CBR: THE BAT SIGNAL: Fabian Nicieza

[CBR News]

We spoke with Fabian Nicieza about designing "Bruce Wayne - The Road Home," DC Comics' October event spanning eight self-contained yet inter-connected one-shots covering the closest allies and oldest enemies of Batman.


Full article here.

[FHIZ]

Great interview. Nicieza has been doing top notch work on Red Robin, and now that we know he's pretty much spearheading Road Home, I have a greater sense that I will definitely enjoy these books.

Also, loved this quote about 703

Not just because I could use the issue to introduce the Vicki Vale sub-plot, but because "Batman" is the flagship title and I get my damn name in an actual issue of the comic

And I said this before, this is going to make one awesome hardcover when it comes out... probably in May or something.

[Teatime Brutality]

And I said this before, this is going to make one awesome hardcover when it comes out... probably in May or something.

It'll make a terribly strange hardcover if they stick to the plan of collecting #703 with #700-2. Three issues of Morrison, with one issue of lead in to FabNic's event? Sounds a right ragbag.

I think they'd be better off collecting #703 with The Road Home and bulking up the hardcover of #700-2 with reprints of some of #700's sources. A couple of Carter Nicholls stories. A bit of Brane Taylor. That sort of thing.

[benicio127]

I literally LOL'd at the reporter comment he made. Having previously been a reporter and now studying law, that makes me laugh. Ha. Oh FabNic, never stop being awesome.

[BrotherUnitNo_4]

I know Fabian sometimes posts to these boards but I have a question about something that's just been bothering me ever since these one-shots have been announced.

Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere, but why is it that Cassandra Cain isn't getting a one-shot? I understand she may or may not have a role in an upcoming Red Robin issue, and we may not want to spoil that. I understand she's probably not going to get another shot at an ongoing until DC gets an amazing pitch from a writer that understands the core of the character. But given her reason for being and retiring from the role of Batgirl and given his plans to adopt her, why is she getting the short end of the stick?

If you can't answer I understand as it's not your decision, I understand. If it's because it spoils future plot points, I can understand. It just would be nice if the closest person she had to a positive father figure in her life would reach out to her.

[Blight]

Yeah you're kind of right. Having Cass out on her own then finding out would make a pretty good one shot. Throw in Katanna or Tim who drops the news to her while she fights Shrike. You got yourself a nice thing.

[FHIZ]

Psh, he obviously just wanted to piss of Cass founds, duh.

But honestly, not all characters can get their own one shot. Hell, you want to talk person who needs his own road home more than Cass? Alfred.

[Godlike13]

I understand that having me write three of them is more than most readers, retailers and DC sales guys would prefer

I don't know about "most readers", but this reader is defiantly good with it .

[FabianNicieza]

Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere, but why is it that Cassandra Cain isn't getting a one-shot?

I could tell you what you want to hear, that it was all part of the elaborate anti-Cass conspiracy that meets weekly within the Secret Chamber Conference Room at DC... (I'm joking!! They only meet monthly...)

... or I could tell you the truth: because the Road Home one shots came about after things had already been set into motion for Cass, it was decided better to let those play out as intended, where they were intended, rather than backtrack and do a separate one-shot for her.

If you notice, many of the one-shots are "continuations" of on-going titles, since we knew those titles wouldn't publish in October (i.e. B&R, Red Robin, Batgirl, Outsiders, Catwoman [Gotham Sirens], Oracle (is BoP publishing in Oct? I don't even know...). Only a couple of them are one-shots not directly tied to a monthly (Gordon and Ra's al Ghul).

I don't disagree that her reunion with Bruce is a story that is well worth telling, I just don't know that within the context of the timeframe we had, the need to put together the right creative team combined with the needs of properly reestablishing Cass, that it would have been told well.

And I'd rather see her done well rather than just done, I hope most Cass fans would agree (which contains the giant assumption that her initial return scene is done well... if it's not, I'm sure we'll hear about it from Cass-fans... :-).

-- fabian

[FabianNicieza]

I literally LOL'd at the reporter comment he made. Having previously been a reporter and now studying law, that makes me laugh. Ha. Oh FabNic, never stop being awesome.

After you pass the bar, become a lawyer for an oil company and you'll have hit the trifecta...

:-)

-- fabian

[benicio127]

After you pass the bar, become a lawyer for an oil company and you'll have hit the trifecta...

:-)

-- fabian

Nuuuuu! Fight the power!

If you notice, many of the one-shots are "continuations" of on-going titles, since we knew those titles wouldn't publish in October (i.e. B&R, Red Robin, Batgirl, Outsiders, Catwoman [Gotham Sirens], Oracle (is BoP publishing in Oct? I don't even know...). Only a couple of them are one-shots not directly tied to a monthly (Gordon and Ra's al Ghul).

I don't disagree that her reunion with Bruce is a story that is well worth telling, I just don't know that within the context of the timeframe we had, the need to put together the right creative team combined with the needs of properly reestablishing Cass, that it would have been told well.

And I'd rather see her done well rather than just done, I hope most Cass fans would agree (which contains the giant assumption that her initial return scene is done well... if it's not, I'm sure we'll hear about it from Cass-fans... :-).

This is absolutely true in regards to the "one-shots" being, for the most part, continuations of ongoing titles. I too was upset/frustrated to see there was nothing for both Cass and Jason, since they're both Bruce's adopted children and both had pretty extreme reactions to his "death." As long as we get to see their stories told, too, I (and lots of others I know) will be happy.

[Jbenn]

I could tell you what you want to hear, that it was all part of the elaborate anti-Cass conspiracy that meets weekly within the Secret Chamber Conference Room at DC... (I'm joking!! They only meet monthly...)

... or I could tell you the truth: because the Road Home one shots came about after things had already been set into motion for Cass, it was decided better to let those play out as intended, where they were intended, rather than backtrack and do a separate one-shot for her.

If you notice, many of the one-shots are "continuations" of on-going titles, since we knew those titles wouldn't publish in October (i.e. B&R, Red Robin, Batgirl, Outsiders, Catwoman [Gotham Sirens], Oracle (is BoP publishing in Oct? I don't even know...). Only a couple of them are one-shots not directly tied to a monthly (Gordon and Ra's al Ghul).

I don't disagree that her reunion with Bruce is a story that is well worth telling, I just don't know that within the context of the timeframe we had, the need to put together the right creative team combined with the needs of properly reestablishing Cass, that it would have been told well.

And I'd rather see her done well rather than just done, I hope most Cass fans would agree (which contains the giant assumption that her initial return scene is done well... if it's not, I'm sure we'll hear about it from Cass-fans... :-).

-- fabian

Fabien, thank you for confirmation the anti-Cass cabal exists The Illuminati and the Bilderburger Group are probably involved as well. It goes much higher up than DC/WB, I'm sure.

But seriously, everything you said sounds about right. But looking at it not from the reader's POV or from your perspective as a writer coming into to a story already in progress in a multitude of Bat-titles, I'm still confused editorial-wise. Cassandra, whether you like her or not (and there are some readers who don't), is not a throw-away character in the Bat-verse with loose ties to Bruce (unlike say Onyx or even Jean-Paul Valley) and is closer to Bruce's inner circle than either Stephanie (who's getting her own "Return" book with Bruce) or the Huntress. Yet no one at the DC Bat-Office thought it having her missing from the entire "Return of Bruce Wayne" saga (and even if she indeed returning in November in RR like many of us hope, she has basically been out of the loop the whole time Bruce has been gone with Dick, Alfred or Barbara seemingly not caring that she's dropped off the face of the Earth, they don't even seem to remember she exists). It's one thing if Editorial wants to hold back her appearance till they "get her right" but we've gone basically a year (since Batgirl #1) since Cass flew the coop and it's not until Red Robin #13 that we get even a hint that any of her "family" remembers she's not around. I think that's what has gotten a lot of readers cheesed off.

None of this is on you of course (yay for your interest in the character and not feigned "I really like Cass" stuff some writers give out) but I do have to wonder, I remember at the DC Boards you said Editorial were receptive when you mentioned using Cass. Does this mean they had no actual plans before that? And by plans I mean Dan Didio's infamous quote-in-quote "big plans in 2010" for Cass that NEVER happened and seemingly, if they ever did exist, were dropped early leaving her in limbo? How does one go from "big plans" for a character to making sure other characters never mention in her name within the space of a few months? Does that happen often?

This is absolutely true in regards to the "one-shots" being, for the most part, continuations of ongoing titles. I too was upset/frustrated to see there was nothing for both Cass and Jason, since they're both Bruce's adopted children and both had pretty extreme reactions to his "death." As long as we get to see their stories told, too, I (and lots of others I know) will be happy.

My feelings as well. As long as there is some resolution I don't mind waiting but if it's not going to happen, just say so. I think if Dan Didio hadn't explicitly promised (in print, no less) that there were big plans for Cass, there would be a lot of less complaining of the limbo they through her in. Jason and Cassandra are Bruce's "kids". On the totem pole of priorities they should be at the top (if indeed he is coming back a changed man has Morrison has alluded) especially since they have gone "bad" before when he wasn't there (in different ways, of course).

[Flash's Lightning]

Fabien, thank you for confirmation the anti-Cass cabal exists The Illuminati and the Bilderburger Group are probably involved as well. It goes much higher up than DC/WB, I'm sure.

But seriously, everything you said sounds about right. But looking at it not from the reader's POV or from your perspective as a writer coming into to a story already in progress in a multitude of Bat-titles, I'm still confused editorial-wise. Cassandra, whether you like her or not (and there are some readers who don't), is not a throw-away character in the Bat-verse with loose ties to Bruce (unlike say Onyx or even Jean-Paul Valley) and is close to Bruce's inner circle than either Stephanie (who's getting her own "Return" book with Bruce) or the Huntress. Yet no one at the DC Bat-Office thought it having her missing from the entire "Return of Bruce Wayne" saga (and even if she indeed returning in November in RR like many of us hope, she has basically been out of the loop the whole time Bruce has been gone with Dick, Alfred or Barbara seemingly not caring that she's dropped off the face of the Earth, they don't even seem to remember she exists). It's one thing if Editorial wants to hold back her appearance till they "get her right" but we've gone basically a year (since Batgirl #1) since Cass flew the coop and it's not until Red Robin #13 that we get even a hint that any of her "family" remembers she's not around. I think that's what has gotten a lot of readers cheesed off.

None of this is on you of course (yay for your interest in the character and not feigned "I really like Cass" stuff some writers give out) but I do have to wonder, I remember at the DC Boards you said Editorial were receptive when you mentioned using Cass. Does this mean they had no actual plans before that? And by plans I mean Dan Didio's infamous quote-in-quote "big plans in 2010" for Cass that NEVER happened and seemingly, if they ever did exist, were dropped early leaving her in limbo? How does one go from "big plans" for a character to making sure other characters never mention in her name within the space of a few months? Does that happen often?



My feelings as well. As long as there is some resolution I don't mind waiting but if it's not going to happen, just say so. I think if Dan Didio hadn't explicitly promised (in print, no less) that there were big plans for Cass, there would be a lot of less complaining of the limbo they through her in. Jason and Cassandra are Bruce's "kids". On the totem pole of priorities they should be at the top (if indeed he is coming back a changed man has Morrison has alluded) especially since they have gone "bad" before when he wasn't there (in different ways, of course).

Hey, take a breath. :D

Remember, there's a lot of characters in the Bat books, and it's impossible to see every one every issue. I'm sure they love Cass as much as you, and she'll pop up again. Just be patient. ;)

I have characters I'd love to see again as well, and I probably won't get my wish, if it makes you feel better. (Shadowdragon)

[Jbenn]

Hey, take a breath. :D

Remember, there's a lot of characters in the Bat books, and it's impossible to see every one every issue. I'm sure they love Cass as much as you, and she'll pop up again. Just be patient. ;)

I have characters I'd love to see again as well, and I probably won't get my wish, if it makes you feel better. (Shadowdragon)

Seeing is one thing. Avoiding the character's name and for the most part pretending she doesn't exist (when there were supposedly "big plans" for her according to the co-publisher of the company) is another. For example, if you were a newbie Batgirl reader and you picked up every copy of the current run except #1, then you would never know there ever was a Batgirl in between Barbara and Stephanie.

Take Fabien's first issue of RR where the line "Cassandra - Hong Kong?" is casually on Tim's computer screen in the background. That's all it takes to remind readers the character is not forgotten (and she didn't have to show up). Compare that to the current run of Batgirl where after a one-page dismissal (literally) from the Batgirl cowl, Cassandra is only ever mentioned again in 13 issues by a bratty Damien (who has never met her) when he's needling Steph. Barbara who is the closest thing Cass has to a mother-figure has never even brought up her name and there is no sign she's looking for her or worried about her (remember the last time Cass disappeared, she came back all EVIL). And Batgirl would/should be the book - not Red Robin - where Cass's name should naturally come up (since Babs was her guardian and Steph her best friend) but it never does and still hasn't.

I'd just like characters to act consistently from book to book that's all. That's the least one should expect in any fictional work, comics aside.

[benicio127]

Fabien, thank you for confirmation the anti-Cass cabal exists The Illuminati and the Bilderburger Group are probably involved as well. It goes much higher up than DC/WB, I'm sure.

But seriously, everything you said sounds about right. But looking at it not from the reader's POV or from your perspective as a writer coming into to a story already in progress in a multitude of Bat-titles, I'm still confused editorial-wise. Cassandra, whether you like her or not (and there are some readers who don't), is not a throw-away character in the Bat-verse with loose ties to Bruce (unlike say Onyx or even Jean-Paul Valley) and is close to Bruce's inner circle than either Stephanie (who's getting her own "Return" book with Bruce) or the Huntress. Yet no one at the DC Bat-Office thought it having her missing from the entire "Return of Bruce Wayne" saga (and even if she indeed returning in November in RR like many of us hope, she has basically been out of the loop the whole time Bruce has been gone with Dick, Alfred or Barbara seemingly not caring that she's dropped off the face of the Earth, they don't even seem to remember she exists). It's one thing if Editorial wants to hold back her appearance till they "get her right" but we've gone basically a year (since Batgirl #1) since Cass flew the coop and it's not until Red Robin #13 that we get even a hint that any of her "family" remembers she's not around. I think that's what has gotten a lot of readers cheesed off.

None of this is on you of course (yay for your interest in the character and not feigned "I really like Cass" stuff some writers give out) but I do have to wonder, I remember at the DC Boards you said Editorial were receptive when you mentioned using Cass. Does this mean they had no actual plans before that? And by plans I mean Dan Didio's infamous quote-in-quote "big plans in 2010" for Cass that NEVER happened and seemingly, if they ever did exist, were dropped early leaving her in limbo? How does one go from "big plans" for a character to making sure other characters never mention in her name within the space of a few months? Does that happen often?



My feelings as well. As long as there is some resolution I don't mind waiting but if it's not going to happen, just say so. I think if Dan Didio hadn't explicitly promised (in print, no less) that there were big plans for Cass, there would be a lot of less complaining of the limbo they through her in. Jason and Cassandra are Bruce's "kids". On the totem pole of priorities they should be at the top (if indeed he is coming back a changed man has Morrison has alluded) especially since they have gone "bad" before when he wasn't there (in different ways, of course).

Yes, yes, yes, yes! to all of this. Kind of worried, kind of hopeful on this front, I just made a post about some news about these two here.