GMO BATMAN

SDCC '06: DC's THE BIG THREE PANEL
DC Comics held their Big Three panel Sunday at Comic-Con specifically focusing on their "Holy Trinity" of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
Later, look for LIVE! coverage of DC's last Comic-Con panel focusing on the Brave New World titles.

Hosted by Dan DiDio of course, panelists included editor Eddie Berganza, Geoff Johns, editor Matt Idelson, Kurt Busiek, Paul Dini, and Terry Dodson.

I'm sorry, we don't bring that topic up in mixed company," DiDio said when a fan yelled out, "Who won the softball game?"

"If it wasn't that our hitting, running, and batting sucked, we would've won," DiDio continued. "I think we need to go a year without softball."

DiDio began by commenting on how DC has been spending a lot of time and energy on the trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, noting that people know the characters even more than they know the company, and with that recognition factor, DiDio said, the three characters need to always be the best that they can be. As such, they have examined the characters and their relationship, and broke their relationship to be able to put it back together again.

Since we spent so much time breaking them, DiDio went on, “we didn't want to spend a lot of time rebuilding them”, so DC wanted to put the best teams they could find on the trinity, and then listed all the talent working on the trinity's books to the applause of the audience.

Moving on, the Executive Editor asked the panelists questions, starting with Idelson, and asking him how he plans to approach Superman and Wonder Woman. Idelson said it's not really re-inventing the wheel, but rather just telling good stories and making them entertaining and fun.
Johns then commented, saying that Idelson was open to everything that was suggested, noting a scene from "Up, Up, and Away" when Clark first jumped over a tall building in a single bound, only to hit an antenna at the top. "Matt liked that and pointed to it as an example - he really wants to make the book and character fun, bright, and exciting."

DiDio asked Johns and Busiek if they had any knowledge of Superman Returns given the similarities between it and “Up, Up, and Away, to which Busiek joked, "I heard he returns..."
More seriously, Busiek credited Johns' love of the first Superman movie for the incorporation of many elements that the two stories shared, from the crystals and the fortress at the end. "We were telling a story about a powerless Superman so alas, he would be 'returning' as well," Busiek said.

Switching gears to Batman, Grant Morrison [who joined the panel a little late] said that he wanted to bring more of the humanity back to the title during his run. "We all love Batman, but he got kind of uptight," Morrison joked.
"It's a much more intimate portrayal of Batman," Morrison continued. "I lot of people say that 'Bruce died' that night his parents were shot. No he didn't - he was standing right there, but his agenda changed...he saw this terrible thing happen, and then dedicated himself to making sure this never happened to anyone else."

"Batman never complains," Morrison said, talking about his dislike of stories that have Batman commenting on his physical pain. "If Batman's back is broken, nobody would know about it, except Alfred who has the Band-Aid."

Morrison also commented that he's bringing back the black sense of humor that hasn't been seen in a while, and mentioned that as he shows it, Batman will have bizarre jokes and thoughts going on in his head while he's fighting and going through his adventures. "Essentially, I'm writing myself," Morrison said with a chuckle.

Asked about steering Batman away from grim and gritty, Morrison said he feels that the "old style was played out," noting that it worked perfectly for a time, but people recognize that the lighter, more human Batman is the Batman for now. Morrison also said that he hasn't met any resistance to changing Batman from the grimmer version to his take on the character.

"Superman's vulnerable, his heart can be broken," Morrison said in regards to how writers approach Superman. "He can be misunderstood and hated - and that's far more destructive for him." Morrison pointed out how the movie showed this very well - how the exterior may be invulnerable, but the inside of Superman is still as fragile as anyone's.
Johns said that he would like to see Bizarro World in Superman, while Morrison said that he wanted to put the Ten-Eyes Man in Batman

"How do you put the Ten Eyed Man in a story," DiDio asked, "He's the stupidest..."

"Not when he's the Twenty-Eyes Man," Morrison interrupted.

Speaking of archetypes, Morrison said that he sees Batman as the Hades archetype, as a man who lives in a cave. "He's the modern version of that," the writer said. "There are these seven different archetypes, and we just recycle them through various versions."

Asked about Robin in Batman's life, Morrison said that he feels Batman learned a lot from Robin in his second year, when he the young boy joined him in his war on crime.
"But every now and then, he looks at him and thinks, 'carny,' Busiek joked, referring to Robin's circus history.

"The Joker gets shot in the face, point blank in the first issue," Morrison said, saying that a new Joker will appear in his fifth issue, and will fuel a new Batman-Joker dynamic.

"Batman still thinks he's the smartest man on the planet," Morrison replied with a smile when asked how the dynamic between Batman and Superman has changed due to the return of Superman's super-intelligence.