Paul Dini has teamed up with comic book artist Eduardo Risso for an original graphic novel to be published by Vertigo that has the writer returning to his Batman roots, while also revisiting his own dark past.
Dini has a long past with the Dark Knight. It seem fitting, since he has lived through his own dark past.
He is known for writing Batman: The Animated Series in the '90s, along with penning the Caped Crusader in comics and even wrote the Batman: Arkham City video game.
In addition to his list of Batman accomplishments is being the co-creator of the villain Harley Quinn, who was first introduced in the animated TV series in 1994 before being featured in comics. Harley Quinn most famously will be played by Margot Robbie in next summer's Suicide Squad.
While a young Bruce Wayne watched his parents die after a being mugged on the seedy streets of Gotham, Dini too lived through a similar situation.
Titled Dark Night: A True Batman Story, the 121-page graphic novel will tell the story of the 1993 mugging that left Dini severely injured.
It starts with a younger Dini, who recently won an Emmy for Tiny Toon Adventures and who loves drinking as much as he loves women. However, one evening, while walking down La Peer Drive in Los Angeles, two men approached the writer, attacking him so badly that he needed surgery from the from injuries that shattered parts of his head.
"When I first downloaded the pages from the attack, I looked at them very quickly once, horrified. Then I put them away for a week," Dini told the Hollywood Reporter. "I burst into tears. I couldn't look at them."
However, just as the events transformed a young Bruce Wayne into the strong superhero we all are fans of, Dini too has risen above the traumatic events and is brave enough to face them again on the pages of his new graphic novel.
The writer went on to reveal that he now feels strong after getting the story out onto the pages.
"I feel like it's not going to crush me," he added.
After the mugging, Dark Night: A True Batman Story then explores Dini's road to recovery, as Batman and the Joker play the angel and demon on his shoulders. Batman is described as "a blunt paternal figure," belittling Dini while making him feel like he was weak for not escaping his attackers, whereas the Joker tempts Dini to go into isolation.
Dini revealed that he was creating stories about these superheroes everyone enjoys, but he lost faith in their concepts after his traumatic experience.
"Here I am writing these stories for an audience that loves this form, in comics, in animation, but now I was saying to myself, 'I can't go on with this. I don't believe in it anymore. There is no hero for me. Where is my hero," he said. "The answer is: You have to be your own hero."
Published by Vertigo, Dark Night: A True Batman Story is expected to be released in June 2016.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
