DC Comics' new graphic novelGotham Highreimagines a teenage Bruce Wayne along with young versions of Catwoman, a.k.a.
Selina Kyle, and the Joker, a.k.a.
I wanted to do Batman.
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Its such a fun, iconic character that I could put my own spin on.
THOMAS PITILLI:A lot like your husband, Ive been a Batman fan my whole life.
That really appealed to me.
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What excited you both about debuting new versions of not only Batman, but also the Joker and Catwoman?
DE LA CRUZ:Bruce Wayne is the billionaire.
Hes the richest man alive.
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So I thought, wouldnt it be fun if his family was Chinese and from Hong Kong?
That made it feel real.
It gives it this fabulousCrazy Rich Asianssheen to it.
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I definitely wasnt a billionaire, but oftentimes I felt very separated from everyone else around me.
What did you use as the inspiration for this new version of Batman?
You cant mess with that much.
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But making him Chinese was a no-brainer everyone was on board from the beginning.
PITILLI:From an artistic standpoint, the history of Bruce Wayne and Batman was essentially wiped clean.
I wasnt held down in any way to one specific thing.
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He was the hardest character to visualize and design because hes not your average villain.
Hes almost not a villain at all, in a way.
He goes back and forth where you sympathize with him sometimes and sometimes you see him as a villain.
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So I wanted to give him a look that played off both sides of his personality.
It became a great reference throughout the process since I just had to look at myself.
[Laughs] In a weird way, the Joker character is the most like me.
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PITILLI:And that really helped.
That brought more of what you envisioned onto the paper.
The Jokers pretty hot, so hes got to be in there.
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Thats where I started.
I just wroteThe Queens Assassin, about a girl who doesnt want to be a princess.
Its almost a burden to be so different.
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Is he able to have friends?
Can he have a relationship?
And then I went from there.
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Where did you get the idea to make that a full-on love triangle?
Theres this feeling that theyre the same person, just with different circumstances.
What does that do to who they become?
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It came out of trying to figure out all their desires.
What does Jack bring to Selina thats different from what Bruce brings to Selina?
Ultimately you dont know who shes going to pick.
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You root for both of them, and theres a surprise in the end.
It was an opportunity to stretch my artistic acting muscles I could act through my drawings.
Where do you envision this story going in the future?
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DE LA CRUZ:Im a series writer, a franchise writer.
I like to create the universe, and playing with the big, iconic characters.
It felt like doing theDescendants, but in the DC universe.
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I would love to play a little more.
We have minor characters that we can get to know a bit more, like Poison Ivy and Harvey.
And I dont think its the last well see of Selina, Jack, and Bruce either.
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Im hoping to do more of Jacks story in the second book.
PITILLI:I feel like a fan right now hearing that!
This is so set up for a sequel.
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I cant help thinking about where that can potentially go.
Id love to continue drawing these characters.
DE LA CRUZ:And we barely even saw Robin!
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PITILLI:Theres so much there to explore further.
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