Hey guys,
The magnificent team at NEWSARAMA has nailed a fascinating interview with LEE BERMEJO (Joker GN) that highlights his latest project BATMAN: NOËL. I took the liberty of transcribing part of the whole interview done by Vanetta Rogers. A link at the end will take you to the whole interview:
NOTE: I posted the preview of BATMAN: NOËL that appeared on the back of some of DC’s issues this month. SEE THE PREVIEW HERE!
For many comic fans, it’s good to know there are more creative ideas coming out of DC Comics than just the much-hyped monthly “New 52.”
One of those creative ideas is Batman: Noël, a new graphic novel that has an outside-continuity story, yet features a compelling artistic style. Set to be released on November 2nd, the book was created by Lee Bermejo, the artist who won notoriety for his hauntingly detailed work on the Brian Azzarello-penned book Joker and his ground-breaking Superman stories in Wednesday Comics.
After the success of Joker, DC gave Bermejo the creative license to write and draw his own graphic novel — something rare for artists in the age of superstar writers.
What resulted was Batman: Noël a story that borrows its structure from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but gives the classic story the dark edge that’s inherent in anything set in Gotham City. The “ghosts” that Batman encounters on his journey (Catwoman, Superman and Joker) may echo those from the familiar Dickens tale, but Bermejo twists the story to fit the haunted world of Gotham.
When DC revealed a few previews for the book earlier this month, it was clear that Batman: Noël was a labor of love for Bermejo, with stunning artwork that is jaw-droppingly detailed.
Newsarama talked with Bermejo — and got an exclusive Batman: Noël page from DC. And as we talked to the writer artist, we found out the artist wanted to use a more childlike theme for Batman: Noël but his artistic approach is meant to give the book its markedly grown-up depth.
Newsarama: Lee, you’d mentioned in New York original idea for Batman: Noel came out of your desire to theme a graphic novel like a kids’ book. Why?
Lee Bermejo: I just wanted to do something different than what I’d been doing. I had just come off two villain books, and even before that, I did a book called Batman Deathblow. And all these projects were very dark and serious and kind of gritty. I just wanted to try something a bit different. To do something that thematically was different too.
Nrama: But looking at the pages, this clearly isn’t a kid’s book.
Bermejo: No, no. My wife makes fun of me when I mention kids, because she says, “If you think this Batman story is for kids, you clearly don’t know kids, and it’s pretty obvious we don’t have children.”
I don’t think it’s a children’sbook. But it has visual qualities and a narrative quality that mirrors that, purposefully so.
I think there’s also something very interesting about that juxtaposition. It’s hard to imagine Batman in a children’s book. I like contrast, and I like juxtaposing things like that.
When I was a kid, like four or five years old, I was obsessed with the Batman TV show in the ’60s. And I took it totally seriously. At that age, I took it completely seriously. I didn’t get the fact that it was kind of played for laughs. I didn’t understand why my mom was rolling her eyes or chuckling.
I think there’s something kind of interesting there — to play the book seriously, but kind of wink and nod sometimes.
Nrama: And this is a play on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. So is that where there’s a bit of a wink and a nod?
Bermejo: Sure. It’s not an adaptation; it follows its own story. It follows the structure of A Christmas Carol. And you have a narrator who’s telling you the story of A Christmas Carol and it’s open to interpretation, and he gets some parts of it wrong. But the actual story you’re following visually is its own thing.
It’s about a desperate father who has fallen on hard times, and he gets a job working for the Joker. And he quickly realizes that that’s not for him.
But Batman actually ends up using him as bait to catch the Joker. That’s how the story begins.
Nrama: Are there actually three ghosts?
Bermejo: No, none of these characters are playing the actual Dickens characters.
But you’ll see characters in the story who are analogous to the ghosts. There are characters who fit in with the roles that those ghosts play in Dickens. The “Ghost of Christmas Past” is a sequence with Catwoman. The “Ghost of Christmas Present” is a sequence with Superman, and the “Ghost of Christmas Future” is Joker.
The roles these characters play at that moment in the story help serve the same purpose that the ghosts serve in A Christmas Carol.
Nrama: Does it take place at any certain point in continuity? Like between two certain issues?
Bermejo: It doesn’t necessarily fit into any particular continuity. It’s hopefully something that any reader can pick up without having to know a ton about Batman.
I think the neat thing about these characters now is that everyone knows who Batman is. They’re familiar with the fact that he’s Bruce Wayne, and that the Joker is his arch-nemesis. They even know about Robin.
So this is a story that even someone who doesn’t know anymore than that about Batman can pick up and understand and enjoy.
For the rest of the interview, please VISIT THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE!
