Inside the ‘Other History’ of Comic Book Superheroes
GG: Jefferson additionally has pointed views on Superman. Did you get pushback?
JR: No, as a result of it’s not about Superman being a nasty man. We go to Superman and different heroes by way of the lens of these characters. Even although Superman is an immigrant and really an alien, his passport is stamped as a result of of the approach he appears and since of the approach he presents himself.
All of these characters should reconcile how they view different individuals and whether or not they’re being honest. If I made Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman unhealthy individuals, I’m positive we’d have had pushback. But it was all honest sport if it got here from a perspective that felt actual and grounded.
GG: How did the venture initially come collectively?
JR: I used to be very nervous once I pitched it. It was a form of vanity, perhaps, to come back again and say, I wish to have a look at your total historical past and shift the lens a bit and have some actual speak about some of these characters. To their credit score, DC noticed the worth. This was lengthy earlier than the present counting on race and illustration.
When you’re coping with tales about race, otherization, individuals outdoors of the prevailing tradition, sadly, it’s going to be related nearly any time it comes out.
GG: Let’s speak about your upcoming Batman comedian and your tease that it could extremely possible be a nonwhite Batman.
JR: Let me verify that it’s undoubtedly a Black particular person below the cowl. It was an off-the-cuff line, meant to be humorous. Comic ebook followers are the finest followers. They will undergo every little thing and verify it and recheck it. It was the quip heard round the world. Definitely, surely, the subsequent Batman is a Black Batperson.
GG: I like that you simply’re saying “person” and never “man.”
JR: I’ve to have what enjoyable I can. There’s no purpose in the fashionable period to suppose that the one who is representing Batman is a person. But whoever it’s, it’s an attention-grabbing alternative to populate the world round this new Batman. We’ll have some attention-grabbing characters coming in and so much of illustration. It was actually essential to ensure that this Gotham City was properly represented.
