Mr.Freeze: Haha I will turn Gotham, into An Artic Wasteland where only I can thrive!

Signal: Dude, have you every thought of just moving to the Artic? Or some place colder? Like why stay in Gotham where it’s too warm for you to live, and where Batman and all of us know your M.O and easily stop you and send you to Arkham

Mr.Freeze: I..hm

Signal: Here’s a one way ticket on a boat to Antarctica. Bring your wife and all your equipment that you use to try and save her with you. If you need more supplies, I’m sure if you help any of the research teams there, they will be happy to get you some or at least establish a trade route

Mr.Freeze: Thank..you?

Signal: No no, my pleasure. I’m tired of you making it an everlasting winter once a year. I like it warmer. Plus, you do it in the summer! Not even December around Christmas time.

DCAU #15: Heart Of Ice

“What killed the dinosaurs? THE ICE AGE!”

Yeah, I decided to get the Batman and Robin joke out of the way before even starting. Check off that requirement early. Now I don’t have to mention it for the rest of this blog’s life, and can officially forget about its existence. I’ve been waiting for this day. But unfortunately, since this is usually how I watch tv shows, this is probably the last time I’ll get to see Heart Of Ice for a little while as well. I should’ve known that such an emotionally positive moment wouldn’t be without a catch. It’s like when the snow finally melts, but with it goes the cancelled classes.

Episode: 14 Robin: No Writer: Paul Dini Director: Bruce Timm Animator: Spectrum Airdate: September 7, 1992 Grade: A

This, as I’m sure all of you already know, is a damn strong episode that manages to hit me with almost as much strength as Two-Face, but in some ways has a little bit more going for it when it comes to the typical superhero show stuff. I find that Dini and Burnett are on the same page when it comes to the basics, but also have very different approaches to some of their finest moments, at least when comparing Two-Face to Heart Of Ice. As far as which one I like better, I’d probably have to give the edge to Two-Face, as I feel the emotional weight of that one packs more of a wallop. But I don’t think that necessarily means that it’s objectively a better episode. I think there are certainly people who would see more to enjoy in Heart Of Ice in terms of fun, in terms of visuals, and in terms of having a villain who is almost as interesting psychologically, and much more interesting superficially. I mean, it’s a guy with a freezing gun and a suit that makes him look like he just flew in from Jupiter. Plus he has a really cool voice! He’s like something out of the original Twilight Zone.

This actually used to be my favorite episode of the series, so I was a little bit surprised as I watched it and didn't quite get lost in it all like I did a few years back. I might have been expecting too much from it, and admittedly may have hyped it up a little bit too much before my girlfriend watched it (generally I try to not say in advance whether an episode is good or not so it’s completely fresh to her). Definitely enjoyable, I think something that is required for max enjoyment out of this episode is its overall context in the world of cartoons and comic book characters. These days it’s easy to take Mr. Freeze for granted, without thinking about the huge character transformation that Paul Dini created. It’s surprising sometimes to think that before this show, it was rather difficult to find an action show that you could take so seriously. The medium is newer than it feels, and this episode came out only a little bit before I was born. Nowadays we have shows like Avatar the Last Airbender which are more consistent than Batman the Animated Series, and altogether easily rival the DCAU, but if watching this episode and show today gives that feeling, picturing catching it back then is breathtaking. It was the third episode to air, and while I have preferred watching the show in production order, I can see why they did what they did. From the aspect of catching viewers and showing people what the show is all about, it truly does make the most sense to make this an early one. Maybe that’s another reason I remember this episode so incredibly fondly. Last time I watched the show in full, this was the 4th one I saw (I watched The Cat and the Claw parts together when initially they were bafflingly split up).

Everyone knows why this episode works, so I shall attempt to explain why it doesn’t work quite as strongly as it would if it were perfect. Without intending to be a contrarian, because that is definitely not what this blog is about. It’s about just enjoying something, but also giving some raw honest thoughts on that enjoyment, whether it’s positive or negative. This feeling is very difficult, though, because nothing rubbed me the wrong way here except for Batman’s “Freeze!” line. That line nipped at me worse than the 8˚ snowstorm going on outside my window as I type this. Kevin Conroy was a great voice actor from the very beginning of this show, but he just starts to sound so much more natural the further it goes on. He’s still playing a character this early on. But by the time we get to TNBA, the man is Batman. But no, if that one line was enough to ruin the episode for me, that would be pretty cold (ha). I think more it’s just a lack of “the feels” that I feel like the episode is trying to get across. It’s just not as heartbreaking as Harvey Dent’s story. Mr. Freeze being this cold, cold man who hides his emotions under a block of ice is such a great concept, but I think some things could be done to make it feel a little bit less cold to the audience. I don’t really know that could have been accomplished, but I wanted watching Mr. Freeze’s wife about to be unplugged and him getting kicked into those chemicals leave me with the exact same reaction that Batman had. “My God.” Instead it was more, “Oh, that’s pretty bad.” But at the same time, some of the lines of this one really do almost make you tear up a little bit. This writing is practically Shakespearian, so it’s pretty damn difficult to feel nothing or take more than a couple points off.

As much as the last episode we watched just shouldn’t exist, it being right next to this one sets up many direct opportunities to show why Batman was so important to animated family programming. Even ignoring all of the stupid shit we got to see, just compare the villains alone, Penguin vs Freeze. Penguin is a complete gimmick of a villain. What do we know about him? Well, he makes bird noises… He makes bird puns… He has a bird… He hides out in a birdseed factory. Maybe a little arrogant. I mean, am I missing something here? I’m purposely not thinking about his later appearances. Now take Mr. Freeze. He know his gimmick qualities too, like we do with penguin. But unlike Penguin, these gimmicks do not define him. We know that he has suffered a double-loss, namely his freedom and his wife. We know that he initially was working to change the world for the better, even if this meant risking his job. We know that what happened to him was enough to erase the hope and compassion from his heart. We know that he carries himself like he’s unfeeling when we know from listening to him that this is completely the opposite. It’s like he doesn’t want to feel anymore, but in reality he wouldn’t be doing what he does without intense, boiling emotions. And what does he do to hide this heat? Acts cold. In reality, the cold one is his old boss, Ferris Boyle. We understand Mr. Freeze. We may not agree with him. We may not even like him. But at least we get where he’s coming from, which nicely balances out the prick that is Boyle. Sometimes heartless, 2-dimensional villains can be okay if they’re done right and balanced properly. It’s not like these types of people don’t exist in our world. But the way they did this with the Penguin? Doesn’t make for riveting television either way. And when the Penguin is so boring and so ridiculous at the same time, that’s a double turn off. Mr. Freeze is a little bit ridiculous. Look at that costume. Look at the way he rides the fire hydrant water to enter his icy death chamber. Not exactly realism here, folks. But then he also has that human element to ground him. He’s interesting. And the aesthetic of the episode is here. He’s a character, not an obstacle. Granted, this is only one factor of Heart Of Ice or Basement, and I could go on when it comes to things that make each good vs bad, but hey, we have the whole series to further figure out what makes an enjoyable episode. Just thought I’d bring up this one aspect.

Interestingly, cold is what extinguished the friendly fire within Victor, but heat is what defeated that cold in the end…or at least melted it long enough to put him behind those icy bars of Arkham Asylum (not exactly sure how that cell worked, but it was beautiful, so you won’t see me complaining. Sometimes stylization trumps realism). I don’t just mean the fact that Batman’s chicken soup was sitting in a heat-containing thermos. In mean that in a way, it was love that defeated Freeze. Alfred’s love for Batman. It may have been played for comic relief when Alfred first told Batman what he was packing him, but I also thought that it was really sweet. Batman carrying around a container of soup that Alfred made him. It makes me smile so much, and I’m actually a little bit sad that he didn’t get to enjoy it, but hey, it possibly saved his life. Gotta do what you gotta do. Without Alfred’s kindness, Mr. Freeze may have won the battle. Without Boyle’s darkness, Fries may have won Nora’s battle. If this isn’t a good, but not obvious, lesson, well, I don’t know what is. And then we end with mr. Freeze alone, finally able to show some vulnerability. But even when he touches the snow globe which represents the love of his life, the thing frosts over and she stops spinning. Not even through this way can he touch her anymore. And then we close by having Batman watching through the window. The words of Mr. Freeze speak so loudly. But so does Batman’s ending silence. Great stuff here, people. Great stuff.

Oh, and that opening Mr. Freeze theme sticks with you. It’s in my head right now. I’m whistling it out-loud while Char is trying to do homework.

Char’s grade: B Next time: The Cat and the Claw (Part 1)

Full episode list here!

INTERVIEW: Scott Snyder Explores Poison Ivy’s Roots in All Star Batman

SPOILER WARNING: The following interview discusses major plot points from “All Star Batman” #7 by Scott Snyder, Tula Lotay and Francesco Francavilla, in stores now.

Scott Snyder is the self-professed luckiest dude in comics. While the superstar writer has undeniable talent, it’s his ability to tap top artists as creative collaborators that ensures nearly every one of his releases is an industry-wide event.

For “All Star Batman,” his latest from DC Comics, Snyder has assembled what he calls a murderers’ row of artists to illustrate Batman as the Dark Knight faces off against reimagined versions of some of his greatest rogues, including Two-Face, KGBeast, Mr. Freeze and this week, Poison Ivy.

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Following issues drawn by John Romita Jr. and Jock, Tula Lotay illustrated “All Star Batman’s” main story, with Francesco Francavilla delivering the art for the backup featuring Duke Thomas and the Riddler.

Snyder discussed the events of “All Star Batman” #7, as well as the personal joy he feels working on his new series with such an incredible group of artists. The New York Times best-selling writer also shared how “All Star Batman” is very much a continuation of his run on “Batman” with Greg Capullo. Snyder also teased upcoming projects at DC Comics, as well as new creator-owned titles, with Francavilla.

CBR: When you were writing “The Wake” for Vertigo, we discussed your love of science and how sometimes, real things that happen in nature are often times stranger and more compelling than anything that can be dreamed up by a creator. In “All Star Batman” #7, you’re telling the story of Poison Ivy and her study of dendropharmacology – using trees to develop medicinal drugs and possibly, bioterrorism. Why do you feel grounding these villains in the real world makes for such a scary threat to Batman and the rest of the world?

Scott Snyder: I try to write these stories for myself. I obviously keep the young readership in mind too, and try not to write NC-17 craziness but at the same time, I am trying to make the villains – and Batman himself – speak to personal fears and fears and anxieties that are in the air right now. The best way for me to do that is to make these villains very real. I am afraid of that intersection of speculative science and real science. [A place] where you can’t quite tell when things are just off the rails from what’s really happening.

Every one of the stories in “All Star Batman” has that theme in it. The technology that Mad Hatter uses in the next issue speaks to something that Harvey mentions back in the first arc where he talks about a lens that, when you wear it, you can look out at the world and skin things the way that you want without affecting any superstructure. Your wife is a different person if you want. You can see your car differently if you want, but it’s still there. You just don’t know what the objective truth of it all is unless you switch back to clear setting.

In that way, every story from Freeze to Ivy to Hatter and then to the final story in “All Star Batman” #9, all speak to different technologies or phenomena that could end the world in some way or another. That’s why this arc is called ‘Ends of the Earth.’ In a lot of ways, it’s one big story about the fragility of the world right now from an aerial view without getting too political from any one side. The mystery keeps coming until “All Star Batman” #9 where it culminates. It’s a large story about the demons in the air.

And those “demons in the air” are something that we often talked about during your run on “Batman” with Greg Capullo as you also wanted to ground that series in real-life threats.

Yes, that’s right. And we’re doing that again here. Each one of these stories shows Batman a different way that the world could end. The first one [with Mr. Freeze] is through natural cataclysm. There’s an ancient spore that is released from the permafrost. Even though it’s Freeze’s plot, the idea is that Freeze says that this will happen soon enough once the permafrost melts, which makes it this inevitable international calamity. The second story with Ivy, even though she’s not doing this, there is this mention of these terrible biological weapons that can be pulled from this tree. That fear is baked into the DNA of the story. And the third issue, “All Star Batman” #8, really shows the complete collapse into subjectivity. It’s this idea that you retreat to your own world, a world of your own making, so deeply that the world itself collapses around you but that’s okay. And the fourth one brings it all together in “All Star Batman” #9.

I really love this series. I love this arc. It’s the most fun that I have had in superhero comics, I think. As much as I adored working on “Batman” and loved working with Greg and can’t wait to work with him again, there is always a heavy pressure on that series, namely “Batman” proper, because it has to hold up so much of the line. I always given tremendous freedom and I am still very, very grateful to DC for getting to do those stories. But there is still this propulsive quality to this machine that has to keep moving. It’s always in conversation with itself, and there is not a lot of room to experiment and try different things and slow it down. It was wonderful for six years, but for me, to get to do this now, feels so invigorating. It feels like when I started on “Batman” – I had all of these new resources. I love them equally as jobs, and again, I can’t wait to work with Greg again, and I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world – it was the best ride of my life – but I don’t miss the intense pressure of being on the main book.

Your rogue for this issue is Poison Ivy and while she’s never been as romantically linked to Batman as Catwoman, there is certainly a high level of sexual tension and even compatibility between the two characters. What is it about Poison Ivy that attracts Batman? Because he often tries to redeem her when they face off, and in this story, he even says that he’s come to the desert to save her.

I think Poison Ivy is a completely redeemable character, and I think he relates best to her through an appreciation of science. She is a brilliant scientist who has done groundbreaking research and she was so determined to get her point across about the importance of exploring the wonders of the natural world that she has almost turned herself into a villain or a monstrous version of who she wants to be but it doesn’t mean that she isn’t an anti-hero a lot of the time.

I think that she’s interesting to Bruce because she exists very low on the scale of villainy out of the people in his Rogues Gallery. If there is a long spectrum from 1 to 10, Joker would be 10 – completely irredeemable and black – and Ra’s would be about a 9.5. [Laughs] Ivy exists a little bit further along than Selina, but not as far as Freeze, not as far as Penguin and not as far even Harley [Quinn]. There is camaraderie there, where I think that Batman, who himself could be seen as falling on that same spectrum to some people, sees a connection with someone like her. She has a mission and a purpose that she believes in, but is just too tunnel-visioned about it to understand the ways in which she has overstepped and become sort of the villain of her own story.

Let’s talk about dendropharmacology, the science that Poison Ivy has mastered. I love this idea of studying the trees and their possible medicinal properties by taking the tree back to its beginning, from bark to pith. You describe it as a form of time travel, but you’ve also told this story with Poison Ivy from front to back. Why did you make that choice for this character and this story in particular?

The nature of Ivy’s research is slowly working backwards from the bark to the outer and the inner rings of the tree and finally to the pith to find the most medicinal properties in it, because the greatest potential for discoveries lies at the very pith of the tree. The idea was to tell a story about the girl who begins at the darkest, roughest part of it, the bark, which is incinerated after being blamed for this plague and then take it backwards to this moment of wonder that started it all at the beginning. And I also wanted to use that as a parallel of the journey that Ivy goes through even if it’s just in a very small, echoed way in the issue too.

I was not overly familiar with her work but I must say, Tula Lotay did a superb job on “All Star Batman” #7.

Oh, my God – I can’t even tell you how much I love her as a person and an artist. I am so honored and grateful that she agreed to do this one with me. It’s one of my favorite issues that I’ve ever done, visually. I really hope that I did it justice.

To me, between Jock doing Freeze and Tula doing Ivy and what Camu [Giuseppe Camuncoli] is doing next with Hatter, I am just so grateful and so lucky to be working with this murderers’ row of artists. No one on this series other than Jock and Francesco [Francavilla] on the backups is someone that I have worked with before. For me, getting to work with everybody from Declan [Shalvey] to [John] Romita to Afua [Richardson] and the people coming up like Sean Murphy and Paul Pope, it’s just so exciting and just so invigorating. I hope it comes across in the pages. It’s some of my favorite stuff that I’ve done. I really want to say thank you to the readers for being so supportive and making the book competitive when really, all I am doing is have a good time with my friends and show readers why these villains and why Batman are so potent and interesting and awesome right now.

It’s not like I forgot about your run on “Batman,” but with Riddler featured in the backup and specifically mentioning “Zero Year,” I was reminded that these aren’t Elseworlds stories or starring a Batman from another Earth in the Multiverse. “All Star Batman” is in continuity, and everything you did on “Batman” is in play.

Oh, yeah. It’s there too for sure. There’s going to be mentions in the next arc after this arc about things that happened in “Batman” with Greg and me. There is a mention of the final machine that Bruce was working on. There is a lot of stuff coming up, especially in the event that I am doing with Capullo that looks back and walks through that we seeded into our run that we didn’t get to explore so we are building that into this story, as well. That run, in some ways, is a closed book in that writing that issue [“Batman” #51] was such an emotional experience. Getting to finish and say the book will forever be done in terms of, “You did it,” and, “You finished it,” and, “You made something that you are proud of with somebody that you love and a team of people that you love.” There was that feeling that you can’t really ever describe.

At the same time, it’s a living part of the conversation that I am still having about Batman and his mythology with myself and hopefully with readers. [Laughs] Certainly, all of those thoughts and all of those ideas about what he means and what he represents here in “All Star Batman” is a bit different for me than from “Batman” because I no longer feel tethered to Gotham. Tom [King] is working so heavily in Gotham, so I can take Batman out of the city. By not taking him to Europe, like Grant [Morrison] did, and because I have such a love for Americana and American folklore and history, it’s been such a freeing experience to set him on these epic stages against these classic villains. I love that aspect of it. “All Star Batman” has this different feel, and yet at the same time, a lot of the material that we were exploring in “Batman” comes back to bear in this series.

Finally, I have to ask you about Francesco because, damn, he’s good.

He’s alright. He’s alright. He’s an up-and-comer. [Laughs] You have to understand, Francesco and Jock were the first big superstar artists that took a chance on me when I was nobody, for “Detective Comics.” I still remember begging them both to do that story, and they were both immediately awesome about giving me a shot. They will forever be family to me. I just spoke with Francesco yesterday on the phone, and it wasn’t even about work. It was just about family stuff, but also stuff that we are going to do together in the future for creator-owned and at DC, as well. I love him dearly, and again, I am in awe of what these people that I am working with are able to do. I am the luckiest dude in comics.

The post INTERVIEW: Scott Snyder Explores Poison Ivy’s Roots in All Star Batman appeared first on CBR.com.

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Rebirth of Cool: Snyder On Defrosting Mr. Freeze in All Star Batman #6

SPOILER WARNING: The following interview contains major spoilers for “All Star Batman” #6, on sale now.

Scott Snyder has delivered some masterful stories since he arrived at DC Comics six years ago for the start of his now epic run with Batman. So much so that the publisher now has the New York Times bestselling writer teaching its next generation of talent for its DC Writers Workshop. Snyder’s latest effort involves a prose-style approach for “All Star Batman” #6, which features art by his long time collaborators Jock (“Wytches,” “Detective Comics”) and Francesco Francavilla (“Detective Comics”).

While the story — featuring a terrifying Mr. Freeze and his equally chilling army of Dreamers — certainly stands apart, it’s actually part of a longer story arc, called ‘Ends of the Earth,’ which will also include classic Batman rogues Poison Ivy and Mad Hatter.

In a conversation with CBR, Snyder discussed the reason Batman understands Victor Fries’ ice-cold ideals and why his ultimate goal separates him from other supervillains like The Joker and Ra’s al Ghul. Snyder also shared how stories and arcs are generated for “All Star Batman” with a specific artist in mind for each one and then constructing the action and adventure around his or her strengths to showcase the art and the collaboration.

CBR: I’ve been a fan of your work on “Batman,” “American Vampire,” “The Wake,” “A.D.” — “Wytches” was a little too scary for me, but this might be my favorite thing that you have ever done. Powerful, powerful stuff.

Scott Snyder: Thanks, man. It’s one of my favorites to be honest. I’ve been thinking about it a long, long time. It was one of those ones that was a joy to write, especially having Jock and Francesco [Francavilla] doing the art. Those guys are like family by this point. It was really one of those experiences where I was like, “I wish comics always worked this way.” [Laughs] Everyone contributed ideas and everyone was going back and forth. I’ve been really lucky with that experience on “Batman” with [Greg] Capullo, and it becoming easily that sort of relationship. And it worked the same with Rafael [Albuquerque] on “American Vampire” and Jock on “Wytches.” I am lucky in that regard.

When you can do a one-shot like this with Tula [Lotay] or Giuseppe [Camuncoli], I am getting to know them from the beginning and there is a tremendous excitement about that. I can’t wait for you guys to see “All Star Batman” #7 and #8. They are two more of my favorites. I completely stand by them as two of the best things that I’ve done. But it’s also a different sort of challenge because you’re getting to know an artist from the start. And that’s exciting. It’s like a first date. That’s what keeps me young as a creator. And then there is also a tremendous sense of freedom to work on something like this with Jock and Francesco, because I know them so well. I can push boundaries in my own writing in ways that only happen when you have a foundation of trust that has been there for a long time. And with Capullo, we just talk in shorthand now. “If you do this, I can try this.”

And you did try “this” in “All Star Batman” #6, because this issue is done in prose with no word balloons or classic comic book narrative. I love the prose approach. Is that something you want to do more of? Because it’s also a part of “A.D.”

I don’t know. [Laughs]

What I am trying to do with “All Star Batman” is make every story unique to the villain and the artist. The reason that this style felt exciting for this issue is because it gives it this almost other-worldly, distant, remote, kind of glassy, analytical feel. It feels “under glass” in some ways for me, to hear the story narrated in third person prose as opposed to the immediacy that comes with dialogue and captions that’s often done in the conventional way — that felt right when you’re telling a story about somebody who is trying to restart the world and is living up in the permafrost. Especially when it’s this kind of final battle between these two characters that is centered around these two forms of death: the hot death of passion, and the cold death of hopelessness and cold paralysis. It just felt right for Mr. Freeze.

The next issue takes place in Death Valley, where there is no plant life whatsoever, and in that way it’s hot and stifling and empty, so there is no narration whatsoever. It’s all just dialogue. And the final issue of this arc with Mad Hatter, I’m totally spoiling everything but that’s okay, which takes place down in the Delta, Batman is trying to prevent himself from believing what the Mad Hatter is telling him so the narration becomes a maze and something that attacks him. He actually climbs through it at one point. It’s a completely different approach to the writing for me, which is thrilling. That’s what I meant by saying I get to bend my own style of writing and challenge myself in each issue of this series. It’s harder to do when you are telling a story with one consistent artist like “Batman” with Greg as much of joy that series was.

The Robert Frost poem at the start of the issue is haunting and really works for Mr. Freeze and his seemingly endless attempts at cheating death and saving his wife, Nora.

I remember reading that poem in school. The way “All Star Batman” works is that I have ideas about all of these villains, like Hatter. I wasn’t going to spoil it right now, but why not. [Laughs] With Hatter, I wanted to know what kind of madness is really interesting for right now. Is it mind control? I think I’ve seen it. What’s interesting to me is the way in which people clamor for subjectivity – remaking the world as they want to see it. I hinted at it in the first arc when Harvey, as a young boy, says, “One day there is going to be lenses where you skin the world however you want.” The super-structure of the world will be there, but if you want there to be dragons in the sky, you can. And that’s kind of the madness that Hatter offers in a way that I think is pretty scary.

The point that I am trying to make is that I am trying to reconfigure each villain in a way that’s scary to me personally and represent anxieties that I think are present in the zeitgeist now. The real joy with “All Star” is being able to do that stuff and move issue to issue, while still making one big story, while also making every chapter feel unique. I have a notebook with ideas for each villain, and I’ll approach an artist and say, “Who do you want to work on? What’s your feeling?” The only stipulation is that it has to happen outside of Gotham, and I try to construct the story in a way to showcase the art. In that way, it’s a real different sort of thrill.

We talked about Two-Face when “All Star Batman” launched, and discussed the impact Tommy Lee Jones’ portrayal in “Batman Forever” had on the character. I have to be honest — it’s hard for me to think about Mr. Freeze without thinking of Arnold. I am wrong?

By force of will, I have definitely expunged those images [from my mind]. [Laughs] But seriously, the only way to write these iconic characters is to imagine them as your own. Mr. Freeze has these blue veins, he’s seven-feet-tall, he’s extremely creepy, he’s pale. He’s like someone who walked out of the frozen past. He’s very scary, with red eyes behind the goggles. I see him that way, the same way that I see Harvey, with his face almost molten on one side, black, with blood coming out of the cracks. Making up your own version in your head is the only way to feel ownership of these characters because they belong to everybody and it would be really intimidating otherwise.

This interpretation of Mr. Freeze is certainly not Arnold – he is freaking scary. And his latest attempt at saving his wife – and humanity – includes awakening those who have chosen to be cryogenically frozen. He calls them Dreamers, but this is more like a nightmare scenario.

Exactly, but there is a fantasy there, too. That’s part of what’s interesting about the character. Two-Face says, “Look at me! I can turn back and forth from evil.” There is something liberating about not having to follow the restrictions of social norms and become the person that is all id. But for Mr. Freeze, for all of the nightmarish sadness that forever surrounds him, he needs diamonds to stay alive. He also doesn’t have to fear death. He’s trying to bring someone back from death and exists in a subliminal state somewhere between life and death. The idea of cryogenic preservation is that you can go into ice and be reborn, eventually. You can come out of the ice one day. There is something wondrous about that. That’s partly what I was trying to get at here – the notion that his plan is not just diabolical evil. There is a kernel of something wondrous in it as scary as it is.

If I am reading this right, when Batman sets off on this adventure, it appears that he is actually traveling to Alaska to save Mr. Freeze, not just stop him. Is Mr. Freeze different than other Batman rogues in that Batman feels that he can actually reason with him because there is some humanity left in that cryogenic suit?

Completely. I think all of Batman’s villains exist on this interesting scale. The Joker is black. He is the one character that Batman doesn’t believe that there is any redemption for. He is not supernatural, but the embodiment of evil. There is no glimmer of hope in that black hole of a person. And then there’s Ra’s, who is maybe an inch up from that, and then all way up through the Penguin up to characters like Poison Ivy and Catwoman, who exists in this real grey area. I think Freeze exists below that, in a darker place, but is something that is quite redeemable. Batman understands his motivation. I just think that Fries is ultimately selfish. He cares the way that the dad in “Pet Sematary” cares. He’s obsessed with the possibility of brining back somebody that he lost. And in doing so, he will hurt anyone that gets in his way to make that happen. And he becomes sort of an abomination of love. And Bruce is someone who will sacrifice anything for the greater good. And I think he sympathizes with what Fries is going through and but ultimately see it as a perversion of it all.

When I spoke with you and Jeff [Lemire] about “A.D.,” I asked you about taking a magic pill that guaranteed life extension and staved of death. And you said, no way, mostly because of your loved ones. I assume you are not lining up behind Walt Disney and Ted Williams for cryogenic preservation either.

[Laughs] I worked at Disney World, and there were always rumors of Disney’s frozen head being somewhere in the park. I think that notion has always loomed large for me – coming back from the ice and how freezing preserves. Meanwhile, you have the idea of the cradle of life with a caveman coming back to life. I think ultimately, the thing that is fascinating to me about all of these theories about life extension or being cloned or being uploaded, there is this weird thing with being out of context with your own life – being alone, being away from the people that you enjoy yourself with and care about it. There is something much worse about that than just being gone. As terrifying as being gone is, the idea of waking up to a world that is entirely alien with no relationship, nothing, to me is a different form of purgatory. There is something there that is almost enticing because you get to go on in all of these forms but then there is something cold and worse about it. You have to be careful of what you wish for – the underbelly of all of it.

“All Star Batman” #6 is available now.

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