Interview: Brett Booth on leaving Nightwing, JLA and the Future!

This is my second interview with Brett Booth, but this is a little shorter than the first as he was very busy drawing Justice League of America. But, anyway, enjoy!

The cover to Nightwing #21,
Booth's final issue

Harry: Brett, thanks for doing a second interview on this blog, It's nice to have you back on!

Brett Booth: How can you type so much so fast?!?!?!? I'll have to be quick, need to get this page done ASAP!

Harry: Straight to the questions on a recent piece of news, your departure, from your current series, Nightwing.

 

I'll just say that I'm definitely going to miss you on the series, how does it feel for you to be leaving after such a short time?

Brett: Unfinished. Things just didn't aline quite right but that's comics, always changing! I do hope to get another chance at some point.

Harry: Do you think you'll miss the book, considering the whole mythos writer Kyle Higgins is building up for the city of Chicago?

Brett: I don't really know... I haven't had much breathing room to really think lately. I will miss drawing Nightwing, he's one of my favorites!

Harry: One of the most important questions, what did you enjoy most from drawing this series?

Brett: Drawing Nightwing dancing over the city...( and the @$$ shots;P) It's different from say Spiderman, NW has a different kind of grace.

Harry: What can you tell us about your final issue of the series?

Brett: DONUTS!!!! And maybe coffee...

Harry: Onto some questions about a book you'll be drawing in the next two months, Justice League of America.

 

We've talked before about the differences between drawing team books and drawing solo books, but are there any certain types of practice you have to do before returning to a team book?

Brett: No, since it's only been a few months since my last team book, it wasn't hard to switch back into it. It was just a tad difficult because of all the new costumes I'm not used to.... especially Seve Trevors, David went crazy with that one!

Interiors of Nightwing #20
by Booth.

Harry: With such a diverse group of characters, how do you make the individual aspects of each character stand out?

Brett: The stand out more easily BECAUSE they are diverse character wise. Hawkman, is the tough guy. Martian Manhunter the stoic father figure, Catwoman is the naughty badgirl ect. Once you zero in on that they are pretty easy to get ahold of;)

Harry: You've drawn a JLA book before, but with a very different team to the current incarnation, does it feel odd drawing a series with the same name of one you've drawn before but with very different characters?

Brett: Not really, teams change all the time. It's fun to get a chance to draw so much of the DC Universe New and Old!

Harry: What's it like to be working with one of DC's top writers, Geoff Johns?

Brett: I'm a huge fan of his, he world builds so well! He's also incredibly nice and helpful. I would love to do a regular book with him at some point!

Harry: Do you feel like you have more control over characters in a series less mainstream rather than one DC is shining their spotlight on?

Brett: As the artist, my control is limited to the look, but as I'm also one of the designers I can get away with tweeks.. I'm only helping out for a few issues so I'm trying to stick to what's already there or what will be there Trinity War wise;)

JLA interiors by Booth, images
from Comic Book Resources

Harry: Are you aloud to tease anything about your issues of JLA?

Brett: I believe the it's the first appearance of a character and watch the jet in that double page spread;) Also, lots of Catwoman and a Bigfoot!

Harry: After Nightwing and JLA I assume you'll be moving onto another series, presumably for DC Comics again, any clues to what that could be?

Brett: 'll be doing a 5-6 issue arc on another book then I should be hitting a regular series book again... I don't want to ruin the surprise!

Harry: Thanks again, Brett! Nice to get the chance to interview you again! Good luck on your future projects!

Brett: Thanks!!!!!


Brett's final issue of Nightwing comes out on the 12th of June and his two issue run on Justice League of America begins on May 29, starting with #4.

You can follow him on twitter, @Demonpuppy and check out his blog: "Demonpuppy's Wicked Awesome art blog". You can read my first interview with Brett here! 

Brett Booth to leave Nightwing after #21

It was announced today that artist, Brett Booth, would be leaving his current series, Nightwing.

Brett Booth only started pencilling this series last month with #19 and is leaving after his third issue, #21. He'll be filling in for issues #4 and #5 of Justice League of America instead of regular artist, David Finch.

Anyone reading this series will know that Brett Booth has been doing an absolutely stellar job on the art and is an amazing fit for the book and anybody reading this blog will know that I have a pretty solid opinion that he's one of the best artists in comics at the moment. If you want any evidence that he's great for Nightwing, well,  just see the pictures scattered around this post. Yeah.

After his final issue of Nightwing and his two issues of Justice League of America, Booth will be moving onto a new project.

Personally, I'll miss him when he leaves the series, as I did when he left Teen Titans. Actually, I was tempted to name this post "NOOOOOOOOO!" but I don't think that'd be very professional...

I've interviewed Brett Booth on this blog before, if you want to check that out, here it is! http://crimsonsquirecomics.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/interview-brett-booth-on-comics.html






 

Review: Nightwing #19

Nightwing #19 cover, by Booth, Rapmund and Dalhouse

some SPOILERS below, be warned!

Let me just start off by saying that I loved this issue, I've enjoyed Kyle Higgins' run from the start, Love Brett Booth's art ( and with Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse, it's even better!) and Dick's one of my favourite characters. So this issue was pretty perfect.

Kyle Higgins' decision to send Nightwing to Chicago was a great idea, it gives the character a chance to shine without being in the shadow of the bat, and it's nice to see Nightwing as the only masked hero and not surrounded by all the other Bat-Characters.

It's also really fun to see Nightwing take easy care of the Chicago Police Department, who definitely seemed a bit unprepared for somebody like Dick Grayson.

Now onto the art, which I loved. This is the same art team as most of the first 16 issues of Teen Titans, which was one of my favourite New 52 books, mostly because of the art. Brett Booth has a really great style, he manages to capture Nighwing's movements just right, and seeing Nighwing's facial expressions in this issue, He also manages to show the emotions of the character well.

The Inks and Colours by Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse really add to Booth's art, they've become a bit of a team in the New 52, with a lot of Booth's work being inked and coloured by the pair.

My only problem with the issue is that the cover is a bit misleading, Nightwing and the Prankster never actually come face to face, and the villain only turns up in the last few pages. But this isn't a major problem.

Score: 9/10 !

Comics Catch up: Nightwing #19

Welcome to comics catch-up! In this feature I'll be getting you up to speed on what you need to know for some of this week's comics!

Today we're talking Nightwing!

Issue 19 of Nightwing hits the stands tomorrow, April 17. Written by Kyle Higgins and Pencilled by Brett Booth ( with inks and colours by Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse ), this issue takes Nightwing to a new enviroment for him, the city of Chicago.

So, here we go!

Dick recently became involved with a project to re-invent Haly's circus, his former home, in one of Gotham's abandoned areas, Amusement mile. He was setting it up with the daughter of the man who murdered his parents, Sonia Branch, who he soon became romantically involved with.

Dick was doing a good job setting up the new Amusement mile when tragedy struck, Tragedy in the form of a maniacal homocidal clown. The Joker.

The Joker burned Dick's plans to the ground, murdered his friend Jimmy, and ex-girlfriend/ traitor, Raya Vestri. He pushed the Bat-family away from eachother.

Dick was hated by some members of the circus and blamed for the death of Raya and Jimmy, as you can guess, he was in a pretty bad mood.

After the events of the Joker attack ( Death of the family), Dick nearly brutalised a group of men scavenging the Haly's corcus grounds for "trophies" from recent events. Dick was stopped by the son of Batman, and former Robin, Damian Wayne.

Dick managed to hunt down the man collecting these "trophies", the Dealer. He'd taken the Flying Graysons outfit of Dick's father, John Grayson. Dick was in the middle of getting the suit back from the Dealer, when a fire broke out in the building. There were people who were bidding for items in the building and they were trapped, Dick managed to save the people, but his father's suit burned.

After all of the tragedies in Dick's life something worse than anything else happened, Damian Wayne, effectively a little brother to Dick, died. Dick was in a terrible state, he felt utterly destroyed.

The final shock in Dick's life was something unvelievable for him. Tony Zucco, the man who killed his parents, was alive. Dick couldn't stay in Gotham any longer. He had to find him.

Dick has now moved to Chicago, a city without masked heroes, and where vigilantism is banned. He has one Nightwing suit and hardly any money.

As you can tell, these are tough times for Dick Grayson.

Nightwing 19 hits stands April 17, by Kyle Higgins and Brett Booth. with inks and colours by Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse.

Interview: Brett Booth on Comics, Nightwing and more!

CS: First off, Hi, Brett, thanks for doing the interview!

BB: You are most welcome!

CS: Brett, how does drawing a solo book like Nightwing compare to a team book such as Teen Titans or even crossover stories, like the Culling story?

BB: It's different. WAY more backgrounds! There are different tricks you need to do. In a team book you can use the other characters to create depth, in a solo you have to do it with backgrounds. The Culling was a bit different, that's a crossover kinda thing and that can get messy. So much in every panel, you just want it to end!;) With a solo you can focus on just the main character more, so he or she needs to look good!

CS: Is there any particular aspect of a character that you add or exaggerate when you're drawing Bat-related characters like Dick and Tim?

BB: Well, I try to make their agility pop. They are the more acrobatic characters so they move with more of a purpose. And Dick needs to reflect this even more than Tim. He needs to be agile yet graceful, flashy yet elegant. Hard to do right and I have plenty of scrapped pages to show this. It needs to be 'right'.

CS: How closely do you work with a writer when you're drawing a book? And do different writers control different amounts of the storytelling duties?

BB: It's different with every writer. Scott left me alone after some headbutting at the beginning. Took me a bit to figure out how to do the panels for him to show the story and not over panel the page. I usually call them up and talk to them if I want to move something around or tweak it. Most times they're game, anything to make the book look better!:)

CS: Now, onto some questions about your new book, Nightwing!

How does it feel to be joining the book in what seems like a new beginning for the character and the series? With Dick Grayson moving to Chicago after Gotham, and, I'm assuming, a new supporting cast.

BB: Well... MOSTLY new cast. It's both easier and harder. Now everyone has to be introduced and this can be a slow process. With the old city you could just drop a name and you knew who they were, now you have to explain everything. On the other hand I'm not stuck drawing to someone else's designs so more freedom

CS: I've noticed that your Nightwing costume is a little different to Eddy Barrows and Juan Jose Ryp's. Specifically the finger stripes, belt and neck. Were the small changes your idea?

BB: Kyle and I were talking and he mentioned the finger stripes. They couldn't figure out a way to do them with the new gauntlets. So I took a stab. After the stripes, we decided to see what else we could tweak and after a few designs we had something we liked. We were going to work up to the changes but our Editor said to just go for it, and we did.

CS: Is there anything specific you like to do for drawing Nightwing? Any specific research for his style of movement?

BB: Not really. Because you sort of have to pose him for what he's doing. Forcing him into some pose just 'cause I saw it doesn't quite work. He really needs to flow on the page but that needs to work with what he's doing

Nightwing Design, by Brett Booth. With added finger stripes!

CS: Now, you've drawn a lot of Nightwing for your weekly Sketch Saturday that you do on your twitter page, did drawing Nightwing in a book feel slightly easier than drawing a character you'd never drawn before?

BB: Yeah, because I already have a feel for him. With all those sketches, they serve a few different purposes, one is me getting a feel for a character. It usually takes me a few issue to get a proper feel for someone. This way I knew what I was doing right out of the block!

Sketch Saturday Nightwing, by Brett Booth

Sketch Saturday Nightwing, by Brett Booth

CS: How much research do you do before drawing a city? Is it harder to draw real cities than Fictional cities, and which do you prefer?

BB: It depends, if I have to do something specific I'll try and get some shots of what I need. Most cites look pretty much the same. Average person wouldn't know the difference if they were magically plopped into one. 

I prefer fictional, because I can make the city do exactly what I need it to do! And what's in my head is simply cooler;P

CS: Is it nice to still be working with the same inker and colourist, Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse, that you were on Teen Titans?

Nightwing print, by Booth, Rapmund and Dalhouse

BB: Yep! We're one crazy dysfunctional family! But we can count on each other to get stuff done!

CS: Can you say which issue you're on at the moment?

BB: Was in the home stretch of 21, but got pulled off to help on another book. So 21:)

Sneak peek at Nightwing #21, by Brett Booth

CS:  Is there anything you can tease for the upcoming arc in Nightwing?

BB: Nope;)

CS: A few more general questions here.

Now, you do a lot of costume designs for characters in the New 52, if you could re-design any of the existing characters who would you pick?

BB: Hmmmm.... not sure. Earth 2 Flash I think. I just don't like that helmet... I know, WW 1 but with all the changes on Earth2  that would have been a good one. I know I'm in the minority on that!

CS: are there any characters, from any company that you'd like to draw in a regular book?

BB: Besides Wally West and Ted Kord? Booster Gold! Cyclops from the X-men. He was may favorite character growing up!

CS: And one crazy question, if Dick Grayson was a fruit, what would he be?

BB:  Pineapple... Wait that's Ted Kord.... Blueberry

CS: Thanks again, Brett!

BB: Best!

Nightwing #19 is released on April 14, and is written by Kyle Higgins and pencilled by Brett Booth. With inks and colours by Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse.

You can also catch Brett on his blog, http://demonpuppy.blogspot.co.uk/ . And his twitter page, https://twitter.com/Demonpuppy .