Judd Winick has been busy in The Batman Universe writing both Catwoman and Batwing. In May, he will guest write Batman: The Dark Knight. That means Winick will be writing three of the titles for the Night of the Owls crossover. Comic Book Resources talked with Winick about all three titles and how they fit into the crossover.
CBR: While you are already the series writer for both "Catwoman" and "Batwing," the surprising title is, of course, "The Dark Knight." How did you end up coming in to write that series' "Night of the Owls" issue?
Judd Winick: Well, like I said, Scott had this idea, something that had not been touched upon. I can't go into it too much; it becomes a massive spoiler to discuss what's at the heart of it! But it comes out to be one of the only stories that is told from the perspective of the Talons. It is told from one of the assassins from the Court of Owls, totally from his point of view. What makes it interesting, and I think what's fun about "The Dark Knight" and what it should be, is the "Dark Knight" stuff should feel a little bit off the beaten path. It should be different Batman stories, not just another one; "Detective" goes one avenue, "Batman" goes another avenue and "Dark Knight" should take another one. I think in this case, this is all about Batman, but [in "Dark Knight"] we're learning something about the Talons themselves. Particularly this [Talon].
CBR: Flipping over to your other books, as you mentioned "Catwoman" and "Batwing" are two titles readers might not think to include in the event, especially "Catwoman" given Selina's new status quo as a criminal. That being the case, why is she protecting Penguin from the Talons? What's in it for her?
Judd Winick: She, to be honest, has absolutely nothing to do with Batman on it. That was the fun part. We were never going to have it that Batman was going to reach out to Catwoman and say, "Hey, I need help with this!" She is not part of the Bat family, she's not part of the clique, the crew; she is not a go-to person at all. So it is through happenstance, which we set up prior to "Night of the Owls" — instead of a one-shot this is actually something that we built in. Simply said, as people will come to learn, she has a new running buddy, this thief called Spark, and they're pulling a heist and that heist actually involves Penguin in a fashion. The Penguin's a target and one thing will lead to another and she'll get sucked into this. It's probably the first time in our run that we see Catwoman do something for the sake of good completely. It is her dipping her toe in the water of doing the right thing inherently, which will be kind of interesting.
CBR: The third and final book you're writing is "Batwing," and you're bringing David Zamvimbi back to Gotham for this event. While everyone else in the event, even if they aren't part of the Bat family like Selina, have connections to Gotham and Gotham's history, David is the outsider in all this. What does he bring to the event why did you want to tell it from his perspective?
Judd Winick: Well, it's also a turning point! For one we worked it out that he's in Gotham; we finish issue #7 and #8 of "Batwing" and Batwing's in Gotham City so it's not a very big leap to keep his ass there! [Laughs] Again, that was part of the plan that we were looking towards wrapping up this major first arc, if you can call it an arc, this major first story, movement we have in Batwing. Then he and Matu Ba, who is his handler, stay in on Batman Incorporated business. He is a soldier in Batman Incorporated [and] with that this will take place in Gotham; we'll be opening the door to this larger upcoming story and in general taking a major step towards Batwing becoming a larger part of the Bat family. We've established who Batwing is, how he operates, him and Africa. We spent a lot of time in Africa developing the story, the environment, his character, what he feels like. I don't want to give anything away but now we're going to start to see a lot more of Batwing and a lot more of the Bat family, and it'll have a more international feel. So, another one that has a big turning point — this is where it starts.
For the entire interview, including more details about the Talons in each title, head over to Comic Book Resources. Winick's Catwoman, Batwing and Batman: The Dark Knight featuring the Night of Owls crossover will hit stores in May.
Posted by Dustin Fritschel
