THE DOOM THAT CAME TO GOTHAM

before embarking on him hell boy very, Mike Mignola His iconic Gothic style graced numerous superhero comics Gotham by GaslightAfter establishing a storytelling sensibility as unique as his art, Mignola moved to DC for another Elseworlds project. i am back. Batman: What Fate Came to Gotham he co-wrote Richard Pace and Troy Nixie about art. The three-issue miniseries reimagines Batman as an adventurer in his 1920s pulp his fiction, returning home to fight Lovecraft-inspired terror. An underrated gem and a must-read for both Batman and Mignola fans. Over 20 years since its publication, Doom came to Gotham We are receiving our own animated movie adaptation available this week.

Prior to the release of the film, I was fortunate enough to speak with some of the filmmakers. Doom came to Gotham including screenwriter Jace Rich As well as being a producer and co-director, Sam RyuOur discussions included approaches to translating comic book mini-series into different mediums, approaches to exploiting existential horror, and more.

Taimur Dar: Some people may see you finished dc superhero girls As a perfect 180 flip into this Lovecraftian Batman story.i personally loved it DCSHG And how much depth and character we were able to bring to the children’s show. Fate came to Gotham Will there be an Elseworlds comic miniseries?

Jace Rich: it was true gym warHe is a Warner Bros. producer. [and] wonderful writer. There was an office across the street. At one point, an executive said, “You should see Jim.” Even before I became a professional writer, he was a fan of DC’s animated movies.i saw death of superman At Comic Con, I thought it was great. The executive knew about it and introduced us. When this project came up, it actually came out during the pandemic. Jim knew I was a big horror fan, so he called me. we are both.This seemed like the perfect combination being both a horror and comic book fan. dc superhero girlsPrior to that, he worked on Disney projects. It would have been nice to do something a little more horror oriented and delve into some really bad Lovecraft.

Dar: Like many people, I introduced comic creator Mike Mignola. hell boy It was a Guillermo del Toro movie. After the second movie, I finally decided to read the actual manga, and I’ve been working hard on it. hell boy fan ever since. Fate came to Gotham is filled with so many iconic Mignola story tropes and themes that he first introduced in the Hellboy books. hell boy before this project?

rich: I’m like you I was a fan of reverse engineering. I got used to the characters and went back. I really liked the animated movie that came out. Mignola clearly she’s a Lovecraft fan. Because it incorporates much of her Lovecraftian lore into her own mythology. I mean, everyone owes Lovecraft in some way.or dc superhero girls I did a little bit of the movie in Dimensional Portal. [Laughs].

Dar: These DC animated movies have had numerous adaptations over the years.The gold standard for me, or at least my personal favourite, is all star supermanbecause it not only extracts the essence of the manga, but also enhances it and improves it in some ways. Were there any additions or changes you made? Doom came to Gotham What are you particularly proud of?

rich: I’m a horror fan and I love werewolves. Remember, at the end of Act 3, when Batman is about to attack Ra for the final showdown, he has two Guardians. You haven’t seen them in the books, but they are followers of Ra who transforms into werewolves, and Batman has to fight werewolves with bows and arrows. I wanted him to be an emotional enemy and the penultimate final boss. I came up with the idea to resurrect Oliver and Robbins as zombies because I need zombies. I thought it would have a little more emotional impact to push Batman out of the world of science and into fighting the illusion. Flashing images of Sam alive and happy before Batman has to kill them. I especially liked the fact that I was allowed to do that.

Dar: Speaking of Robbins, it was interesting to see Tim Drake changed to Cassandra Cain’s analogue, Kai Lee Cain, and Jason Todd to Sanjay Taude. Obviously, that brings some diversity to the cast, but it also subverts Lovecraft’s notorious xenophobia that pervades his work. Can you discuss diversity selection in adaptation?

rich: I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t in the back of our minds. Especially as you said, you have to be careful to say how much you love Lovecraft. Jim Krieg was the driving force behind Lucius Fox. Batman has been traveling since he was eight years old and has returned to the Batcave. How about the Batcave there? Lucius Fox. That was it, but it also helped explain a bit. “For some reason, people don’t listen to me,” is a bit of a commentary.

Really, it was an organic addition. Same with Robbins. Like I said, Batman has traveled the world since he was eight or ten years old, amassing these young wards. They all seemed British. I fell in love with Kai Lee’s character. She plays the same role as Tim in the book, but here she’s a little further on her way into our world. She asks questions explaining things for us. I really liked her relationship with Bruce and Oliver. It was a happy confluence of several things. It was organic, but it added diversity to the cast of characters.

Dar: Lastly, this won’t be the last time you work on The Dark Knight, so I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that you were involved in something that was highly anticipated. Batman: Caped Crusader anime series.

rich: I! What an honor!

Dar: Obviously, I can’t reveal too much. Also, it will be revealed and announced at some point. Like most people, I was incredibly overjoyed and relieved that Amazon picked up the series after HBO Max dropped it.

rich: It’s hard to believe the show won’t be picked up anywhere, but I’m relieved. I was not involved in the sale. I’m not proud or anything. But it was like, ‘Come on, someone’s going to want to see Batman! [Laughs]

Taimur Dar: You have co-directed many DC animation projects in your career. I’m sure the experience is always different. I didn’t know you and co-director Christopher Berkley would go back almost 25 years to your time on Columbia Tristar Television. What was your working relationship with him on this project?

Sam Liu: i love chris We knew each other before we turned pro.even on me death In short, I relied on him a lot [as well as] red sonChris is a very good storyteller. I feel sorry for Chris. I’m picking these bizarre projects to engage Chris. I think he’s like, “What is this?” [Laughs]. death It’s a very conceptual work, and I think it took me a while to get used to it. I remember when we were talking about it. JM [DeMatteis] I think it had to be written in a very specific way, so I’m involved. Chris is someone who understands the sentiment and philosophy of the subtext.

Dar: It wasn’t drawn by Mike Mignola, Doom Comes to Gotham Troy Nixie’s art and designs still have the spirit and feel of Mignola. Killer Croc definitely resembles Frog Monster. hell boyYou have a great design team that specializes in weird creatures like Thomas Perkins. Some characters are easily recognizable from the manga, while others are major starting points like Etrigan.

Sam Liu: a lot of credit Chris SumneyHe did a lot of our pre-production art. He was clearly too busy working on his own creator-owned stuff on Image. But he was able to do some concept work for us. We started talking, apparently seeing Troy Nixie’s stuff, other than Etrigan. This is personal to me. I will be slaughtered by this, but I didn’t like the “clown costume”. [Laughs]I never understood it. So I was like, ‘Can we do that without the clown costume?’ They weren’t big enough. [Laughs]And if I feel that way, just assumed [for] People who don’t know Etrigan may be a little confused.

Eric KaneteAn amazing comic artist and illustrator, he was kind enough to do some freelance work for me even though I didn’t want to do it anymore. But I begged him. When he was storyboarding a fight with penguins, he said, They are just big birds. ” [Laughs]I knew I had to handle this differently. It was paired with Thomas Perkins, who loves this stuff. . Those penguins I think are great. These are some of my favorite designs he’s done. I think Chris Samnee stabbed some sort of Iog-Sotha creature. But it wasn’t perfect so I made some tweaks. Tom passed things too. It was more sophisticated than anything else.

Dar: Before I started this project, I was interested in reading and becoming a fan of HP Lovecraft. If so, do you have a particular favorite story or adaptation of his work?

Sam Liu: It’s funny because I know Lovecraft. I’m used to writing.Like Penguin’s Diary, it’s very Lovecraftian [i.e.] Listening to someone’s thoughts when they’re crazy.I played Call of Cthulhu when i was young [Laughs]We had someone on the team who was a huge Lovecraft fan, so we relied heavily on him. Sounds like a lot of stories, but without a good ending. It’s basically the practice of going crazy to death.But I saw something like colors from outer space starring Nicholas Cage [and] clearly case.

Batman: What Fate Came to Gotham Available in digital and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack and Blu-ray on March 28, 2023.

Related