Award-winning screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, American Crime) has made a triumphant splash into the world of comics. In the span of a few years, the accomplished writer has contributed to a number of Marvel and DC comics including Superman: Red and Blue and Wolverine: Black, White, and Blood. Additionally, he helmed several titles for DC including Future State: The Next Batman, which introduced the first African-American to wear the mantle of the Dark Knight, as well as its follow-up, The Next Batman: Second Son. He has also written the Eisner-nominated The Other History of the DC Universe for DC and has already been tapped to write an all-new Black Panther series for Marvel as well as the I Am Batman series that continues to follow the adventures of Tim Fox's Batman.
CBR recently attended a press conference in which the venerable writer spoke about the upcoming and final issue of the hit DC title The Other History of the DC Universe. During the press conference, Ridley examined how the comic will tackle the life of another marginalized superhero within DC's stable, Anissa Pierce, aka Thunder. Through the lens of the mature label comic, the issue will focus on Anissa, a young African-American hero, unapologetically exploring issues of racial identity, sexual orientation, and the harsh realities of divorce.
When asked what previous comics about Anissa Pierce and her family he read prior to writing this series, Ridley immediately cited Jen Van Meter and Cully Hammer's Black Lightning Year One from 2009, which he describes as "impactful." "It's a modern take on Jefferson's arrival to Suicide Slums with his family," Ridley added. "It was a bit of a reset or reboot for the family and shows how their family could have been. It sets the tone for both Jefferson and Anissa and did a great job of setting the mood of the Pierce family."
Ridley went on to talk about the biographical nature of his series and capturing the "whole" of the characters featured, explaining that a writer never knows how good they've done until they put their work in the hands of other people. He also noted that Other History "acknowledges that some elements of storytelling have not aged well rather than hiding from it." He equated it to a mature person "looking back on their life and saying, 'I wish I had done this differently. I wish I had engaged more of the positive than the negative.'"
"We really wanted to treat these characters like real people," Ridley explained. "We wanted to tell the story of Jefferson, not Black Lightning, Tatsu, not Katana, and Rene, not just the Question. That's what really made the difference. We treated these characters like human beings and examined their human dynamic rather than just focusing on their superhero lives. I don't say this as an indictment on superhero stories, but this was meant to be a very human story. And I think we were able to achieve what we wanted to do."
When asked about how much of his characters and their stories are derived from his personal experience, Ridley stated that he had been asked that question several times before. "Every character I write has a part of me interjected into their story," he expounded. "This is the case for most good writers. We are complicated people and the trick is to pull those complications out of yourself and bring them to life in your characters."
"You'd probably be surprised by how many characters I've written that don't look like me, or don't outwardly appear to think like me, actually have a high degree of myself incorporated into them," Ridley continued. "Obviously the totality of a character like Anissa's lived experience, for example, does not reflect mine. But so much of her life as a kid is reflective of my own life. I've had the opportunity to have deep, complex conversations with my parents, the same kind of conversations that Anissa needs and wants to have with Jefferson. That is the nexus established within these characters."
As the conversation drew near to a close, Ridley was asked if there were other DC characters whose stories he would like to explore in a manner similar to what he has done in his Eisner nominated series. "There are too many to list," he revealed. "There are tons of characters I'd like to explore, too many to name in one sitting. Almost any character has something interesting about them that is worth exploring. Some of my favorite stories, even when it comes to heroes like Batman and Superman, are more about the very real struggles these characters endure, the struggles that make them human."
Finally, Ridley was asked how important it was for him to tell the stories he told in The Other History of the DC Universe, and what mark he hoped to leave on the legacies of the characters. "The last eight years or so have been tough in that I've had the opportunity to tell stories about the very things we're struggling with," he replied. "It's not fun and it's not easy. But as I've said, I'm so proud of this work and what everybody has done. I never want to do things that are self-important, but rather things that are important to everyone.
"I always want people to be entertained, to a degree," he added. "But there are different kinds of entertainment. If there was a piece of art that was going to change the world, it would have been put out by now. I think that you've got to remind people who are progressive and fighting the good fight that they aren't fighting it alone, and the things we are fighting for are important. It gets hard, tough, and emotionally draining. We can't quit. And to me, that's what all of this is all about."
The Other History of the DC Universe #5 is written by John Ridley, with art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and Andrea Cucchi. The issue will be available from DC Comics on July 27.