NYCC 2023: Discussing ‘The All Nighter’ Conclusion With Chip Zdarsky And Jason Loo

As we covered earlier today, ComiXology announced at New York Comic Con the final season of Chip Zdarsky’s and Jason Loo’s The All Nighter will debut on Halloween. Comicon.com had a chance to catch the Eisner Award-winning pair just after the announcement for an exclusive interview.

Tom Smithyman: From Batman to Captara, you have a lot of projects on your plate. Do you not have enough going on right now that you had to create more to fill the gap?

Chip Zdarsky: Well it’s pretty funny because it’s like almost the whole project was like a pandemic project – that’s how it started. After working with each other for so long it becomes quite easy really like I found sitting down writing the scripts kind of visualizing Jason’s work it’s very easy to write the script so I don’t know if it got easier for Jason.

Jason Loo: Totally. Your script descriptions like left it very open for me like you’d have like panel one on this character and like: “OK I guess I have to come up with the emotion for this character.”

Zdarsky: Yeah yeah! I just write down draw real good. And he just draws real good. My job’s the easiest in the world.

Loo: I’m just relieved that we actually completed what we started and concluded a series and a 15-issue run. We’re patting ourselves on the back for that. Everything’s done!

Smithyman: Is being done with this story a relief?

Zdarsky: I think it’s also sad because you know we worked together since Afterlift, and also Jason was the intern for our studio way back in the day too so we’ve known each other for a long time. It’s bittersweet. It’s nice to have it finished but also like Jason’s star has risen so much why would he want to work with a turd like me anymore?

Erik Amaya: Did you envision this story as a 15-part series or was it just the initial five?

Zdarsky: It became the kind of thing where like once you kind of get into the story I kind of have the first couple arcs mapped out and then I was like: “A proper story has an ending.”

I enjoy working for Marvel and DC, but I think it was Matt Fraction who told me that when you are working for those companies it’s like you’re always on the second half of the story you never finish. For our characters to kind of grow and realize who they are like come to conclusions, that’s the end of the story. But Batman can never like truly come to grips and be happy or else the story’s over. But our characters can, and I think that’s really satisfying to actually wrap it up like that.”

Loo: At the very end of the day these are our children.

Smithyman: Are you satisfied where you left the characters and you’re never going to return it it?

Zdarsky: I’m satisfied in the sense that like it’s a proper conclusion. The characters are in a good place but like yeah I would never say never. There’s certain things I’ve done like that is done, like I think our previous series Afterlift had a finality to it. There’s nothing else to do after that. But here we kind of set them up in a good place and – Spoilers! A good place. And  it feels like there could be more, but the ideas got to be really strong.

That’s the one thing like doing monthly book at Marvel or DC. You can run into the danger of knowing I have to do the next issue, do I need to figure it out because I gotta keep the wheels going. But with this, it’s like the ideas gotta be there for us to be like: “Yes let’s do it.” And the schedule’s got to work and all that stuff.”

Amaya: When does the time come when you realize that you are leaning toward that conclusion?

Zdarsky: It happened pretty early on. We kind of planned out the first couple of arcs and then like during the writing of the first series I was like: “Oh wait. If this does this and the like, it kind of reveals itself as you go on.” A you figure out that that’s actually an ending.

Smithyman: What else are you working on?

Loo: One thing that’s already been announced is that I’m writing The Sentry. Marvel has advertised it as “Who will be the new Sentry? There’s these random people, random strangers that have stumbled on the powers of the Sentry, and we’re following the thread with Jessica Jones and Misty Knight throughout the series. I wrote it like a crime trauma. I’ve watched this a lot of Law & Order.

Zdarsky: So Batman obviously. I’m continuing Public Domain, which I’m still writing and drawing. Marvel announced a new Avenger’s miniseries, but I did that a while ago so it’s kind of weird. I wrote it in 2019 and everyone was like: “Chip’s back at Marvel!” Well kind of, but not really.

Loo: Oh, and we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of Howard the Duck together in November.

Zdarsky: Batman is a full-time job, so everything revolves around that.

Smithyman: Are you going to stay on it for as long as you can?

Zdarsky: I want to stay on it as long as I can. I told DC that the second it dips and you want me gone, I’ll step off the stage no problem. But it’s so fun issue to issue. I’m just gonna keep doing it until they tell me to stop.