Hang on to something! Our preview of Top Cow/Dinicartoons starts with writer Paul Dini and follows with artist Stephanie Gladden!

WITA: I’m really honored to get the chance to talk with you, Paul! Thanks for taking the time. I’m a big fan of yours. But on to the questions! First let’s talk about your creation, Dinicartoons, which you’re bringing to Top Cow. What exactly is Dinicartoons, and how did it get started? What made you decide to incorporate it into the Top Cow line-up?

Paul Dini: Hey, Stephanie—wow, two Stephanies!   How often does that happen?   Nice to talk to you, too.
I had a really good experience with Top Cow on MADAME MIRAGE and we both agreed it would be fun to work on other projects together.   Dinicartoons is the overall title for a new line of books that, like MIRAGE, are original creations of mine.   Some of the characters come from other books I’ve published elsewhere, like JINGLE BELLE or MUTANT, TEXAS; others are brand-new creations.

WITA: The first Top Cow/Dinicartoons comic is a one-shot called Jingle Belle: Santa Claus Vs. Frankenstein that will premiere in [December]. Tell us a little about the issue and the future of the series. What can we look forward to after the one-shot?

Dini: Jingle Belle was born out of two things—a love for hokey old Christmas specials and the idea that a father could be a hero to the rest of the world and still get no respect at home from his own offspring.  Kind of an odd premise, but it’s got us through nearly ten Christmases so far.   This year’s Jing story is inspired by a desire on my part to tell a Christmas/Halloween crossover and also by a passage from the end of the original FRANKENSTEIN novel.  In the book the monster vanishes into arctic near the North Pole.   Well, Santa’s at the North Pole, and so for that matter, is Superman.   While I couldn’t pull off that last bit of stunt casting, we do have the monster, with Jing’s help, making his way to Santa’s workshop. Strangely enough, he finds a way of fitting in.

After Jingle Belle: Santa Claus Vs. Frankenstein there will be more chances for Jingle Belle appearances, probably in a Dinicartoons book that will feature short stories about the various characters. I think it’s a safe bet she’ll be back next December in some form or another.

WITA: What sort of character is Jingle Belle? In the comic, she’s the daughter of Santa Claus, correct?

Cover by Greg Horn

Dini: Yes. Her dad is Santa and her mom is Mrs. Claus, whom in my mythology, is also the queen of the North Pole elves.   That makes Jing part-elf also. You’d think she’d embrace her unique heritage, but she’s more concerned with being a teen-ager. She’d rather be snowboarding, playing hockey or dating some cute guy than working in the family toyshop. Santa and Mrs. Claus hope Jing will grow out of this phase and she probably will someday, but as they’re all more or less immortal, Jing is going to be a teen for a long, long time.

WITA: How did you end up working with artist Stephanie Gladden, and what kind of collaborative relationship would you say the two of your have going on?

Dini: I’ve known Steph personally and professionally for quite a while and I think she’s great on both counts. She’s got a deep love for classic cartoons and infuses that spirit into each of her drawings. She also draws the cutest girls and coolest monsters. We work really well together and I hope we have a chance to do more projects—not only Jing, but some things in the future.

WITA: With such a revered member of the comic book industry as you, Paul, I’ve always wondered whom you admire. Who are the writers and artists whom you greatly respect, and who has influenced you along the way—especially back when you were still finding your niche and climbing the ranks? Also, which artists or writers have you enjoyed working with the most over the years?

Dini: Boy, pretty much anyone between Jack Kirby and R. Crumb has been an influence at one time or another. I guess I learn something new from every creator whose work speaks to me, and there have been many of them. As for whom I’ve enjoyed working with, well, I couldn’t have done any better than Bruce Timm, Alan Burnett and many of the great talents at Warner Bros. Animation. In comics, Dustin and all the guys I’ve worked with on DETECTIVE have been great. Alex Ross of course, on the series of big superhero books we started doing for DC … yikes, this’ll be ten years now. And naturally Steph, J. Bone, Stephen DeStefano, Jose Garibaldi, Bill Morrison, David Alvarez … I love writing for all those artists.

WITA: What made you fall in love with comics and want to be a part of the culture, Paul?

Dini: I always loved comics and wanted to create them in some form or another. Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly …

WITA: Your other comic for Top Cow Productions, MADAME MIRAGE, was great! The first run of that was recently released in trade paperback. It’s been said there will be more to come—where does the series stand as of now, and what can readers expect to see next? Any hint to when the comic will pick up again?

Art by Kenneth Rocafort

Dini: MADAME MIRAGE will be back next year. I’ve been working on a story that continues Harper’s odyssey, both with Mirage and without. Despite what you may have read in other comics, being an assassin for hire isn’t as easy as it seems and some of the crimes Harper has committed start to weigh heavily on her soul.

WITA: Your run with artist Dustin Nguyen on DETECTIVE COMICS over at DC is almost at a finish with part five of the storyline, “Heart of Hush.” As a huge Batman (and Hush) fan, I absolutely loved the story! Your writing on that comic has had me glued to the pages of that title; I’ve really admired the way you’ve brought Hush back to life in such an engrossing new manner. I can’t wait to see how it ends. What made you want to bring in this particular villain, and how did you like working with Dustin?

Dini: Glad you liked the story.   In truth I was somewhat reluctant to tell a story about Hush, because I felt at first that most of his story had already been told in the first series by creators Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee. But Dan DiDio really wanted me to give it some thought, and after rereading the original story, I began to see ways to expand on Tommy Elliot’s backstory in ways that wouldn’t negate much of anything and set the stage for some compelling action in the present day. Dustin of course, has been great as has [inker] Derek [Fridolfs]. Early on in the run Dustin asked me if we could do a Mr. Freeze story, and while we haven’t gotten there completely yet, I did plot out a small role for him to play in one of this issues’s flashbacks. Freeze also shows up in a short story Dustin and I did for this year’s DC Holiday book. Dang, I sure am becoming known for the X-mas stories.

WITA: When I interviewed Dustin in October, I asked him if he, colorist John Kalisz, and you were aiming to incorporate the spirit of the Jeph Loeb/Jim Lee BATMAN: HUSH story and art while making “Heart of Hush” fresh and your own—because the visual approach toward the flashbacks in your story seemed to me so reminiscent of HUSH’s flashbacks. Dustin answered that you actually mentioned early on that you wanted the same sort of color scheme—is that true? What made you decide to approach “Heart of Hush” in that light?

Dini: I think we looked upon it as our own extension of that same story. We knew flashbacks would be a big part of it, so we wanted people who had read the first HUSH to feel they were on familiar ground if the flashbacks had a bit of that same look.

WITA: I asked Dustin this, so I’ll ask you, too! I know you do a ton of interviews; what is something you’ve always wished someone would ask you—or something you’d like to talk about that you never get the chance to?

Dini: My many years traveling the world as a concert ukulele player while working undercover for the CIA. No, it’s too late to ask me about it now. I’ve moved on.

WITA: Finally … this is probably a weird question, but you can learn a lot about someone from their desktop wallpaper. [Laughs] Would you be kind enough to share the nature of your current wallpaper with us? I’ll break the ice: mine’s Nite Owl from the Watchmen movie.

Dini: Oh man, I got nothing up there except files filled with impending assignments. My computer desktop is the only space in my office that isn’t covered by eye candy. Directly over my desk I have two Alex Ross paintings with a vintage Disney one-sheet in the middle of them. The poster is for the Goofy short “How to Be a Detective,” from which I learned everything I currently know about forensic science. As for the paintings on either side, one is of Jing, the other is of Harley. Make of that what you will.

WITA: Thanks so much for taking the time out of your day to answer my questions, Paul! Take care and I can’t wait to read Jingle Belle!

On to Part Two of the Dinicartoons interview …

Related Posts:

• Dinicartoons interview with Stephanie Gladden
• Comic Book Review: Jingle Belle
• Top Cow Reveals Greg Horn Jingle Belle Cover
• Top Cow features writer Paul Dini’s Dinicartoons
• Trade Review: Madame Mirage Vol. 1 TPB