You get to play with shadow, mood, and tone. And this [Batman All-Stars] is such a moody story.

There's a great line by Joss Whedon: "Make it dark, make it grim, make it tough, but then, for the love of God, tell a joke." Even for a reader, there's only so much punishment they can take. You've got to give them a break here and there.

You've seen the first issue and what happened in the last page. Some pretty awful stuff. I don't know why I seem to be very good at drawing it!

I feel like I've been training my entire career for this moment in a lot of ways. So many artists just want to draw Batman, and I'm getting the opportunity to do the backups in a brand-new Scott Snyder project that has so many artists.

You get to play with shadow, mood, and tone. And this [Batman All-Stars] is such a moody story.

For me, I'm a fan of really dark, depressing stuff.

In a way, I'm glad I'm first because I won't have to panic about following anybody other than industry legend John Romita Jr. And he drew Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, which is one of the books that had a massive effect on me as a reader and an artist. It has been intimidating, scary, exciting, and incredibly satisfying.