CULLY HAMNER Brings JOKER Into the Future of BATMAN BEYOND to Relive THE KILLING JOKE

With the Joker returning to the streets of Gotham in this week's Batman Beyond # 25 (er … Neo-Gotham, that is), DC tapped veteran artist Cully Hamner to bring the present-day villain into the future.

Hamner, Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle, "The Final Joke." He gets some help from Marco Brett Booth will illustrate interiors.

Following up on our interview with writer Dan Jurgens about "The Final Joke," Newsarama referred to Hamner to find out more about the challenge of bringing the Joker into the future and what happens when he hits the streets of Neo-Gotham.

Newsarama: Cully, how did you get involved in the "Final Joke" storyline?

Cully Hamner: Pretty simple: my DC editor Rob Levin called me up just after I had finished Batman & The Signal and asked if I was interested. I've always loved the look of the show, and I've been super-interested in working with Dan – he's someone I've always admired as both a writer and an artist.

Nrama:How is this version of the Joker visually different from the Joker we know?

Hamner: Well, the thing here is two-fold: This is the Original Joker. He has to look like the same guy, to play the Joker that we all know. So, I figured I'd do that; the only real change would be to just creep the hell out of his face and age him. It's like his whole face is covered in laughing-lines emanating from his pink, bloodshot eyes.

In my mind, I kept thinking about these dolls I would like to have a kid in old country around where I grew up, where the heads were carved out of old, dried-out apples. The artistry was pretty amazing, actually, but they always had this ancient look.

And other than that, it was just written by Dan, you know? It was very specific that, since it was going to be confronting Barbara Gordon in the cliffhanger of the issue, the Joker's style would evoke The Killing Joke. Not an exact copy, mind you, just an echo.

So, Dan asked for a Hawaiian-style shirt and to be using a revolver. Obviously anachronistic to the period we're in, but to make the reader feel the same sense of dread that Barbara must be flashing back to.

Nrama: Is it challenging to take a green-headed character ago and place it in a world of the future? How did you try to make that translation work?

Hamner: You know … not so much, actually. And the reason is that, at least in the part of the story I drew, it's not really supposed to fit in that way. He's supposed to be out of place. The Joker is always in the mood for something that is exactly what he's doing. In a way, he's a character that's immune to his environment. Does that make any sense? The only stimulus he reacts to is Batman and his cohort. He could give a crap about the world around him, really.

Nrama: Where is there any other specific art challenges Batman Beyond the Joker's return in particular?

Hamner: Well, I said, I always admired the look of the show, but for this, it was definitely a struggle to pay homage to that while still amping up the size of Neo Gotham and handling the action that you need to.

To a degree, any time I do not really think about it, it's a challenge. I'm going to want to make it live and breathe, and that does mean throwing a lot of thought and detail into the world-building aspect of it.

And look, I'll admit that it's a situation where I need a bit of back-up, and I'll tell you … I was quite relieved when I brought Marco Santucci to help out. He did a great job.

Nrama: Can you describe your favorite scene or visual moment with the Joker in this story?

Hamner: It's that last scene, with (spoiler alert!) Barbara finding the Joker in her office. I mean, look, it's obvious who it is before the end-page-reveal, but it was still fun to lengthen that moment and try to stretch the anticipation over a couple of pages.

Nrama: What's it like working with Dan on this issue and the art team overall?

Hamner: I have been following Dan Jurgens' work since probably … I guess, the Flash Gordon series he did for DC in the late '80s. No, wait – it was Sun Devils even before that. And his original run on Superman is obviously a high-water mark for the character. He's just … he's Dan Freakin 'Jurgens. As a classic visual storyteller, he's like granite; as a writer, he's got all the nuance you want. He just knows how to do everything. I seem to remember that I have been a fan of a DC summit a few years ago and a fan on my face. Guy's a legend.

As far as the art team, like I said, we were lucky to get somebody like you. I mean, we're pretty different in our approaches, but kind of oddly complementary. Our pages fit together pretty well, I think.

Val Staples is just great. He's someone I had worked with before on my Red: Eyes Only prequel one-shot and one year Action Comics Annual while while back. He's on my list of go-to-colorists. He just gets to know how to render my stuff. I'm deceptively hard to color, I guess, but he knows how to do-that-voodoo-he-do-me. And my favorite bit that he added to me from anybody else that he treated me to the free of charge. He put snow floating around in there. Loved it.

Nrama: With the issue out this week, is there anything else? Batman Beyond # 25?

Hamner: Just that it's an awesome Batman Beyond Batman stuff in flashback. It was fun to do, and I'm banking on it.