Interview: Brett Booth talks Doomsday!

In September, DC Comics will be launching 'Villains Month', an event which puts DC's greatest villains to the forefront, rather than their greatest heroes. One of the characters being spotlighted during the event is Doomsday, the monster that once killed Superman. This issue is written by Greg Pak ( 'Planet Hulk', 'Batman/Superman', his upcoming run on 'Action Comics') and pencilled by Brett Booth ( 'Teen Titans', 'Nightwing', 'Justice League of America' and also a regular interviewee on this blog). I caught up with Booth once again to talk about this issue and more! Enjoy!


Harry Ballentyne: Hi, Brett, thanks for agreeing to this interview!

What we're focusing on in this interview is your 'Villains Month' comic, 'Doomsday'! How does it feel to be drawing the creature that once killed Superman, is there a lot of responsibility there?


The cover to 'JLA' #55
by Booth.

Brett Booth: Well, I have drawn him before in JLA 55, so I'm not going in cold, that being said, since this is his first appearance I'm really stoked to be drawing him! I like to think I've improved a bit since JLA (pre 52!) and wanted to see what I can do with him now! Plus, I know Dan Jurgens now, so don't BLEEP this up!, keeps running through my head;)

Harry: What changes are there to him in the New 52?

Cover to 'Batman/Superman' #3.1
: Doomsday by Tony S. Daniel

Brett: Visually he's a bit different, origin wise, well I'm not real familiar with the original one, so I can't really say:)

Harry: Is there anything you do differently when drawing a book focused on a villain, or more specifically, a monster?

Brett: Maybe a bit darker.. at least for a part of it.. There are people there talking and telling stories so its not just 20 pages of him wandering with no dialogue... And of course you need to make the money shots really count!

Harry: What can you tell us about this issue?

Brett: Hmmmmm.... well there are several villains in this and I got to mess around with some designs;) It's basically 3 stories, the main overarching one and then 2 others told within that. Lots of interesting family stuff in it.... Greg really has a handel on this Krypton stuff!

Harry: What are you enjoying most about drawing this character?

Aaron Kuder's New 52 Doomsday
design.

Brett: Smashing stuff! Drawing cities and the like can be a little boring, but drawing cities being destroyed by a rampaging monster is pure bliss! Rubble!

Harry: The solicit for this issue mentions Krypton, can we expect the whole of this issue to be set on Superman's home planet?

Brett: Most of it. One of the stories does not. 

Harry: We haven't seen many images from this issue, can we expect any visual changes to Doomsday?

Brett: I've kept to what they sent me pretty much... sort of a mash up of Aaron and Tony's versions. My first sketch wasn't big enough physically so I beefed him up some, more bones now! 

Harry: If this story is set on Krypton, can we still expect to see some of Superman?

Brett: I do believe that might be possible... ;) 

Harry: What time is this set in the planet's history?

A sneak
peek at the
issue from
Brett Booth's
twitter

Brett: Towards the end, Kal hasn't been born... yet, but it's definitely around that time period...perhaps a bit before that. You'll see a few familiar faces:)

Harry: Now onto some general questions. Does it ever get stressful to be jumping between different types of books? With you drawing Nightwing, Justice League of America, Doomsday and whatever comes next in such a short amount of time, is it ever difficult? Are there upsides to getting to draw so many different characters?

Brett: Stressful yeah, one way of putting it;) You're never sure how people will react. Will they understand the deadlines, will some make giant assumptions will they get the donut jokes!!! The plus side is getting to draw some many different things, that always fun for an artist, drawing the unknown, it's a challenge! Downside is, not being out there month in and month out... people forget very easily! 

Harry: Speaking of what comes next, any hints for your next project? Will it still be at DC Comics?

Brett: Still at DC! Hints... I need something vague... It involves characters at DC, some of whom I've drawn before! It will just be for an arc of 5-6 issues, then after that... outlook is murky... ask again later. I'm taking Norm and Andrew with me! 

Harry: Now, there's been some talk over twitter about a possible sketchbook from you. Any update on this?

Brett: Yeah, no... updates. Still not sure yet. I actually totally forgot about it 'til I read this!

'Justice League of America's
Vibe' #6 cover by Booth

Harry: You've been doing a lot of great covers for DC books such as 'Justice League of America's Vibe', 'Earth 2' and (soon) some Trinity War related issues. Can we expect to see you doing this for some other titles soon?

Brett: I actually prefer doing interiors, I like telling stories. But as of right now I'll have 3 covers for October, Vibe 8, Superboy 24 and one for a new book that I can't talk about... Sorry;)

Earth 2's Hawkgirl design
by Booth

Harry: You also design a lot of characters for their first appearance in the New 52. Is there a lot of responsibility doing that? How do you come up with such different costumes for every character?

Blue Devil design by Booth

Brett: Yep, I've sort of lost count now. I like to think there is a lot of responsibility, but that might just be my incredible ego. These might be designs that stick around for 40 years, you can't just hack something out. The process is a bit different for every character, some are pretty easy and some are very tough. Usually I get an email about it and they need it in a few days. Sometimes I get loads of info from the writers... sometimes I get 'modernise it'. I usually spend the rest fo the night thinking on it, looking stuff up, other versions, seeing what worked for me and what didn't. I sleep on it if I can. Next morning I do a layout and a base design... leave it for a few hours and then come back to see if I like it. I always try and keep something from the older designs, something that is indicative to that character. If I'm very lucky any changes DC wants will be small. Sometimes it's total revamp time. The process goes through lots of people, so it's never as easy as just drawing something I want and DC approving it, might be nice if it were, but then you'd wind up with some lazy dated designs because no one's pushing you to more forward.;)

'Batman/Superman #3.1: Doomsday' hits the shelves on September 25th, written by Greg Pak and pencilled by Brett Booth. You can follow Brett on his blog and his twitter page.