Baltimore Comic-Con: Peter Tomasi Talks Blackest Night

While navigating the crowds of retailers, industry professionals and cosplayers at the Baltimore Comic-Con, we ran into Peter J. Tomasi, current writer of Green Lantern Corps and Blackest Night: Batman, and discussed what it's like to be one of the main figureheads of the entire DC Universe. Tomasi has been directly involved with the Blackest Night landscape since "The Sinestro Corps War" and is solely responsible for making Nightwing a book worth reading again (although it was canceled due to the events of "Batman RIP"). But now that the original Robin, Dick Grayson, has strapped on the cape and cowl and assumed the mantle of the bat, Tomasi is responsible for writing one of the character's first major adventures; dealing with the resurrection of his parents in the midst of Blackest Night.

CraveOnline: Having written Nightwing for an extended period of time and now revisiting Dick Grayson in Blackest Night: Batman, do you have a strong attachment to the character, and are there plans to revisit him once Blackest Night: Batman wraps up?

Peter J. Tomasi: Right now there are no plans to revisit the character post Blackest Night: Batman. But Dick Grayson is one of those chartacters that has always had potential and I knew when I got on the book (Nightwing) I would have a lot to say and a lot to do with the character. But because of Batman dying it kind of curtailed a lot of my ideas that I planned. But at least I was able to finish it out and give the character some closure and some emotional beats that he wasn't having in some of the other books, also allowing the death of Batman to reverberate through Dick's life before he took over the mantle of the bat.

CraveOnline: If Nightwing hadn't been canceled and your run cut short, what kind of stories did you have cooked up for Dick Grayson?

Peter J. Tomasi: I can't really talk about it because I may use them down the line. So for now, I gotta keep them locked.

CraveOnline: Between us, I would love to see you pick up the reigns of Batman whenever Judd Winnick and Tony Daniel leave the book. Allowing you to continue your Dick Grayson stories.

Peter J. Tomasi: Well he is my favorite character and I'm having a great time writing Blackest Night: Batman. The Batman universe is just a natural fit for me. I love writing Green Lantern Corps, which is big epic sci-fi, but being the first character I really dug as a kid, I would love to have a nice long run on a book starring Dick Grayson.