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Mariko Tamaki details the state of Gotham City and the Bat-Family as the weekly Detective Comics storyline Shadows of the Bat enters its second act.
A bold, new era for Gotham City is unfolding in the pages of Detective Comics with the weekly Shadows of the Bat storyline. Written by Mariko Tamaki and featuring a rotating crew of fan-favorite artists, the story depicts the Bat-Family uniting after Batman leaves Gotham in the aftermath of DC Comics’ recent crossover event “Fear State.” While the Scarecrow and Magistrate were recently defeated, the city is far from safe. Arkham Tower houses Gotham City’s most feared criminals. Batwoman and her allies quickly learn there are even darker secrets to uncover — and they strike close to home for Huntress — as plenty of supervillains pulling the strings at Arkham Tower waiting to reveal themselves.
In an exclusive interview with CBR, Tamaki explained some of the major developments unfolding over the course of DC’s Shadows of the Bat and teased the return of a major supervillain. Also included with this interview is a preview from Detective Comics #1051, drawn by Max Raynor, colored by Luis Guerrero, and lettered by Ariana Maher.
With Shadows of the Bat launching its second act in February, Arkham Tower plays such a looming and claustrophobic presence in Gotham City. What was it about making this new location such a major facet in this weekly epic?
Mariko Tamaki: Cities are very looming and catastrophic places, or at least Gotham City is. A lot of my stories about Batman boil down to the rush of super larger-than-life stuff mixed with how crap it must be to live in a city that’s constantly being torn up by the battles of villains and heroes, which feels like the storyline of a lot of action stories right now. It’s very Titanic-like. When you build something and make all these promises that it’s going to be life-changing and amazing — in a place like Gotham, it’s going to be a disaster.
While much of the Bat-Family comes out to play, how has it been having Batwoman front and center for much of Shadows of the Bat so far?
I wanted it to be a team effort. So really, it’s the whole Bat Family working on this, on all levels, which is what you do when Batman’s not around. You spread out the responsibilities.
A lot of Shadows of the Bat has involved Huntress confronting her unresolved trauma head-on. How is it having her center stage and why have Nightwing as her primary link to the Bat-Family?
To me, whatever effect Vile’s infection is having on Huntress is something the whole team is seeing and the whole Bat team is worried about. But of course, there’s not a Bat class in how to address the effects of being forced to see violent acts over and over in your mind’s eye. They’re a very muscle through it crew. But to me there seemed to be a thread of hope for Nightwing, because of his past with Huntress, to make the effort it takes to talk to her about it. So that’s why their connection is so much a part of this story.
Solicits have revealed Psycho-Pirate plays a major role in the mystery behind Arkham Tower, a supervillain who has figured prominently in Infinite Frontier. Where’s his mind at in Shadows of the Bat? What’s his interest in Arkham Tower?
Psycho-Pirate is on the run from Darkseid. He’s down to pretty much nowhere to go. So he’s in that place where you have no options and then someone gives you an option, which is a fabulous place to make a decision from, clearly.
As somebody that still has their Batman Forever glass mug, what made this story right to have Doctor Chase Meridian play such an important role?
Paul Kaminski.
How has it been working with Max Raynor on this act of Shadows of the Bat?
Max is a star. I’ve had like the most amazing artists — Ivan Reis! Amancay Naheulpan! — to work with on this. Not to mention letterers and colorists and inkers. The whole team on these books is stunning.
What can you tease about Shadows of the Bat moving forward?
More chaos.
Written by Mariko Tamaki and with artwork by Max Raynor, Detective Comics #1051 goes on sale on Feb. 1.
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