Legendary Batman writer / editor Dennis O'Neill will be returing to Batman again in Detective Comics #866 alongside Dustin Nguyen to tell the story of Dick Greyson as Batman and his past as the Boy Wonder himself.

Newsrarama have an exclusive interview with the main man himself.

Newsarama: Denny, I know you've written and edited Batman for many years, but is this your first time writing Dick Grayson as Batman?

Dennis O'Neill: I believe so. I don't remember ever writing him in a Batman costume. I used to read anything and everything that had to do with Batman, since I was the Batman editor for so many years, so I know the character's history. But I do think this is the first time I've written anything with Dick Grayson as Batman.

Nrama: With so much experience writing Bruce Wayne as Batman, how is it different for you, having Dick in the role?

O'Neil: Well, in my story, Dick Grayson still feels relatively new at the Batman game in a way that is freeing. Batman is not likely to make mistakes. He's a super-competent guy, so a character who is able to stumble a little bit is a little easier to write.

A lot of the story is first-person narrative, as Dick is remembering things that happened 20 years ago, and that's a pleasant way to write. And while I was doing his voice, I was a little freer with language than I would have been if it had been Bruce narrating it. Dick is a little more talkative and social in nature, and not so obsessed.

Nrama: Within the issue, we get to see a story about Dick as Robin. Is it a flashback?

O'Neill: Yes. We open on present day Dick Grayson as Batman, and he flashes back to something that happens much earlier, when he was Robin, and that involved the Joker. It's just one issue, but it's part of a much larger story.

Nrama: How is the Joker involved?

O'Neill: He's the main antagonist. He's certainly the one who sets the whole thing in motion, in both present and past.

Nrama: So we get to see present-day Joker?

O'Neill: He's behind the whole thing. Dick is following up on a case that was one of the very first he ever participated in, and he thinks an innocent man may have been blamed for a murder. And the original crime involved the Joker.

We see a lot of the Joker, and he's always a lot of fun to write.

For the full interview click here...

(Source - Newsarama)