{"id":468686,"date":"2022-06-28T15:33:59","date_gmt":"2022-06-28T12:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/meet-the-canadian-bringing-batman-into-a-new-era\/"},"modified":"2022-06-28T15:33:59","modified_gmt":"2022-06-28T12:33:59","slug":"meet-the-canadian-bringing-batman-into-a-new-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/meet-the-canadian-bringing-batman-into-a-new-era\/","title":{"rendered":"#Meet the Canadian bringing Batman into a new era"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ac9594be09\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ac9594be09\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/meet-the-canadian-bringing-batman-into-a-new-era\/#%E2%80%9CMeet_the_Canadian_bringing_Batman_into_a_new_era%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;Meet the Canadian bringing Batman into a new era&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CMeet_the_Canadian_bringing_Batman_into_a_new_era%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;Meet the Canadian bringing Batman into a new era&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n                            As the new lead writer for Batman, Chip Zdarsky wants to explore the superhero\u2019s weaknesses\u00a0\n                        <\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>A<\/b><span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span>couple of years before the pandemic, Chip Zdarsky had a funny idea for a Comic-Con panel: a PowerPoint presentation about why he should be the next writer for Batman, rife with asinine ideas and terrible credentials like \u201cI\u2019m very strong\u201d and \u201cI\u2019ve never shied away from punching clowns.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">It was classic Chip Zdarsky, the alter ego of Canadian comic book writer and illustrator Steve Murray, who once described his alternate identity as \u201can idiot who doesn\u2019t know what [he\u2019s] doing.\u201d It was Zdarsky who launched a world tour that began and ended after one night in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; who had a months-long virtual friendship with the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> account of an <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>lebee\u2019s restaurant in Barrie, Ontario; who held a one-man comic convention, dubbed Zdarscon, on the sidewalk across the street from Toronto\u2019s hugely popular Fan Expo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Ultimately, Zdarsky didn\u2019t go through with the Batman gag, because by the time he thought of it, he had landed a gig writing a Spider-Man <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series<\/a> and won multiple Eisner Awards (think the Oscars, but for comics). \u201cI had the sad realization that I couldn\u2019t play the outsider-loser anymore,\u201d Zdarsky says. \u201cYou can\u2019t be \u2018Oh, look at me! I\u2019m such an unsuccessful dummy\u2019 when you\u2019re writing books for Marvel and DC.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">In a case of life imitating fiction\u2014or maybe reading Zdarsky\u2019s mind\u2014DC Comics recently named him the next writer for its flagship series: Batman. The Dark Knight is the alter ego of Bruce Wayne, a billionaire with a relentless work ethic. Zdarsky, a self-deprecating sad-sack cartoonist who is himself an alter ego, seems like an oddly perfect fit.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">It was around the turn of the century, while Steve Murray was in his early 20s and working as a <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>paper illustrator, that he created Chip Zdarsky. The last name was taken from a close friend\u2019s ex-girlfriend; the first name was a nod to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz. Murray used the pseudonym for his work in comics, the nature of which sometimes seemed unbefitting of someone also working for national newspapers like the <i>Globe and Mail<\/i> or the <i>National Post<\/i>. \u201cI was pretty intense about keeping those things really separate back in the day,\u201d Zdarsky says. \u201cOriginally, Steve Murray didn\u2019t exist online. I was just Chip Zdarsky making my dumb little comics and having fun with my nerd friends on the internet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-sizes=\"auto\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-1237653 lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/www.macleans.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/BM_Cv125_12511.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1988\" height=\"3056\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">That is until he started to do more high-profile (and often ridiculous) work at the paper, as Murray. He reported from a nudist colony, scaled Toronto\u2019s city hall wearing a Spider-Man costume and even had a failed mayoral run. \u201cChip used to wear a cowboy hat, which was kind of a divider between personas,\u201d says Kagan McLeod, an illustrator and friend since their days at the <i>National Post<\/i> graphics department. \u201cBut I don\u2019t think he acts any differently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">One time, at the 2003 San Diego Comic-Con, Zdarsky was packed inside a Hyatt hotel elevator alongside convention exhibitors. As everyone surely noticed, Marvel Comics\u2019 editor-in-chief Joe Quesada was crammed in the elevator as well. As others stared blankly in silence amid the complete lack of elbow room, Zdarsky lifted up his large unwieldy art case and asked aloud: \u201cWould you look at my portfolio, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">A decade later, people like Quesada were keen to see Zdarsky\u2019s work. In 2013, he co-created the R-rated hit comic book series <i>Sex Criminals<\/i>, the story of a bank-robbing couple who stop time when they orgasm, which Apple banned on the ComiXology app and <i>Time<\/i> magazine ranked as the number-one comic of the year. Murray left his job at the <i>Post<\/i> so Zdarsky could pursue comics full-time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">The rigour of daily news reporting proved an asset. \u201cIn baseball, you have the five-tool player,\u201d says Matt Fraction, the writer and co-creator of <i>Sex Criminals<\/i>, using a term to describe the rare athlete who excels in all the major physical categories. \u201cIf comics has an equivalent, the first tool is: \u2018Can you meet deadlines?\u2019 Chip has that newspaper background and he\u2019s relentless.\u201d Zdarsky landed jobs writing for well-known characters like Howard the Duck, Jughead and Daredevil. It seemed only a matter of time before DC came calling with the chance to write about the Dark Knight.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Zdarsky says he is hopeful he\u2019s found something fresh to bring to a character who has been thoroughly chronicled and obsessively followed. A common critique of Batman is that he glamorizes a toxic kind of masculinity\u2014hiding his vulnerability and acting out his aggression. Zdarsky says he\u2019s interested in exploring these issues around Batman; his previous work on the Daredevil franchise explored the ramifications of vigilante violence. He likes to think the comic book version of Batman has more nuance than those seen in the movies\u2014he\u2019s less the brooding billionaire, more the complicated and compassionate hero with an army of like-minded individuals who help him do justice the way he sees fit. And it\u2019s worth asking whether they are in the right. \u201cWho holds them all accountable?\u201d Zdarsky says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">Batman has a pretty solid track record of saving Gotham City, Earth and the universe, but Zdarsky says the most interesting way forward in the story\u00adtelling is to look at the character\u2019s fallibility. \u201cIf he\u2019s not perfect, then he can\u2019t just be allowed to do whatever he wants,\u201d Zdarsky says. His first outing as lead writer is an arc about mistakes from Batman\u2019s youth catching up to him\u2014and whether he can deal with the fallout. Long-time fans need not worry that Zdarsky\u2019s taking things <i>too<\/i> far afield. \u201cThere\u2019s punching,\u201d he promises.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><em>This article appears in print in the July 2022 issue of<\/em>\u00a0Maclean\u2019s\u00a0<em>magazine. 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