Comics Interview — Issue #070

Screenwriter of the Batman movie discusses his involvement from his Warner Bros. contract through five drafts, his intent to make a serious, dark-toned film, and the changes made after his drafts (notably the retconned Joker/Wayne parents connection he strongly objected to). Also covers his work writing Detective Comics #598–600 for Batman's 50th anniversary and his completed Watchmen screenplay, with Terry Gilliam reportedly set to direct.

Englehart details his 1986 hire by DC to write Batman movie treatments after years of stalled scripts, describing his pitch to kill Robin in the opening seconds, the studio's resistance, and how his treatment (which introduced Silver St. Cloud and a darker tone) was used as the basis that led to Sam Hamm's script. He also disputes claims about who originated the homicidal Joker and addresses the failed mid-80s negotiations for him and Marshall Rogers to return to the Batman comic.

The two creators describe their September visit to the Pinewood Studios Batman set during the UK Comic Art Convention, offering vivid impressions of the Gotham City exteriors, the Batmobiles, and the production design's retro-Art Deco aesthetic. They express cautious optimism about the film's quality while noting the one universal uncertainty: Michael Keaton as Batman.

Batman's creator shares his role as movie consultant, his submissions of costume sketches and a story bible, and his reactions to Tim Burton's casting choices. He defends Michael Keaton as better suited than expected, praises Jack Nicholson's Joker, disputes the killing of Robin, and credits (and eulogizes) Bill Finger's unsung contributions to the character. He also discusses his ongoing fine-art career and forthcoming autobiography.

The classic Batman ghost artist recounts how he was hired by Whitney Ellsworth at DC in the early 1940s, his development of a cinematic panel style, his long collaboration with inker Charlie Paris, and his design of key Bat-vehicles. He explains his voluntary retirement around 1963 due to creative burnout, and describes his current work doing licensed Batman cover recreations and occasional DC commissions.

The senior editor at Mayfair Games explains why the DC Heroes RPG is being revised: the DC Universe has changed drastically since publication (post-*Crisis*, Legends, Millennium), and the existing rules contain character-stat inconsistencies. He describes designer Ray Winninger's work on a uniform revision and discusses the game's strength in personal-interaction subplots versus "beat 'em up" competitor systems.

Canadian documentary filmmaker Ron Mann discusses Comic Book Confidential, his 90-minute theatrical film profiling comics history through interviews with ~45 creators including Will Eisner, Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Harvey Kurtzman, and Stan Lee. He explains his outsider-to-convert arc, his focus on underground comics and censorship history (Kefauver hearings footage), and the film's festival run (Berlin, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal).

Brief editorial welcoming the Batman-movie-themed issue and noting that the film's release has brought unprecedented mainstream attention to comics culture.