Lobo, Fear, and the God of Death: Marguerite Bennett on Comics and Writing

Marguerite Bennett is a relatively new name to the comics world, but in the few months that she’s been gracing the covers – and more – of your comic books, she’s accomplished a great deal. She’s written Batman, recreated Lobo, and even filled in on Batgirl for Gail Simone!

A recent graduate of Sarah Lawrence College’s graduate program, Bennett has proven to be a talented and distinguished voice within DC’s stable and has been rising like a rocket. Her fascinating entry into the world of comics and her even more fascinating talent for character work and psychological horror immediately made her a creator to pay attention to in my book and she’s been kind enough to speak with us.

WCBR: You’ve been a professional comic writer for a little while now. What’s your favorite part of the job?

Marguerite Bennett: Oh, gosh—I love all of it, from reading up on characters I love, to pacing the house in a bathrobe and eating Cheetos while I brainstorm, to getting dressed up to head up to the DC Headquarters to see my editors and bosses, to sitting on the kitchen floor with my best friends at 2 in the morning while I bounce ideas off of them, bless them. I even love pitching, though you’re trying to reduce your brilliant scheme to three paragraphs, and I love publication day, though you live in constant fear of Twitter, and I even love the gray days when the words come with a struggle, because you’re still living the life you’d dreamed of. I’m never not grateful for the blessings that brought me to this career.

In the end, though, I would have to say that my favorite part of the job is the conventions. The enthusiasm there is so infectious, to be swept up in the crowd of fans and cosplayers and creators, people of all ages and backgrounds united by a mutual love of the stories we all share. Writing is what I have always wanted to do, but no one can say it isn’t a lonely profession, and at the conventions, there’s such an air of freaky holiday—it validates and compensates the hundreds of hours of solitude. I often wind up at a friend’s booth, gossiping and giggling with fans, gushing over whatever story it is I’m toying with at the moment, acting out certain scenes with scowls and laughter and sweeping gestures, and telling truly terrible superhero jokes (“What do you call a superhero without powers? Batman.”) The conventions remind me of just how joyful the industry can be, how much can be accomplished by a shared love instead of a shared anger.

Is it weird being on the other side of the creator/fan relationship?

It’s exceptionally peculiar. I’ve grown up reading books by people I now sit at table with, and a great deal of self-restraint is required not to blush madly when anyone makes eye contact with me. I’m still navigating how to behave like a elegant professional when I’d really much prefer to stare at my shoes and mumble to them how much their work has meant to me.

To their credit, I can’t tell you how kind and welcoming so many of the creators have been. Mark Buckingham and Jim Zub minded me even before I’d been published, and my Team of Older Brothers™ (among them, Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Kyle Higgins, Sean E. Williams, Sean Murphy, and Tom Taylor) largely keeps me out of trouble. Keith Giffen sat me down in his own booth at Baltimore Comic Con after the (absurdly named) Lobogate and advised me, and I’ll be damned if he isn’t the warmest and most generous ornery bastard I’ve had the pleasure to meet. Shelly Bond and Kelly Sue DeConnick have been so unnecessarily kind, to my immense gratitude, and Greg Capullo sings the best karaoke death metal version of “Hotel California” you’ve ever heard.

Comic writers are a rather varied bunch. J.M. DeMatteis talks frequently about how his characters tell him what to write, Stan Lee preferred the ‘Marvel Method’. I’ve even heard Dan Slott admit that he tests some of the voices in his scripts. What’s your writing process like?

I suppose the process varies with the character, though establishing personality always comes first. I have to get into the headspace of the character first and foremost, and often wander around my house or neighborhood, trying to say words as they would say them, touch things as they would touch them. I try to fix my body language and posture to their own, and introduce the facts of their life one by one into my mind, noting the impact that each one has, how it enriches or damages my counterfeit perspective. I try to abide fully in their character, before I scramble back to my laptop with what I’ve spied.

From there, I consider what might be the worst thing that can happen to me-as-the-character, as they presently stand. For Batman, it was a foe that could strike him where he’s raw and vulnerable, forcing him to experience guilt, forcing him to rely on another for rescue. For Lobo, fueled only by vengeance, it was the end of his quest in sight, the sudden chasm and loss of identity awaiting once his white whale is slain. For Barbara Gordon, it was the specter of failure for her family, city, and allies in a moment of crisis. From there, I imagine what it would cost to grapple and struggle and rise above this awful thing, and plan out three crucial elements—the moment of spectacle, the moment of cruelty, and the moment of emotional climax.

I ask that all my art be three things—beautiful, brutal, and creative. I’m not sure if that answers your question properly, but I hope it might shed at least a little light.

Batman: Gates of Gotham #5 – Review

By: Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott (writers), Trevor McCarthy & Graham Nolan (artists), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Side-effects may include dizziness, shortness of breath, and murderous rages.

The Review: The tagline on the cover of this issue goes, “The secret history of Gotham revealed!”  Honestly, I don’t see why they even bother.  Every week there’s at least two or three titles on the stands from any company promising to reveal secrets of some kind.  A good many of them wind up obvious, underwhelming, just plain random, or some combination of the three.

You can consider the “secret history of Gotham” a numbing mix of random and underwhelming.  Rather than devise some substantial reason for the Gates’ downfall, Parrott (or Higgins, or Snyder, or whoever is writing this thing now) goes for the ol’ “Turns out, he was crazy!” yarn.  Those diving suits they fashioned may have all sorts of Steampunkery coolness, but spending too much time in them can apparently produce an extreme, mind-bending version of the bends.

If you can take a calming breath, the idea in itself has some interesting possibilities.  Sadly, the story squanders them all by never once laying down the groundwork for this revelation to make sense.  According to Dick, Bradley Gates’ prudent skepticism of his well-to-do employers was really the result of “delusions—hallucinations—and paranoia,” while Nicholas’ homicidal thoughts of revenge (ill-founded to begin with) came from the same, but exacerbated conditions.

But possibly the most tortured stretch of logic in the issue comes from Dick’s defense that Gotham’s first families didn’t cover up what happened to the Gates to destroy them, but to “protect them.”  All so the city-dwellers wouldn’t associate their skyline with “murder” and “madness.”  The premise just assumes a little too much in how seriously people take their architecture.  Five people died constructing the Empire State Building, and no one sees it and thinks, “Look at that.  A constant reminder of the proletariat crushed for social glory.”

Batman: Gates of Gotham #4 – Review

By: Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott (writers), Dustin Nguyen & Derec Donovan (artists), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Dammit Tim, I’m a detective, not a historian!

The Review: With DC’s top creators on blistering track to launch their new lineup come fall and maintain a steady release pace afterward, it’s little wonder the current titles all have a rushed, cobbled-together quality about them.  You must have noticed the record number of fill-in writers and artists on everything, even on the three-issue Flashpoint tie-ins.  While some of these fill-in jobs have been acceptable, even praiseworthy, quite a lot more have been anything but.

For a while, Higgins as the executor of Snyder’s story worked out very well.  After it came out that Higgins would work on the upcoming Nightwing, Parrott came in as his backup. Gates of Gotham remained seemingly unaffected; last issue seemed on track for a great conclusion.  But, as in Supergirl #62, the grim effects of the lead creators taking less responsibility for the title sneak up on you, and here you get ambushed by any number of writing missteps.

For one, several principal characters experience dramatic personality changes.  While Nicholas Gates going into a very Gothamesque, homicidal bent makes some sense in light of his brother’s death, Alan Wayne revealing a sinister condescension feels inexplicable and forced, almost laughable.  Too bad his mustache isn’t a bit longer, because he might as well be twirling it as he haughtily tells Nick, “…secrets are influence…and influence is power.  But I don’t expect you to understand that.  After all, you aren’t one of us—and you never will be.”

Batman: Gates of Gotham #3 – Review

By: Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott (writers), Trevor McCarthy (artist), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: We’ll cross that bridge when we get there—providing it doesn’t collapse first.

The Review: Business is a dirty field; even with the best intentions, it’s pretty difficult to wade into it and come out as clean as you started.  Traditionally, DC has portrayed the Waynes as an almost saintly exception (perhaps a consequence of the somewhat martyred circumstances of Thomas and Martha’s deaths), but recent writers have started digging the dirt on the illustrious Gotham family, revealing their history hasn’t all been as honest as previously believed.

This issue suggests hopes for a better Gotham may not be the sole motivator of Alan Wayne’s investments.  After all, is it really a coincidence he’d like to change the partner location for the newest city-building bridge to land he owns?  Possibly.  After all, other than Cameron Kane’s avarice and Edward Elliot’s suspicion, you have no evidence of Alan’s duplicity.  But then again, how could you?  He’s a businessman, after all.

But loyalty, not business, encourages Nicholas Gates to choose Wayne’s land, not Kane’s, as the end site for the new bridge, a choice spun from his eagerness to accept Alan’s declaration they are now family.  The raging bitterness he later levies against his employers thus seems sudden and somewhat unjust.  It’d make more sense to blame the tragic events on Kane, but you also have to remember Nick himself admits the Wayne land is less ideal for the bridge’s construction.

These intriguing questions and more make the past sequences the strongest parts of the issue, partly because the Bat-family’s investigation in the present stalls a little.  It offers no major revelations, nor even much in the way of enlightening facts.  Instead, it’s mostly a reactionary interlude from last issue’s explosive events, allowing each character to deal with their failures in their own way, sparking some fun exchanges (Red Robin: “You don’t trust anyone…”  Damian: “And your eagerness to trust makes you weak.”).

Red Robin #25 – Review

By: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Marcus To (penciller), Ray McCarthy (inker), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Anyone who says a figurative backstabbing is worse than a literal one talks crazy.

The Review: Most of us have at one time or another had a moment where we wondered how everyone else could be oblivious to what seems to be such an obvious conclusion.  Now imagine being in that position day-in, day-out, a constant bombardment of possible scenarios you see so clearly and no one else does.  It’s consuming, I imagine.  But what do I know?  The only hypothetical that consistently plagues my mind is what sort of sandwich I should get next.

For Tim Drake, his ever-ticking mind is a terrific asset, but as we see in this issue, it also poses a fairly gnarly risk.  Sure, the instant assessment of situational variables and the determination of the most logical response are handy virtues for a nerd who decides to take up vigilantism.  But give into that mindset a little too far and you, like Tim, will begin to weigh everything according to quantifiable values, a means-end philosophy that reduces humans to mere x’s and y’s.

Sure, when it comes outsmarting the ladies out to kill (and get preggers by) you, or gaining entrance to an ancient cabal of assassins that requires you die first—one heck of Catch-22, if you don’t mind me saying so—a Machiavellian mind can get the job done in stylish fashion.  And nothing ices that cake more than a slick, just ever-so-cocky explanation: “Collapsible katana blade.  Blood pack on my harness.  A pint of my blood mixed with glycerin water.”

Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 – Review

By: Scott Snyder & Kyle Higgins (writers); Trevor McCarthy (artist); Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: This city’s getting way too hot for me—it’s freaking on fire, man!

The Review: It’s a well-known phenomenon in fiction that the more effort you put into giving your story background and depth, the more life it takes on.  You can tell a perfectly adequate tale without all that work, but it won’t immerse the reader into its world the way one with a fleshed-out history will.  It’s all the difference between enjoying yourself and coming away feeling like you’ve really been transported somewhere else.

It’s been a long time since Gotham has felt that tangible; that it now largely comes down to Snyder and Higgins’ thoughtful work in laying out the city’s historical roots.  The narration takes on an almost literary quality in the opening sequences that let us into the origins of the “Gates of Gotham”, but never do they seem superfluous or forced.  Dense as it is, it reads very naturally, taking care to let you infer some facts for yourself.

Though at points during this five-page sequence the narration gets a little too luxurious with its time, you can’t help feeling that all these developments—the partnership of the Gotham architect brothers, their grandest commission, and the venerable families who commissioned them—will have a vital role to the story.  It’s a testament to Higgins’ craft that he makes each line and detail worthy of your attention.

In fact, some of these details get some quick payoff once we return to the present action, where the Bat-family is trying to get ahead of this steampunk mastermind before his plot affects any more innocent lives.  When Wayne Tower becomes victim to the mystery villain’s attack, you actually feel its loss more than you would with any other comic book building.  Thanks to seeing its conception and construction earlier, you empathize with what it represents, and its fall takes on added levels of symbolic significance.

Batman Incorporated #6 – Review

By: Grant Morrison (writer), Chris Burnham (artist), Nathan Fairbairn (colorist)

The Story: No matter where you go, you can always count on your Bat-family.

The Review: Early issues of Batman Inc. made out this series as a world-hopping, adventure extravaganza—which it still is.  But recently, Morrison revealed an even bigger scope to Batman’s mission, as he prepares for a threat guaranteed to have lasting, sweeping consequences.  This issue transitions from the fun-and-games we’ve had into typical Morrison expansiveness.

Under Morrison’s pen, even a transition story can be fast-paced and high-action.  This issue flies by lightning quick, with scenes frequently cutting from panel to panel.  In record time Batman adds a couple more members into the fold (the Batman of Australia wears a rocket pack!), while the newly-joined are already hard at work, showing what kind of foe they’re up against in the process: Nightrunner stops a delivery of kidnapped children, but too late—they’ve already been indoctrinated to kill for Leviathan.

Batman also brings in members of his own inner circle as part of the Inc.  Some have obviously major roles in his big plan: while Red Robin takes lead of the Outsiders, Cassandra Cain makes an appreciable return as Blackbat, the Batman of Hong Kong.  It’s not clear where Dick, Damian, and Commissioner Gordon come in, devoted to Gotham as they are, but it’s great to see Bruce keeping them very much in the loop (although we the readers get kept out, obviously).

At the same time, Batman’s demonstrating how the logistics of this whole Inc. thing will work, with his civilian persona out in the open, prominently and publicly supporting the venture.  Not only does he bring in the Bat-bots (reminiscent of those in Kingdom Come) for high-tech back-up, he also uses the internet’s tireless rumor mill to build layers of conspiracy theories that “out” his true identity and hide it at the same time—very clever stuff.

And if you had doubts as to the necessity for this global network, you have only to look at the depiction of the enemy’s global reach.  Morrison places Dedalus and his Leviathan partner in full view of Earth, making it look as though they have the planet in their possession.  The constant scans across the world’s surface shows their nigh-omnipresent watch over it, and their dialogue implies they have a reach through time as well: “500 agents form the first battle formation.  The youngest and most zealous of these living weapons…is barely eighteen months old…”

Batgirl #20 – Review

By: Bryan Q. Miller (writer), Ramon Bachs (art), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Here’s a lesson for you kids: if you slack off in college, you may wind up a costumed speedster robbing millions in bank heists for a living.

The Review: When Batgirl relaunched with Stephanie Brown under the mask rather than Cassandra Cain, there was an expected uproar over the switch.  Cass spent many years getting over her grim background to earn her right to wear the Bat, while Steph in a lot of ways pushed herself into the biz.  But you can’t deny Steph’s nonchalant, happy-go-lucky attitude gives the title more energy and humor than Cass probably ever could.

Cass’ lone wolf personality made her interactions with other characters, even within the Batman family, infrequent and often cold.  By comparison Steph’s chemistry with all her supporting cast just flies off the page (with the exception of perhaps Proxy, who still needs to develop beyond angry nerd with punk hair).  You definitely can’t imagine Cass ever crushing on an older detective, nor can you imagine said detective giving her a paperclip bent into the Batgirl insignia.

Almost every title on the stands uses humor to some degree, only Batgirl has a female lead devoted to self-aware comedy, mostly because Steph’s character can pull it off.  Miller knows the trick to delivering jokes that work: they make a point about the characters or plot.  The beat Oracle takes after going overboard with her pep talk shows she knows she’s trying a little too hard to be a mentor to Steph and Proxy when they’re clearly handling things on their own.

Batgirl’s independence comes across full-force this issue, as she and Proxy design their sting pretty thoughtfully, but execute it thanks to some accidental deductions on Steph’s part.  Her wide-eyed realization of who’s been napping beside her in class this whole time instantly cuts to her running across campus to frantically get into costume.  It’s a sitcom-like moment Miller writes very well with her, and a scene which shows that she’s a rare bird in the DCU.