Interview Directory
• Burchett on the New 'Batman Adventures'
• Burchett Discusses the Freedom of 'Batman
Adventures'
• Slott and Burchett on Free 'Batman Adventures'
• Burchett Talks 'Justice League,' 'Batman
Adventures'
• Burchett Talks 'Batman Adventures'
Burchett on the New 'Batman Adventures'' - by
Salvor
Toon Zone regular Salvor was able to briefly chat with Rick
Burchett about his regular stint on the upcoming Batman
Adventures revamp.
"The new book, called Batman Adventures, will be written
by Dan Slott and Ty Templeton and consists of two stories each
issue: a seventeen-page lead story and a five-page back-up,"
Burchett told Salvor. "For the first four issues, Ty will write
the lead, while Dan does the back-up. Ty will pencil Dan's
stories but, because of copyright law, DC will not allow him to
pencil what he writes. Sooooo...that's where I come in. I'll be
penciling what Ty writes. The stories will still be self
contained, but each story will also act as a chapter in a larger
story arc. The first arc will run four issues. At that time, Dan
will take over the writing of the lead stories, with Ty
penciling, and I will pencil the back-ups, which will be written
by Ty. Confused?"
"Of course the whole book will be inked by the incomparable
Terry Beatty, and Lee Loughridge will still add his genius to
the color," Burchett told Salvor. "The whole thing hits stands
in April. I've finished the first issue, have started the
second, and I have to say I'm having a great time. This book
will reflect what Ty and I wanted to do when we first started
Gotham Adventures. I hope readers like it."
Interview
originally appeared on Toon Zone News on
December 19th, 2002.
Burchett Discusses the Freedom of 'Batman Adventures' - by Jim Harvey
Rick Burchett was able to talk to Toon Zone about his plans for
the upcoming Batman Adventures comic series, which will
premiere in May 2003 as a part of the annual Free Comic Book Day
event.
"The character designs for the new book will be tweaked a
little, mostly because of the inherent nature of the new
series," said Burchett. "There will be no big changes. Everyone
will be recognizable, but there will be subtle changes to
certain characters to indicate that we're not dealing with the
'status quo.' And there will be characters from the Batman canon
that we've never seen rendered in the animated style. It's all
based on the 'new look' refit, but tempered by what they've done
with Batman and the Joker on the Justice League animated
series."
This will be the first animated Batman comic not based
specifically on an animated Batman series, which presents some
interesting opportunities.
"The fact that the series is no longer in production gives us a
great amount of freedom in terms of what we can do," said
Burchett. "We can play with characters that never appeared on
the animated series or expand on those that were without
stepping on any toes. This is actually something Ty and I had
talked about in the early days of Gotham Adventures. We
both felt that we should be creating this little 'pocket
universe' that drew from the conventions of the series but
expanded it. You can see a hint of that in the characters of
Dagger Dixon and the Hunchback. Unfortunately, at the time,
there was resistance to that."
While the series may be expanding into new territory, the
stories will not stray from the storytelling format of the
animated titles.
"The types of stories we'll be doing in the new book will pretty
much be the types of stories we were doing in the first year's
worth of Gotham Adventures," said Burchett. "The change
is in the world the stories take place in. As I said, the
'status' is definitely not 'quo.' I don't know if I should be
the one to go into this in any depth. Ty and Dan Slott are the
architects of all this. Plus, I don't want to spoil any
surprises. And there are some. In fact, there's a big surprise
on page one of issue one. I guess I can tell you that in issue
two Bruce Wayne goes on a date with Julie Madison, a character
that was his first love interest from way back in the early days
of Detective Comics. I got to do the character design for
her, and that was great fun.
"Another difference this time around will be the book's format.
Each issue will be a seventeen-page lead story followed by a
five-page back-up. The lead story will be self-contained but
will also serve as a chapter of a larger story arc. The arc for
the first story will last four issues. The back-ups will be
vignettes featuring other characters: Gotham Girls, Robin,
Nightwing, Players to Be Named Later...
"As you can imagine, the structure of these stories makes the
writing very tricky. Not many writers working in the business
today could pull this off. Fortunately, two of the writers who
can are writing this book."
Batman Adventures will mark Burchett's return to the
animated universe as a regular artist. Burchett was recently
involved in the acclaimed Batman: The 10 Cent Adventures
as well as Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood.
"I've been away from the animated universe, on a regular basis,
for over two years," said Burchett. "I didn't leave because I
had tired of it. I left because there were many readers and,
more importantly, editors who didn't know I could do anything
but work in this style. I needed to change that perception. I
don't know if I accomplished that in the interim, but I had to
try. When this opportunity came along, it was hard to pass up.
Working with Ty and inker Terry Beatty and colorist Lee
Loughridge again is a joy. Besides, they make my work look much
better than it really is. The only downside is penciling a book
being written by a guy who could do a better job of it than I
can. That's intimidating. And Joan Hilty is fast becoming one of
my favorite editors. It's a difficult job. You have to wear many
hats and look good in all of them. Plus, she's really behind
this book and what we're trying to do. She's not just a traffic
cop shuffling pages from one free-lancer to the next. She's in
the trenches with us, trying to make this the best book
possible. I appreciate that.
"There's also the 'unfinished business' factor. I've always felt
I left the animated universe before I did all I could in terms
of visual story-telling. I'm fortunate to have a second chance
at that.
"As far as mainstream work goes, we'll see. I'm doing the lead
story arc in the first four issues. Ty is penciling the
back-ups. When the initial story arc ends, we switch places. Dan
will be writing the lead arc, Ty pencils. Ty will be writing
back-ups at that point which I'll pencil. Terry and Lee will
make everything look better than it has a right to in every
issue.
"I realize readers would probably prefer to have Ty draw the
whole thing, but because of copyright law he's unable to. I'm
sure Ty would like to find a way around the copyright issue and
do the whole thing himself. Heck, I'd like to see him do the
whole thing. Until then, I feel very fortunate to be working
with these people on this book. The ironic part of all this is
that ten years ago last summer I was starting work on a new book
with Ty Templeton called...The Batman Adventures."
Interview
originally appeared on Toon Zone News on
December 21st, 2002.
Slott and Burchett on Free 'Batman Adventures' - by Jim Harvey
Dan Slott and Rick Burchett, two members of of the creative team
for the upcoming Batman Adventures, provided their thoughts on
the much-anticipated animated Batman comic being part of the
2003 Free Comic Book Day.
"I am so excited about this!" said Slott.
"DC is really putting a lot of push behind this re-launch! A
Paul Dini Batman Adventures TPB out the month before. The first
issue given away on Free Comic Day. The second issue out two
weeks later to ride the wave of hype. And all of 'em wrapped up
in amazing Bruce Timm covers! Whoa!"
"What's not to love?" exclaimed Slott. "This is going to be a
great book for anyone who's ever loved Batman! New readers
who've grown up on the cartoon. Old readers who are nostalgic
for a world where Jim Gordon's the Commissioner, his daughter
Barbara is Batgirl, and Catwoman is still a baddie. Anyone can
jump on in, and everyone's gonna have fun.
"An exciting feature of this book is its new format. Each issue
will feature a classic 'done-in-one' story. But, surprise, when
three-to-four issues are linked up, you'll see that they
actually form an epic story arc. And if that wasn't enough,
every issue will also come with a self-contained short story as
well! Phew!
"Still not convinced? Did I mention the creative team? Two of
the Batman Adventures' most beloved creators are coming back to
the book! Ty Templeton and Rick Burchett will kick off the first
arc! And, just in case you're not getting enough of Ty — he'll
be drawing my stories in the back-ups. And then, with every
other arc, we'll all swap places."
For the 2002 Free Comic Book Day
event, DC Comics released a reprint of Justice League Adventures
#1, written by Ty Templeton with pencil work by Min S. Ku. This
year, Batman Adventures #1 will be a full length, all-new story.
"We're not talking thirteen-cent Gen13, Batman: The 10 Cent
Adventure, or even nine-cent Fantastic Four... This is the
zero-cent Batman Adventures, bucko!" Slott said. "All you've got
to do is show up at your local comic book store for the 2003
Free Comic Book Day and ask for Batman Adventures #1... while
supplies last! This will be our first issue! Not a reprint, like
a lot of last year's free comics! This is the real deal! A first
issue! A first printing! Huzzah!
"Now a certain company (that shall remain nameless) is offering
up Ultimate X-Men #1 for their free comic," said Slott. "But
wait a minute... if memory serves, you can already get that
comic for free as a Marvel Dot Comic. And hasn't that already
been issued anyway? And again as a Marvel Must Have? And a
hardback? And a softback? And displayed page-by-page on the
Times Square Jumbo-Tron?... Well, maybe not that... yet. The
free issue of Batman Adventures, on the other hand, is one
hundred percent new! It'll even have that new-comic-smell!
"So do me a favor. Next time you see your local comic shop
owner, let him know that you want, need, and can't live without
Batman Adventures #1 on Free Comic Book Day! You can also use
that time to remind him that since everyone in the free world is
going to read issue one, all the discerning people in the free
world will love issue one, and therefore he better order an
extra zillion copies of issues two, three, and four!"
"I think it's great. This is the second time around for me on
Free Comic Book Day," said Burchett. "Last year Greg Rucka and I
had done the Batman: The 10 Cent Adventure. I love the whole
idea behind the promotion and I'm proud to play any little part
I can in its execution. Comics aren't dead by a long shot, gang.
We just gotta get the product to the people."
"Trust me. This is going to be good!" concluded Slott.
Interview
originally appeared on Toon Zone News on
December 21st, 2002.
Burchett Talks 'Justice League,' 'Batman Adventures' - by Jim Harvey
Toon Zone was able to catch up with Rick Burchett, artist for
Batman Adventures #3 and Justice League Adventures
#20, both shipping in June from DC Comics. Burchett is currently
turning in artwork for Batman Adventures #3.
"Joker and Harley are always fun to play with visually because
the characters are so 'over the top' that you can exaggerate
their expressions and body language and not lose the essence of
the character," said Burchett. "The amazing thing to me is how
Ty [Templeton] can write these 17 page stories that are complete
in and of themselves and yet also serve as a chapter of a larger
four part story arc."
While Harley and Joker's antics may be over the top in Batman
Adventures, Justice League Adventures will run the emotional
spectrum, allowing Burchett to show his strengths.
"This one made me a hero around my house," said Burchett. "My
boys are big fans of the TV series and even though I've worked
on literally hundreds of comic book stories, I really didn't
become a blip on their radar until I did this. The book also
gave me the opportunity to design an "animated version" of the
Psycho Pirate. I really enjoy translating characters into that
style of art. I can't wait to have another crack at the book."
Interview
originally appeared on Toon Zone News on
March 17th, 2003.
Burchett Talks 'Batman Adventures' - by
The Pulse
The website
The Pulse caught up with Rick Burchett, discussing how he
got involved in the animated Batman comics. The interview also
talks about his role as the new artist for Green Lantern.
"I became involved with the Batman animated book the Summer
before the show began," Burchett told The Puse. "I was inking
Dan Jurgen's Justice League at the time and received a call from
Bob Greenberger. He said DC was doing a three issue mini-series
based on the upcoming animated show. Would I be interested in
inking it? I loved the look of the show and really wanted to be
part of this. Then he upped the ante: Ty Templeton will be
pencilling.
Burchett said he got another call from Greenberger, stating that
the series would now be a six-issue mini-series, featuring three
two part stories instead of a single three-part storyline.
Greenberger wanted Burchett on the title so he could give the
series a cohesive look.
"Then I get another call from Bob," Burchett told The Pulse.
"The book is now going to be a regular ongoing monthly. Would
you be interested in being the regular inker?"
"The funny thing about this is that when Joan Hilty called to
ask me to help relaunch Batman Adventures I realized it had been
10 years almost to the month that I had begun work on the first
Batman Adventures #1," Burchett said.
News article
originally appeared on Toon Zone News on
May 20th, 2003. |
