Hey guys, it's Scott.
It is Wednesday, May 15th. Forgive the sound of the rain in the background. It is raining hard here. You can probably hear it drumming on the glass. I wanted to do a post about my trip to Metropolis because so many of you have asked about it. Obviously, there's a lot I can't say. Most of what I learned and saw and experienced I can't talk about. But I wanted to at least tell you what I could because it was awesome. And before we start, a couple bits of housekeeping. One, May 22nd, White Boat #1 comes out.
This is a creator-owned book by me and Francesco Francavilla and it's out from DSTLRY. We're really proud of it. It's another horror book by us where we try and take some classic horror concepts and reimagine them in really gruesome and fun and twisted modern ways. It's what Francesco and I just love doing together. We did it with Night of the Ghoul, which is one of my favorite books I've ever worked on, and this one is living up to that bar as well. So it's about a guy who was invited onto the most expensive yacht ever built. It's a mysterious boat whose owner is a big question mark to the world. And as soon as this guy Lee steps on the boat, it starts sailing away and he doesn't know where it's headed. And it begins a very kind of gothic and strange and dark-hearted tale on the ocean. Really hope you'll check it out. We're really proud of it. May 22nd.
Also, this coming weekend, right now, like weekend, I am going down to Tidewater Comic Con in Virginia. I'm very excited, but I've never been there. They were really kind to invite me and show me a good time, so I can't wait to meet all of you. If you're anywhere near Virginia this weekend, please, please come say hello. and if you're a paid Best Jackett member there'll be a time at the beginning of each signing where you can come up exclusively and get your stuff signed and meet and all of that stuff.
And then the following week I'm doing a signing at Midtown Comics in New York City for White Boat when it comes out and then I'm going to be doing a signing down in Maryland at Third Eye Comics and I can't wait. I love Third Eye. They run an incredible store, as does Midtown. But yes, I will be down there Saturday the 25th signing White Boat, whatever else you want. We always have a great time down there, I can't wait.
So I'm doing a lot of stuff the next couple of weeks. I really hope you'll come out and see me and just say hello. I've had such a good time at conventions and signings the last year. I feel like I've gotten to know you guys a lot better. I feel I have a much more intimate and honest relationship with fans through this site, honestly, through being able to get to know you with our meetings and our class and the correspondence we've developed through Best Jackett and it makes going to these events so much more fun. So I hope you'll come check it out. And yes, so Wytches, one other update. I am sort of working very hard on some superhero stuff and also on Wytches the animated series. The second season writer's room begins in about a month. So we're doing all the prep work for that right now. So yes, I'm burning it at both ends. So I'm sorry between that and end of school antics with APs and after school sports and all kinds of finale stuff for the kids. Life is total chaos. So I apologize to anyone I haven't gotten back to. I apologize for any absence on my part.
So Metropolis. So DC was kind enough to invite me and some other creators, some legends like John Ostrander and Dan Jurgens, Kevin Maguire, and then some people like me and Josh Williamson and Jason Aaron, down to Georgia where they're filming Superman.
And of course, I couldn't say no. I was very excited to go. And they invited us down there to see some of the filming and to meet everybody and to hear our thoughts on it, which was kind of unbelievable. So I flew down, met everybody at the hotel. The hotel had like, DC books all over the place. It was awesome. And it's this whole sort of soundstage set up almost in the middle of rural Georgia. It just pops up out of nowhere, these 30 big soundstages, and it's awesome. There's this whole little town built up around it and we got to go on the set. I've never been on a movie set in earnest before. The actors were incredibly kind and said very nice things about the comics and about DC and all of it. And James Gunn came out and was just the biggest fan of comic books from go. You could see he took time just to talk to John Ostrander, which was so nice, and to pull him aside and talk to him about the creation of Mr. Terrific, because it was the anniversary of Mr. Terrific.
A couple other legendary, amazing creators that were there, Frank Quitely, Jerry Ordway. It was just such a good time. We all got along great. And then we got to see some of the conceptual material and it was just fantastic. And the thing I can say without giving anything away or without any spoilers is everybody involved in this is a true fan of Superman, of the legacy of the character, and of the comics in a really big way.
Over the years, my experience with DC and movies has been interesting. I think I told you, but when I started at DC, Warner Brothers wasn't really a parent company of ours. And then when that happened, there was a lot of excitement and turmoil as DC got moved out to the West Coast. And there was always this question of what the integration would be, whether or not people working in comics would get to be a part of the TV shows and film. And largely, that wasn't the case. And not blaming anybody or putting that on anyone and those things take time, but one thing that was always clear was that the actors and the creators and a lot of the people working on the films were really big comic fans. So my experience in that realm was always great—meeting Ben Affleck and him talking about his favorite Batman comics…
Meeting Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa…
And they invited us to go to a convention where they were taking pictures and to bring us backstage and I brought my kids and Emmet who was was younger at that time, who was like five or so and now he's 12. But we we got there and he really loved Wonder Woman the movie and we were waiting, Gal Gadot came out in this red suit and she was like, “hi i heard you're a fan of Wonder Woman!” And he was like, “I can't talk to you, lady. I'm waiting for her to come out so i can take a picture with her!” So he did not recognize Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, which Gal thought was hilarious and was a great sport about. But every time we got a chance to interact, whether it was getting invited to the premiere of Man of Steel where Henry Cavill came over and I've told that story about how he was so handsome moving through the crowd I thought they had a spotlight on him. And I was totally embarrassed in front of all my friends by being like, “I don't know why they keep a spotlight on that guy,” and they're like, “there's no spotlight, man.” There’s been strange events where they invited us to a DC party in San Diego where they had Action Comics #1 in bulletproof glass and synchronized swimmers swimming to the Hans Zimmer theme of Batman v Superman. And it was always a very strange and wonderful relationship. But the thing that was always clear was that the people involved in the films creatively were always very kind to us and were always enthusiastic about meeting us and had read the material. Zack Snyder couldn't have been a nicer guy and a bigger fan. And now Matt Reeves and some of the guys working on The Batman, all of the actors, like meeting Paul Dano…
Robert Pattinson saying nice things about all of our stuff. I mean, it's just been great. But the thing I'm getting at is that there wasn't the same level of integration in terms of the creative process that seems to be going on now where it's not like we're giving notes or we're talking to them about what they should or shouldn't do. But they did ask our opinion and it was fun and they showed us everything they're doing while it's being made, which has never happened before. But I think the thing is, over the years, the studio and the comic book publisher have always been somewhat separated. And it's not like they're completely integrated now, but there's a transparency and a relationship and an enthusiasm above all for both sides, both entities to talk to each other and be in communication and it's a wonderful thing to see. And I honestly believe with my entire heart that Superman and the entire DCU are in fantastic hands with James and with all of his team. Again, everyone there couldn't have been nicer, couldn't have been more enthusiastic, they were all well read about comics as well, all of it And on top of that, it was really nice to see how happy everybody was on set. Just a big nod to James Gunn and the way he runs a set, because everybody there seemed happy and excited to be a part of the production.
And so, yeah, and it was great hanging out with Josh and James and getting to really talk to Frank Quitely, who I've met before, but haven't really had a chance to just connect with. And talking about what we love about Superman, but also just getting to know each other better as friends, all of us, and just hanging out in this strange place and getting to catch up. And it was a wonderful, wonderful experience.
I'm very grateful to DC and very, very grateful to James Gunn and everybody at the studio for inviting us down. It was a special thing. And the last thing I'll say, too, is you see, though, their commitment to comics just by the fact that they have great comic writers like Tom King in the think tank, in the writers rooms, in the conversation about what things to do with with characters. You see them adapting stuff like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow (fantastic read). So, again, the feeling right now is really positive. And that's not me blowing smoke. That's not me trying to be a kiss up or any of that stuff, because I have no ambitions in that realm. Like, I love being involved as much as anyone wants to involve me. And yet at the same time, I'm really happy doing comics and animation and that.
So what I'm trying to say is it was the best feeling I've ever had in terms of the way DC is operating as a whole entity, both film and comics. And I give a lot of credit, again, to James Gunn and to Jim Lee and everybody that has melded those two things in a nice way. All right, so I hope to see you guys very soon at Tidewater, at Midtown Comics, at Third Eye Comics, wherever you are in the country, come see me, pick up White Boat. We will do a class soon. It's just been insane over here, but I'd love to do this one about twists and twist endings. I have the material picked out in my head. We will try to get to it this month, I promise. And yeah, just let me know what you're thinking and how it's going and post at the bottom of this one and I'll try and respond!
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Newsletter #184: My Trip to the DC Cinematic Universe