Indie Edge October 2015: James Tynion IV

James Tynion IV is best known for his work at DC Comics, and is the showrunner of the weekly series Batman & Robin Eternal, the co-writer of the monthly Constantine: The Hellblazer series, and writer of the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover, launching this December.

James, please tell us a bit about yourself!

I’m a comic book writer and recent transplant to Los Angeles, CA, where I’m currently engaged in a battle to the death with the villainous skunk who lives under my porch. I am also a bit of a horror junkie, and own about 400 different horror movies on Blu-Ray and DVD.

What are your favorite projects you’ve contributed to over the past decade?

Back at the start of my comics career, I created a series named The Eighth Seal for the Thrillbent digital comics system, and it is finally coming to life as a print series for IDW. The series tells the story of the First Lady of the United States who believes she is going insane, and the horrifying creature that lives in her mind. I can’t wait for people to see it come to life on the page for the first time. Many of my favorite projects are horror, like my GLAAD nominated miniseries Memetic, which told the story of an image posted online that ends the world in three days. My most personal project month to month remains The Woods, my ongoing series from Boom! Studios about a high school transported into the middle of an alien forest. It’s thrilling to be at a moment in my career where I can look back at so much work I’m proud of.

New and Classic Titles by James Tynion IV :

• Memetic (AUG151191)
• The Woods Vol. 1 (JUL140953)
• The Woods Vol. 2 (MAR151043)
• Red Hood and The Outlaws Vol. 4: League of Assassins (MAR140256)
• Red Hood and The Outlaws Vol. 5: The Big Picture (SEP140310)

What are you currently working on?

Launching over the course of the fall is the second entry in my apocalypse trilogy with Eryk Donovan, a three issue miniseries called Cognetic which tells the story of hugely powerful psychic superorganisms that can spread through the minds of any humans in their vicinity. I’m also incredibly excited to be working on the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover, bringing those characters together for the first time in any medium. It’s a thrilling honor to be a part of that project, and I’m so excited that DC and IDW came together to make this fanboy dream come to life. I’m also co-writing Constantine: The Hellblazer with Ming Doyle for DC Comics, which is one of the most fun titles I’ve ever written.

What fun titles are you reading?

My favorite title over the last few months has been We Can Never Go Home (Vol. 1—SEP151091) by Matt Rosenberg, Patrick Kindlon and Josh Hood, published by Black Mask Studios. A touch of sci-fi superheroics blended into an incredibly human story of two young teenage outcasts running away from home. It’s brilliant. I’m also a huge fan of The Beauty (Image Comics) by Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley, which has the best core concept for a book that I’ve seen in ages — an STD spreading that makes you beautiful until it kills you. So good. I think everyone out there also needs to check out Virgil (JUL150568) by Steve Orlando and JD Faith, a queersploitation revenge story set in the underground gay community of Jamaica. Its killer good.