Over his time at DC, Tom Taylor has handled quite a few events and event-level titles. That includes Dark Knights of Steel, DCeased, and the massive Injustice. But for his latest feat, he’s really letting it all go to the dogs — or should we say beasts.
That’s right, the end of the month sees the debut of Titans: Beast World, from Taylor and an art team comprised of Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, Brad Anderson, and Wes Abbott. Serving as the team’s very first crossover, Beast World both spins directly out of the events in the ongoing Titans series while building on other recent events like Dark Crisis and Knight Terrors. In it, Beast Boy must step up as the rest of the DC finds themselves unable to counter a strange new cosmic foe, Necrostar.
But that’s only the beginning, and from there we see a proper catastrophe where “friends will fall. Heroes will rise. And nothing will ever be the same again.” (Not only does Beast Boy take more of a lead role, but expect major star turns from Amanda Waller and the Suicide Squad.) This may be the Titans’ first time at the big dance, but Beast World has the makings for something with deep and cutting impact across the entire DCU.
Titans: Beast World #1 debuts next week, Tuesday, November 28. (For a list of all the titles involved in the crossover, head here.) In the meantime, we caught up with Taylor recently for a deep dive into all things Beast World. That includes Beast Boy’s ongoing development, the event’s big bads, and even the importance of Tamaran.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: I think you’ve done a really great job of building up Gar over your Titans run. What about him, aside from the obvious stuff with his powers, made him a good lead?
Tom Taylor: I think as soon as I started writing him, and particularly as soon as Nicola [Scott] started drawing him, I quickly realized that he’s the heart of the Titans. He’s their soul. I found a similar thing when I was writing X-Men, and found the same thing with Nightcrawler. I found these characters. And as soon as you jump onto something like that, it’s very hard to get it out of your head. And so when it came to writing an event, if you’ve read anything I’ve ever written — DCeased or Injustice — I like tearing people’s hearts out. I like making fans cry on public transport. But as soon as I identified him as the heart, I was like, OK, well, first of all, I want to elevate him. I don’t want him to be the joke character off to the side. There was something really perfect about lifting Gar up to the point where Beast Boy would be the only person who can save the world. But then also, you know, putting him in that kind of danger and what that does to the rest of the Titans. That’s the key element.
AIPT: Similarly, you’ve done a great job of uplifting the whole Titans team. Was there a sense in creating this event that you’re putting a cap on their big step-up? Or did they never need an event to be big and this is just some celebration?
TT: In this phase of DC, I think it’s them stepping up to fulfill that promise that they’ve had since they were the New Teen Titans. The idea that these kids would grow up to be the premier superhero team was incredibly important. I don’t think they need an event like this for validation, but having said that, I think the fact that the Titans have never had an event is astounding. Like, I kept getting told that early on. I was like, ‘Hang on, what? This has never happened before.’ Which is such a weird thing. But here we are. I mean, this event really does test them in big ways. Yes, there’s big moments for every Titan. But this isn’t necessarily going to end the way you think it will end.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: I want to talk about, however briefly or however much you want to tease, the “big bad” known as Necrostar. I love big, cosmic villains, and a kind of unfathomable monster. What should folks know ahead of time?
TT: So there’s not much we can reveal about [Necrostar]. A lot of it all comes together in Titans issue #6 and #7. That’s where the Necrostar and its roots take place. Basically, it’s connected to Tamaran in a way that people won’t see coming. And, obviously, Brother Eternity is the one who launches this and we get a lot of backstory. There’s a lot of things that are key for Starfire in Titans #6 and #7, which are our Beast World tie-ins. They’re not just tie-ins for the sake of it; they’re really, really integral to the story.
AIPT: You’re also playing with Tamaran and some of that lore, and I feel like this is a place that’s also underserviced alongside the Titans. Was that a cognizant thought too, of, ‘I want to play around with this culture, this planet a little more?’
TT: I think as soon as I jumped on the Titans, I wanted to sort of elevate every one of them. I wanted to know more about them. And when I found holes in Starfire’s origin, which has changed a few times. There’s been a number of projects in New 52 and all the way back to [her origins]. And I wanted to solidify that and also twist it a little bit. As you’ll see, there’s things about her past that she doesn’t know that we’ll learn with her. So I wanted all these Titans to have their moments, and this is the event that will hopefully do that.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: She’s also mentioned in the first issue of Beast World, but we have to talk Amanda Waller. I feel like she’s going to play a big role in this event and everything happening to DC. What can you tease about that?
TT: All I can say is that, yes, Amanda Waller has a very, very large part to play in this event. We have been talking for years about where we want to position her. Literally, I think San Diego, not this year, but last year, Josh Williamson and I were sitting probably with [DC editor] Paul Kaminski and other, just talking about where we want to place her and how important her role is going to be. I’ve talked about the fact that the status quo really does change at the end of this, and Amanda Waller is a very large part of that. All will be revealed.
AIPT: There’s also the presence of Brother Blood/Brother Eternity, who has been a really interesting figure in your Titans run coming into this. Is he somebody that you’ve enjoyed playing around with? Do you feel like people can’t really kind of get a grasp of who he is and where he’s coming from and his kind of larger machinations?
TT: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I always love having a built-in mystery, and who Brother Eternity is and what he wants and what he’ll do to get it is all very key to this. So as we slowly reveal that, I’m having a lot of fun. But also the same can be said of Doctor Hate, who has a big role in the first issue as we find out. But Doctor Hate and the mystery behind the helmet is a huge part of this as well, and will have very large ramifications.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: Without spoiling too much, I do love Doctor Hate’s role in issue #1: it’s a solid support role but he’s also the lead villain in a lot of ways.
TT: I think a lot of people are going to go into this expecting to see like a romp with a bunch of beast people — a bunch of people who are turning to otters and kangaroos and stuff, but it’s kind of not that for a lot of this. There’s a lot more going on in this story than it looks on the surface level. Yes, you do get Nightwing turned into a fox because we’d be inhuman monsters not to do that. People want to see that. And, yes, somebody in the Gotham group turned Harley Quinn into a giant, muscle-bound bunny. There is a lot of pain to come for our characters in Beast World.
AIPT: I feel like the idea of the whole everybody gets turned into a giant animal is really ridiculous and I think it lulls people into this false sense of, ‘Oh, this is going to be kind of goofy. And then I read the first issue and thought, they’re not messing around.
TT: It’s been interesting because we have the Beast World Tour issues, which are written by people like Chip Zdarsky and Si Spurrier and Josh Williamson. And we have the creative teams that are essential to the characters where those cities take place that are joining us as well as some great other teams. So it’s been interesting watching them take this bible I wrote for this event…and who went ridiculous with it, like Harley Quinn as a giant bunny. But then who went terrifying with it, like Si Spurrier turning Gar into a giant hornet. But certainly I think we sort of lure people in with these sort of amusing ideas, like Gar becoming a Starro called Garro. That’s funny, but wait until you read it.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: Just a couple more questions for you. I think one of the things I’ve been thinking about is I feel like there’s been so many events as of late: Dark Crisis, Knight Terrors, and Gotham War. Was there trepidation on your end of, ‘Is this just going to be another event?’ Or do you feel like there’s something kind of important to having these events back to back to back to back?
TT: Each of these events have, they’ve mostly been for a reason. Like, you see Doctor Hate at the end of Knight Terrors. We’ve seen the rise of Waller over all of this. There are things that happened in Dark Crisis to elevate the Titans to where they are now. So, Josh [Williamson] and I were certainly talking across all of these and making sure that there was synergy and we were working together rather than as opposing forces.
But I think one of the best things for me about Beast World is how long I’ve known we were building to this. The five issues of Titans are all really building to this event. This isn’t something that’s coming along to stop momentum; this is something that we’re building to. And it’s not something that happens across every book and halts other stories; it’s something that’s integrated into Nightwing and Titans. And then we have our Beast World Tour stories…and it’s not like, ‘OK, Flash stops now to deal with this.’ It’s not that kind of line-wide event. It’s an event that’s important to the characters and central to this. And to me, I get a chance to write more Titans, which I’m not going to argue with as we’re trying to elevate them to this massive level and show how important they are.
Courtesy of DC Comics.
AIPT: I do think these events have been pretty high caliber, and done in such a thoughtful and incremental fashion. But I’m also curious, if you feel indebted somehow. Like, everything has to resonate the same tone or feeling and meet those accomplishments of other events. Or, is everything a little more free-form for you?
TT: I think there is an immense freedom here. I think considering this is an event that touches every corner of the DCU, they’ve said, ‘Tom, go for it.’ They’ve seen what I’ve done with DCeased and Injustice and gone, ‘OK, you’ll do something like this in continuity.’ I understand I can’t break things, but I can bend them. I can bend figures until their legs are pointing the wrong direction. So this is really me kind of unleashed, and no, I don’t have to follow the tones of what’s come before — one of the beauties of working for DC and working for these companies and doing this is that they’re not coming to you. because you can mimic someone else’s voice. They’re coming to you because you’re a writer and they appreciate what you bring. And in Beast World, we bring it all in spades.
AIPT: Last question: you’ve mentioned this in other interviews, and also just a few minutes ago, but there’s this idea of a new status quo. Can you tease, however cryptically, what that might look like?
TT: I can’t tease too much, but I can say that Amanda Waller is central to it. That we are coming to a time when she grasps more power. And that’s about all I can say.
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