SDCC 2024: Rodney Barnes delves into the horror of Batman: Full Moon

The last few weeks have been filled with exciting announcements for Batman Fans. Between get a new start in Batman and Robin: Year One And a complete overhaul in the Absolute Universe, there is a lot to look forward to. But one upcoming story is about to put the Dark Knight through the ringer.

Philadelphia Writer Rodney Barnes is penning the new book for DC Comics’ Black Label line, Batman: Full Moon. This intense miniseries will see Bruce Wayne struggle with darkness when a werewolf comes to Batman’s city. Screen Rant sat down with Barnes to dive into what fans can expect from this chilling story.

Screen Rant: What drew you to the idea of ​​creating not only a Batman book, but one under the DC Black Label imprint?

Rodney Barnes: One of the first comics I ever read had the Neal Adams cover, Batman was chained to the street and a werewolf was jumping on him. I wanted to write comics that go back to my childhood, to reconnect with the child inside because television has a way of making me cynical after a while. I wanted to make a book that was faithful and an homage to that time and that’s scary for me.

Comics really have a connection to our past. And as a writer, you get the opportunity to manifest that connection, which has to be such a transcendental experience compared to just reading.

Rodney Barnes: Big time. It is idealism in its truest form to take a character like Batman and be able to play with him. And I love horror anyway. Take one of the universal monsters and put them in a world with Batman. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

Batman is really no stranger to the supernatural. You mentioned the connection to the Neal Adams cover. Is there any other reason why you did a werewolf story?

Rodney Barnes: It feels like werewolves are driven by anger. There is a pain they are struggling with. And Batman/Bruce Wayne has a similar thing too. The theme of this book is anger in the heart manifests the monster within. So we have a Batman who is a bit arrogant, doesn’t really have faith in anything. And he doesn’t believe in werewolves per se. But when he is faced with the reality, it’s sorta like looking in a mirror.

This is really cool because Batman’s rogues gallery mostly reflect him in one way or another. But instead of a classic villain, it’s a classic movie monster.

Rodney Barnes: Theoretically, how does Batman, a human, even with all the gadgets and silver bullets, how do you fight a werewolf? I know it’s debated whether Batman can fight Superman. I saw this meme the other day where Batman is fighting Godzilla.

Surely you’re thinking Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong?

Rodney Barnes: Well, there’s that too, but at least you’ve got the whole Justice League. I wanted to put a very grounded Batman against something that is supernatural, that he has to use more than just his wits, more than just gadgets, more than Gotham City, more than the Batcave and really get down to the heart and essence of what He is.

What is it about Batman that lends itself so well to the horror genre? Because you probably do Can Do a similar story with Superman, but it wouldn’t feel the same.

Rodney Barnes: I think you’re absolutely right. Although magic is one of Superman’s weaknesses. I go back to the Len Wein/Bernie Wrightson Swamp Thing/Batman team-ups, where it put him in a monster world and created the idea of ​​a different, darker Batman. And the beauty of Batman is that he can be the classic superhero with the Justice League. He can be the guy who is grounded on the streets. And he can enter worlds like this and feel completely natural. And I think that idea of ​​fear and Batman almost a metaphor for vampires like you know there’s a darkness to it. I think that darkness is in Bruce Wayne/Batman. He fits well in the darkness and the supernatural.

When you look at Batman’s villains like Man-Bat or Killer Croc, you might consider him a monster hunter already. But this isn’t Batman fighting a monster of the week. This is a bigger story.

Rodney Barnes: The idea is that he’s not just battling an antagonist. The man who is in the werewolf is a victim himself. He is cursed. Once you become aware of this, do you handle it in the same way as the Joker or one of the villains you just named? There should be an empathetic way that sort of factors in how you deal with the obstacle. It is a person and suffering. When our main antagonist isn’t in werewolf form, you get to know him and hopefully empathize with him as a person. And he rips off arms and kills people, so it’s the juxtaposition of where empathy and sympathy fall into the dynamic of battling someone who’s not just out to steal money, or hurt people on purpose, but still at the end of the day is doing bad things.

Some of the best Batman villains are the ones that have real human nature to them, like Mr. Freeze. And it’s humanity that Batman struggles with when dealing with his villains.

Rodney Barnes: I think that emotional struggle adds a layer to the story. It would be easy to just do the cool thing of Batman fighting a werewolf. But adding the extra layers in the story adds to the emotional complexity in the story.

The solicitation for the first issue describes your story as “A story of pain and redemption“, which is a great way of summing Batman up. Do you want to elaborate on the line?

Rodney Barnes: When you think about the pantheon of Batman stories from zero to now, almost everything has been touched. I wanted to get into the human stuff a little more. What happens to your ego when you’ve been Batman for a long time? You look at Gotham City as your own. A force comes in that is not your usual entity. And you can’t just beat him out of your wits. There is also a religious component. What does Batman believe in? Does he believe in anything? Does he only believe in his own ability? If he is humiliated, what happens to the mindset? There are many different layers and subplots in dealing with Batman/Bruce Wayne as he is.

The solicitation also mentions Bruce’s magical allies and I think Zatanna was mentioned.

Rodney Barnes: And John Constantine.

Definitely the default magic users. When the story was shaping up, were those that you just had to use?

Rodney Barnes: Big time. DC was high on Zatanna and Bruce having a love story. And I felt like because she has a relationship with Constantine, who deals in that magical dark world, it would be great to add him as well. Man-bat is also in it. Not to give too much away, but there is a reason why this werewolf is in Gotham City. I just always wanted to play with the characters. If I could have found a way to get Swamp Thing in there, I would have stuck him in there. I think it’s a great co-starring cast.

You are working with Stevan Subic on this. Talk a little about what he brings to the table and what makes him a good fit.

Rodney Barnes: Darkness. When they first floated the idea of ​​who would illustrate the book, they showed me his work. I was like “Of course he’s doing a darker thing. He has a darker tone.”, there’s an ominous sense even scenes and panels that aren’t meant to be ominous, that’s something he brings to it. His work with the Riddler book was also very dark. So it just seemed like it would fit and he did a lot of Swamp Thing stuff I’d seen on his page. Although Swamp Thing isn’t it’s a book, that just felt like the darkness that fit with what I was trying to do.

The book isn’t due until October, which is the best time if you’re doing a Batman and Werewolf book.

Rodney Barnes: Yes. Halloween!

What do you want to tell fans to get them into the book?

Rodney Barnes: Well, there’s a lot of action, obviously. But I think you see Batman in a different light than where he is still Batman. He is still so bad. But he’s humbled in many ways and he’s forced to use aspects of himself that you don’t typically see. The emotional components. I think if you care about Bruce Wayne as much as Batman that this is a book for you.

Batman: Full Moon #1 is available on October 9 from DC Comics.