Writer Devin Grayson may have ended her long run on DC Comics’
The Titans, but that doesn’t mean she still isn’t a fan of
everyone’s favorite team of twentysomethings. Although she’s been
replaced on the series by friend Jay Faerber, Grayson would love to
head up a project starring the group’s resident redheaded weapons
expert.
`I’d love to develop a series for Arsenal,` Grayson says of the
hero about whom she has already written one action-packed
mini-series. `I think he’s unique in the DC landscape. He has the
potential to become a really lovable rogue, almost a James Bond-type
adventurer. Creators talk a lot abound finding a lesser-known
character and really developing them into something wonderful and
cool, and I’d like to think I did that to some degree with Roy
[Harper, Arsenal’s public identity]. I feel extremely connected to
him--he’s sort of my male alter-ego. And I honestly believe he has
unique contributions to make to the DC Universe.`
Grayson’s decision to quit The Titans earlier this year
came as a surprise to many fans. The Brooklyn-based writer says she
had to leave the series, which she helped launch in early 1999 and
helmed for 20 issues, because of several factors. A big one was the
demand on her time created by her newest project, Batman: Gotham
Knights. Another was the dissatisfaction she felt while writing
about heroes that were also characters in other comics--and
therefore were being manipulated by other writers.
`Sometimes you find a character you’re working with is having
his/her fate influenced by creators you don’t like or trust, and
you’re expected to play along, and it’s really hard,` Grayson
explains. `I’m actively working on this because I think I need to
mature past it, but I still sometimes have the reaction of wanting
to put down all my toys and leave the sandbox in disgust when some
bully comes in digging a moat around my sand castle.`
The die-hard Titans fans were sometimes a little hard to
take, too, according to Grayson. `This feels weird to say because I
was one of them,` she says almost apologetically. `They struggle
with the same frustration of loving--and in some cases really
over-identifying with--these characters while being wholly unable to
influence their fate. And they take that frustration out on anyone
who gets anywhere near the franchise.`
Speaking of franchises, you don’t have to be a comics
professional to see that DC’s biggest cinematic franchise,
Batman, is in serious trouble. Grayson says one solution
could be a film about another of her favorite Titans: Nightwing, the
former Robin. `I do fantasize a lot about writing a Nightwing film
for Tom Cruise,` Grayson says. `I think it’s a brilliant match.
Cruise as an actor would be eminently capable of communicating Dick
Grayson’s passion and intense life force. And he seems to be very
attracted to dramas that revolve around difficult father-figure
relationships, stories of a young man’s struggle and redemption
under the tutelage of an older male mentor. That’s Nightwing’s
story, man, and I would give anything to introduce Mr. Dick Grayson
to Mr. Tom Cruise. I’ve always had a strong feeling that they would
really like each other.`