Some guys can do digital things where they make some tricks work, but I work on paper and I work with washes. You can't just change things afterwards. You have to get it right on the page.

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

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!

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.

There's a page in #2 where I did one of the most interesting pages I've ever drawn. I had to think, "This is a big, blockbuster comic book." You're prepared to be more fan service-y or bombastic. Yet I did one of the most challenging pages I've ever drawn, and it was incredibly satisfying to do that on a project like this [All-Star Batman].

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.

Some guys can do digital things where they make some tricks work, but I work on paper and I work with washes. You can't just change things afterwards. You have to get it right on the page.