You're working on a "Superman/Batman" annual, as well, featuring Terry McGinnis from "Batman Beyond." Were you a fan of the animated series?

I enjoyed the series a lot. And I enjoyed working with the Warner Bros. animation team tremendously over the years – a very, very good bunch of guys. And of course, I had an opportunity to be involved with a lot of those things from the first stages. I remember sitting there with Alan Burnett and Paul Dini, talking about "Batman Beyond" before the first episode was done, sort of when they started doing test stuff.

When [editor] Eddie [Berganza] approached me about doing next summer's "Superman/Batman" annual, he suggested, "Why don't you look at the old covers and see if something inspires you?" And I thumbed the covers of my childhood, and saw there was a Superman of 2965 and they gave him a matching Batman and they did a story fighting Muto there and I said, "Well, wait a minute. We have a future Batman and Superman maybe we could do a tradeoff there." And I checked in with Alan and Paul and said, "Do you mind if I play with your toys, guys?" And they said, "No. Have a party." And it's been a ball.

That's the second script I've done coming back to the keyboard, the first thing of real size and weight and it was a great exercise because I didn't have to untangle the whole DC continuity, I could just watch the animated episodes and remind myself how Bruce and Terry talked to each other and how Superman fit with it and go to work. And it's sitting there in the can, written, ready to go to the artist.

Terry has a rabid fanbase, but readers that are locked into DCU comic continuity may not be familiar with him. Does that compound the 'size and weight' of this issue?

Yes, but it's also just fun because you're playing with an unexplored theme. A lot of what I've enjoyed in my career as a writer is playing in the corners of the universe. I did some mainstream Superman and Wonder Woman and pretty much any of the characters on some occasion, but the stuff that I had the most fun with and stuck with the longest was stuff that was in the future, or on Earth-Two, or out somewhere where everything didn't have to fit together. I have profound respect for how the guys are managing to work through a dance as complicated as "Blackest Night," but it looks really tricky. I'd like to warm-up before I did something like that.

Can you tease any details about the story you're telling in the annual?

It's hard to give much away with it being just one issue, but it picks up on the meeting of Batman Beyond and Superman in the old "Batman Beyond" show. It's that continuity. And I think I counted about seven or eight elements of DC Universe mythology that I somehow managed to get in for a panel or more, somewhere throughout the process, as much to amuse me more than anything else. But hopefully that amuses the readers, as well.

It's always tricky with "Superman/Batman," but is this story set in current DCU continuity?

I don't know. I understand in some theory, "Batman Beyond" takes place on Earth √82 at this point. It fits very squarely into the "Batman Beyond" TV show continuity to the extent that has a logical place in the DC Universe. It fits there, OK?

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