|
|
Post by Admin on Jul 17, 2013 16:08:10 GMT -5
 Please let us know what you think! |
|
|
|
Post by Fantômas on Aug 2, 2013 19:13:32 GMT -5
Issue #5 has been sent in, along with a rather haunting cover by our talented Mr Paisley.
My effort to amalgamate the ideas of RIP, Batman & Robin, Gates of Gotham, Court of Owls and of course, Batman Incorporated (anyone else enjoy #13 this week?) along with what are hopefully some of my own ideas and interests continues, with #5 marking what should be the halfway point in our opening arc.
As always, if you have a hankering to tell your own stories about any of the Inc roster, do get in touch! Back-up tales are always welcome, as in a team book like this the more unique voices the better.
Enjoy, and look out for The Gaunt of Gotham, coming soon.
|
|
|
|
Post by arcalian on Aug 3, 2013 20:58:55 GMT -5
This issue moved fast, but seemed to end abruptly. Perhaps it was the change from past to present and back again.
|
|
|
|
Post by HoM on Aug 30, 2013 18:22:22 GMT -5
I'm not sure I like the Mr Unknown identity being dropped for a nuBatman identity. I like Jiro's enthusiasm-- different from Bilal, different from Dick, from Tim, well done for differentiating their personalities so far-- but Mr Unknown is a cool legacy to live up to, while Batman... well, c'mon, you'd think a local hero like Mr Unknown, a mask Jiro's worn already and tried to live up to, that would be the one he'd want to keep.
Batman and Batman versus Kaiju was great, quick, exciting and direct. The comments about tranqs were fun, and I'm really enjoying how this Batman has a sense of humour. I grew up on 90s Batman, the one Grant Morrison describes as a "snarling, paranoid soldier", and he got so bloody heavy all the time. That's what you get when you're written by Chuck Dixon 70% of the time though, I guess. I like a Batman who can joke. Dry, sure, but joke none the less.
The dual timeframes complimented each over perfectly, and the writing shifted in tone each time, so it was great seeing Batman and Bat-Man follow through on the same adventure but in different times. I'm loving the Old Days.
The Ethneographic Entities are a concept very much up my alley, but not really a Grant Morrison concept, which is interesting! I love the Warren Ellis influence seeping into your work, as his is always a massive influence for me, especially Global Frequency and Planetary. I love those series so much. SO MUCH. I was toying with a very similar concept to the Ethneographic Entities in my short lived Guardian title that I started writing-- but unfortunately abandoned-- but it was more along the lines of a Tulpa than what you're going for. More magic than science. Not a slight, of course!
A great issue. I agree with Jay in that it ended abruptly, but I didn't think it damaged the read. Did you cut it short on purpose? Your writing is getting tighter with each issue, so I raise the question I did last time, was this easier to write than before? Are you finding it easier with each passing issue, as you get into a flow? I know I wrote three issues of GL, one after the other, over six hours, a week ago (ask Alex, I messaged him, one after the other, as I finished), so I wonder if it's the same for other writers on the site.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fantômas on Aug 30, 2013 20:24:08 GMT -5
I'm not sure I like the Mr Unknown identity being dropped for a nuBatman identity. I like Jiro's enthusiasm-- different from Bilal, different from Dick, from Tim, well done for differentiating their personalities so far-- but Mr Unknown is a cool legacy to live up to, while Batman... well, c'mon, you'd think a local hero like Mr Unknown, a mask Jiro's worn already and tried to live up to, that would be the one he'd want to keep. The great thing about Jiri is how transient he is. In main DCU continuity he jumps from Unknown to Batman Japan to Unknown again, with a new costume almost every appearance. He's a young guy whose ideas about what's cool seem to change every other day (apparently fads are pretty big in Japan, and it's nice that he reflects that). So stay tuned and he'll probably be Mr Unknown all over again soon enough! To me, Batman has always seemed like he's got a really sharp, dark wit just slightly hidden beneath the super serious and somber front. I mean, he names his car the Batmobile with a straight face, and other people just go along with it. Think of the Adam West show - it always feels like Batman knows how ridiculous his world can be, he's in on the joke and playing along belong he has a heroic duty and a mission. The Brave and the Bold is the best example, he's deadpan in the most knowing way. I don't know, maybe it's just me. I think early career Batman probably was way too angry and grim for humour, but older, more assured Batman is doing something he is supremely competent at and gets a lot of satisfaction from it. He's a smart guy with a darker mind, and it just makes sense to me that he'd find things quite funny on some level. Not in a callous way, not in a way that mocks anyone. But he's fighting a giant lizard monster in Japan, and he's self-aware enough to see the humour there. One day I'll do some updated Golden Age/Year One style early Bat-Man issues. One day. Big change of pace from high-tech Bond Batman. I need to read more Warren Ellis. Planetary is so obviously something I should read I just keep putting it off. Psychogeography, layers of culture and meaning people attach to places, big interest of mine. So it dominates this ten issue arc of Inc. in a way that may or may not be clear yet. Not sure how obvious the foreshadowing and clues are. It'll be be crystal clear soon enough, though. It's a shame Global Guardians trailed off, most of my input was about Uncle Sam because I wanted the title to feed into this one's use of the idea. This was me getting back to writing after a few months' break and it was slow work. I hate coming back to a two-parter, it feels like prescriptive writing by numbers because it's all planned out but you've forgotten the flow you wanted...ah. I wanted to do more with the kaiju and with old days Bat-Man but just couldn't find the way with any enjoyment. So it got cut short, with only the real arc essentials left in. Yes, being in a flow is easier. The next few Gotham-centric issues needed trimming, by contrast, because after this issue was out of the way I just felt free to pack new ideas in again. I'll return to Jiro, and possibly to Zero Island, soonish. When I've got the right words and enthusiasm. |
|
|
|
Post by Fantômas on Aug 30, 2013 21:01:43 GMT -5
Talking about writing, though, how do other writers here work? Your three issues in six hours seems like witchcraft, Charlie.
I do a lot of mind maps, and for Inc. I've been trying to use cut-and-paste notes (taking chunks of texts I want to draw on, then randomly mixing up the words into new sentences and working from them - some excerpts make it into Honor Jackson's journal extract, with old DC2 Batman issues, psychology journals and...I forget what else chopped up).
Try and surround my day with whatever influences I'm after. Skim read texts I'd like to capture the feel of, or evole on some level, pick up the vocabulary of a genre or topic.
Then I just sit and write what I can. Usually in chunks. I'll do a few scenes at a time, which has been easier since I got a smart phone to tap away at whenever there's downtime.
I don't really do revisions. Sometimes I'll go back on myself and plump up a scene if something new occurs to me, but I'm very hesitant to every get rid or replace something outright.
I enjoy writing best when it feels languid, and the prose meanders into ambiguity quite a bit. Best done when I'm awake at night, lucid but sleepy. Mindset allows for more risk-taking and weird word association leaps.
How about you, fellow DC2 writers? How do you write?
|
|
|
|
Post by HoM on Aug 31, 2013 6:10:58 GMT -5
Talking about writing, though, how do other writers here work? Your three issues in six hours seems like witchcraft, Charlie. prolificness can waver in quality. I write in a very stream of conscious style, and that can be good and bad. For example, if I'm fading on a scene, characters begin to repeat themselves, and I begin to use multiple "ands", e.g. "red and black and bloody" when describing things. It's a conscious decision, because it's how I'm feeling at that moment, that I want to get a point across and I want you to know how serious the point is. It's a narrative style, one of the tics you'll see in my work. I work best at night, I find, from 10pm onwards apparently. Last Thursday I was writing Green Lantern until gone 3am, and I was going on holiday the next day (which made for a fun train ride), just because I knew I was onto something and I couldn't stop-- I was going to be away from a computer until Sunday night! The problem is, with my job I don't get to have those late nights. I've had time off this Summer (every Friday and then a week), so that's helped get this new batch of issues done. I'm hoping I can maintain the momentum into November, when National Novel Writing Month begins. Don and I are duelling again, so I need to beat that bastard with my words. As long as I can find the right story!I do a lot of mind maps, and for Inc. I've been trying to use cut-and-paste notes (taking chunks of texts I want to draw on, then randomly mixing up the words into new sentences and working from them - some excerpts make it into Honor Jackson's journal extract, with old DC2 Batman issues, psychology journals and...I forget what else chopped up). Try and surround my day with whatever influences I'm after. Skim read texts I'd like to capture the feel of, or evole on some level, pick up the vocabulary of a genre or topic. I block out what I want to do way in advance. For example, here are my notes for the first issue of my recent run of Green Lantern: "#4 WHERE WE ONCE WERE, WHERE WE ARE NOW - picking up the threads of Season 1, putting all the other characters in place for the season "over arc"
# The Star Sapphires operate independently from the Green Lantern Corps, and they have a truce until their leaders tell them otherwise.
# The Green Lantern Corps are run by "The Council", an elite group of trusted Honour Guard including Salaak, Stel, Katma Tui and Boodika.
# The Guardians of the Universe are no longer on Oa, instead having "vacated" this plain of existence with the Zamorans to [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS]
# acombs are patrolled by constructs, no one knows they're down there. Hank doesn't know why he's there but he's plotting his escape, and he will [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS]
# Guy Gardner is severely brain-damaged though he's functioning with it, he's become a complete bastard. He flips flop between aggression and whimsy, and he's now prone to excessive violence. Whenever he is confronted with a Star Sapphire he experiences extreme headaches due to his Predator related injuries.
# Hal Jordan is completely despondent after [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS].
# Arisia is trying to get Guy to admit he's not well, as she looks up to him.
# Kyle Rayner has been thrown across the universe into the Forbidden Space outside GL jurisdiction. Still contains the power of Ion, has created a "safe haven" subconsciously where his powers are reasserting themselves unbeknownst to him.
# [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS]
# [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS]
# Red Lanterns emerge from the Crimson Scar, a space-time event in the Forbidden Space, seeking to destroy "Parallax", a being who destroyed their lives in their home reality. They think they've travelled backwards in time but [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS]"Those were the beats I knew I needed to hit, and some of the notes are loose and some are heavy, so I have room to free style a bit in the issue. When writing Green Lantern #9 the plotting started off pretty straight forward, "get characters from A to B", but then that was so boring so I took events out of #10 and brought forward some excitement to give me more room for the anniversary issue. I also come up with issue titles in advance, but then that can change from the plotting to the actual writing. There's also a media element when writing. I can listen to music, I can put something on in the background while I work, but I can't focus on it, it just has to buzz away in the background. A lot of Nine Inch Nails for my earlier work, but I've recently opened up to a lot of electronica so that's interesting. I used to never listen to "modern" music, stuff that's played on the radio, but hey, it's not all bad. TV is, of course, Breaking Bad, and I'm trying to catch up before Season 5 ends. I've hit the first episode of Season 5, so that's something! Then I just sit and write what I can. Usually in chunks. I'll do a few scenes at a time, which has been easier since I got a smart phone to tap away at whenever there's downtime. I don't really do revisions. Sometimes I'll go back on myself and plump up a scene if something new occurs to me, but I'm very hesitant to every get rid or replace something outright. I only write when I'm at home with my laptop. I have a moleskin I used to carry around with me but it's not conducive to my lifestyle anymore. Jeez, I've become such a grown up. But when I write I just churn through. I normally write in chronological order, and then I go back and fill in the blanks. The great thing about writing the next five issues of Green Lantern in advance of the FIRST deadline is I can keep thinking "OH! I CAN TEASE THIS!" and I'll go back and add more scenes across the issues. So when I'm done with my first run through I do another "over" write of it, just so I can make it as tight, epic, and broad of scope as possible. I will revise until the launch date. Alex is down as Editor but he's more there to tell me if I'm going in a bad direction. So any mistakes on the copy that goes live is down to me, because I'll just keep changing and changing and changing until I finally have to hedge my bets and go live. And even then, I'll maybe tweak here and there. For example, I wanted to make the titles of all the issues of this run tight so I went back and renamed #4 two months after the fact. Nowt bad, but it just need doing in my eyes. I enjoy writing best when it feels languid, and the prose meanders into ambiguity quite a bit. Best done when I'm awake at night, lucid but sleepy. Mindset allows for more risk-taking and weird word association leaps. I don't like being told what's what. I like to leave a lot of room for the reader to imagine. I'll give a bare bones description of a character, but because it's Green Lantern, you all know what Arisia, Guy, Hal, etc all look like. Why waste your time with superfluous description when I can commit my word count to something you've NEVER seen before (and even then...). Hank Henshaw, for example. I think he's only described as having silver hair, and then you can fill in the blanks. Your imagination is better served by me not hindering what you can come up with. I apologise if I've come across as GREEN LANTERN GREEN LANTERN GREEN LANTERN but it's what I'm working on, it's the best place to give examples from / for my frame of reference. I feel like we've hijacked Bat-Signals. Well, no harm...! |
|
|
|
Post by HoM on Aug 31, 2013 6:31:19 GMT -5
The great thing about Jiri is how transient he is. In main DCU continuity he jumps from Unknown to Batman Japan to Unknown again, with a new costume almost every appearance. He's a young guy whose ideas about what's cool seem to change every other day (apparently fads are pretty big in Japan, and it's nice that he reflects that). So stay tuned and he'll probably be Mr Unknown all over again soon enough! Oh, I like that. I'd be surprised if you didn't pull that answer out of nowhere, but I like it as a No-Prize answer, so I'll allow it! The "fad" nature of Japan fits perfectly with this new style Japanese Bat-hero, so I'd be interested to see how that might roll out. I loved Jiro's appearance in Batman Incorporated Special last week (or so), it was so zany, really in keeping with what I've seen here. Doctor Inside Out needs to make an appearance in the DC2, ha. To me, Batman has always seemed like he's got a really sharp, dark wit just slightly hidden beneath the super serious and somber front. I mean, he names his car the Batmobile with a straight face, and other people just go along with it. Think of the Adam West show - it always feels like Batman knows how ridiculous his world can be, he's in on the joke and playing along belong he has a heroic duty and a mission. The Brave and the Bold is the best example, he's deadpan in the most knowing way.
I love that Silver Age issue where Bruce Wayne takes some children camping, and they're telling stories about what they imagine Batman to look like-- the black kid says he's black, one kid describes Spider-Man, etc, etc, really cool stuff-- and Bruce is all "I'll show them!" and goes out into the dark, quick changes, and declares himself the Batman, and they're all dismissive! And the reason they're not afraid? Because they're not a superstitious and cowardly lot. It's so odd for a Silver Age issue (I think it might have been JUST on the cusp of the Neal Adams era? I'll have to find out....) to be so off the wall.I think early career Batman probably was way too angry and grim for humour, but older, more assured Batman is doing something he is supremely competent at and gets a lot of satisfaction from it. One day I'll do some updated Golden Age/Year One style early Bat-Man issues. One day. Big change of pace from high-tech Bond Batman. I think I flubbed the original concept of Batman when we launched the site. I was doing the Year One thing with that title, while David was doing the uber-prepared, hyper competent present day Batman in Detective Comics. I intended to do a hole history of Gotham-- and this was before Morrison's Batman run, before Court of Owls, etc-- with Edward Nygma as a major component, the Clue Master, etc-- but I just didn't have a grasp on what I wanted to do (sufficed to say, Ra's Al Ghul was going to be a MAJOR part of it. I still have the concept of a LAZARUS PYRAMID in my head from way back when). I say, if you want to do DC2 Batman: Year One, all the power to you. You have a grasp of the continuity and you're spearheading the Bat-titles on the site, so why not? I need to read more Warren Ellis. Planetary is so obviously something I should read I just keep putting it off. Warren Ellis is a major influence on me, full stop. I stopped emulating him a while back (I couldn't help myself) but I still love his work. I'm looking forward to Avengers: Endless Wartime GN that he's doing with Mike McKone. His Avengers-related stuff, be it Ultimate Galactus, Secret Avengers, Iron Man: Extremis, etc, was sublime, and I expect nothing but greatness from his Captain America, especially from the preview pages. This was me getting back to writing after a few months' break and it was slow work. I hate coming back to a two-parter, it feels like prescriptive writing by numbers because it's all planned out but you've forgotten the flow you wanted...ah. I wanted to do more with the kaiju and with old days Bat-Man but just couldn't find the way with any enjoyment. So it got cut short, with only the real arc essentials left in. Mate, the exact same thing happened with Green Lantern. I left in the middle of an arc, but instead of going back and making the writing process painful I just skipped the issue and worked on what I wanted to do. I think we're in different positions to do what we did. I don't owe anybody anything, ha, so I wanted to give them what they NEED, and I'll eventually go back to #3 one day, but #4 was more important to me at the time. I'd rather write what I wanted, than subscribe to some antiquated idea of consistency. This is DC2. This is fan fiction. We're not getting paid, so we need to do what's best for us. Yes, being in a flow is easier. The next few Gotham-centric issues needed trimming, by contrast, because after this issue was out of the way I just felt free to pack new ideas in again. Look forward to it, mate! See you next issue! |
|
|
|
Post by Fantômas on Aug 31, 2013 11:43:42 GMT -5
You've mentioned having a Batman timeline in DC2, is that right? Care to share?
The more sense of continuation from Batman's DC2 past I can build on in Inc. the better.
|
|
|
|
Post by HoM on Aug 31, 2013 12:01:59 GMT -5
You've mentioned having a Batman timeline in DC2, is that right? Care to share? The more sense of continuation from Batman's DC2 past I can build on in Inc. the better. Ah man, it's all in my head nowadays. But basically... Batman #0 is set six years before Detective Comics #0. In Batman #0 Bruce is 25 and has just returned to Gotham after leaving Gotham when he hit 18, and travelled the world learning his craft. The general idea when we launched was that six years ago, Batman debuted. Five years ago, Superman debuted, and then it all rolled out from there. |
|
|
|
Post by HoM on Aug 31, 2013 12:48:12 GMT -5
I just found the original versions of Batman #3 and #4, the final adventure of the proto-Batman, before Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham, and it's quintessential 2005 HoM writing... tenses all over the pace but predominantly in the present (ugh), the scenes are all over the place, but it's all there, the big graduating story for Batman.
Ties directly into Batman #0 and closes the circle from that debut issue. Two issues: "The Genesis of the Bat".
I can send it over if you like, might be something that can be salvaged into something. Not sure what!
|
|
|
|
Post by Fantômas on Aug 31, 2013 17:24:27 GMT -5
I just found the original versions of Batman #3 and #4, the final adventure of the proto-Batman, before Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham, and it's quintessential 2005 HoM writing... tenses all over the pace but predominantly in the present (ugh), the scenes are all over the place, but it's all there, the big graduating story for Batman. Ties directly into Batman #0 and closes the circle from that debut issue. Two issues: "The Genesis of the Bat". I can send it over if you like, might be something that can be salvaged into something. Not sure what! That would be fantastic, please do. |
|
|
|
Post by HoM on Aug 31, 2013 17:35:14 GMT -5
That should be in your inbox, mate.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fantômas on Aug 31, 2013 17:46:36 GMT -5
Mind sending it again?
Old email address. Updated it just now, so it should be fine this time.
|
|
|
|
Post by HoM on Sept 1, 2013 5:11:53 GMT -5
Done
|
|
|
|
Post by HoM on Sept 7, 2013 13:20:37 GMT -5
How far ahead do you plot your title? I'm up until #52 and that'll take me to the end of 2013 with the posting schedule I'm intending, and I've got a loose plan for 2014. I know you mentioned you're planned up until #10 elsewhere, but beyond that?
|
|
|
|
Post by Fantômas on Sept 7, 2013 13:41:51 GMT -5
Started this with the intention of doing self-contained stories, but I realised I couldn't tell this one in one issue.
I knew my end point and a few stops along the way, and I've had each issue vaguely plotted (I keep coming back and adding more though, and there's always more stuff than I can use, which is good for later on I guess).
Once we've done issue #10 I'm going to try and do much shorter, more contained stories. Like two issues a story maximum. Get to the rotating cast of inc. with less Bruce and Gotham (though I really like Bruce and Gotham...so I might have to find an outlet for that).
So I planned ahead for this, but am trying not to plan ahead so much in the future. More fun writing what's immediately appealing to me than saving it and potentially losing interest.
|
|
