EXCLUSIVE: DC: UNVEILING ?BATMAN,? ?SUPERMAN CONFIDENTIAL?
A-list teams tackle the formative phases of DC?s premier heroes
By Brian Warmoth

Posted June 2, 2006 10:15 AM

Pivoting off of Infinite Crisis, DC is turning two dynamic duos of its own back toward the early years of Superman and Batman in September?s Batman Confidential and Superman Confidential. With the dust of the Multiverse settled, DC wants to clear the record and re-familiarize fans with their universe?s most famous capes.

?What it allows us to do is in short story arcs re-establish key moments in those character?s lives and expand on things we think are more vital to help develop the characters,? explained DC Senior VP-Executive Editor Dan DiDio, ?to tell good stories of the past with these characters that we feel once you start reading these you?ll have a better understanding of what they are.?

Andy Diggle will be writing the Dark Knight?s first arc with art by Whilce Portacio.

?That story will really touch upon the return of Bruce Wayne,? said DiDio, ?from his travels before he first puts on the bat suit and his reclaiming of Waynehood.?

Superman?s story will be introduced through Tim Sale and writer Darwyn Cooke.

?Just from Superman for All Seasons we know that Tim [Sale] can draw the beejeezus out of Superman,? states DiDio. ?And Darwyn?s probably one of the best storytellers out there.? The story will feature an early meeting with Lex Luthor and the Man of Steel, along with another Super-icon. ?They?re actually telling Superman?s first encounter with kryptonite,? DiDio revealed.

The books will be ongoing anthologies and focus on character defining moments rendered by top-notch talent. ?These are all stories that will fit into the lore and continuity of the characters,? said DiDio, ?and more importantly we?ll make sure we keep the A-team on this book at all times.?

Early days, early days.

That?s the focus of two new series form DC, recounting the early days of both Superman and Batman - Superman Confidential and Batman Confidential. Both series launch in November, and aim at showing key moments of the heroes earliest? days as heroes ?first meetings, critical decisions, the forging of alliances, and laying the roots of friendships.

As the series will tell individual arcs, both will see rolling creative teams pass through, with Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale launching Superman Confidential and Andy Diggle and Whilce Portacio handling the opening arc of Batman Confidential.

We spoke with Diggle about how he landed the gig, and what he?s bringing to the table with his story.

?I think the moment it all started was probably when Jock and I bounded up to Bob Schreck at the bar at the Bristol comic con a couple of years ago and babbled at him about how much we?d love to do a Batman story,? Diggle replied when asked how he landed on the new title?s first arc. ?Bob was like, ?Cool!? And that was that - until later that year at the San Diego Comic Con where, right out of the blue, Bob offered me Detective Comics. I couldn?t believe it!?

But, given that this isn?t a story about Diggle writing Detective Comics, and given that Diggle had a lot gong on when the offer was made, by the time he got around to making his pitch there?d been an editorial shuffle at DC, Schreck was no longer the Bat-editor, and a new Detective team was already in place.

?But,? Diggle continued, ?Dan Didio came over to London later that year, and we chatted about what I had in mind - a Batman versus Lex Luthor story. Well, I say ?chatted? - what I actually did was engage in an enthusiastic beer-fueled rant, most of which detailed the choreography of an elaborate action sequence featuring a Mach-3 face-off between the Bat-Plane and a 200-foot tall war robot outside Area 51. As you do.

?I recall Dan?s eyes narrowed and he made this sort of non-committal ?Hmm,? and I thought, ?That?s it, I?ve just blown it. He thinks it sucks!? Turns out what he was thinking was that my take on Batman didn?t sound like the traditionally low-key Detective style of story, and that it might actually make a great launch arc for Batman Confidential.

?It was my feeling that DC had tried so hard to ground Batman in a gritty urban ?reality? in the post-Dark Knight era, maybe they?d lost sight of that fact that at its heart it?s still supposed to be a superhero comic. And I passionately believe that superhero comics should be about speed and energy and movement, thrilling adventures and spectacular action. Not just, y?know, whining and soap. So my story begins as a mystery, develops into a conspiracy, and then explodes into all-out, balls-to-the-wall chunky robot action.?

As mentioned earlier, the idea behind the two new Confidential titles is to illustrate key moments in the character?s lives. As you probably guessed from Digggle?s comments, his story focuses on Batman?s first encounter with Lex Luthor.

?I know Luthor?s traditionally been Superman?s arch-nemesis, but it intrigued me how similar he and Bruce Wayne actually are on the surface,? Diggle explained. ?They?re both brilliant, driven, super-rich billionaire industrialists, each seeking to change the world for what they see as the betterment of mankind. So on the surface, there?s not much to differentiate between them, and neither knows about the other?s shadowy double life... yet. But once you scratch away the veneer, you see they have very different ideas as to what constitutes the public good - although both are using extreme, secretive measures to pursue their agendas. I think that leads to some interesting contrasts, interesting dramatic friction.?

Given the storyline, the meeting, and thus the arc take place somewhere during Batman?s second year in business. ?He hasn?t yet made peace with his inner demons - there?s still a lot of anger in him, which he channels into violence. He?s not yet the calm forward-planner he will later become. He?s still a little green, still a little rough around the edges, and he doesn?t yet have the huge arsenal of high-tech gadgets. That said, he does pick up a few cool toys during the course of the story - not least the Bat-Plane, which is a prototype VTOL stealth fighter being developed by Wayne Aerospace.

?In short, WayneTech and LexCorp are each competing for a multi-billion dollar government defense contract. Needless to say, Lex Luthor has bigger plans than merely selling weapons. He plans to use them for himself - and in a big way. So when bodies start dropping in Gotham City, Batman takes a personal interest. And then the giant robots turn up...

?Oh, and as for Whilce - what can I say? A picture tells a thousand words, and Whilce?s artwork speaks for itself!?