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Backstage - Interviews - Landry Walker
The following interview was previously run on
The World's Finest
news page.
Landry Walker Discusses
Writing For The "Batman: The Brave And The Bold" Comic
Series
The World's Finest talks to writer Landry Walker about
working on the hit Batman: The Brave and The Bold
comic series, published by DC Comics, in this new
exclusive interview.
The World’s Finest recently
sat down with Landry Walker, one of the writers for the
acclaimed Batman: The Brave and The Bold comic
series, to discuss working on the title spun-out from
the current fan-favorite animated series. Batman: The
Brave and The Bold #12, Walker’s latest issue of the
comic title, hits shelves this Wednesday, December 16th,
2009. Scroll down to read the latest “Q & A” from The
World’s Finest.
 The World’s
Finest: To kick things off, care to give us a quick
rundown of yourself and your works for those who may not
be familiar?
Landry Walker: I've been
working in the comics field for the majority of two
decades, typically with artist Eric Jones. I'm best
known for writing the recent all-ages mini-series
Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade.
Previous to that, I co-wrote the Tron: Ghost in
theMachine series, wrote for Disney Adventures
Magazine for a number of years, co-created the comic
Little Gloomy, the comic Kid Gravity, and
so on.
WF: Now, to get right into it, what
attracted you to the Batman: The Brave and The
Bold comic series?
LW: I've been a
Batman fan since I could walk. I grew up on reruns of
the 60's Adam West version. As I got older, while all my
friends were gravitating towards the "darker" edge with
comics, I was buying up comics at flea markets and
discovering the 1950's work.
So while Eric and I
were involved on our Supergirl book, we began
looking for what we might like to do next. Batman, as
envisioned in a 1950's/60's way was the obvious choice
for us both, so we began putting together a pitch. This
was just before SDCC 2008. When we got down to said
convention, we saw ads for the show, and immediately
dropped the concept. Minus the team-up aspect, it was
almost identical to what we were planning.
Several months later, Michael Siglain approached Eric
and I about working on the title.
WF: Do you
watch the series the comic is based upon? Have you
watched any of the previous animated interpretations of
the Dark Knight and his DC cohorts?
LW: Eric and I both have watched the series
closely since the premiere. I'm a big fan of the DC
based cartoons. That said, I enjoyed the cartoon more
when I wasn't writing the book. When you start working
on something, you have to look at it from a different,
less fun angle. You can imagine how Eric and I felt
when, just after he finished drawing our Catman story,
the episode with Catman aired. It was unfortunate for
our long range plans that Catman was used in such a
throw away manner on the show. We had big, big plans for
him that are most certainly scrapped now.
As
previously mentioned, I'm a huge fan of DC cartoons. I
was always a DC kid. Marvel was never quite for me. So
yeah... I watch all the shows.
WF: Do you have
any favorite moments from the animated series in
particular?
LW: Favorite moments...
Any appearance of Ted Kord will win me over. Same with
the Question. In the 70's, my grandmother took me to a
thrift store and bought me a bunch of comics. It was a
huge run of old Ditko Charlton stuff. It's still weird
for me to see the characters integrated into the DCU.
Weird, but fun.
I like the Gibble people. I like
the performance and scripting of the modern Blue Beetle.
I enjoyed when Batman took the characteristics of the
other heroes while fighting Exquinox, it was reminiscent
of my favorite Robin moment from the Superfriends
where something similar transpired. I don't like that
Robin is older and rebellious. I'd rather see him in his
historic role. But that's a deep seated personal
preference I simply can't shake.
WF: Is there
anything from the show you'd like to see put into the
comic (or perhaps vice-versa)?
LW: I
don't think much in terms of what I would like to bring
from the show to the comic, and certainly not
vice-versa. They're two different creatures. My main
goal with the comic is to capture the essence of the
cartoon, without directly emulating it. You can't
emulate it directly. The mediums are so different... as
an example, I've been putting a heavier emphasis on
Batman's internal voice. he doesn't really use it that
much in the show. But it's a memorable aspect that many
people take particular note of. So I play it up past the
point of how it might appear in the show to evoke the
feel of the show. If that makes sense.
That said,
Eric and I made a decision early on that there had to be
a significant break between the opening story and the
main story. Hence our specific title page. When the two
"chapters" blur together, it feels less like the show to
me. There has to be a break there.
 WF:
You’ve also done work on other well-known kid-oriented
fare, like Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eight
Grade and The Incredible: City of
Incredibles? Given this day and age of very
adult-focused comics, is it difficult to write a comic
that has to remain accessible for all-ages?
LW: Writing? It's not difficult at all. However,
the work is a much harder sell to the modern comics
audience. Anything out of continuity isn't "real"
according to many people I have spoken with. Anything
marketed as "all-ages" is automatically dismissed as
"kiddie". I hate that word. It's an insult to our work.
WF: Are you the new regular writer for the
Batman: The Brave and The Bold series, or will
you be trading off with J. Torres and other writers in
the future?
LW: That's a question only
our editor could answer. Currently, we're not doing
every issue. It's better for Eric to have a little
buffer time between issues, as he's working alot of
detail into the book. We're also working on a couple of
other things...
WF: Returning to the
Batman: The Brave and The Bold comic, care to
drop any teasers about your upcoming issues?
LW:Teasers... Well, I should point out that there
has been more than one reference made to our
Supergirl series. That may or may not be a
coincidence. Our editor is a fan of holiday issues. He
thinks they're a lot of fun. He also likes to torture me
into coming up with seasonal storylines. So... let's
see. We have the complete destruction of Earth. We have
Batman plummeting into the heart of a black hole. We
have an Easter story that may have something to do with
eggs. We have our Valentine's day issue... that's
probably the darkest issue to date. Things go very wrong
for Batman on Valentine's day. And not in a cute
lovey-dovey manner.
The show has a really nice
balance of fun and serious. Of cute and macabre. So some
issues will be relatively light. Others will be very
dark. That's basically what is coming up.
WF:
As we wrap this up, care to let us in on future projects
you have coming down the pipe-line? Where will we be
seeing your name next?
LW: Well, I'm
co-writing the ongoing The Incredibles series
with Mark Waid for Boom! Studios. That's been a lot of
fun. Very different from Batman. I'm hoping to branch
into a bit more Disney related works. Disney publishing
and I go way back, and so I jump at any opportunity to
work with them. Eric and I are working on a very
adult-oriented super hero series... it's really more
crime fiction. Hard to describe at this point.
Our earlier, creator owned all-ages work, Little
Gloomy, is being animated for TV right now, in
conjunction with 1492 Pictures. I recently got news on
the voice talent. Very exciting. That's all I can really
say about that.
Otherwise, we'll be at many
conventions. People should look for us at them and bring
us pop-tarts. Eric provides sketches. I provide...
well... nothing. But come and find us anyway.
The
World's Finest would like to thank Landry Walker for
both participating in this Q & A and providing the photo
featured above. The cover art for Batman: The Brave
and The Bold #12 is also featured above.
Batman: The Brave and The Bold #12, written by
Landry Walker with art by Eric Jones, hits shelves
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009. Additionally, a trade
collection of Walker’s recent Supergirl: Cosmic
Adventures in the Eight Grademini-series is
scheduled to hit shelves a week later, on Wednesday, December
23rd, 2009.
[ Back to Backstage ]
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