guy, for the most part.
You can read the rest of the interview at Newsarama, where they focus on other new developments of Batman #28, as well as Batman Eternal.
Source – Newsarama