A common misconception about Batman is that he’s “grounded” due to being a regular man who takes on crime with his vast array of skills and immense fortune. I’d argue the opposite: his enemies include a shapeshifting pile of clay and a literal plant lady, he’s friends with a solar-powered alien and a Greek demigoddess, and he’s battled everything from aliens to gods. Rodney Barnes also seems to understand this, which is why his upcoming Black Label book Batman: Full Moon will see Batman go up against a werewolf!
I sat down with Barnes on Friday to discuss Batman: Full Moon (drawn by Stevan Subic) and his horror work, as well as some of his favorite horror movies.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
AIPT: What was the genesis of this project?
Rodney Barnes: My editor and I went through a lot of “Who could Batman fight that would take him out of Gotham City and present a different type of obstacle to him?” The gadgets don’t work, the Batcave…none of the typical Batman stuff he uses to win. He has to use his wits. We have to take it to a place emotionally that takes him to the edge and forces him to look at himself as Bruce Wayne as much as he does as Batman.
AIPT: This is a Black Label book, which means it’s a little darker than regular DC fare.
RB: You get to cuss, you get to pull off limbs…you get to do a whole lot of stuff.
AIPT: Your other comics, particularly Killadelphia, are horror-based. What draws you to this genre?
RB: I’ve always wanted to do it. I loved it as a kid, I loved Swamp Thing, I loved a lot of the Universal Monsters growing up, the Hammer films…up until this point, my film and TV work didn’t really open up a lane for me to do it. So when I started writing comics, even when I did Falcon for Marvel I had him fighting vampires! So I always wanted to be in this space, and sort of created a lane for myself to get it out of my system.
AIPT: Are you a fan of any other horror-based DC characters?
RB: Love John Constantine, who’s co-starring in the book. Originally I wanted to do a Batman/Swamp Thing team-up because there’s a history between those characters…for the most part other than Swamp Thing and Batman I hadn’t really considered. I did want to do a Nightwing thing with vampires and werewolves, put him in a place that sort of took up where Batman left off and put him in a dark world as well.
AIPT: I have to ask…do you have any favorite werewolf movies or TV shows?
RB: Oh yeah! I Was a Teenage Werewolf. Any of the stuff with Universal, the black and white stuff I saw as a kid I loved it…the Lon Chaney Jr. stuff, Abbott and Costello Meets the Wolf Man. The Howling. An American Werewolf in London.
AIPT: If you could describe Batman: Full Moon in one word, what would it be?
Scary. It’s a lot of rage, because it’s a Black Label book we push to the extreme and push the boundaries of what I’ve known a comic book to be.
Batman: Full Moon #1 will be available wherever comics are sold on October 9, 2024.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login