In a recent interview with Newsarama, Scott Snyder talked about the recent introductions of Bluebird, Spoiler, and Batman's new generation of allies who will be female and the new mysterious sidekick in the Batcave.
Newsarama: Scott, I bet this was a fun day for you, wasn't it? For people to finally see this issue?
Scott Snyder: I know! I know, right? I'm excited. It was a fun issue to do. I'm really, really proud of it.
Newsarama: After reading the issue, someone asked me to, what's the first reaction you have to it? And I said, "Girl power!" There are all these women on his team! Was that intentional? What was the thinking behind it?
Scott Snyder: Yeah, absolutely, it was intentional. Batman has had some incredibly strong female characters in Gotham. And he still has allies and villains that are some of the best female characters in comics, from Batgirl to Poison Ivy and beyond. But one of the things we thought was, with the Robins in new roles and Damian gone, it's time to start thinking about — for Batman's 75th anniversary — new characters that we could bring in, or old, familiar characters that we could bring back in new ways. It would be a new generation of allies for him. That doesn't mean in any way that our plans for the older generation and the established allies and family are any less bombastic or important this year, for the 75th. But it's also a celebration of all things Bat, and that means giving Batman some new people in his life. So we wanted to start in a way that made it clear that we're interested in doing some new things. And really, this issue is just the top of the iceberg — both in terms of the characters that are going to be introduced, and the characters that you know and love who are going to get new statuses.
Newsarama: You know, talking about girls… we all assume that's a girl in the Batcave in this issue. Can you confirm that it's a girl?
Scott Snyder: [Laughs.] It definitely looks like a girl. I'll say that.
Newsarama: While the Batcave girl is a mystery, you've revealed what's going to happen with Harper Row. As you were coming up with her character, did you know her eventual path? Or was this something that evolved?
Scott Snyder: It definitely evolved. One of the things I wanted to do when I created her was not to have a set point in mind, in terms of her eventual costume and status. Part of me thought it might be fun to keep her entirely out of costume, and part of me wondered if maybe there was room for her to be Robin, and part of me wondered if we'd do something brand new with her. And really, it became about feeling it out as it went, and trying to put the emphasis on her and her brother Cullen, as real and viable and, hopefully, exciting characters to readers, before anything else. What she is for me is, she's someone who lives and struggles in Gotham, and serves as a tribute to the type of characters you see in Gotham Central and a lot of the animated series — the people on the street, that we can forget about when we get all wrapped in the giant figures that we know from Gotham. So that was the most important to me, to make sure she was a character, and her brother was a character, that people responded to. And then to figure out her status after.
To read the entire interview click here! Batman #29 will hit the shelves on March 12.
Posted by Dane Haji
