DC Comics All Access: Bob Harras
And so we come to Week Four–marking the end of September, the month that ushered in the debut of DC Comics-The New 52 and the unprecedented transformation of the entire DC Universe. It’s hard to believe we’re finally here because for us September started a long time ago. Let me explain:
It’s been quite a ride since the writers conference that initiated this evolution. It’s been a year of pitch meetings, story conferences and design sessions that often went far into the night. It’s been a year of hard work on everyone’s part and truth be told – it’s been a lot of fun.
One of my favorite aspects of this period was our weekly New 52 editorial meeting. Every Friday, all of us in DC Editorial—me, our Executive Editor Eddie Berganza, VP Art Direction & Design Mark Chiarello, Coordinating Editor Liz Gehrlein, Group Editors Matt Idelson and Mike Marts, Senior Editors Bobbie Chase and Joey Cavalieri, Editors Pat McCallum, Brian Cunningham and Rachel Gluckstern, Associate Editors Janelle Asselin, Harvey Richards, Rex Ogle, Wil Moss, Chris Conroy and Assistant Editors Sean Mackiewicz, Katie Kubert, Kate Stewart, Darren Shan and Rickey Purdin—would assemble in our conference room for a two-hour gathering (complete with pizza—any cholesterol concerns temporarily forgotten) not to discuss schedules, or production concerns (these we saved for other meetings)—but to share. Everyone came to that meeting with whatever new material had excited them: whether it was a new script, new art from one of the titles, new designs or new logo concepts. It allowed everybody to see what was being used to build The New 52. Pages would be passed around, discussions would ensue—but most of all, excitement would build.
As that excitement built I was constantly reminded that comics are unique. Unlike movies, or TV, or even video games, comics have no budgetary restraints. A writer and an artist working together as a team can move you from the banality of an office in a major American metropolis to the heart of a dying planet from one page to the next. They can bring characters you care passionately about to places that cannot possibly exist except in the realm of imagination…or in comics.
It is that blend of story and art—that sense of wonder—that you will see in such titles as AQUAMAN by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis, or TEEN TITANS by Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth or THE FLASH by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato. These are only three examples of the excitement we can finally share with you as part of the New 52.
September may be ending (longest September ever)—but for The New 52 and for DC Comics, trust me, things are only getting started…
See you in October,
Bob Harras – Editor in Chief
