Red Room Where the Writers Are

In May, DC Comics is giving Huntress the Year One treatment—not once but twice, with the release of Huntress: Year One #1 on May 14th and the release of the second issue two weeks later on May 28th. Written by breakout writer Ivory Madison with artwork by Cliff Richards, Huntress: Year One connects somewhat to Greg Rucka’s Batman/ Huntress: Cry For Blood story from several years ago—and also solidifies more of Helena Bertinelli’s traditional origin in light of the character's somewhat muddled yet colorful past over the 20-something years of her existence. This project marks the first endeavor into comics by Ivory Madison, CEO of Red Room Omnimedia Corporation.

Traditionally, the Huntress name was briefly touted by a forties comic book character ‘the Tigress’; but it was not until the seventies that Paul Levitz created the actual Huntress character—Helena Wayne, the daughter of Batman and Catwoman from Earth-2. In 1985, the Helena Wayne version of the character was seemingly eliminated during Crisis on Infinite Earths, but due to the character’s popularity, DC revitalized the Huntress, but changed her origins, creating Helena Bertinelli—a character without connections to DC’s multi-verse who has remained popular as a “black sheep” in the Bat-family as well as a featured character in the Birds of Prey series.

Newsarama contacted Madison to get her insight on the character and her approach to writing—as well as a little back story on the writer herself and her extensive connection to comic books.

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Newsarama: Ivory, your name is new to comics fans, so how did you get involved with DC Comics and the Huntress: Year One project?

Ivory Madison: This is a funny story—well, it’s not that funny. I had written a lengthy treatment for Batwoman, a character who, as you may know, existed in the fifties, and who had been nonexistent except for a brief revival in the seventies, until very recently. I was fascinated by her, and wanted DC to reintroduce her…as a Jewish lesbian district attorney. I pitched it.

In possibly the weirdest coincidence ever, they already had plans to reintroduce Batwoman, and as a Jewish lesbian attorney. I was like, “And she’s Jewish?” “Yes.” “And she’s a lesbian?” “Yes.” “A lawyer?” “Yes.” And it was top secret. I recovered, and pitched a Huntress miniseries instead, since I’d always loved Huntress, too.

That made them realize that the mythology of the Huntress had never been completely told and there wasn’t really a full foundation for the mini I’d proposed, so we went back to Year One. I’m very lucky to get to write this story. I’m so glad things worked out this way.

NRAMA: What is your take on the Huntress? With the number of strong, modern female characters on the rise in the DCU--where does she fit in?

IM: Helena has very strong moral values, believes in honor, and is a loner. She’s principled, smart, and truly—truly—independent. She carries the pain and loss of her family with her at all times, and wants to destroy the mob with an epic vengeance.

To answer the second part of your question: She doesn’t fit in. That’s the problem. She doesn’t fit in with the mob, she doesn’t fit in with Batman, she doesn’t fit in with anyone.

NRAMA: What is the premise for Huntress: Year One? Is this a "tried and true" typical origin story or is this a new angle for the character? What can readers expect from your project?

IM: The building blocks of the story come from Greg Rucka’s Cry for Blood. Since Greg is one of my favorite writers and an inspiration to me, I was respectful of the hard work he did to establish her back story. I wrote a new “first meeting” with Batman, but was careful not to officially erase Greg’s version; we set it up so that both could have occurred. But I think our new “first meeting” provides more explanation of why Batman perceives her the way he does.

While Helena Bertinelli is not the daughter of Batman and Catwoman (as Helena Wayne was), all Bertinelli Huntress writers have traditionally paid tribute to the original Wayne Huntress by hinting at the parallel world, creating subtext in the relationships. I love when writers do that with these characters.

I attempted to capture the essential nature of Helena’s personality by showing readers the crucial moments in her early life, the moments that made her who she is. We have all the exciting Year One stuff: how she got the name Huntress, how she got her costume, why she returned to Gotham from Italy, who really matters to her in her life, and how she realized she was capable of being a hero.

The look and feel of the art is fantastic—I’m in awe of Cliff Richards for understanding the mafia noir look I was going for—dark, brooding, Italian, cinematic.

NRAMA: Are there other DC characters you'd like to try your hand at? Do you have any favorite stories from the DCU?

IM: I’d love to write Batman, of course, since I was a little girl. That’s the dream. And I get to do that in three of the four books in the miniseries. And it would be very rewarding if I could finally write Batwoman, after all!

The two favorite stories that come to mind from the DCU are No Man’s Land and Wonder Woman killing Max Lord. Totally brilliant stories. I like stories that impact whole societies, raise larger questions, challenging the idea of the government as “good.” Anything that digs underneath politics, media, economics, social constructs.

NRAMA: So, you’re a long-time reader of comic books? If so, what are some of your experiences with comics? What have you read and enjoyed?

Well, as a kid, my favorites were Batman, Detective Comics, Wonder Woman, Huntress, and The Witching Hour. What am I talking about—those are still my favorites. Back then I rode my bike to the supermarket to get them, now I have a car. Some things change, some things don’t.

Ironically, now that I’m writing comics, I don’t have time to read comics. But for the past decade, I’ve been reading all of the Batman titles, virtually anything Gotham-related. Greg Rucka was my favorite Batman writer ever. When Joss Whedon started writing comics, I made sure those books were all on my pull list, too. They know how to write women well and they always offer a multilayered, philosophical commentary on society.

I love all kinds of comics—new underground and vintage nostalgia to literary and superheroes. When I’m alone, there’s nothing better than a couch on a sunny day, with some jazz playing in the background, and tea, reading a big stack of comics.

NRAMA: When you're tackling a new project, how do you attempt to familiarize yourself with a subject matter? Is there any way to do research the wrong way or is it imperative to know something inside and out, backwards and forwards?

IM: Easy question. You have to read everything. I have literally read all the Huntress stories in existence prior to Birds of Prey, and some of the early Birds of Prey. That means all the versions of Huntress on Earth 1 and Earth 2. You have to understand the continuity and the inevitable breakdowns in continuity. You have to know which writers added their own mark to a character, which changes are considered enduring and which are better ignored. Also I think you have to love the character.

NRAMA: How well did you work with Cliff Richards and Art Thibert? Was there a necessity for exposition with your scripting or did things go smoothly? What are elements of a good script versus a bad one in your mind when it comes to a writer presenting a formatted document to an artist?

IM: Cliff is incredibly sweet and encouraging at all times, the nicest man in the world, but most importantly, his art is amazing. Some of the panels he created really shook me—I could see that he fully understood, despite my inadequate art direction, exactly what I was picturing, and captured it like a movie. He’s very talented. The art is serious. I can’t wait for you to see it.

You’re not going to believe this about Art Thibert, but I haven’t even seen his work yet! It’s still in production, so all I’ve seen is Cliff’s pencils. I’m sure Art will be just as outstanding as Cliff, judging from his past work.

Art direction in the script is absolutely crucial. Whenever I was in a hurry and didn’t make my vision clear, inevitably I would get pencils that were off—for example, when I said “an Italian villa” Cliff accurately did an Italian villa, but it was nothing like I had imagined. I should have realized I had basically said, “a house.” That was my fault. So then I sent a photo reference of what I meant, and of course he could do it perfectly and did. If I had included a photo reference in the script in the first place, I would have saved him the trouble of redrawing it. A good script sets very clear expectations for all the visual elements of a panel.

Another challenge is that I had some rules in my own mind that I did not communicate adequately to Cliff in the first place: No arched backs, no ski-jump noses or baby faces, no heavy make-up, no painted-on clothes when Helena is dressed as a civilian. Basically, no body language or facial expressions for the Huntress that would not be the exact same body language that a male superhero would have in the same scene. If that’s how you’d draw a man’s body, facial expression, movement, and clothing, then you’ve got it right. I wanted her to have muscular arms and abs, and I wanted her to be 5’11”. I should have been more specific about all of this up front, and noted it in the script, to save Cliff time doing fixes. So Joan would wind up sending him notes, asking things like “fix arched back in panel 4.” He’s always is willing to make a panel better and never complains, even though it was my fault for not saying so in the script. He’s great. Some of his portraits of Helena will blow your mind. I hope that some of his art will be burned in people’s memory as representing the quintessential Huntress.

NRAMA: Do you have any other projects coming up after Huntress: Year One?

IM: I still have that outline for a Huntress storyline that takes place in current continuity, so if Year One does well with fans, there’s a chance I might be able to talk DC into a monthly Huntress title, and to talk them into letting me write it. That would be incredible.

I also have a novel I’d like to adapt to a graphic novel, which I’m hoping to do with Vertigo. I have an intense and probably unhealthy attachment to my editor at DC, Joan Hilty, and she works not only on superhero books, but also Vertigo titles. Also, I’m a huge fan of Karen Berger and everything she’s built with Vertigo. Basically, I want to be friends with Joan and Karen and don’t know any other way to get them to hang out with me.

NRAMA: You kicked up quite a controversy by suggesting that you prefer the Huntress as a lawyer (as original Huntress, Helena Wayne, was on Earth-2) to being the schoolteacher that Helena Bertinelli is now. Some fans complained that there are already too many female superhero lawyers, and that Helena should stay a schoolteacher. What is your response to that?

IM: I was a little girl, in the seventies, when I read the original Huntress. I was so impressed that Helena Wayne was a lawyer. There were virtually no women lawyers on TV or in movies or in anything I read. Paul Levitz created this incredible heroine at a time when there were very few women lawyers in the real world either, so it was a strong statement to make this female character an Ivy League-educated lawyer.

You know, some younger readers probably don’t realize that women didn’t have an equal legal right to education in the U.S. until 1972, and that there were still “Help Wanted: Male” and “Help Wanted: Female” job ads in the newspaper around the time we’re talking about. Women were allowed to be schoolteachers or nurses, and that was pretty much it, unless you were extraordinary. So Helena being valedictorian of her Harvard Law School class, and a radical public interest lawyer, was extraordinary.

To someone else, now, her being a teacher might symbolize her reconnecting with her lost childhood or being a protector of those who are the least powerful in society. Those are all valid interpretations, and it’s a noble profession. But to me, Helena becoming a teacher now, after having been a lawyer in an earlier incarnation, reflects a backlash against women’s progress in the workplace, and I’d rather see her in a role that reflects how she was and is: radical and extraordinary.

On a side note, this is interesting—Paul Levitz went on to have a very smart daughter who grew up to become a public interest lawyer. In his mind, it was possible for a woman to do that, and so his female characters and his daughter did.

So, sure, now we have Oracle and Manhunter with law degrees, but they got those law degrees twenty-five years later, because of the trail-blazing of Huntress and her real-world counterparts. Historical context is everything. I identify with the Huntress I grew up reading as a kid, a radical seventies feminist who was breaking rules to fight for justice every way she could. That’s probably why I went to law school, who knows.

NRAMA: Tell us about redroom.com--how does your site relate to writing and comic books?

IM: Thanks for asking. Redroom.com gets called “The MySpace for writers.” It’s a website where authors can have a web presence, for free, that is so easy to use they can update it themselves with blogs, video, books, events. It’s a very ambitious undertaking. I work at least 80 hours a week, and work on Huntress at night.

We’ve got top-tier literary talent like Amy Tan, best-sellers like James Patterson and Clive Barker, and up and coming comic graphic novelists like G. Willow Wilson. We have a few comic book writers and we want more. DC Comics is working with us to fast-track their exclusive talent.

What the site offers readers is that the information is straight from the author, so it’s the most recent and accurate information you’ll find on that author, not to mention how the multimedia features add to the experience. In two weeks, we’re rolling out “Member Pages” for readers, fans, and aspiring writers.

How does it relate to comic books? Just this week, our Member Services manager, a huge comics fan, wrote a piece about attending WonderCon, and we ran it on the front page. And soon, we’re designing a template especially for comic book writers and magazine writers, because they are just as important a part of our culture and reading habits as book writers.