Grant Morrison did an interview with the Geoff Boucher over at Hero Complex and talked about various Batman related projects, including BATMAN, INC.
After time travels and dark challenges, Bruce Wayne is back in Gotham City and writer Grant Morrison has big plans for the hero. I interviewed Morrison about "Batman, Inc.," a new series that launches in October and will present the "franchising" of the caped crusader -- essentially the dark knight of Gotham City drafts, trains and commands a team of heroes who will wear their leader's colors. "It's all about branding," says Morrison. The team will include Dick Grayson, Knight and Squire, El Gaucho and eight others. Their leader, meanwhile, gets that little yellow circle back on his costume. Read all about it below and check out the exclusive art after the jump . -- Geoff Boucher
Here are some highlights from the interview regarding BATMAN INC.:
Sane or not, Batman is not a guy that plays well with others, at least not all the time. That makes it intriguing to hear that you have plans for the Bruce Wayne to "franchise" Batman and enlist others to wear the costume.
" Oh yeah, I mean, 10 of the team-ups will be like that. A lot of the experiences that he's been through now, the way I want to play it is that they have changed his focus and his view of what his mission is and what he can accomplish. He starts to bring in more people. The first 12 issues of the book will be team-ups with Batman and different characters as he traveling the world and kind of training people. [SPOILER ALERT: THE REST OF THIS ANSWER REVEALS SOME LONG-VIEW STORY ARC] And at the end we found out what that's all about; it's not just habit or routine. He actually has a big agenda. That leads into where I'm taking this. At the end of the "first season" I want to wind up with a really enormous Batman story. Everything is building up to that kind of climatic arc."
For the characters around Batman, I imagine there's some tension. To wear a Batman costume and join his team, you have to submerge yourself, correct?
"10 of the team-ups will be like that. The second team-up is Batman with El Gaucho, the Argentinian hero. So here's these super macho guys, these alpha males, and the Gaucho isn't sure he wants to wear that bat symbol, He doesn't always agree with Batman but he does agree with his principles and ideals. He agrees with the mission but not the branding. That's what it's all about: Branding."
You can read the entire interview by heading over to
Hero Complex.
What do you think after reading the highlights from Morrrison's interview? AS with anything Morrison, I reserve judgment until I read a few issues. Will it be ALL STAR SUPERMAN or FINAL CRISIS? We'll have to wait and see. Let's hope it's more ALL STAR SUPERMAN.
