Lee Bermejo's first take as a writer/artist will be in stores in a matter of days and MTV Geek interviewed to try and pose some questions we may not have heard already. Were they successful?
MTV Geek: In the story, you have three very specific Batman characters as the three spirits who show up… Who they are makes a lot of sense, but given what you just said, was there trial and error there? Or did you have them set from the get-go?
Lee Bermejo: I knew right away who I was going to use, and why they would work. I knew that Scrooge had a partner, and so Robin fits right into that mix. And given that Robin had died in the comics makes it actually work even better to me. Catwoman as a character, too… Besides the fact that in the story, this ghost is a little girl, Catwoman would just be interesting because, number one, my version of the character is a bit more playful, and number two, she has all these interpretations along the history of the character. Even though I only show it once, I was hoping that decompression there would help people get the fact that these two characters have a history together. If you go back to the original look of Catwoman, it’s much different than it is today, the interpretation of the character has changed over the years… She seemed to work really well in that role. The Ghost of Christmas Present, Superman fit perfectly because of his attitude – besides having the big, larger than life presence, I needed a character that had that goodliness to him. You can’t go wrong with Superman playing that part. And the point, from the very beginning, was to have The Joker play The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.
MTV Geek: Just to wrap it up, for anyone who says, “Aw man, ANOTHER Christmas Carol story?” what’s going to make them have to pick up this book?
Lee Bermejo: Honestly, I hope that the Christmas Carol aspect of it doesn’t hang people up. I know full well that it’s one of the most heavily adapted works of literature of all time, but I hope people will get the fact that its not just about A Christmas Carol. If people aren’t interested, hopefully they’ll pick it up for the art, if nothing else. [Laughs]
For the entire interview, including talk about the differences in Bermejo's take on the Bat-suit, head over to MTV Geek. Batman: Noel is in stores this Wednesday, November 2.
Posted by Dustin Fritschel