By now you've likely heard about a creative change happening in BATWOMAN. It was announced recently that Marc Andreyko is taking over the series after J.H. Williams III and Haden Blackman decided it was time to leave. The decision to have Andreyko begin with issue 25 was in part to tie the book into Zero Year and allow the book and new creative team to get to debut in the spotlight.
With BATWOMAN being one of the few New 52 books to still retain its original creative team, obviously there would be some question as to what a new creative team will mean for the book and character. We had the chance to ask Marc some questions to find out what he has planned and what will or will not change in the title.
Comic Vine: What's your take on Batwoman?
Marc Andreyko: Pretty much the take that's been done so far. I'm not going to come in and suddenly turn her into an alien or make her Two-Face's ex-girlfriend or anything like that. I'm going to try to have a consistency of character and continue on with the fully realized character that Greg [Rucka] and Haden and J.H. helped create. But also I'll bring to the table what I bring to the table. I'll try to bring a little Andreyko to the game.
She doesn't require a whole lot of fixing. This isn't like a reboot or a retcon or anything like that. This is just picking up the reigns from other creators and continuing along and hopefully creating a vivid and exciting journey for the readers.
CV: Your first issue is 25. Will you be concluding the Batwoman/Batman story?
MA: No. Issue 25 is actually a Zero Year tie-in. That issue is going to involve Kate Kane returning home to Gotham due to something that happens in Scott's book. It'll also plant the seeds for the woman who will become Batwoman. We're going to see where some of her inspiration comes from. We'll see, logically, how this girl becomes this great superhero.
CV: Will you be tying loose ends before moving forward? Like with the DEO, Kate's sister Beth, etc?
MA: Not initially. It was kind of agreed upon since we're going to start with a brand new arc in issue 26. That doesn't mean that the threads that have been left untied are going to be ignored.
Initially, me and the art team want to make a fresh break and start the book with us. We want to start with a bang and not a whimper. We'll essentially go back and wrap things up because if there's one thing I, as a reader or a writer, don't enjoy is dangling plot threads. But the initial arc is going to be a brand new one.
CV: We know Kate won't be getting married any time soon. Will we see any developments between Kate and Maggie or will that come later?
MA: Sure, absolutely. Just because they're not getting married doesn't mean they're not going to be in a long-term, committed relationship. I'm not even sure if gay marriage has been legalized in Gotham City. The idea of them might have only been a one in name only. They can definitely stay in a relationship. Like in any relationship, complications will arise. Complications can arise when you're a mailman married to a librarian let alone when you're a superhero living with a cop.
CV: BATWOMAN has always had a more supernatural feel to it, will that continue or will we see the book align more to the other Bat-titles?
MA: I'm not going to run away from the supernatural stuff but I'm certainly going to make the book feel a bit more in line with the rest of the books in the current Gotham City. There'll be a consistency of narrative and thematic qualities. I won't be running away from a supernatural story if the right supernatural story presents itself. But it's not going to be a 'supernatural Bat-book.'
CV: We recently saw a great team up between Batwoman and Wonder Woman. Any thoughts to teaming her up with another non-Bat character?
MA: Oh yeah! Absolutely, absolutely. I would love to have her interact, on a grander scale, with the rest of DC Universe as a whole. Are there plans right now to do that? No. Not right now. If it presents itself in a way that's organic, absolutely.
CV: What are you most looking forward to on BATWOMAN?
MA: I'm looking forward to getting to work with a bunch of great people. I've worked with Mike Marts and Rachel Gluckstern in the past and being able to work with them again, they're great editors, that's exciting to me. I'm really impressed with the way the Bat-offices run, the constancy of all those titles. So being able to jump into this book with a great support staff and a great group of people to inspire me is going to be super-fun. And writing BATWOMAN is going to be a blast. I'm a huge fan of the character, a huge fan of everything J.H., Haden and Greg have done with her. The responsibility weighs heavily on me but in a good way. I'm excited to be able to hopefully pick up where these guys left off and to continue to create rich, exciting and interesting adventures that the fans will respond to.
BATWOMAN #25 is scheduled for a November 20 release date.