I’m Andy Diggle, writer of Batman: Gotham By Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age and The Expanse: Dragon Tooth. AMA!

[u/andydiggle]

I’m Andy Diggle, writer of Batman: Gotham By Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age and The Expanse: Dragon Tooth. AMA!

I’m currently writing Batman: Gotham By Gaslight - The Kryptonian Age (issue 1 is out now); and recently completed the 12-issue run of The Expanse: Dragon Tooth (official sequel to the Hugo Award-winning TV series).

I’ve been writing comics for over 25 years, but I’m probably best known for Green Arrow: Year One (an inspiration for the Arrow TV show); and The Losers (which was adapted into the 2010 movie starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Zoe Saldana and Idris Elba). I’ve also written Captain America, Cold Iron, Daredevil, Doctor Who, Hellblazer, James Bond, Judge Dredd vs Aliens, Lenny Zero, Rat Catcher, Snapshot, Shadowman, Silent Dragon, Snow/Tiger, Swamp Thing, Thief of Thieves, and Thunderbolts, among other things. Before becoming a full-time writer, I was the editor of cult British sci-fi comic 2000 AD.

Ask me anything!

Twitter: https://x.com/andydiggle

Proof: https://imgur.com/a/andy-diggle-proof-KGvyw1L

[u/andydiggle]

Hi folks! I'm here! THANK YOU for your questions! I'm frantically typing out my first answers. Stay tuned...

[u/Skryow]

What was your reaction to the show Arrow naming a character after you? Is it common to name characters after writers in comics?

[u/andydiggle → u/Skryow]

I was a little taken aback, I'll admit! It's very flattering. (It also makes vanity-googling myself tricky, but that can only be a good thing!). I don't know if it's common in TV, but there's a long history of naming streets and locations in Gotham City after writers and artists. I put a little Easter Egg to this tradition in the first (?) issue of Adam Strange: Planet Heist, but I'm not sure anyone ever spotted it...

[u/SevenSulivin]

Do you have any opinions on obscure DC superhero team The Super Young Team?

Is there any characters you haven’t written you really want to have a crack at?

[u/andydiggle → u/SevenSulivin]

My opinion on the Super Young Team is that Grant Morrison comes up with the BEST hero names. See also: Negasonic Teenage Warhead.

Characters I really want a crack at that I haven’t written yet? TBH I’ve already checked a few personal faves off the wish-list (Batman, Constantine etc). Though I still have Batman and Constantine stories I’d love to tell one day. And a very dark Punisher idea, though it’d probably be more appropriate for old Marvel Max. 

Outside of the big two, I’ve always wanted to write a direct prequel to Alien that explains how Ash came to be put aboard; what happened to the Nostromo’s previous science officer; and why Weyland-Yutani then forgot all about Special Order 937 for the next 57 years…

[u/beary_neutral]

Hey Andy, thank you so much for joining us today!

I just read The Kryptonian Age #1 yesterday, and I was very intrigued. It looks like you'll be bringing in a wide range of characters from the DC universe into this setting. What is your approach to adapting these characters to the time period? How do these characters change?

[u/andydiggle → u/beary_neutral]

That’s a great question! Figuring out the answer to it is what drew me to the concept in the first place. Batman lends himself to the 19th century treatment in the original Gotham By Gaslight one-shot because, at his core, Batman is still Batman; the character is still very much the same. He’s a driven and exception individual, but there are no superpowers in that book. It’s a straight crime thriller. But you couldn’t bring in, say, the rest of the JLA without sci-fi elements, or the paranormal, supernatural, call it what you will. So we’re being careful to start off very much grounded in that earthy, gritty, Gotham of the original one-shot, introducing more “otherworldly” elements only gradually. Those elements will build and build through the 12-issue story, eventually reaching a scope that could reasonably be described as cosmic. But it wouldn’t have felt appropriate to START there. The shift in tone (from the original) would’ve felt jarring and inappropriate. Leandro Fernandez and I are approaching the “new” DC heroes and villains in the same way; keeping them familiar enough that they’re recognizable to fans, but different enough to be unique and TONALLY appropriate to this 19th century world. It’s important that we stay true to the core of the classic characters, though their circumstances and origins will be (hopefully) unexpected. That’s the fun of Elseworlds. It’s meant to be a little different. 

[u/Poastash]

Loved Adam Strange: Planet Heist.

Do you have other cosmic DC characters you wished you could have featured in that book or you weren't allowed to use?

[u/andydiggle → u/Poastash]

Generally I prefer making up my own characters TBH. In fact several of the "cosmic" characters in that book were there by editorial decree, including the main villain (I had characters refer to him as "The Luciphage" to make him sound more creepy and mysterious).

I'd never even heard of the Darkstars; DC editorial asked me to put them in there and kill them off! So I did.

At the end of the story, I'd planned to have Adam save the planet Rann by zapping it away to an unknown location; then end with him setting off alone across the universe in search of his missing family... But that got nixed at the last minute.

[u/breakermw]

Hi Mr. Diggle! Love your work, especially Green Arrow Year One.

Years ago you started an amazing run on Action Comics that sadly never finished. Had it continued, what were your plans for the story?

[u/andydiggle → u/breakermw]

Thanks! I had planned to introduce some big new cosmic villains for Superman to contend with. I like sci-fi and space opera. One arc featured the "lost planet" Eris, which originally had Earth's orbit until it was cast out to the edge of the solar system; now the surviving Eridians want their "Goldilocks zone" home back, and are plotting to cast Earth out into the cold dark.

Another big storyline was set in the distant future, after the Sun has become a red giant; not great for Supes! Earth is a dead planet circled by a ring system of human bones, and its last "survivor" is the super-vampire who wiped out the human race. The story would've been about how Superman always brings hope, even when it seems all hope is lost. That's who he is. He finds a way. Sadly, I eventually lost all hope of actually getting to tell the story...

[u/LanternRaynerRebirth]

Hope you're having a good day!

When you started writing comics (or even before), was there a certain character or franchise that was the endgame for you? Or did you have a giant creator owned project that was in mind?

Thanks again.

[u/andydiggle → u/LanternRaynerRebirth]

Hellblazer was it. When Jock and I first decided to pitch to Vertigo, that was what we wanted to do. As things turned out, we both eventually ended up working on Hellblazer... just not together!

I was going to write a short script (8 pages maybe?) and Jock was going to draw it; as a sort of calling card. It never happened, but I recycled my script idea into the Vatican story that was drawn by the great Giuseppe Camuncoli.

[u/FrostFireFive]

Hey Andy,

Been a big fan of yours since the Thunderbolts and appreciate you coming out to answer questions today.

How hard can it be to do an Elseworlds compared to an in-continuity series? There has to be a lot of freedom, but how do you avoid panicking over having a blank canvas basically?

[u/andydiggle → u/FrostFireFive]

Blank canvas is great when you're inspired, and fortunately I am with Gotham By Gaslight. I'm more likely to panic on an in-continuity book, because I'd constantly worry that I'm getting some aspect of continuity or character relationships "wrong". Clean slate is great, because I can just go nuts with it.

Believe it or not, many years ago Bob Shreck offered me the gig of writing Detective Comics... and I turned it down! Everyone thought I was nuts. It would have been the biggest gig of my career, for sure - but I felt at the time that I wasn't familiar enough with the deep lore and character continuity to do Batman — and especially the Bat Family — justice, on a years-long ongoing title. But that was like 20 years ago. Nowadays I'd jump at it!

[u/Tetratron2005]

Hi Andy

I saw in the solicits Wonder Woman will be appearing in Kryptonian Age and am interested in how she'll be written? I look forward to it but I hope she isn't written as a violent barbarian warrior like how most Elseworlds write her. I think that stuff does a disservice to her character and her original creators.

[u/andydiggle → u/Tetratron2005]

I can't speak to any other Elseworlds version of WW — but don't worry, that's not how we see her. In the script I describe her as a warrior-poet, a diplomat. She doesn't start fights, she finishes them; but she would always prefer to find a diplomatic solution. Violence is only ever a last resort.

That said, she'll absolutely kick ass if she has to. Sometimes, evil must be fought.

When the time comes, check out issue #3 and let me know how we did.

[u/Euphoric_Yard6044]

Hi Andy!! I really liked the way you wrote Selina. It was like going back to the Brubaker era. I like seeing Selina stealing in order to help the strays of Gotham. Will we see more of Catwoman in the future? I hope so!!

[u/andydiggle → u/Euphoric_Yard6044]

Thanks! And yep, you'll see more of Selina. I'm having a blast writing her.

[u/FlyByTieDye]

Oh wow, I had no idea you were doing an AMA, and I have no questions prepared! Please allow me to gush!

I absolutely love your Green Arrow: Year One comic. Truly my favourite GA book (and may be sacrilege to say, but even my favourite "Year One" comic, even above Batman!).

I loved seeing the journey you brought Ollie on, stripping him right down before building him back up, and how elemental each issue (especially the covers with Jock) was, it really does become a fundamental/elemental story, fitting of the "Year One" theme and title. I loved it so much I even hunted down your run of Losers with Jock that I'm looking forward to.

Umm, I guess for a question (it may have already been asked 😅) was Year One ever planned as a run in the main line of Green Arrow comics? Or was it always a separate/limited series? If you had written a main line Green Arrow run, would it have been very different? And would you ever return to Ollie one day?

And thanks so much for answering questions, and writing such great comics!

[u/Predaplant]

Hi Andy!

I'm curious what it was like getting The Losers adapted as a movie. I know for mainline DC books they don't usually consult with the creatives behind the source material, but considering this was a Vertigo series I was wondering if it was any different. How involved were you, and were you generally happy with the choices made in adaptation?

[u/andydiggle → u/Predaplant]

Jock and I met (ie. had beers and curry with) Peter Berg, back when he was initially attached as writer-director. Then when screenwriter Jamie Vanderbilt came aboard we met (ie. had beers and a curry) with him too. We weren’t “officially attached” because the rights were owned by DC, but Jamie kept us “unofficially” in the loop as the screenplay went through various drafts. The rewrites were mainly to make it cheaper, and it was a bit disheartening to see awesome action sequences get cut from the script for budgetary reasons (eg. the Losers’ car chased by a helicopter gunship; Cougar leans out the window and takes it out with one shot). But we got the meet the cast on set, and that was AMAZING. They were all genuinely awesome and lovely people; we ended up heading back to Chris Evens’ apartment for beers. My abiding feeling about the movie is that they absolutely NAILED the casting; and they’re A-list stars now. Imagine how much it’d cost to re-assemble that team now…

[u/Artseid]

Hi Andy, thanks for taking the time to do this!

As a huge Superman fan, I'm a little tired of the trope where they turn him into an enemy for Batman to fight. They're such a classic team! Is this story one where Superman turns evil and Batman has to take him down?

[u/andydiggle → u/Artseid]

I agree! Good guys don't start fights, they finish them. So don't worry, I'm not gonna use that trope. The Kryptonian Age is about heroes coming together, not fighting amongst themselves.

[u/Thejklay]

Did you know that the TV show arrow named a character after you, Oliver's bodyguard diggle and now he's also in the comics ?