The Ultimate Guide To Scott Beatty

By Michael Deeley

Scott Beatty has been writing for DC comics since the mid-1990s. His most prominent works were his contributions to the Secret Files and Origins specials, Robin: Year One, and the recent Joker: The Last Laugh. He has just been announced as the new writer for Batman: Gotham Knights, following Devin Grayson's departure. He has also been hired by CrossGen to follow Mark Waid on the Eisner award nominated series Ruse.

When I learned he lived in Pennsylvania like me, I asked him for an interview.

Mike Deeley: Your earliest work was writing profile pages for DC's Secret Files and Origins specials. Were these considered low priority by DC editorial? Did you get the feeling you got these assignments because you were the new guy?

Scott Beatty: I don't think any project is considered "low-priority" by DC editorial. Word-of-mouth on my unabashed DC trivia geekdom helped get me in the door, but delivering solid prose made me sort of the "Go-To Guy" on the books for quite a long time. That and not fearing research or sitting down and reading a hundred-issue run of a title in order to cobble together a post-CRISIS timeline. Being the new guy never gets you work. Quite the contrary, actually.

MD: You've also written the Ultimate Guides for Batman, Superman, and the Justice League for DK publishing. Combined with your Secret Files experience, are you now the master of post-Crisis DC history? Are you the new Bob Rozakis?

SB: I wouldn't ever presume to usurp the role of "Answer Man" from Bob, who was certainly one of my role models as a young DC reader. Much of my own more obscure DC Universe knowledge comes straight from Bob's old columns printed at the back of DC titles during the 1970s and early 1980s. I do know that I'm one of a few guys -- including Mark Waid and Bob Greenberger, two brainiacs whose combined DC knowledge is unparalleled -- who are consistently called upon to channel some bit of arcane continuity or character factoid.

MD: You've been hired by CrossGen partly on the recommendation of Chuck Dixon. How did you meet him? How would you describe your relationship? How has he influenced your career and craft?

SB: There are certain legal constraints that prohibit me from talking about our first meeting. But seriously, Chuck is one of my closest friends. We share a love of comics, movies, action figures, and story sensibilities. As a collaborator, he's peerless. We've had great fun writing each other into corners, which is really the co-scripting equivalent of throwing down the gauntlet and daring the other guy to find his way back alive. Now that I'm freelancing for CrossGen, I hope we might continue our dangerous little game. Do you hear that, Dixon? En garde!

MD: Tell us about the upcoming Batgirl mini-series you've written with Dixon.

SB: Chuck and I are reprising our collaboration from Robin: Year One to chronicle the nine-issue Batgirl: Year One, tentatively due out late this year. This time we're joined by artist Marcos Martin and inker Alvaro Lopez. Marcos pinch-hit on Robin: Year One, and illustrated Joker: Last Laugh #2. He's one of my favorite artists working in comics right now. With Batgirl: Year One, the three of us are re-telling Barbara Gordon's origins as Batgirl and exploring her motivations for taking up cape and cowl. As it turns out, Batman wasn't her first choice as heroic inspiration, and her decision to emulate him wasn't one widely celebrated in the Batcave, or on the streets of Gotham City. Babs' destination is fundamentally the same, but how she got from Point-A to Point-B may surprise readers who think they know the whole story.

MD: If it were up to you, would you have let the Joker cripple Batgirl? Given the chance, would you let her walk and fight crime again?

SB: No, I wouldn't have made the Joker cripple Babs. It was hands-down the crummiest act of villainy ever rendered in comics. Alan Moore should be ashamed of himself. Alan should also be lauded for giving the Bat-Family its first bitter taste of collateral damage. Good writing is all about the willingness, nay the obligation, to kill your darlings...or cripple them, or do whatever is necessary to make the characters grow, or atrophy, or just change and react to the unpredictable events surrounding them.

Would I make her walk again? In a Gotham minute. I like her. As a kid, I had a crush on her, much like Dick Grayson. (Yeah, I know she's NOT REAL.) But she fights crime right now. And she leads a fulfilling life despite her physical infirmity. As a "real" and compelling character, she doesn't need some pitiful and unbelievable "deus ex machina" thrust upon her because we feel sorry for her and want her to run and jump again. But if a reality-based cure for her spinal injury is ever discovered, then it makes sense. Until then, she is who she is.

MD: Your first story arc on Gotham Knights has Batman teaming up with Bane. Can you tell us a little more about the story?

SB: I'll tell you this: Bane returns to Gotham with a very nasty little secret that threatens to tear the Bat-Family apart. And after the trials and tribulations of "Fugitive" and Bruce Wayne: Murderer", it's really the last thing they need to hear. Beyond that, you'll have to wait and read the story.

MD: How long are you writing Gotham Knights?

SB: As long as DC will have me. Following the current four-issue arc, I just worked out the next six-to-eight months of stories with editor Matt Idelson. We've got some surprising guest-stars planned and a direction plotted which should see the title chart its own course and separate it from the other Bat-Titles in theme and content. Following "Fugitive", Batman is working very hard to rebuild relationships among his own gang of "Scoobies," but it's an uphill battle for all parties concerned. Bruce Wayne isn't exactly the most emotionally developed person.

MD: Are there any benefits for working at CrossGen exclusively that you do not see as a non-exclusive employee? Have you been made to feel like an outsider because you're non-exclusive?

SB: The primary benefit is having the opportunity to write for CrossGen without having to move, which allows me to continue working for DC Comics and other companies. I'm just as committed to Gotham Knights as I am to Ruse, and I'll be continuing to write for Dorling Kindersley and DC's licensed book division with a fourth Ultimate Guide to be announced very soon.

But even without joining the CG staff in Tampa, I've been made to feel like a part of the family, which is very gratifying in a business where freelancers are so often isolated by their own accord. I'll be visiting CrossGen and the Ruse team -- Butch Guice, Mike Perkins, and Laura DePuy -- every few months for group plotting sessions. And you can't beat a family that flies you to Florida for stimulating conversation and authentic key lime pie. Heck, the team even Federal Expressed me a fresh pie packed in dry ice. If that's not love, I don't know what is!

MD: You'll be writing Ruse following the departure of Mark Waid. Are you nervous about following someone considered to be one of the greatest writers in comics today?


SB: Beats following one of the worst writers in comics. Mark is a friend, and I proceed on the book with his blessing. The challenge is twofold: measuring up to the standard Mark's writing set on the book; and pleasing the fans who already love and appreciate Ruse and will be scrutinizing every word with their own magnifying glasses. Coming on board after the book was nominated for five Eisner awards is daunting, but insofar as to challenge me to scale new creative heights with Butch, Mike, and Laura.

MD: Many readers feel that Emma Bishop is the star of Ruse. Will she continue to be the focus of the book, or will Simon Archard step into the spotlight?

SB: RUSE is about both Simon and Emma. At times, Emma seems to have a stronger "voice" in the title simply by virtue of the fact that her narrative very often sheds deeper insight into the story. Emma's certainly more likeable, but the core dynamic of this book is the interplay between the master detective and the intrepid partner. You can't have one without the other. Simon and Emma's destinies are intertwined, whether either of them like it or not.

MD: As a writer who's worked with different artists, who determines the tone and direction a story takes?

SB: Both writer and artist. This will always be a collaborative medium. It may begin in the writer's head, but the final product is synthesized through several creative processes, inking, coloring, and lettering included. Ideally, scripter and penciler can easily communicate so that the original intent reaches the page unadulterated, but the mixing and melding of sensibilities is more often a tastier dish.

MD: What are your thoughts on CrossGen collecting their comics in their compendia series and posting them on the web? Have these cheaper alternatives to traditional comics hurt sales of their regular series? As a CrossGen writer, will you see compensation from the publication of your stories in other media?

SB: More bang for your buck, plain and simple. For comics to survive and be a viable entertainment medium in competition with video games and the trend-of-the-moment, readers need to have access to the stories on a variety of platforms and at a premium. Compendia and Comics on the Web make sense on many levels, especially as smart alternatives for fans who might not otherwise jump onto an established title because of a dearth of back-issues in specialty shops. And in the end, if either promote interest in ongoing "printed" titles, then the entire industry benefits.

MD: If you had a million dollars and no legal restraints, what story would you write? Use any characters from any publisher, (not necessarily comics), and go nuts.

SB: Oh-kay, howzabout the Jedi Knights team with the Green Lantern Corps to rid the universe of Qwardian shock-troopers running offense for the Sith. Yoda is offered a seat among the little blue Guardians of the Universe. Hal Jordan is the best darn X-Wing pilot to make the Kessel Run in under twelve parsecs. Or, a dying Abin Sur crash lands outside the Lars Homestead and offers a callow Luke Skywalker something to do on Saturday nights besides targeting Womp Rats with his T-16 Skyhopper.

MD: Imagine Sinestro with tattoos like Darth Maul. Jar-Jar Binks versus G'Nort! And no Midi-Chlorians! Yay!

SB: In all seriousness, this is truly a tough question. But there's a kernel of truth in the last statement. I wouldn't turn away the opportunity to write a Green Lantern Corps screenplay. Fearlessness. Space opera. The most powerful weapon in the universe. I'm already salivating, and you could get me for far less than a mil.

MD: Can you recall the first comic book you ever read?

SB: It was an issue of AQUAMAN picked up on the way for a summer outing at a Pennsylvania lake. Sort of fitting. Aquaman, Mera, Aqualad, and Aquababy versus Black Manta. Aquababy called Manta "Bad Mans" in the cutest baby-talk. The Nick Cardy art is burned into my memory.

MD: What do you want to be doing 10 years from now?

SB: What I'm doing right now - writing for an honest wage and loving every minute of it.

MD: Finally, which was better: Spider-Man or Star Wars 2?

SB: I'm loathe to admit that I haven't seen Spider-Man yet, although my wife keeps nudging me to take her. But I'm a huge Star Wars fan. I saw Episode II opening day, and once more after that in preparation to write a Mace Windu script for Dark Horse Comics. Okay, I saw it twice because I wanted to. Liked it immensely, warts and all. It was worth the price of admission just for Yoda.

MD: Thank you, Mr. Beatty, for biting the bullet.

SB: Thank you, and it didn't hurt a bit, although I imagine the limp will linger.