hi! no pressure to answer this ask, but there us something i'm curious about, as you're the creator of jules (and i love him and his design and his suit and his concept and his characterisation SO SO SO MUCH):
how do you feel when jules is written or drawn by other creators in comics and it's different from your vision of him?
i hope it's not a silly question, but i often think about modern interpretations of various characters who have been around for years, versus their debut characterisation and what plans their original creators had in mind for them, and just... the transformation and metamorphosis of comic characters over time, with reboots or changes in the cultural zeitgeist of things and all
i'd really love to hear your thoughts on that process of transformation in comics, and how it feels as a creator to see your character evolve through various and different processes, portrayals, and pens, both your own and other creators. thank you and have a great day! :)<3
Hi! Thanks for asking. (And thanks for everyone who’s sent in asks I haven’t gotten to — I wanted to do some sketches for answers and haven’t had the time because of some deadlines.)
This is a great question. It was top of mind when I created Jules that I would be his creator but not his owner. DC owns the intellectual property rights — so: create the toy and put him in a box for future editors, writers, and artists to play with.
I was advised that anything not on page is likely to become lost. If you’ve read American superhero comics, you know that even if it IS on page explicitly it’s STILL likely to become lost. So: top surgery scars on his body, explicit mention of taking hormones in dialogue. Fingers crossed if he becomes retconned as cis by accident down the line, the ensuing re-trans retcon of the retcon will be legendary.
Coming from a background of writing my own characters in self-contained stories, I naturally envisioned future storylines for Jules as part of the process of creating him. There’s so, so much I would love to do with him!
My original contract was for two appearances. (The Titans: Beast World short was a bonus because the fan reaction was so strong— thank you all so, so much). I attempted to sew a lot of seeds for future storylines in what I wrote/drew so that future creators could have something to pick up on and run with.
But whether future creators grow those seeds or toss ‘em to the wind is entirely out of my hands. The hope is always that the future creators play well with the toy you make and take them to places you couldn’t imagine. That it’s an iterative, additive process. I’d rather he get used in a way I don’t forsee than not used at all: any story can be made interesting down the line.
On one side, I keep tags muted for my own sanity. On the other, seeing all your fanart and cosplay gives me life. And it does tickle my heart whenever I see him pop up in official things!
I can’t help love the character, and love how much y’all love him.
Thanks!
