Batman is no stranger to adventures across different genres, whether they’re in Victorian era London like we see in Gotham by Gaslight, outer space as in Batman: Off-World or a family sitcom such as Wayne Family Adventures! However, there’s one genre that the Dark Knight seems to return to time and time again: horror. Over the years, supernatural tales of monster men and mad monks have weaved themselves into the Caped Crusader’s career, pitting a resourceful but no less normal human being against creatures of terror. This year, writer Rodney Barnes—along with The Riddler: Year One artist Stevan Subic—has brought this flavor of suspenseful storytelling back into Batman’s world with the upcoming DC Black Label miniseries Batman: Full Moon. With Batman Month upon us and the book’s October debut mere weeks away, the time seemed perfect for a chat with Barnes to discover more about this frighteningly feral new Bat-story.

Batman has had a long history dealing with the supernatural, and specifically with werewolves going back to Batman #255. Were you drawing upon that history when coming up with the story for Full Moon?

Something I’ve always wanted to do stems from that issue you mentioned, where Batman fought a werewolf while chained up. I’ve never been able to get that image out of my head, so this is sort of an homage to that idea. But it doesn’t strictly connect to that story.

Speaking as the author of a Batman-fighting-werewolves story, what strikes you as compelling about Batman fighting monsters?

This monster is particularly unique because, yes, he’s the antagonist. But he’s also a victim as well. He’s cursed. The way his curse works is rage mixes with the dark energy that makes lycanthropy work. Batman has rage too. He’s somewhat made peace with it, but it’s still part of his identity. Being able to have two entities come together and clash while dealing with similar emotions, being possessed like that, that’s what powers the idea.

In the series announcement, it was mentioned that the werewolf represents a threat that Batman cannot beat with his intellect or his gadgets. Is there any way you can expand upon what to expect from such a challenge?

Something I can share is that there’s a set of circumstances that befall Batman which rob him of his ability to lean on what he’s previously relied on before. So, he has to match wits and leave the comfort zone of fighting crime in Gotham City. That’s the best I can say without giving away more!

You have a horror background in comic book writing. Was this story something you came up with when writing titles like Image’s Killadelphia?

I’ve always wanted to work with Batman. He’s the first character I ever fell in love with. I love monsters as well, which is evident from Killadelphia and other books I’ve written. So, this was a natural world for me to create. And since it’s a Black Label book, I get to swear, be extra violent and do things that werewolves would really do.

Was this assigned as a Black Label book from the beginning?

We went through a few monsters and DC had plans for other monsters in their main universe, but no plans for lycans, so that door was open. Then I filled in the emotions of anger and faith and all the other aspects that made the book come together.

It’s been revealed that Zatanna will make an appearance.

Zatanna, John Constantine, Man-Bat—there are a few costars.

Oh, nice! Did those characters fit the tone you were wanting for the story?

Yeah, it has Vertigo feel. When I think about the Swamp Thing annuals that would bring in Deadman, Phantom Stranger and other characters, this has a similar feel where everyone has a purpose to fulfill, not just be a kind of guest star. They’re there to help deal with this threat.

Stevan Subic has a very specific art style, as we’ve seen in Riddler: Year One. Was he the artist you had in mind to illustrate the story, and what was the collaboration process like?

DC pitched several artists to me. I love Stevan’s work. He has a way of making panels ominous that I never considered to be ominous in the scripting. I knew he’d be perfect for this book.

Will this be a good guy vs. bad guy story, or it being Batman, more of a mystery thriller book?

Good guy/bad guy, but there’s a wrinkle I can’t talk about which causes Bruce to feel complicated feelings over this case. If he were going up against the Joker, he’d just go and stop him. Something happens which makes things complicated. There’s a tension that needs to be diverted. So, there’s still someone to stop, but there’s a complexity to that as well.
 

Batman: Full Moon #1 by Rodney Barnes and Stevan Subic is available in print and as a digital comic book on October 9, 2024.

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