EARTH 2 is a place where anything can happen. In the very first issue we saw Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman all get killed. As new heroes such as Alan Scott and Jay Garrick have surfaced, we've recently seen the return of Superman (although he's really really evil now) as well as a new Batman.
If you read last week's EARTH 2 ANNUAL #2, you know who this new Batman is. The story continues in this week's EARTH 2 #20 (we had an exclusive preview HERE) and we had the opportunity to talk to Tom Taylor to find out what we can expect in the series.
COMIC VINE: There's always a gamble in how long to keep a mystery like the identity of a new character. What made you feel that now was right time to reveal Batman's identity?
TOM TAYLOR: I guess there's no real time to reveal an identity like that. There's no right time to lift the big reveal out of the box. It helps to know who the man is behind the mask to really identify with him and feel for him. Hopefully we achieved that with the annual.
CV: What was it like playing around with Batman's origin to tell a different one?
TT: It was awesome. It's absolutely fantastic. It's about as good as you could imagine. I was a kid, living in Melbourne, Australia, and I played with my Batman toys. I probably dressed up as Batman and pretended to be him. And then I got to create an origin for him. Things don't get much better than that.
CV: I really loved the 70s feel to it. Seeing Thomas in the 70s.
TT: Yeah, there's nothing better than a Batman with sideburns.
CV: Will we see what he's been doing since it was thought he was dead and his training after Bruce died?
TT: Hopefully there'll be time for that in the future. For the moment, EARTH 2 is on such a roller coaster and the annual was really our only time we could stop and really focus on a character, like we did. From now on, it's all war, all the time. For a little while. And then we'll see what happens.
CV: Do we know what happened to Alfred?
TT: No we don't, yet. He might still be alive somewhere…we'll find out.
CV: Will this Batman continue to have a big role in the series? How will he fit in with Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, etc without completely stealing the spotlight?
TT: Well, EARTH 2 is already a giant book. I'm sure there are now more characters than there are pages. So there's going to be times when the spotlight's going to be on set of characters and other times it'll have to be on others. I think he can co-exist on this entire world with these other great characters without dominating too much.
CV: What about Lois and Jimmy? I'd imagine they'll run into Superman eventually?
TT: It would seem that way…It seems that if you have Lois on the planet and suddenly an evil Superman is resurrected, they should probably come together at some stage. I wouldn't put money on it but I'd say the chance is good.
CV: Hawkgirl met this Batman while investigating Alan Scott's fiancé, Sam's death. Batman mentions Kanto, the assassin of Apokolips. Will we soon find out more about Sam's death?
TT: Sam's death probably won't be coming up soon because of what we're involved in at the moment. But it will be answered, without a doubt. We can't leave that hanging.
CV: Earth keeps getting trashed. Is there going to be much left of Earth for Batman and the other characters to have further adventures?
TT: I'm glad you've noticed that because that's kind of how I feel. It's like, "Man, things just keep blowing up. We've got to tone that down somehow." So hopefully, someone who's, perhaps, in tune with the Earth, will come back at some stage. And hopefully play a part. Who knows? Maybe they could something about that.
EARTH 2 ANNUAL #2 is now on sale. EARTH 2 #20 is in stores today.