Last week, former DC editor and now DC exclusive writer Peter Tomasi kicked off his run on Nightwing. We spoke with the writer back in September when he was named as the new lead of the creative team, and he gave us a full rundown on how he sees Nightwing and how the character fits in with the Bat-Family and the larger DC Universe…so – now that his first issue is out?We caught up again to talk about the specific issue – “Freefall” Part 1 – and get some insight on why he did what he did with the character and the issue.

Newsarama: Peter, when we spoke back in September, you gave us a pretty good idea of who Nightwing is in your eyes. We’re a few months – and a Bat-title-wide crossover down the road now, so how is Nightwing in this issue? How would you sum him up after the “Resurrection of Ra’s” storyline?

Peter Tomasi: I wouldn’t say he’s had any epiphanies or taken a drastic soul-changing course as a result of that storyline, because that was something I definitely didn’t want to do. He wasn’t going to emerge from a lake of blood and say: “ya know, something’s gotta change.”

My whole plan of attack for taking over was simply to have Dick turn the page, because I feel that’s a integral part of his DNA when approached right. I have him simply looking at his life after the Ra’s storyline and making some changes. A slight course-correction if you will.

NRAMA: Broadening that scope a little, and since you’ve got them all in there, how’s the Bat-Family as a result of Ra’s return?

PT: In my mind, tight as ever. No major angst. They’re a family, plain and simple. Ups and downs. Life is a carnival. When I first took over the Bat books as an editor a while back, that was one of the things I wanted to see in the books, which was an end to the constant bickering and shadow watching so to speak. These characters have gone to hell and back with each other. There’s no doubt between them that they care and respect each other. Will there be problems, sure, every family has some dysfunction. But I have no intention of anybody seeing a cover that reads “Batman vs. Nightwing! Who Dares Wins!”

And as of right now, having Ra’s back in circulation is never a good thing, he is such a great character and his return will have reverberations.

NRAMA: Again, even though you mentioned it previously, can you touch upon – since we now have examples to look at – in your view, what does a Nightwing story have to have in it? This issue had a feel of “Nightwing 101” to it…

PT: Well, first off, I did want my initial Nightwing issues to be somewhat reader friendly. I wanted a casual reader or someone who’s picking up the title from word of mouth to be able to open the book and get all the basic tenets of the character without a massive amount of exposition and encyclopedic knowledge of the last 10 years of Batman stories.

And of course I was hoping that all the Nightwing fans out there felt I was doing the character justice.

But a Nightwing story should have what every good story should have, which is a character you simply want to follow through thick and thin. A character who’s adventures you wanna go on. A character with heart, intelligence, and wit. And as I mentioned earlier in a previous interview with ya, Nightwing is a character who can support all kinds of genre inclusion. I don’t think there’s a box. The world is literally wide open for Nightwing and you can put him on any ride you want and I feel it will work, whether in crime alley land, space land or jungle land. Nightwing is a character who travels well, and has no limits except for the ones a writer puts on him.

NRAMA: Okay, so what were your goals for this issue, from a big picture standpoint?

PT: Well, really, to be able to produce a book that someone would wanna pick up again next month and give it a try. Comics are not cheap. Rack space is not cheap. I truly want whoever picks this book up to feel that the entire creative team is working their asses off to produce a high quality book. No one is phoning anything in on this title. I’m not taking anything or anyone for granted. I want people to see that Nightwing is a viable character that can give people their money’s worth month after month.

And like I said earlier, it was key for this issue to be a sort of welcome mat to new readers and old readers alike. To give people an entry point that they would feel comfortable with, while at the same time having the character move forward with his life and open some new doors that not only he would step through, but one’s that the reader could too.

NRAMA: You showed us Dick’s new hobby – high altitude skydiving. From outside looking in, sure – makes sense for the character; but in Dick’s mind – why? And why go for the record?

PT: There were two things pulling at me as I was starting the first story, and that was whether to open the book with Nightwing in action or Dick Grayson in action. That may sound simplistic, but for me, deciding which way to go was really the touchstone on how I viewed the book from here on in.

In the end I felt it was necessary for readers to care about Dick Grayson first and Nightwing second, because if you couldn’t relate or plug in to the guy outside of the uniform, who would care about another guy in uniform kicking ass and taking names. So I was driving myself crazy trying to find that opening image that would speak volumes about who our leading man was not just externally, but internally, and suddenly jumping out of a plane seemed like a natural extension of his previous circus experience and lays out his basic DNA for all to see. The kind of life he leads is in his blood and has been passed down through his family. Discovering that, laid out the whole theme/context of the book for me.

The skydiving will be a touchstone for most of the next year and pay off in some surprising ways.

NRAMA: Let’s talk about the mystery that you’re setting up in the storyline – we’ve got a body thief in action here. He took Captain Boomerang’s body and Black Condor’s so far – and he/it are working with the thieves in the Cloister?

PT: Right – it’s Captain Boomerang’s body and yes, Black Condor. And yes, there is a “body thief” in the mix here, but I can’t really get into much more except to say that his name is Creighton Kendall and there’s a bigger picture at work here. And if you look closely when Nightwing discovers the motorcycles that the thieves rode in on, you’ll also see a hole in the ground that they dug to get into The Cloisters. And once inside you’ll see a sort of mini-tunnel bore off to the side.

NRAMA: While we’re talking about those thieves that Dick fought – how is Dick in a fight? Compare him with Bruce a little – one trained the other, but yet…they’re distinct and different, right?

PT: Dick is a sponge. He of course learned a great deal from Bruce, but I see him as taking what he knows and improvising, using his natural acrobatic prowess in everything he does. It’s ingrained in him. He’s more fluid. But let’s face it; Dick and Bruce simply know how to open a can of whup-ass better than anyone.

NRAMA: Again with the fight – how much of the choreography was yours and how much was Rags [Morales – penciler]?

PT: Actually, I’m really crazy on the details. My panel descriptions are somewhat on the denser side and I take a lotta pleasure in trying to direct a fight scene. Obviously, Rags adds his amazing magic to the stuff and brings it all to life way better than I could’ve possibly imagined, but I do have a specific eye when I right since I started out pretty young making super-8 and 16mm movies as a kid, and also writing screenplays before I started writing comics.

Here’s a few pages of script from that fight scene in The Cloisters just to give you an idea as to how I work:

Click here to download a script segment from Tomasi’s script for Nightwing #140.

NRAMA: Hey – who was that French Knight – so far, the bodies were powered,
or at least had super-human abilities. Should folks go digging through their Who’s Who’s to find dead French knights?

PT: No reason to scouring for info. The knight’s name is Jean D’Alluye and his tomb is actually there at The Cloisters. I grew up in Washington Heights a few blocks from the museum, and I can’t recommend it enough. It’s simply amazing, not just the museum, but the entirety of Fort Tryon Park. If you’re a New Yorker or tourist who’s never been there treat yourself. The knight’s body is taken for the attributes it can lend to what the “body thief” is planning.

NRAMA: As you mentioned previously, you were the editor of Nightwing for a good stretch. As such, you know what works on the book and for the character, and what doesn’t…how do you keep Nightwing grounded so he/you don’t start off down on any of those streets that end in ruin?

PT: Hmm, not sure how to answer that ya tricky bastiche! I think in the end you have to write the story you want to tell and hope for the best, simply let the cards fall where they may. If I suck it up, I’ll fall on my sword, but just to let everyone out there know, I’m not gonna intentionally deliver a half-ass Nightwing story. I’m not starting down this road saying: “Yeah, let’s lose this game!” Hopefully, when all is said and done, the readers will feel they got a heartfelt Nightwing run from a writer who was thinking of not only himself, but of them.

NRAMA: Moving to the status quo that you’re setting up – putting Dick into a “headquarters” – a museum (interestingly enough, how he described Wayne Manor) where he’s the curator…of all the places you could have set Dick up in, what took you in this direction?

PT: I’ll probably catch some flak for Dick’s new gig, but honestly, it was one of those things that felt right. It doesn’t help that I’m a history nut, but I felt I could have some fun with it and do something with Dick that was completely off the beaten track and a bit down the road from the male model thing. And in the end whenever something doesn’t pan out or I wanna divert questioning, I lean on the words of Steve McQueen in the Magnificent Seven – “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

NRAMA: You had the two of them share a few moments this issue, so the dynamic between Dick and Tim – basically, brothers? At least that’s where things seem, as Dick was “protecting” Tim from the Captain Boomerang angle…

PT: Absolutely – no other way to write these two. They’re brothers. It’s organic and feels incredibly natural to write them this way. I had a lotta fun on the scene on the roof of The Cloisters with them. I just get outta the way and let them do the talking.

NRAMA: And that last page – when Superman says that you need to talk, that’s the invitation to talk that you can’t ignore – but how does Dick see Superman? One of “Dad’s” friends? An equal?

PT: Well, I’d say Dick is smart enough to know that Superman is Superman. But as you’ll see in issue #141, I don’t approach their relationship as one that has any unseen angles or levels of self worth, etc. These two guys talk to each other like friends who respect each other and have a long history together. Plain and simple. That describes their relationship.

NRAMA: Oh – and since you’re already taking some heat on this, let’s add
some more…does he call himself “Richard” as he did in this issue, or “Dick?”

PT: Yeah, sheesh, the stuff you don’t see coming. Little did I realize that I would crack the internet in half with that little ditty.

Honestly, people are reading into it way more than it deserves to be. First, let’s face facts: his name is Richard Grayson. Now, I simply feel that the few people I know from my peer group named Richard, made it a point to say that they go by either Richard or Rich or Rick. Dick was not an option. Now, I do realize that when the character was created the use of Dick as a nickname was utilized quite frequently. From Dick Powell to Dick Tracy to Dick Cheney, sure a lotta Dicks out there in those days of yore. I simply don’t believe in this day and age that a lotta people with the name Richard want their nickname to be Dick. Call me crazy. But that’s just from personal experience. I know that the few friends I have named Richard most definitely don’t want to hear “Hey, Dick!” when someone they know calls out to them.

Now, it’s not like I tossed it aside, I will be using both Dick and Richard throughout the series, so fear not. Some people will refer to him as Dick, others Richard. A writer’s gotta have at least one prerogative!

NRAMA: Wrapping things up Peter, let’s take a look ahead – Superman wants a chat, and there’s a winged zombie guy flying around…what’s coming up in “Freefall”?

PT: Lotsa stuff! Cats and dogs living together! You name it! Well, if I named it, my esteemed editor Michael Siglain would have my head on a pike, and as Mr. Siglain says: “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” Okay, okay, the only thing I can definitely say that’s coming is more stupendous art by Rags Morales and Michael Bair!