DC Comics is sending some of its top talent out on a special mission to celebrate nationwide Batman Day in thousands of bookstores, comic-book shops and libraries.
That includes Chicago comic book writer/artist Tim Seeley, who will appear Sept. 26 for a Q&A and signing at Barnes and Noble at Old Orchard in Skokie. Seeley will discuss his career in comics in general (including eight pre-DC years co-creating the indie thriller “Hack/Slash,” about a female serial-killer survivor hunting down stray murderers) and his recent work on DC’s “Batman: Eternal” and “Grayson” series. The latter featuring Dick Grayson (aka. Robin the Boy Wonder, aka Nightwing) re-imagined as an undercover agent in the nefarious spy organization SPYRAL.
We caught up with Seeley to talk about his lifelong ambition.
Q: Was getting into comics your dream job as a kid?
A: For sure. I still have reports I submitted in first grade during career week about how I wanted to be a comic book writer. When I was 7 or 8, I even wrote to a comic book company and they sent me some sort of submission form — but of course I had no idea what that was.
Q: How quickly did you start working after you got out of college?
A: I graduated at 22 with an immediate plan to work in comics. And I kind of lucked into it pretty early. I did indie stuff for about 10 years, starting out as an artist and then somehow became a guy who also writes comics. I’ve mostly been writing. I get to draw some pages every once in awhile. And being able to draw allows me to step in and do some design work every once in a while — to try my hand at re-designing characters, which is pretty cool.
Q: How does it feel to be working for DC after so many years at independent publishers?
A: Well, for one thing, you’re finally getting to work on things your parents have heard of (laughs). When you go home for a family dinner and everyone asks ‘What are you working on now?’ and you mention some indie thing, they all think you don’t have a real job. But now I can say I’m working on Batman and that makes it sound like all those years were worth it.
Q: How did you feel when you were asked to work on “Batman: Eternal”?
A: I’m not going to lie. I was completely thrilled. I lost a couple of nights sleep, I was so excited. They had me come out for a summit in the New York offices, where I got to sit with the big writers and talk about Batman for a week and get paid for it.
Q: How do you feel about Dick Grayson as a character?
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A: I think of him the same way I think of Batman. He started out as the young, inexperienced guy, the novice, and you as a comic book reader and a person grew as Dick did. In my case, he was Robin when I was a kid and then he became Nightwing when I was in my teens, so being the guy who’s getting to work on his new incarnation is a really cool thing for me.
I’ve always thought of him as a character who helped Batman retain his humanity. Dick went though something similar to Batman: he lost his family because of crime. But he didn’t deal with it the same way because he had Batman to catch him before he fell all the way into darkness. Batman’s about vengeance. Dick tends to be the guy who wants to save everyone.
Comic book writer/artist Tim Seeley for Batman Day
2 p.m. Sept. 26
Barnes and Noble, 55 Old Orchard Center, Skokie
Free
(847) 676-2230 or visit www.barnesandnoble.com.