News Sun, 11 Feb 2007 01:15:22 CST ES

Exclusive Interview & Preview: Mark Waid Speaks
February 9, 2007
by Dan Phillips

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #1 (Feb 2007)	BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Feb 2007)	BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Feb 2007)	BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Feb 2007)
BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Feb 2007)	BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Feb 2007)	BRAVE AND THE BOLD (Feb 2007)

(excerpt)

IGN Comics: So let's start with Brave and the Bold. It seems like we've been hearing about this book for a while now. Can you tell us a little about how you and George got on the book and how this project came to be?
Mark Waid: Well, it came up about a year and a half ago. Dan DiDio came up to me when I was looking to sign an exclusive. We were looking to figure out what that last piece of the puzzle might be that would make me sign. Offering Brave and the Bold, and dangling that in front of me, was a huge temptation, because it would give me a chance to play with everything in the DC Universe. I'm not limited to one or two characters; I can play across the line.

Part of the stated goal of this book too, both at the time, and even more importantly now that we've gone through Infinite Crisis and 52, is that Brave and the Bold is supposed to be a kind of journeyman's tour through the new DC Universe. It's not the stated or most obvious goal of the series, but I think as you get into it, you'll realize that we're trying to, when you finish the first dozen or so issues, give you a pretty good picture of the overall DC Universe these days, like how the characters interact with each other now. We'll see some of the more famous places, and try to get a sense of the DCU as a cohesive universe.

So Dan held this out to me, it sounded great, and we started talking. Then months and months went by and, as I recall, George Pérez said that he was offered something else first - I want to say it was Green Lantern, but I can't swear to it - but he was interested when he heard about Brave and the Bold, and thought it was cool, because he'd get to play with all the characters, instead of just one or two. So it coincided nicely with George saying, "If you don't have anyone for Brave and the Bold, I'm up for that!" We'd be idiots not to put George on Brave and the Bold. He's the perfect guy for it.

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