Mike Perkins Talks The Batman: First Knight

Knight On The Town

Mike Perkins just spoke to Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows about his brand new Batman series The Batman: First Knight out in March with writer Dan Jurgens…

TRIPWIRE: You have drawn Superman for DC so what was the appeal of drawing Batman? 

MIKE PERKINS: Batman’s one of the ultimate characters  in the “Oooh, I’d love to get the chance to illustrate his book one day!” It’s the mood. It’s the atmosphere. It’s the shadow. I’m good at that stuff and Batman really leans into that.

TW: How closely have you worked with Dan Jurgens on the book?

MP: Dan works with a plot structure. His scripts give panel beats and a pointer of dialogue.  he’s incredibly visual within that structure – as you would expect from someone of Dan’s standing within the industry. The layout and storytelling beats are then left for me to figure out and pace and then Dan will come in a caption and dialogue the pages. there’s no full script and I hadn’t really worked that way until we collaborated on Green Lanterns… but we both enjoyed the experience.

TW: Black label books are prestigious titles. Was this part of the appeal of working on it ?

MP: For sure. It’s the difference in format that provides a challenge. The double sized originals at A2 size rather than 11×17 have been simultaneously difficult and rewarding. There’s more space for the art to breathe and, conversely, more space to put in 10 panel pages!

TW: How much did you adapt your style to suit this specific project ?

MP: I wanted to illustrate a book with a lot more gray tones and I knew this project would be perfect for that. That approach gives that extra layer of depth to the pages. Mike Spicer has done an absolutely terrific job with the colours but, after all the effort that has gone into those gray tones, I’d still love to see a black and white version at some point.

TW: Before you started it, did you do much in terms of sketching to get comfortable with the character ?

MP: Not so much – no. Batman seems to be within the dna somehow. It wasn’t easy getting the ears correct on the cowl.  That scalloped shape is not so easy from different angles – but after making a little clay maquette of the 1939 cowl my brain could make more sense of it.

TW: This is a mini series rather than an ongoing one. Was this something else that attracted you to the series ?

MP: I don’t know if that was a selling point for me. The attraction was the setting and the opportunity to do something new and exciting with the character and his surroundings.  These issues are larger size and 48 pages each – so it’s really the equivalent of 6-7 issues
( double that amount work-wise with the over-sized originals) so thinking of it as a 3 issue thing didn’t even cross my mind.

TW :How would you describe it in one concise sentence ?

MP: March 2024 is the exact 85th Anniversary of Batman’s first appearance in Detective #27 – let’s go back to that age and experience the thrills, spills and chills of a bygone era but with a modern excitement and luxurious illustration.

The Batman: First Knight begins in March from Black Label/ DC