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The Pitch:
Chuck Dixon By Brian Jacks
12.06.02
Welcome to Slushfactory.com's weekly feature, "The Pitch," where creators "pitch" you their newest, upcoming project in hopes of persuading you to give it a chance.
Your name: Chuck Dixon Title of book: Batgirl: Year One Publisher of book: DC Comics Ongoing or miniseries: Nine-issue limited series Other collaborators on book: Scott Beatty (co-writer), Marcos Martin (penciler), Alvaro Lopez (inker) Expected on-sale date: December 18, 2002
(1) Fill in the blanks: My name is Chuck Dixon and I am best known for...11 years on Batman titles.
(2) What is your book about?
It covers the events leading to Barbara Gordon becoming Batgirl and her first adventures in costume. Surprisingly, this territory has never been mined since her first appearance. There was plenty of room to play with it without violating the old continuity. Fans of Barbara Gordon both as Batgirl and Oracle will find lots of revelations here. We're going for major 'chills up the spine' moments here.
(3) What is the origin of this project, secret or otherwise? Give us the origin story.
I had put a bid in to do this project several years ago along with Robin: Year One. I had a lot of stuff worked out in my head but it was all parts in search of a sum until I talked with Scott Beatty when we were co-writing Robin: Y1. He saw possibilities that hadn't occurred to me and a great through-line story. So we signed up together to do it. Choosing Marcos for the art was a no-brainer as he helped out on Robin: Y1.
(4) Aside from the promise of tall dollars, what drew you to this project? Why now?
I've come to really like Barbara Gordon as a character and thought it was a shame that the only telling of her origin was a contrived mess that was written to retro-fit her into the Batman mythos because of her appearance on the TV show in 1967. She deserved better. Also, I'd placed a lot of hints about her past in Birds of Prey and was dying for a chance to reveal them. I also, as part of the story, would get to re-tell the origins of two classic bat-villains.
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(5) Why should a reader pick your book over, say, lunch on a given day? Pitch away.
It's everything you buy a comic for; action with heart, brisk storytelling and appealing characters. You love Batgirl and you think you know her. But you don't know everything. This series raises Barbara's coolness factor by 75%.
(6) Anything else you'd like to add?
Just that Scott and I had a blast writing each other into corners and the art is wonderous to behold.
Concluding Note: Where can readers go for more information:
Ok people, this is where it gets really special. Artist extraordinaire Marcos Martin has sent us a batch of pages from the first three issues of Batgirl: Year One. In the Slush twist that we're known for, to make it even more exciting we're showing you most of the pages in their three stages of production: pencil, ink, and color. Is that cool or what? So click away and be sure to check out Batgirl: Year One, hitting store shelves on December 18th.
