Daaaaaaaamn chip! Batsy has definitely let himself go off the reservation right now.
What he did to Jason, that was brutal. Hard to watch. It’s breaking my heart to see Bruce become more and more like Zur (fascist Batman as I’m now referring him to) and the fallout from this is going to be veer harder to watch tbh. I mean, when Mindbomb drops, pun intended, I dread to see where Bruce will be at mentally when he faces joker next.
Speaking of the clown prince of crime, aside from the odd vision here and there, this will be ur first time with him in the main series. I’m very interested to see if, from the last time we saw him in joker war, if he’s gone through any of his own changes like Bruce has been lately (aside from the obvious).
Soooo....did Vandal and his daughter set Selina up to basically be a recruiter for them for henchmen, or did they co-opt her scheme for their own purposes? Cause it seems like Scandal was pulling Selina by her tale all this time. Which makes me wonder why Savage, the dad, wants from taking over his old buddy ra’s old enterprise for himself?
I don’t know what I was originally expecting from Gotham War, but it wasn’t this. Which makes it all the more enjoyable for me!
Also, not sure u heard the news, but it seems like Marco, ur old buddy, has decided to get a jump on the spider-man scene, and will be working with John Hickman on the new Ultimate Spider-Man series. And here I thought you two were an item. Where’s the loyalty huh?
And YES! I was one of the first to know about Ultimate Spidey and Marco! It's gonna be really incredible. I've had some sneak peeks and he's just getting better and better.
Honestly from the moment Savage showed up, I had no idea what the hell to expect. He was the wild card thrown in that I did not expect...though his scheme about the rocks, didn’t tomasi do a similar story for Superman during the last days of the new 52? Savage dawn I think it was called.
Sweeeeeet! I’m very excited to see what they bring to the table. And with Hickman shepherding everything for the new Ultiverse, I’m beyond excited for everything. Only question is if this spidey will be Peter or someone new? I’m personally hoping for Ultimate Peter. I missed reading him.
When you say you've received the final PDF, does that look any different than the final digital copy we who pay on Comixology/Amazon get? I'm immensely curious.
Most writers find clever, riveting ways to try to “break” the Bat hero, usually through some great external catastrophe from “death” to broken backs to memory loss to a beloved father figure being killed and finally a massive fortune vanishing. But I’m really loving that this break is profoundly at odds with who Batman is. He’s breaking himself, his reputed planning is his undoing, his careful orchestrations all coming apart. (I see shades of this with Newburn and DD.) This has been such a ride.
Oct 3, 2023·edited Oct 3, 2023Liked by Chip Zdarsky
Those interviews were terrific, if not slightly sad (Realistically speaking); but I think you have many more years to go as a writer & artist Chip.
I mean, you have to work with Marco again (Pretty please?)
Just saying: I’d buy a book of your writing & editing tips, even if they all point to Jim Zub.
Thank you for your comics (especially the one with the beautiful, depressed Catholic hunk*, the Eisner-winning one about the comics industry, and that Sexy one that just turned X.)
Have a great week, Chip.
*Annnd this is now my permanent description of Matt Murdock.
That interview with Konrad got pretty depressing near the end there. Between that and watching Dark Side of the Ring, I've learned I enjoy things that beat the life out of the people making it.
...so thanks for getting the life beaten out of you for the sake of Batman.
On the bright side, Collateral is an awesome movie. Hands down, one of my top 10. Convinced me I should go to film school, when it came out, instead of something lucrative and boring...so it's not all good. 😅
This run has been great inspiration for my own writing, seeing Bruce turn into a more unhinged version of himself has been great for crafting a villain I'm really proud of. Thank you for creating such an exciting Batman run.
What happened to Jason might be my favourite "Bruce has gone too far" moment in Batman comics in the past two decades. Introducing Zur has been great for storytelling and I can't wait to see the chaos he will unleash in Mindbomb.
It's great seeing characters like Vandal Savage thrown into the mix in Gotham War, this is turning into a Batman story for the ages!
Did you see Marco is doing Ultimate Spider-Man with Hickman? It's a great time to be a comics fan.
Thanks! Yeah, the ZURIFICATION of Batman has been a lot of fun to write. I'm happy that each issue feels big and wild and fun (most of that is down to the great artists).
And yes! Marco on Ultimate Spidey is (chef's kiss)
The ZURIFICATION of Batman brought the main book back onto my pull list. You can tell this is a story everyone involved is genuinely excited to tell.
It's cool to see how much credit you give your artists, as I've found they really make or break the final product. I've had so many script pages I've been worried about, only to have Qntmc turn out something absolutely exceptional.
Marco on Ultimate Spider-Man is literally perfect. The guy draws Spidey so well, I've got some scans of his appearances in Daredevil framed. I can't wait to see what he and Hickman come up with.
yeah, at the end of the day they're responsible for the entire flow of the story. the entire tone is carried on the back of the artist. they're the most underappreciated aspect of what makes comics
From the panel shown I take it that Batguy fights the Condiment King.
to the DEATH
Daaaaaaaamn chip! Batsy has definitely let himself go off the reservation right now.
What he did to Jason, that was brutal. Hard to watch. It’s breaking my heart to see Bruce become more and more like Zur (fascist Batman as I’m now referring him to) and the fallout from this is going to be veer harder to watch tbh. I mean, when Mindbomb drops, pun intended, I dread to see where Bruce will be at mentally when he faces joker next.
Speaking of the clown prince of crime, aside from the odd vision here and there, this will be ur first time with him in the main series. I’m very interested to see if, from the last time we saw him in joker war, if he’s gone through any of his own changes like Bruce has been lately (aside from the obvious).
Soooo....did Vandal and his daughter set Selina up to basically be a recruiter for them for henchmen, or did they co-opt her scheme for their own purposes? Cause it seems like Scandal was pulling Selina by her tale all this time. Which makes me wonder why Savage, the dad, wants from taking over his old buddy ra’s old enterprise for himself?
I don’t know what I was originally expecting from Gotham War, but it wasn’t this. Which makes it all the more enjoyable for me!
Also, not sure u heard the news, but it seems like Marco, ur old buddy, has decided to get a jump on the spider-man scene, and will be working with John Hickman on the new Ultimate Spider-Man series. And here I thought you two were an item. Where’s the loyalty huh?
Anywho, keep up the good work chip!
Ha! Glad we've been able to surprise you!
And YES! I was one of the first to know about Ultimate Spidey and Marco! It's gonna be really incredible. I've had some sneak peeks and he's just getting better and better.
Honestly from the moment Savage showed up, I had no idea what the hell to expect. He was the wild card thrown in that I did not expect...though his scheme about the rocks, didn’t tomasi do a similar story for Superman during the last days of the new 52? Savage dawn I think it was called.
Sweeeeeet! I’m very excited to see what they bring to the table. And with Hickman shepherding everything for the new Ultiverse, I’m beyond excited for everything. Only question is if this spidey will be Peter or someone new? I’m personally hoping for Ultimate Peter. I missed reading him.
Thanks for sharing the show, I meant to post earlier but I was in Italy! One of our highest commented episodes yet (in a good way!).
Ah! Nice! Was a fun one to record, so thanks for having me!
dear chip,
this is great! i hope you someday win Eisner for Best Writer of a Substack Newsletter if james tynion stops writing his!
love,
myq
look, I know exactly where I stand with writing and my newsletter is better than James'! It's my comics that aren't as good!!!
OK, I have a question, Mr. Batman.
When you say you've received the final PDF, does that look any different than the final digital copy we who pay on Comixology/Amazon get? I'm immensely curious.
It's the version that's heading to the printer, so there are visible guide marks on it for trim, bleed and live area
Other than that it's probably identical once it's converted back to RGB from CMYK!
Most writers find clever, riveting ways to try to “break” the Bat hero, usually through some great external catastrophe from “death” to broken backs to memory loss to a beloved father figure being killed and finally a massive fortune vanishing. But I’m really loving that this break is profoundly at odds with who Batman is. He’s breaking himself, his reputed planning is his undoing, his careful orchestrations all coming apart. (I see shades of this with Newburn and DD.) This has been such a ride.
luv 2 break the bad boyz
Those interviews were terrific, if not slightly sad (Realistically speaking); but I think you have many more years to go as a writer & artist Chip.
I mean, you have to work with Marco again (Pretty please?)
Just saying: I’d buy a book of your writing & editing tips, even if they all point to Jim Zub.
Thank you for your comics (especially the one with the beautiful, depressed Catholic hunk*, the Eisner-winning one about the comics industry, and that Sexy one that just turned X.)
Have a great week, Chip.
*Annnd this is now my permanent description of Matt Murdock.
More like Spider-Man by Chip Zdarsky OmniBUST
Hehehe
That interview with Konrad got pretty depressing near the end there. Between that and watching Dark Side of the Ring, I've learned I enjoy things that beat the life out of the people making it.
...so thanks for getting the life beaten out of you for the sake of Batman.
SORRY
On the bright side, Collateral is an awesome movie. Hands down, one of my top 10. Convinced me I should go to film school, when it came out, instead of something lucrative and boring...so it's not all good. 😅
it's SO GOOD
This run has been great inspiration for my own writing, seeing Bruce turn into a more unhinged version of himself has been great for crafting a villain I'm really proud of. Thank you for creating such an exciting Batman run.
What happened to Jason might be my favourite "Bruce has gone too far" moment in Batman comics in the past two decades. Introducing Zur has been great for storytelling and I can't wait to see the chaos he will unleash in Mindbomb.
It's great seeing characters like Vandal Savage thrown into the mix in Gotham War, this is turning into a Batman story for the ages!
Did you see Marco is doing Ultimate Spider-Man with Hickman? It's a great time to be a comics fan.
Thanks! Yeah, the ZURIFICATION of Batman has been a lot of fun to write. I'm happy that each issue feels big and wild and fun (most of that is down to the great artists).
And yes! Marco on Ultimate Spidey is (chef's kiss)
The ZURIFICATION of Batman brought the main book back onto my pull list. You can tell this is a story everyone involved is genuinely excited to tell.
It's cool to see how much credit you give your artists, as I've found they really make or break the final product. I've had so many script pages I've been worried about, only to have Qntmc turn out something absolutely exceptional.
Marco on Ultimate Spider-Man is literally perfect. The guy draws Spidey so well, I've got some scans of his appearances in Daredevil framed. I can't wait to see what he and Hickman come up with.
readers don't realize exactly how big of an impact artists have on story and their enjoyment of it
yeah, at the end of the day they're responsible for the entire flow of the story. the entire tone is carried on the back of the artist. they're the most underappreciated aspect of what makes comics
WNR did such a good job with that interview, it was a great time