School Never Ends for Batman Writer James Tynion IV

by Vince Brusio

Every once in a while the door of opportunity opens, and that door stays open for a few minutes. Those who are lazy in life look at the door, and go back to eating their potato chips. Those who are hungry run through that door and never look back. James Tynion IV is one of those people who bolted through the door like Speed Racer. The result is that he’s made a name for himself writing one of DC’s biggest flagship titles, with Detective Comics #942 (AUG160201) arriving in local comic shops on October 12. But outside of the grind of writing Detective Comics, James takes on other opportunities, and it is these endeavors we talked about when we met up with him at this year’s Baltimore Comic Con. James was nice enough to refrain from signing autographs for a few minutes, and give us the dirt on what door he plans to open next, which hopefully involves some heroes in a half shell.

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PREVIEWSworld: With the work you’re doing on Batman in the ongoing Detective Comics series, you’ve captured the industry’s attention, and it’s undoubtedly given you chances to do more work in the comics business. So our question is what’s in your wheelhouse these days? Is there anything that’s now moved from the back burner to the front burner? How is that brain of yours working these days?

James Tynion IV: Well, first it speaks to the whole idea of how to stretch different muscles. And that’s something that’s very deliberate. Obviously I do a lot of work in Gotham City with Detective Comics coming out twice a month. I’m spending a lot of time there thinking about big soap opera bombastic superhero comics. Then, in order to balance myself out from getting caught in that world I like to get lost in my own world. That’s why The Woods (which has been running for the past two and a half years) has been a really great home for me as well. I’ve had a 36-issue concept from the beginning, and I’m adjusting it as I go because I learn more about the format, and everything about the comic writing craft. But it’s my own characters, it’s never me trying to find a voice that’s somebody else has put on the page. And that’s good. I like experimenting in all the different forms, because I read a lot of different types of comics. I’m not just a superhero guy, or just an indie guy. I love both of them, and I also like all-ages comics which is part of the reason why I just came out with The Backstagers, which is my first all-ages book. It keeps me engaged on all fronts of the industry at the same time.

PREVIEWSworld: So you’re just as much drawn to the education of writing comics as you are actually doing them?

James Tynion IV: Yeah, that’s the big thing for me. I’m a young guy. I’ve been doing this for about five years now, and I’m still learning. I think it’s like 10,000 hours or so of doing something when you really start to become an expert at it. I think I’m getting close to that, but I want to keep learning. Trying to figure out what makes people excited. That’s why I keep trying new things. I don’t want to just do the same old thing.

PREVIEWSworld: Is that why you put Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a blender and hit “Purée”?

James Tynion IV: Yeah! Actually, no. DC wanted me to work on that crossover. And it was a huge honor that they trusted that with me. It was also a responsibility, because this is the first crossover between these two incredible properties. So from the start it was, like, “OK. I need to do this right.” And the responsibility was making sure that every issue was the most fun thing you could ever imagine. It actually took the brakes off to a certain degree in terms of my Batman stuff because a lot of the time I lean away from the core Batman tropes because everyone’s seen them a hundred times in a Batman comic. But when you’re putting him up against the Turtles, you can lean back into those tropes and throw these characters at him that can comment. Then you find out that if you do that for the Turtle tropes as well, then you’re giving everyone what they want, and now everyone’s seeing what they want to see.

So I do that: give everyone what they want for, like, a hundred times per page for 20 pages over six issues.

It’s cool, it’s insane … and I’d be dumb not to do it.

Honestly, working on Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has been an absolute delight, and I really hope we get to do a follow-up to that book because I’ve got a lot more stories.

And I’m ready.