Thought Bubble 2025: To Gotham And Back Panel

The Batman panel was a lively and enjoyable panel, with the three panellists riffing off each other throughout. Below is a summary of the best parts of this highly entertaining panel, with host Laura Jones:

Favourite Batman villain?

Jock: The Joker

Shalvey: Mr Freeze

Ward: Two-Face

What is the core of Batman?

Ward: It’s his stoicism, his drive… he thinks he’s doing the right thing, even if it isn’t the right thing. Robin, is a good example of a bad Batman decision. One he keeps on making

Shalvey: I tried not to draw him – keep him in the shadows. Less is more with Batman

Jock: The more black, the better Batman looks. It also depends on the story.  Essentially, he’s a moral figure.

Shalvey: At the heart of it, he’s a broken little boy. 

On the subject of Gotham City:

Ward: In The City of Madness, Gotham is the main character. Did Batman make Gotham, or was it the other way round? 

Jock: Gotham can be timeless, with architecture from eras as diverse as 1920’s art deco, or 1970’s New York. It can be whatever it has to be. 

Jock is working on designing Gotham City for the new Dynamic Duo puppet film, as part of James Gunn’s DCU. 

Shalvey: Batman works so well because of Gotham. He doesn’t work in any other city. 

Is there a line Batman won’t cross?

Jock: Not if you’re reading Absolutely Batman, no.

Ward: No guns. That’s about it.

What doesn’t work for Batman?

Shavley: I did think about a Batman story exactly like The Wire. But then I realised that would be so boring to draw. It would have lots of shots of police offices with desks, paperwork and computers. And Batman. It just wouldn’t work.

How is it, being an artist first and then writing for other artists now?

Ward: I love it! Seeing how an artist translates my words into art is like alchemy. It never gets old.

Shalvey: You want the artist to do their best work with your script. It makes you look good too.

Ward: You need the right artist for the story. It’s why I didn’t draw Two-Face, because I wasn’t the right artist for the job.

Shalvey: Don’t dictate, direct the artist. It should be a collaborative process. 

Jock: Let the artist sing. 

What if you are a billionaire orphan, what would you do with your fortune?

Jock: I am! Or… I would buy a social media platform and then air all my views on it. 

Shalvey: Or build a cool car!

What’s Batman’s best gadget?

Ward: grapple hook. 

Shalvey: The Batmobile. Although, I can’t drive so it would just sit there on my drive. 

What is your essential Batman story?

Shalvey: For me, it has to be Batman: Year One. After I read that, something inside me changed. It really did.

Jock: It was Batman: Year One for years, but now, it’s The Dark Knight Returns again. I remember walking to school when I was 15. I had read the first two parts the night before, and I read the third part while walking to school because I desperately wanted to know what happened next.

Ward: Arkham Asylum. I read it when I was only 12! What were my parents thinking!?