by Jayden Leggett, Editor

So, Oz Comic-Con Melbourne 2014 may have come and gone quite a while ago now, but seeing as the Injustice: Gods Among Us comic books keep going from strength to strength, we figured now was as good a time as any to finally post this interview with Aussie comic book writer extraordinaire Tom Taylor, superstar writer for the Injustice and Earth 2 DC Comics series. Enjoy!

I’ve been really enjoying your writing for the Injustice comic series, and I especially get a kick out of seeing some of the sneaky cameos of local comic-related people in some of the issues, like Mitch Davies (of All Star Comics fame) as the Aussie superhero Galaxor, and a particular writer wearing his favorite black Superboy t-shirt… Obviously you get leeway with inserting your own content into the storyline, but I was wanting to know how much of the story was set in stone by DC Comics, and how much creative control did you have as the writer?

There were a couple of key things that had to happen right at the beginning. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything because it’s been out for so long, but Lois had to die at the hands of Superman in some way, which was awful for me personally. I literally called my mum and said “They want me to do this to Superman and Lois!” So that had to happen, and Metropolis had to be blown up as well, and there are obviously characters who aren’t around during the game, people who obviously died before it came out. I am sort of delving into that too, but a lot of the time it’s very open because they never explained in the game exactly how that happened, so it’s been up to me to determine how that happened, which is both horrible and good at the same time.

I particularly love the humor that is present in your writing. Some of the more bizarre stuff like Ares strongly considering becoming the God of Ponies, or the Joker reminiscing on how easy it is to beat a puppy to death with a kitten. Would it be fair to say that you have a little bit of a disturbed mind?

No… I think it would be fair to say that I hate angsty, depressing comics without humor. I don’t understand any storytelling without humor and levity. I’m fine if you want somebody’s parents to die in an alley and they then grow up and they’re all angsty and just want to punch villains in the face, but throw some comedy in afterwards! I think good drama has to have a really good balance of comedy as well. I couldn’t write it otherwise, I’d just be bored.

I think you’ve nailed that aspect, it stops the reader from becoming too depressed because you’ve got these really light-hearted moments in it as well that help bring balance to it.

I don’t know if you’ve read the latest chapter with Harley Quinn and Black Canary that just came out this week, but I think that’s the best example of it. There are moments where people have told me that they have been laughing all of the way through and then suddenly they have tears rolling down their face. Being able to do that in a ten page comic is fantastic, and that’s what I strive for. I don’t think those sad moments, or the moments when you really feel for these characters, would work unless there was something to be happy about beforehand. Also, I just get tired of any story that has no hope. I’m way too optimistic for that, I like knowing that everybody’s going to be OK at the end, and if some people don’t make it, OK, but you know, some people have to! It can’t be “And at the end everything was dark and horrible, kittens cried in the street for their dead”.

You really achieved this with the death of Green Arrow, when in his dying moments his thoughts are of Black Canary and how lucky he was to have spent his time with here. There’s this sad, terrible thing but it’s kind of positive and upbeat at the same time.

Well that’s how you do true sadness. If you’re just having him being beaten to death and just lying there as he dies, no one would care. I had a guy come up to me recently at a convention, he just walked up to me and abused me. He literally said “F*** you buddy! You made me cry in public!” It’s great, that’s what storytelling should be able to do. I remember reading Joe Kelly’s I Kill Giants on a plane and I was stuck at the very back of the plane between three other people, and I was crying, and it was ridiculous because I was crying over a comic, in between three strangers. That’s exactly what everyone should strive for.

You obviously have a great wealth of knowledge and love for the various DC superheroes which comes through in your writing, particularly the dialogue. Is there a particular character who is your favorite to write for?

A good Superman. It’s interesting actually, because we’ve created our own Superman in Earth 2, an all new Superman, Val Zod, and that’s really exciting. I wanted a good Superman deal with all of this evil and angst and sadness, not the “I’m gonna put my fist through this guy’s chest”, I wanted all of that gone. I wanted to create a good Yin to all of this bad Superman Yang. But I would still love to write that good Clark Kent, and that good Superman and all of those characters, because they’re the characters that I grew up with. The first Superman movie, that was the thing that defined me as a kid.

Well I did have a question here reading “What is it with you and your compulsive need to make Superman a dick?”, but obviously that’s not your decision. Which must suck, because it seems that you were brought in to write for Earth 2 just as Superman is becoming a dick again.

When I was told that I was just like “Oh no!” but you know, it will happen one day. One day, Superman won’t be a dick.

In Earth 2, there is the birth of a new Superman in the form of Val Zod. How big a moment was this for you? What can we expect to see from this character?

Creating a new Superman for the world is just one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done. Particularly a black Superman, a guy who is so innocent and still so committed to non-violence, and committed to actually helping, and holding all of that hope in him, there are so many things about Val that I just love and it’s been a really amazing experience getting to create him. Where he goes from here, he’s going to start to embody the symbol that he wears on his chest. He’s going to start becoming Superman, and that’s really exciting. Getting to play a part in that is just crazy! If I could go back in time and tell five year-old Tom (as he walks down the street with his red underpants over his blue jeans and his red Bubblegummer gumboots) that he would create a new Superman… that would make him very happy… as he is now!

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