Coming soon
to Detective Comics is perhaps a more off-the-wall
version of the Dark Knight than one is used to. Self-publisher
Michel Gagné, famed for his bunnies and the wonderful
Zed series (see more details of these at his website http://www.gagneint.com/),
is being let loose on a multi-part backup strip. SBC's Craig
Lemon caught up with the man himself to find out more, and to
exclusively preview some of the art from this upcoming
storyline.
Craig Lemon: Tell us
a little about this Batman project you're working
on.
Michel Gagné: The story is divided into five
8-page chapters, which will run in Detective #776-780.
In the story, Batman catches a deadly viral strain and
struggles to cure himself. It's quite epic in scale, going
from planetary to microscopic proportions.
CL:
How did it come about?
MG: Around Christmas
time, I received an email from DC editor, Matt Idelson. Matt
wrote that he was a fan of my work and asked me if I'd
consider doing a project for DC. After some reflection, I
decided that I could do something really cool with Batman.
There are many iconic qualities about his universe; the
Bat-symbol, Gotham City, the Batcave and Batman himself. When
I thought about all the possibilities, it put a big grin on my
face. So, I wrote back and told him I'd like to do a full
color 32 page story (which ended up expanding to 40 pages)
with the Dark Knight. I asked him to let me write, pencil,
ink, color and letter the whole thing, warning him that this
would be a most different and outrageous version of the
character. In a vote of confidence, Matt
agreed.
CL: Many of the other backup strips have
been designed with future strips in mind (e.g. Slam Brady's
search for Catwoman, Josie Mac), is there future potential
loaded into your plot or is it purely designed as a
one-off?
MG: I'd say it's pretty much a one-shot
deal, but you never know.
CL: How have you found
actually working on the Dark Knight? Did it live up to your
expectations?
MG: It's been a lot of fun, and it
still is (I have yet to do the last two parts). I've really
enjoyed the artistic freedom I was given. At first, I was a
little nervous that DC might ask me to change this and that,
but they have been completely supportive of my vision. In that
respect, it's been a total blast. On the other hand, it's been
challenging to remain true to the spirit of the character and
his world, while creating something unique and
twisted.
CL: Any plans to maybe revisit Batman
soon, or other parts of the DCU?
MG: Anything is
possible. We'll see how the fans react to this story and take
it from there. I've already talked to DC about doing other
projects. The dialogue is open, so we'll just have to wait and
see.
CL: What's next for Michel Gagné? More
Zed?
MG: I have a new hardcover book
coming out early next year called "The Towers of Numar". It's
an off-beat science-fiction tale about god, the creation, and
a far-out concept. I'm going to try to get Zed #5-8 out
next year as well. In the movie world, I'm designing special
effects for Brad (The Iron Giant) Bird's next movie. As
always, I have a lot of book projects at different level of
completion, so don't be surprised if something unexpected hits
the shelves soon.
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