So far nothing has been seen or heard of from Grant Morrison on his epic Batman arc R.I.P. so IGN.comics has turned to editor Mike Marts, and pick his brains about the current state of all things Bat-related.

IGN spoke with Marts about the controversial Batman #681, his role in overseeing the Bat-Universe and the wide variety of highly anticipated Batman projects DC has in store for fans.

IGN Comics: So as I understand it, Grant Morrison set the groundwork for RIP back when Peter Tomasi was editing the Bat-books. How did the transition between Tomasi and yourself take place? I'm interested in how an editorial transition like this is handled, specifically with a storyline as detailed and thoroughly planned as RIP and Morrison's run in general.

Mike Marts: With this particular storyline, Grant had so much of it in place from the beginning of his run on Batman that when I came on board it was a matter of catching up and getting plugged into the general direction that Grant was heading. The transition was great. You know, Pete had been thinking about going fulltime freelance for a while, and when the opportunity presented itself to him, it was the right time. I couldn't have asked for a better person to work on the books before me, because everything was in great shape and Pete made it extremely easy for me to get acquainted with the storylines, the outlines and the creators that were working on the books. So the transition went extremely well, I thought. Sometimes it can be rocky depending on the circumstances and where the previous editor is going, but this time around it was great. And because Pete is a fulltime exclusive writer for us, he was available to me in the weeks following in case I had questions.

IGN Comics: What was your immediate reaction when you heard about and got caught up with Grant's long term plans for Batman?

Marts: I was excited the same way I was excited as a young reader. I had worked with Grant before on New X-Men for a few years at Marvel as his editor, so I was accustomed to his method of storytelling, the way that he maps out his long epics and the way he adds in twists and turns and red herrings, keeping readers captivated each issue and continually surprising them. But when I learned where he wanted to take Batman and Batman's supporting characters, and what he wanted to do with RIP, even though I was used to his method of storytelling, I was still surprised and excited by it. It made me want to get to the end right away.

This is a very in depth interview with editor Mike Marts so for the full interview head on over to IGN Comics.com