By Zack Quaintance — I’ve really been enjoying the Shadows of the Bat storyline, a 12-part epic that is currently playing out weekly across the pages of Detective Comics. When DC offered me a chance to send a few questions to the book’s writer, Mariko Tamaki, I jumped at the opportunity. What follows is her answers, necessarily guarded as they are why this story — which has rapidly recontextualized it self with each new chapter — unfolds.

If you haven’t been reading the book, in Shadows of the Bat, Batman himself has left Gotham City (see the main Batman title), leaving its protection to a group that includes Batwoman, Barbara Gordon operating as Oracle, Nightwing, and Huntress, among others. At the same time, the city has moved the facility for the criminally insane once known as Arkham Asylum, into a new Arkham Tower. The man tasked with running it, however, may not be an ally to the Batfamily…but anyway!

Check out my questions and Tamaki’s answers below…enjoy!

INTERVIEW: Mariko Tamaki talks SHADOWS OF THE BAT

ZACK: What was the inspiration for sort of reassessing Arkham as a concept with this story? 

MARIKO TAMAKI: I’m pretty sure it came from conversations with my editors Paul Kaminski and Dave Wielgosz. There was just something about the idea of a 12 issue arc and the idea of this tall tower, structurally it seemed like it would be a good conduit for a bunch of linked stories. 

ZACK: Was there anything that specifically made now the right time in your mind to focus on the patients in Arkham?

MARIKO: For me there’s no particular timing to it. I was mostly into the idea of having a reason to put everyone in one place. I feel like a lot of writing for DC is circling back around these same symbols and Arkham is obviously a really potent one.

ZACK: One thing I’ve really enjoyed about your run is how well you’ve populated the stories with interesting side characters who in some cases don’t neatly fit as enemies or allies (at least not outwardly), from Mayor Nakano to Deb Donovan to Dr. Wear…I’m sure each one is approached differently, but can you talk generally about creating and using these characters?

MARIKO: I love writing Batman and Bruce Wayne, I definitely love having as many people as possible for him to interact with. To me, the most fun of writing these stories is in getting into Gotham as a city. This kind of superhero ridden city with all its layers, is just very fascinating to me. 

ZACK: I love how the second arc starts, with the reveal of Psycho Pirate's role. This entire story is doing such a great job blending grounded problems like the conspiracy to rip off the city and illegally peddle pharmaceuticals with more fantastical superhero elements like mind control. How much do you think about the balance between the two?

MARIKO: A lot. Credit to my editors though because I’m pretty sure Psycho Pirate was their idea. I’ve always liked the idea of varying between super-villains and just not great people. Wear has been a very fun not great person to write. I like tempering big destruction with people stuck in bad decisions, and there’s a lot of that in the Tower.

ZACK: The title of this whole story is Shadows of the Bat, with Batman gone and the extended Bat Family taking up his work more prominently. I was wondering if you had any characters within the Bat Family you find especially compelling, and why? I've really loved your use of Huntress throughout your run...

MARKIO: I love writing Huntress. I feel like I am in very good company every time I dig into a Huntress storyline. 

ZACK: Finally, without going into specifics, are there any more big twists like the Psycho Pirate reveal coming before Shadows of the Bat is over? 

MARIKO: Tons.

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.