Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are two of the coolest guys in comics.

Theyve already dished us three fantastic arcs.

Its a sick, twisted ballad in which the Joker tries to make Batman turn against his family.

Capullo designed the scariest Joker Ive seen since Dave McKean drew him in Grant MorrisonsArkham Asylum.

And things are only going to get better!

What better way to celebrate than with a big, muscular story likeEndgame?

I had a chance to chat with Snyder and Capullo at NYCC this weekend.

The Joker is BACK!

What are the challenges of writing and drawing the Joker?

GC: Ill tell you, doingDeath of the Familywas a blast.

Scott was writing it and he was going into these dark places and it was freaking him out.

So this was like getting my old comfortable slippers on and going, Yeah lets draw some scary stuff!

That was nothing but a party.

Drawing the Joker is fun.

Batmans whole rogue gallery is a blast, but Joker, man, hes a living monster.

What kid or adult doesnt love a monster?

So for me, nothing but a good time.

Hes like a devil that laughs at you.

You have to be willing to go to places that you think are scary for you and for Batman.

Certainly with this one were going there.

Youve talked about taking ownership of Batman, making your version of Batman.

How do you guys feel that you have taken ownership of the Joker?

SS: I wouldnt call it ownership.

Its more that you realize your version isyourversion.

And it stands in a gallery of versions that coexist and arent the same.

He asked me, Do you have a birth and a death for him?

And you realize hes entirely your version.

He begins and ends with you.

GC: You have to be respectful of the past.

There are certain things fans love so much, and you have to be respectful of that.

But you automatically, as Scott said, take ownership.

We each perceive things and it goes into our blender and comes out the way we feel about it.

So when Scott writes, thats what happens.

And when I draw and illustrate his stories, you come through on that.

Just by that virtue, you own it.

So its being respectful and then just letting your feelings show on the page.

SS: Well, [Batman: Endgame] is the end of his arc.

If I never got to write the Joker again, this would be the goodbye to that character.

Not that I wont.

But its the end of the arc.

Then Batman comes in and he evolves with Batman, and then hes rejected.

His mission is rejected inDeath of the Family.

This is him coming back and saying See, I was always right.

Ill show you why.

Did you guys always envision a beginning, middle, and end?

Did you know you were going to do this big three-arc Joker story?

SS: I didnt know back then.

I knew there needed to be a conclusion to it somewhere, I just didnt know what it was.

This time, hes going to be looking for a kind of tragedy.

At the end ofDeath of the Family, the Batman family obviously kind of breaks up like The Beatles.

Theyre not really working together.

I dont want to give it away.

I mean they come back.

Whats up with Lark and Harper?

Are they coming into their own?

Duke, who is the boy inZero Year, becomes Lark in that sort of vision.

Lark and Harper have significant roles in this story.

Would you guys ever consider doing a shorter sequel to Zero Year?

Something about Batmans early years?

GC: Shorter would be the key here.

But I loved going back to his early years, you know.

GC: I could definitely see even a series where you would have adventures.

Stuff that we had no witness to.

That would be fun.

SS: I agree.

Id love to do it.

And it would be episodic.

So yeah, Id be cool with it.

Just not a year-long arc, because it was a lot of work doing that book.

How do you approach characterizing and writing Batman differently from the early years to the later years?

How do you guys feel that you put that maturity in?

SS: I think you just make him personal.

He needs to believe that he is bigger than his body and bigger than his failings.

One of the things I loved aboutZero Yearis the fact that you guys included some of those B-list villains.

Doctor Death, for example, who you would never expect to see in an arc that big.

How do you guys refresh these characters?

What is the thought process?

How does the process of bringing them back inform the larger story?

What do you think of that?

For me, it is all fun.

Im self-admitting: I grew up a Marvel guy, so I didnt even know who Doctor Death was.

So reinventing characters Ive never seen is real easy because I dont have anything to clog up my mind.

I just went totally on Scotts descriptions and tried to bring that stuff to life.

Thats all sheer fun and games.

How Scott pens it to fit into the greater story, thats for him to answer.

Doctor Death sort of uses menacing gas and has this strange sort of head.

So how do you make him scary now?

There are a couple coming up inEndgametoo that are like that.

I think surprising villains.

Theres one that was almost a challenge because I feel like people like to shout his name at cons.

When youre like, Who are you gonna do?

Its not Condiment King, but theyll name people like that.

Theyre like, I want to see that!

There was one [villain] that people kept mentioning in particular.

So alright, well go there then.

You are going to see some fun characters inEndgame.

SS: Theyre just different muscles.

Reintroducing a B or C-list character, theres always applause thats going to come with that.

I think its probably easier than taking Two-Face and doing a good story with him.

You figure it out that way.

Because everything has been seen at some point or other plot wise.

Thank you, Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo!

Batman#35 is out in stores NOW!

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