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I’ve been in rabid anticipation since I heard you and Rucka were going to be on this!

When I first saw your teaser I felt a particular disappointment knowing how gorgeous your inks were and that the inevitable color work was probably going to spoil them- but my, the finished work is just splendid! I love the noir-influences.

I can’t wait for more teasers.

Hey there Aria
Thank you for the kind words. Glad you like the black and white stuff you’ve seen, as well as the color. Dave is probably the best colorist in the industry and really knows how to handle things. He is willing to try different ideas and work closely with me to get the desired effect that we are trying to achieve in this series.

That is one extremely sexy, kick-ass Batwoman. I like how the splash page is very similar to the one in your first issue of Det. with Dini. They would make great posters. I have a question though. Is having the story told in Det. instead of the eponymously named series any kind of hinderance on the duration of your stay on the book? Are you able to say how many issues your staying on till? I’m completely siked for this.

Hey there Austin
Glad you dig what you see. I think it’s a strong opener and only gets better from there.

The switch to Detective will have no affect on my commitment to the series. Greg and I are building a big picture storyline here that I’d like to see it through. The plan is for me to be on the book for a minimum of 12 issues. The trick will be getting all 12 back to back, considering that I’m pretty slow.

Beautiful. All of it. Amazing. That’s really all I can say.

Can’t wait, J.H.!!!!

Thanks, Craig.

WHAT THE CRAAAAAP…

I am getting this and I don’t know a thing about Batwoman.

Hey there Amy
Thanks, I hope you’ll like it. Your work on Madame Xanadu has been fuckin’ awesome!!

Hi,
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hey there Kees
Hi yourself, uh… what test?

Jh man your art is buetiful. I loved your work on the black glove and this is shaping up to be even better. As a writer/Creator id kill to have a guy like you on art. Ruckas a lucky writer!

Keep up the good work.

Thank you so much, Curtis. I really appreciate the kind words. What projects are you working on? I’d like to check ‘em out.

Hi JH, I’m glad Dave Stewart is the colourist. He’s the best! It’s about time your work is being published. Your work is groundbreaking and sets new standards in storytelling and design. Loved your Jonah Hex story. It started of like an action story but diverted in something psychedelic. Just as your art shifted to enhance everything

Thanks, Michel. And yes Dave is the best. I feel he and I make a really good team. We manage to have a lot of range in the look of things as evidenced by comparing Jonah Hex with the Batman issues we did and then the Seven Soldiers project. He is willing to go wherever I want to go with style manipulation. Because of this we can explore a lot of different techniques.

Maybe people are interested in an interview with Greg Rucka over at Comic Book Resources about your and his upcoming run on Detective Comics…

JH, I have been a big fan. Your recent Jonah Hex and Batman stuff have been great. The fact that this is something I have looked forward to for a long time makes it so much better. I love that you and Greg are working together and hopefully, we will see a lot more of your work in the future.

Hey there Nick
Glad you are liking what you see. You can expect some more teaser stuff for Detective Comics soon.

Over on Mark Millar’s forum they have a thread called Red Haired Lesbian Batwoman (I haven’t actually read any of the posts yet). I know this book through Detective Comics is going to sell really well, but if you guys made the title of the book Red Haired Lesbian Batwoman it would be the best selling comic ever!

Thanks, Ralph
I’ll go check that out.

I just wanted to say how incredible your work is. I’ll tell anyone who will listen, I believe you to be the best artist working in the comics medium today, bar none. You’ve surprised and amazed me in EVERY SINGLE THING you’ve ever put out, from a “Dead Earth: Flash” annual with Peter Tomasi to what little we’ve seen of your Detective Comics run, and everything in between.

If you don’t mind me asking, do you still plan to do that creator owned mini with Grant Morrison, or is that on the backburner?

Hey there Deniz
I thank you for the VERY kind words about the work I do. It is appreciated greatly. Yes, Grant and I will eventually get to that creator owned project that we wish to do. It’s gonna be awhile due to my commitments to Detective Comics, which were in the planning stages before Grant and I decided to do a personal project together. It can be tough because it is all about timing, my speed combined with Grant’s insanely busy schedule tends cause schedule conflicts. However, we are still determined to do the project. I’m hoping that the planets will align themselves in favor of us starting as soon as the Detective work is done. We shall see.

Thank YOU for putting the time, effort and thought into the work that you do. I don’t think I’ve ever ‘geeked out’ as much as when I got to see you work on my favorite characters (The New Gods) with Grant Morrison. I’m a student at the local hospital and I literally had to skip out at lunch time to buy Seven Soldiers 1 as soon as it came out. Made the next 12 hours fly right by.

Glad to hear that, eventually, you’ll get getting to your creator owned work with Grant (presumably through Vertigo?). Highly excited about getting regular output from you!

If you don’t mind me asking, how long does an average issue take you to do? I’m sure it varies issue to issue, project to project, but ballpark?

Anywho, sincerely, all the best. I already know a LOT of non comic fans who are interested in picking this up due to the ‘wow’ factor of the whole lesbian situation, but if anyone can win them over via storytelling, it’s going to be you and Rucka.

Hey there Deniz
Thanks again for the nice comments. It’s always a pleasure to work with Grant. I think he and I are of similar mind on a lot of things. So I imagine when we get around to doing the project it will be pretty wild and far out stuff for sure

Right now I think I’m getting 2 1/2 to 3 pages a week done, which is relatively slow. However, this includes full inks, and frequently heavy ink washes as well. But things slow down even from that depending on what I may be dealing with in my private life. As an example I lost almost 2 months of work this last 8 months due to a variety of things, illness, dental surgery, that sort of thing. Regardless, I’m just too damn slow, but I try to put a lot of care and thought into what goes on the page.

Very nice to hear that non regular comics readers are getting interested in reading the new project. And yes, hopefully we will win them over. I guess it depends whether they are expecting salaciousness or not…

Understood, and very understandable! 2 months per issue is a short time to wait for work that is as well thought out as yours (I’m sure the amount of time it takes you to design a page is astounding).

As for the ‘new readers’, most of those that I’ve encountered are actually WOMEN. Rucka’s work on Gotham Central and in 52/Crime Bible is one of the only ‘gateways’ I’ve been able to find for females into the world of comics(along with Y the Last Man). I’ve been talking this project up since it was a rumor some two years ago.

Anyway, I’ve wasted too much of your time already! Thanks for your responses!

Hello Deniz
You should try showing your female friends Promethea. That series always seemed to have a large female audience judging from what types of people would come up to me at conventions.

The preview pages look amazing. You’ve sold me on it already.

“Promethea” is actually on a list of things that I’ve ear-marked for at least one female friend who I am trying to get into comics (along with Strangers in Paradise, et al) but – to be perfectly frank – I’m waiting until the Absolute Edition comes out. It was a dog tracking down all the individual issues, I’m pretty proud of owning them all, and I have an irrational fear of her losing or destroying any one of them.

I’ve actually toyed with the idea of sliding “Chase” her way, with it being one of the few books to feature a strong, independent female lead.

Hello Devyn
Glad you like what you see so far.

Hey there Deniz
You could always get her a copy of volume one tpb as a birthday gift or something like that.