Writer John Layman Talks Detective Comics Finale

by Joey Garces
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“Gothtopia” is ending this week in Detective Comics #29 and for writer John Layman this signals a hiatus to be taken from the Dark Knight. The Chew creator recently sat down with Newsarama to talk about the finale and his brief return to writing Batman when he co-writes 4 issues for Batman Eternal. Layman was originally supposed to be on the creative team for a longer duration but he dropped out and was replaced by Nightwing writer Kyle Higgins.

To read the whole interview between Newsarama and Layman you can check it out here, below I’m just going to list some important take aways from the interview.

john layman

NR: Now that you’re finishing up your run as a Batman writer, do the themes you’re exploring in this final story relate to what you’ve been exploring over the last year and a half in Detective Comics?

JL: “No, not really. I went into this arc before I knew it was my final arc, so it wasn’t about thematically tying everything together so much as it was about exploring a character I had not before, in a way that I hope had not been done before.”

NR: You’re writing 4 issues of Batman Eternal, and we’ve already talked to the other writers on the weekly about the characters they’re concentrating on during their stories, as well as what genre or approach they’re utilizing in their issues. Anything you can reveal about your issues and the approach you took?

JL: “Well, we’re following a story architecture given to us by Scott Snyder and James Tynion, and my stories have a bit more “street-level Gotham” to them — stuff with rival gangsters, new Gotham “bosses,” and the role of the GCPD.”

detective comics 29

NR: OK, let’s talk about this week’s Detective Comics finale. As you revealed on the final page of issue #28, Scarecrow is being served by Batgirl, Talon, Catwoman and Batwoman — and Batman is apparently going to have to fight them all. How does this battle affect Batman? What can you tell us about what we might see as they fight?

JL: Well, there has been a formula to my Batman stories, and I hope it’s not too obvious. Batman is smart — this is Detective Comics, after all, and he’s one of the world’s smartest detectives — so there’s always a point where you realize Batman is one step ahead of where you thought he was, and things aren’t quite what you thought they were or expected.

So yes… Batman fights them briefly… and then he does something you would not expect. All part of the plan!”

Detective Comics #29 is out now.

Source: Newsarama

 

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