I have always been a Scott Snyder fan, but after having attended the DC Entertainment panel today and listening to him speak for over an hour, my respect has grown for him greatly. The panel was focused on a broad range of topics within the DC Entertainment world. Snyder graced the crowed with a very honest and upfront approach to his work, his level of sentiment was consistent across everything he answered and discussed with the crowd.
Snyder discussed his inspiration and drive, with part of it coming from Frank Miller’s incantation of Batman (The Dark Knight Returns). Snyder made it very transparent with fans that at the end of the day, the crew at DC are fans just like you me. The fans drive a big part of his passion. With that, the time for DC at the moment is a delicate one with a decent amount of change hitting their comic book range. Change isn’t executed for the sake of change, characters and stories have to evolve and how they evolve can sometimes affect our personal opinion on where we think our characters should be.
Snyder specifically called out Batman #42 and used that story as an example of how comic book characters are a reflection of the current time they are in and with that, how our society can affect the changing persona of our DC hero’s. SPOILER ALERT
He talked about how Gordon is the man behind the ‘robot like’ Batman outfit, and that actually Batman is not there within the story. We, as a fan base are not used to reading a story without Bruce Wayne as Batman taking the stage. Snyder saw “Gordon” as “society today, as us the fans. Gordon cannot be the Batman, and if he had his opportunity to be Batman it would be something different. Only Bruce Wayne can be Batman. Snyder likened Gordon to DC fans today calling him “A Batman fan just like us, watching from the side line (as what we do) Batman taking on crime”. In today’s society, the current story seems to ring true as to where Batman fits in within the realms of reality.
Snyder also discussed his unquestionable devotion and love for the character, explaining how careful he and team at DC is when they put the pen to paper when building a comic story. Both the fans, and the character’s history always come to the forefront of his mind. He considers what he does a privilege and the job he has is taken very seriously.
His devotion, passion, and positive sentiment left me with the notion that Batman is in safe hands.
Damian Fasciani reporting from San Diego Comic Con.
