And wow, we are at the end of Dark Prisons already? How many issues has it been now? Four, five? Normally there’s 6 to an arc, and for some reason I feel like we haven’t reached even 5 yet.
Those dual cover omnis for DD look amazing! You have any input or was that all the artists call?
Avengers Twilight was my surprise favorite mini of the year hands down. And like I said before, is all the reason I need to want to see you write an ongoing avengers team book at some point in the future. Can’t wait to get the collected series!
And you have family? I always assumed u were a celibate recluse out in the woods, surviving by writing comics for money and purifying and drinking urine, and hunting elk down all Rambo-style…with your new car of course. But hey, nice to know there’s more of the zdarsky bloodline out there…they all cut from the same cloth as you?
Looking forward to seeing what else u have planned for us this year, Chip!
Yeah, I'm starting to hate the predictability of issue numbers in a story arc. It makes the rhythm of so many stories feel the same, you know? I wanted this to hit hard and FAST!
And yes to having input on the covers! Though Tedesco is a master so really I sat back and watched him come up with perfection and then designed around it. The second volume is where I suggested Rafael flip the volume one design so they matched somewhat.
Cool,so it wasn’t just me. Glad to hear that. And that’s an interesting way of looking at things, and seeing as how joker year 1 managed to get across so much with only 3 issues. So who knows, maybe we will start getting more stories out when writers start thinking like this. Perhaps less can indeed be more?
And that’s awesome! Yeah, his art is amazing, as were his covers. Didn’t he do the angel bullseye cover during the lockdown arc? Or am I thinking of someone else?
Ooooooh that’s right!!!! Marco! How could I forget Marco of all people? I feel so ashamed. Speaking of him, he’s doing SUCH amazing work on Ultimate Spider-Man with Johnathan. Sincerely hope he stays on it as long as mark did on the original one for art!
Julian, yeah he did covers up through inferno I believe (the attack on Hell’s Kitchen by the stromwyns *hate those two*). Who, if u recall, did the art during that period when Elektra was retraining Matt to be his ninja DD self again? Julian also?
Yeah, his DD on a gargoyle cover. Issue 20 something I think. Man it’s been a while. And man it hits me again how amazing that run was. All DD runs really. Why is that, u think? Why is it that near every run with DD is a near perfect hit, while other titles can be said to have, in certain taste, good and bad runs, but DD seems to avoid that?
Sorry, Chip. You know how punchy King Daredevil can be (All that residual Re-CID I guess.) Really excited to receive the first DD omnibus next month. I’ve read this run countless times now, but to own the story in a larger format makes me very happy. It will not be on my bookshelf (Unless I buy a duplicate copy for you & Marco to Remarque…. (Hmmmmm!) ) Always great to see Rafael draw these characters again too.
Your design eye is superb. The AT cover looks great (My subscription copy of AT 6 hasn’t arrived yet, so 🥺, my comments will be fashionably late.)
Sweet that things are going swell with Bats, even if the person who recognized you at Tim Hortons (🤐) lost interest in meeting you after you mentioned Batman juice. The nerve!
I read the Men’s Health piece hoping to see you there and voila…
Sean Phillips is amazing.👏 Glad he did a cover for Time Waits.
Hope your family thing is a nice family thing too. Have a great remainder to your week, and thanks Chip. Always enjoy reading your substack.
LETS GO!!! I gotta be honest I think Dark Prisons might be the BEST arc of this entire saga thus far!!! I’ve been loving every PANEL of it! You have created 3 original villains (Daniel Captio, Failsafe, Red Mask) that have added SO MUCH to the Batman mythos! Daniel Captio is so damn interesting, and he has so much substance as a “BIG BAD” villain. That FIRST panel that Jorge did of him in 146 when he said “I’m going to help your better self make this world a safer place, Bruce” gave me so much chills. You truly know how to build up a villain, and you just keep showing it. This series has given me EVERYTHING I could EVER want in a Batman run! The way you’ve developed Failsafe is spectacular. Bruce’s development is just splendid. “it’s time to put this monster down.”
Unfortunately I have to wait a few days for my copy of 148 to deliver, but I can’t be more excited to see how this arc ends! Had to delete almost every social media cause I REFUSE to be spoiled on this.
Chip, those truly are some big classy ass-bricks. Who're you trying to Kidd with these designs and production? Really vibrant stuff that, in the end, will just sit there in my bookcases like shelf-lumps.
Hey Chip, how’s the week going? So hey, there’s something I wanted to ask you about.
A while back, we discussed on here about the concept of the three jokers, and how the dream from the start of your run was just a dream, and meant nothing more. BUT, upon a re-read through Bat-Man of Gotham, Gotham War, Mind Bomb, and Joker Year 1, there were indeed more signs of multiple jokers at one time, and references to them beyond Batman himself talking about them.
There was of course Red Mask observing himself create the three jokers.
Riddler leaves off Gotham War warning Bruce about the Three Jokers
Batman himself in Mind Bomb mentions taking on the three of them.
And In Joker Year 1, we see the three literally grappling with one another, and then nothing of them afterwards, unless the scene with that woman and the joker in the beard are meant to be the three jokers at different points and not just the one.
So, I feel the need to ask, are we sure that the dream was just a dream, and not something more? Not to say you could tell even if you wanted to or would (As I am painfully well aware) but I just cannot help but feel that someone is pulling our leg, forgive the pun, about the three jokers.
Of course I could just be coo coo for coco puffs. What do I know, lol.
anyways, very excited to see what Batman 150 has in store for us. 125 was a blast, and I am most assuredly mulling over the possibilities of what could come next:
1. Savage and the Court make their move
2. Bruce Wayne exposed as Batman
3. Joker makes a real big more, or the prologue to one
The "three jokers" are the ones in Joker's head, but also, yes, there were three jokers who came from the vat, thanks to Red Mask's multiversal interference in 135/900. Did they die in that fight? I can't say! And the dream was Bruce's subconsciousness trying to warn him of the threat of the three-in-one.
See, that is what I was debating with myself over, that the three sides to his personalities were just that. But still, I could not discount the three in person jokers fighting one another. And given Bruce’s recent multiverse adventure, it made me only more suspicious about the dream being just that, or a warning of something to come.
Just might be reaching here, but while he portioned his mind to create these facets, Joker Never created a back up personality in the vein of Zur for himself, did he? Yes he has the clown, the devil, and death sides, but no Jak Enn Lah or the like, correct? Or does that file under can’t say?
I mean, those joker personalities were created in the same way batman created zur. the only difference is that joker's purpose wasn't to have them be "emergency backups"
Ah, I see. Same method, different utility. Rather than, as you said, create an emergency backup personality to protect his mind, Joker used it to create a psychological weapon for his uses by creating distinct ID’s that he could swap between, but under his control and without the inherit risk that Bruce is now facing with Zur exerting more influence over him, I suspect.
Great Batman issue today, Chip! I loved how u managed to not only fix, literally all the damage done to the family in one issue, but also managed to come up with the most intriguing and creative of means to defeating (for now) Zur. And I’ll confess to being a little more than pleased that Capito was, hopefully, taken down for a good long while.
Do not know for how much longer we have you for, but it is my sincere hope that, for the bat family, things between them and Bruce won’t be nearly as strained and difficult as they have been up till this point. Though I suspect with so many lingering threats still out there (Savage and his courtly backers, Waller and her plans, not to mention that thief that found Bruce’s secret) that things will be just as bad all around in a whole new fashion.
Side question: if you had to (seriously) give a moniker to name Daniel Capito, what do you think you would call him? He might be too narcissistic to ever conceal himself as such, but like I said, if you could come up with one to call him, what do you think it would be? (“I’m partial to Mastermind.”)
I had a list of possible names, but they all seemed silly for someone so smart, y'know? MASTERMIND is a good one, but Marvel's got the lock on that ha ha
1) Tim's should sell batman juice. 4x4 with an espresso shot.
Meeting you last year kickstarted me taking comics seriously. I've been thinking about that recently as I develop some pitches for bigger publishers and the comic I handed you last year. The words "looks good" and asking for a signature were very impactful to my comic career, and my signed life story addressed to me has become a motivator. Thank you, man
Very excited for Time Waits! Do you have a favorite “Guy who left his violent past behind gets PULLED BACK IN?” Mine is Russell Crowe's character Cort from The Quick and The Dead, I feel like it really pushes the violent past, the leaving it behind, and the pulling back in all up to 11.
If I didn't already own the Hardcovers for the first half and the paperbacks for the second half of your Daredevil, I'd consider the bricks... maybe I will... hmmm.
Batman was great this week (not that it hasn't been before), but I love what you've been doing with Bruce lately. Did plans for Failsafe after this issue affect the writing for this arc?
Not really! I knew about ABSOLUTE POWER a long time ago and had input, so it was all pretty seamless! Even worked with Mark on a tie-in issue to bridge the gap some more.
That makes sense! I always forget how far in advance these things are planned.
If you don't mind me asking, what do you think is so appealing about Batman fighting his inner Demons? You are doing it with Zur, Ram V uses Barbatos, King used his depression and so many others that I probably haven't read do it too. I know the cynical answer is comics are cynical, but I've enjoyed all these varying takes on Batman overcoming himself and other odds.
I think there are a few appealing things about those themes. He's a darker character so it's natural to investigate that, especially considering how different his personas are. But also, he's BATMAN. Nobody can beat him, so making the conflict internal makes a lot of sense
I am first here!! First time for everything
i'm so proud of you
…Hortons…really?
And wow, we are at the end of Dark Prisons already? How many issues has it been now? Four, five? Normally there’s 6 to an arc, and for some reason I feel like we haven’t reached even 5 yet.
Those dual cover omnis for DD look amazing! You have any input or was that all the artists call?
Avengers Twilight was my surprise favorite mini of the year hands down. And like I said before, is all the reason I need to want to see you write an ongoing avengers team book at some point in the future. Can’t wait to get the collected series!
And you have family? I always assumed u were a celibate recluse out in the woods, surviving by writing comics for money and purifying and drinking urine, and hunting elk down all Rambo-style…with your new car of course. But hey, nice to know there’s more of the zdarsky bloodline out there…they all cut from the same cloth as you?
Looking forward to seeing what else u have planned for us this year, Chip!
Yeah, I'm starting to hate the predictability of issue numbers in a story arc. It makes the rhythm of so many stories feel the same, you know? I wanted this to hit hard and FAST!
And yes to having input on the covers! Though Tedesco is a master so really I sat back and watched him come up with perfection and then designed around it. The second volume is where I suggested Rafael flip the volume one design so they matched somewhat.
Cool,so it wasn’t just me. Glad to hear that. And that’s an interesting way of looking at things, and seeing as how joker year 1 managed to get across so much with only 3 issues. So who knows, maybe we will start getting more stories out when writers start thinking like this. Perhaps less can indeed be more?
And that’s awesome! Yeah, his art is amazing, as were his covers. Didn’t he do the angel bullseye cover during the lockdown arc? Or am I thinking of someone else?
Marco did that one! Julian did covers for our first couple of arcs (with me pitching in on two of them)
Ooooooh that’s right!!!! Marco! How could I forget Marco of all people? I feel so ashamed. Speaking of him, he’s doing SUCH amazing work on Ultimate Spider-Man with Johnathan. Sincerely hope he stays on it as long as mark did on the original one for art!
Julian, yeah he did covers up through inferno I believe (the attack on Hell’s Kitchen by the stromwyns *hate those two*). Who, if u recall, did the art during that period when Elektra was retraining Matt to be his ninja DD self again? Julian also?
Yeah, Julian did almost all the covers until issue 20, then it was all Marco
Yeah, his DD on a gargoyle cover. Issue 20 something I think. Man it’s been a while. And man it hits me again how amazing that run was. All DD runs really. Why is that, u think? Why is it that near every run with DD is a near perfect hit, while other titles can be said to have, in certain taste, good and bad runs, but DD seems to avoid that?
Oooh, look at those beautiful daredelicious bricks…
And…someone else has something to say about that.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgP21ZNJnw7aLS04gY-c7P006QA4hvV_MYFIxMBolYmHOKh1UJovMZ2lw-mHymkRsf50320YBYso86OK4fPKk24eB5myJiDXnWTIBAzprtvaUn721zLBgPeLuadCRFf_vFt3IKlFQ8iBSGGuROwe1O0W7PvTDAOZd6WCyWEfRriW1-S45FqQJAT93I4uxYf/s1050/575FEC64-3E21-4767-97D2-DDC75C8C0707.jpeg
Sorry, Chip. You know how punchy King Daredevil can be (All that residual Re-CID I guess.) Really excited to receive the first DD omnibus next month. I’ve read this run countless times now, but to own the story in a larger format makes me very happy. It will not be on my bookshelf (Unless I buy a duplicate copy for you & Marco to Remarque…. (Hmmmmm!) ) Always great to see Rafael draw these characters again too.
Your design eye is superb. The AT cover looks great (My subscription copy of AT 6 hasn’t arrived yet, so 🥺, my comments will be fashionably late.)
Sweet that things are going swell with Bats, even if the person who recognized you at Tim Hortons (🤐) lost interest in meeting you after you mentioned Batman juice. The nerve!
I read the Men’s Health piece hoping to see you there and voila…
Sean Phillips is amazing.👏 Glad he did a cover for Time Waits.
Hope your family thing is a nice family thing too. Have a great remainder to your week, and thanks Chip. Always enjoy reading your substack.
No jokes: you’re a good human and a very good comic hero to meet ❤️❤️❤️ (ugh it feels so weird just being sincere)
ew
You get it ❤️
Chip, I was also gonna break the news that I also could not go to Galaxy con in Raleigh. I’m glad we could both disappoint each other
I actually found out you weren't going first, it's why I cancelled.
I’ll be moving to the “Big Apple” so I’d better see you at NYCC
T-Ho's could really turn a corner if they started selling Batman Juice.
LETS GO!!! I gotta be honest I think Dark Prisons might be the BEST arc of this entire saga thus far!!! I’ve been loving every PANEL of it! You have created 3 original villains (Daniel Captio, Failsafe, Red Mask) that have added SO MUCH to the Batman mythos! Daniel Captio is so damn interesting, and he has so much substance as a “BIG BAD” villain. That FIRST panel that Jorge did of him in 146 when he said “I’m going to help your better self make this world a safer place, Bruce” gave me so much chills. You truly know how to build up a villain, and you just keep showing it. This series has given me EVERYTHING I could EVER want in a Batman run! The way you’ve developed Failsafe is spectacular. Bruce’s development is just splendid. “it’s time to put this monster down.”
Unfortunately I have to wait a few days for my copy of 148 to deliver, but I can’t be more excited to see how this arc ends! Had to delete almost every social media cause I REFUSE to be spoiled on this.
Oh man! Thanks so much! I hope you like 148 when it shows up!
Wow that Philips cover is crazy!! Hope you get it to hang on your wall!
that WOULD be cool
Chip, those truly are some big classy ass-bricks. Who're you trying to Kidd with these designs and production? Really vibrant stuff that, in the end, will just sit there in my bookcases like shelf-lumps.
Hey Chip, how’s the week going? So hey, there’s something I wanted to ask you about.
A while back, we discussed on here about the concept of the three jokers, and how the dream from the start of your run was just a dream, and meant nothing more. BUT, upon a re-read through Bat-Man of Gotham, Gotham War, Mind Bomb, and Joker Year 1, there were indeed more signs of multiple jokers at one time, and references to them beyond Batman himself talking about them.
There was of course Red Mask observing himself create the three jokers.
Riddler leaves off Gotham War warning Bruce about the Three Jokers
Batman himself in Mind Bomb mentions taking on the three of them.
And In Joker Year 1, we see the three literally grappling with one another, and then nothing of them afterwards, unless the scene with that woman and the joker in the beard are meant to be the three jokers at different points and not just the one.
So, I feel the need to ask, are we sure that the dream was just a dream, and not something more? Not to say you could tell even if you wanted to or would (As I am painfully well aware) but I just cannot help but feel that someone is pulling our leg, forgive the pun, about the three jokers.
Of course I could just be coo coo for coco puffs. What do I know, lol.
anyways, very excited to see what Batman 150 has in store for us. 125 was a blast, and I am most assuredly mulling over the possibilities of what could come next:
1. Savage and the Court make their move
2. Bruce Wayne exposed as Batman
3. Joker makes a real big more, or the prologue to one
4. Just another Milestone.
Time will tell…it always does.
The "three jokers" are the ones in Joker's head, but also, yes, there were three jokers who came from the vat, thanks to Red Mask's multiversal interference in 135/900. Did they die in that fight? I can't say! And the dream was Bruce's subconsciousness trying to warn him of the threat of the three-in-one.
See, that is what I was debating with myself over, that the three sides to his personalities were just that. But still, I could not discount the three in person jokers fighting one another. And given Bruce’s recent multiverse adventure, it made me only more suspicious about the dream being just that, or a warning of something to come.
Just might be reaching here, but while he portioned his mind to create these facets, Joker Never created a back up personality in the vein of Zur for himself, did he? Yes he has the clown, the devil, and death sides, but no Jak Enn Lah or the like, correct? Or does that file under can’t say?
I mean, those joker personalities were created in the same way batman created zur. the only difference is that joker's purpose wasn't to have them be "emergency backups"
Ah, I see. Same method, different utility. Rather than, as you said, create an emergency backup personality to protect his mind, Joker used it to create a psychological weapon for his uses by creating distinct ID’s that he could swap between, but under his control and without the inherit risk that Bruce is now facing with Zur exerting more influence over him, I suspect.
That being said, I can only imagine how terrifying a Zur version of Joker might be. Distinctly colored word box included, lol.
Maybe he'd just be perfectly sane?
Great Batman issue today, Chip! I loved how u managed to not only fix, literally all the damage done to the family in one issue, but also managed to come up with the most intriguing and creative of means to defeating (for now) Zur. And I’ll confess to being a little more than pleased that Capito was, hopefully, taken down for a good long while.
Do not know for how much longer we have you for, but it is my sincere hope that, for the bat family, things between them and Bruce won’t be nearly as strained and difficult as they have been up till this point. Though I suspect with so many lingering threats still out there (Savage and his courtly backers, Waller and her plans, not to mention that thief that found Bruce’s secret) that things will be just as bad all around in a whole new fashion.
Side question: if you had to (seriously) give a moniker to name Daniel Capito, what do you think you would call him? He might be too narcissistic to ever conceal himself as such, but like I said, if you could come up with one to call him, what do you think it would be? (“I’m partial to Mastermind.”)
I had a list of possible names, but they all seemed silly for someone so smart, y'know? MASTERMIND is a good one, but Marvel's got the lock on that ha ha
How about Control Freak? A pun on both his best students. Bruce’s need for control, and joker’s freakish nature?
Family commitments? Bat-family? What's Barbara asking you to do now?
1) Tim's should sell batman juice. 4x4 with an espresso shot.
Meeting you last year kickstarted me taking comics seriously. I've been thinking about that recently as I develop some pitches for bigger publishers and the comic I handed you last year. The words "looks good" and asking for a signature were very impactful to my comic career, and my signed life story addressed to me has become a motivator. Thank you, man
Excellent! So glad I could be a small part of your love of making comics!
when you're aged, haggard, and stumbling around various editorial offices demanding royalties, ill remember you 👉😎👉
Very excited for Time Waits! Do you have a favorite “Guy who left his violent past behind gets PULLED BACK IN?” Mine is Russell Crowe's character Cort from The Quick and The Dead, I feel like it really pushes the violent past, the leaving it behind, and the pulling back in all up to 11.
I love A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE! Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris are both guys who are very good at exuding violence
dear chip,
excited for all this as always!
i like this a lot: "I was on my way to get 'my Batman juice' so I could 'write more Batman.'"
a question: what is in Batman juice?
thanks!
love
myq
Steeped tea, three oat milk, one sugar!!!!
aha! thank you! now any of us can write more Batman!
oh no
If I didn't already own the Hardcovers for the first half and the paperbacks for the second half of your Daredevil, I'd consider the bricks... maybe I will... hmmm.
Batman was great this week (not that it hasn't been before), but I love what you've been doing with Bruce lately. Did plans for Failsafe after this issue affect the writing for this arc?
Not really! I knew about ABSOLUTE POWER a long time ago and had input, so it was all pretty seamless! Even worked with Mark on a tie-in issue to bridge the gap some more.
That makes sense! I always forget how far in advance these things are planned.
If you don't mind me asking, what do you think is so appealing about Batman fighting his inner Demons? You are doing it with Zur, Ram V uses Barbatos, King used his depression and so many others that I probably haven't read do it too. I know the cynical answer is comics are cynical, but I've enjoyed all these varying takes on Batman overcoming himself and other odds.
That last sentence should say comics are cyclical
I think there are a few appealing things about those themes. He's a darker character so it's natural to investigate that, especially considering how different his personas are. But also, he's BATMAN. Nobody can beat him, so making the conflict internal makes a lot of sense
After Absolute Power, do you see yourself doing Batman vs his social awkwardness?
As always I appreciate your answers, especially the logic of "he beats everyone no matter what; can't just be a physical challenge"
I don't want to give anything away!