Interview with Rachel Pinnelas

In less than two weeks, on 10/2/24, you will be able to go to your local comic book store and pick up DC’s I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST CRISIS, this year’s DC Halloween anthology. The premise for the anthology is inventive and fun. All the stories are horror/scary stories set during iconic DC crossovers and event storylines.

As previously mentioned in this Newsletter I have a story I wrote for the book called “God’s Chosen Man”, drawn by the great Sid Kotian, that is set during the Final Crisis event and focuses on the psychological war between Lex Luthor and Libra. This week, though, we are going to be talking about another story from the anthology with another one of its writers.

Rachel Pinnelas is a longtime comics writer and editor who wrote an outstanding story starring the iconic Batman villain The Scarecrow for the anthology called “Jump Scare” set during the 2009 DC Comic event Blackest Night, written by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis. The story Rachel wrote, “Jump Scare” is brilliantly drawn by Will Robson, colored stunningly by Andrew Dalhouse, and lettered perfectly by Clayton Cowles.

Rachel was kind enough to sit with me and talk about how she came up with the story, compare the way we approached revisiting old events with me, and talk about where her best and scariest ideas for the story came from. Enjoy!

DAVE: On top of being contributors to DC’s I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST CRISIS, we also worked together at DC very briefly, so it’s very nice to talk to you again and be in this very cool book with you!

RACHEL: It’s so wonderful to reconnect. We’ve come a long way since 1700 Broadway!

DAVE: I couldn’t agree more! For those readers who don’t know DC’s I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST CRISIS is a collection of horror/scary stories set during the time of famous DC crossovers. The story I wrote was set during Final Crisis, yours during the event that came out the next year, Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis’s epic Blackest Night.

Blackest Night was MASSIVE in its scope and success. The entire DCU was in the mix for the original story. Your story focuses on Scarecrow, he’s the perfect choice to center a horror story on. How’d you zero in on him for your story, and were there any other characters or story elements from Blackest Night you considered writing your story about?

RACHEL: I focused on Scarecrow because during Blackest Night he becomes the Yellow Lantern of Earth, and who better to feature in a Halloween story than a man who can harness fear? I wanted to explore his struggle to feel fear himself…he desperately seeks the emotion, but Batman is the only one who can instill it in him. It’s significant that during Blackest Night, Bruce Wayne isn’t actually around as Batman anymore, and so Scarecrow is at something of a rock bottom when the Yellow Ring finds him.

There were other characters and elements from Blackest Night I considered. Those ideas focused more on Black Lanterns and reanimation as the central plot point; the possibilities are endless! One in particular I pitched featured Doctor Thirteen, which would have been a lot of fun for me and his handful of other fans, but I am so delighted that Scarecrow’s story prevailed here!

DAVE:  As one of those other Dr. Thirteen fans, I would have also definitely read that story. You already touched on it a little bit, but Scarecrow is one of the great Batman villains, and you capture the essence of him perfectly in this story. He’s a real creep and as much as he claims he wants to understand what scares people, he also just gets a thrill out of scaring people, it’s a joyous activity for him.

What did you like about writing Scarecrow the most and what made you set the story at the screening of a horror movie? I thought that was such an inventive decision, I have not seen many comic stories set at a movie theater, and after reading this story I was so jealous of your idea and execution of that.

RACHEL: One thing I really like about Scarecrow is the way he is so clinical about his creepiness. He was an academic, so now he’s taking his research abilities to the extreme. He wants to understand fear and all its facets to feel it again for himself by using the citizens of Gotham as his test subjects.

I set the story at a horror movie screening because it was a way to incorporate A LOT of Bat-lore: the Monarch theatre of course, but also the film that is playing is from a Detective Comics story from the 1940s (“Dread Castle”). We also get to watch Scarecrow turn this historic corner of Gotham City into his laboratory for the night. It was also seasonally appropriate! I’m an autumnal girl, so I love that the moment we live in the Northern Hemisphere approaches the Fall equinox it becomes a month-long celebration of scary movies as a countdown to Halloween.

DAVE: I am blown away by that detail from the old Detective Comics story, I am so used to a certain number of familiar references in Batman stories that I am absolutely delighted I didn’t pick up on that one.

Will Robson is such a good artist, I had a huge smile on my face when I saw that he was your collaborator on this project. He drew the heck out of this story. Were you a fan of Will’s heading into this and what was it like working with him?

RACHEL: This was my first encounter with Will, and it was an amazing introduction! He’s also a major fan of horror films and that was so wonderfully evident in every artistic choice made on this story. His skills are incredible, and it was great to work with someone who infused enthusiasm for what we were trying to accomplish into each page.

DAVE: Both of our stories were edited by the outstanding Andrew Marino. He helped me from getting too lost in the source text of Final Crisis and reminded me my story was about Lex Luthor having a breakdown and everything needed to be centered around that, did he give you any feedback that helped you stay on track against the backdrop of the massive event you were adding a story to?

RACHEL: Absolutely. His editorial guidance in the outline helped steady the story on Scarecrow’s motivation and journey. His serious and considerate approach ensured that by the time we had a final script, everything flowed. Andrew is, as you said, an outstanding editor and every writer fortunate enough to work with him comes away having learned something to make comics even better!

 DAVE: You and I have both been comic editors and comic writers. When I write I have to turn the editor of my brain off until I finish a draft, and then I let editor Dave come in and give his feedback to help with future drafts. Are you similar in that regard or am I sounding like Jonathan Crane?

RACHEL: I am similar in that regard and now I’m wondering if that’s why I was so drawn to writing Jonathan Crane…

I agree that having experiences on both sides of the book can help give insight. Writer Rachel has to get everything possible on the page in whatever form—words, references, sketches—and then Editor Rachel tries to review for clarity so that all the other creators have the most frictionless job possible. Does the action make sense for an artist to follow from scene to scene? Are the panel descriptions clear enough for a colorist to orient themselves in the space for lighting sources and continuity? Will the words for captions and dialogue be succinct enough for the letterer to fit throughout? The final script should ideally be coherent for all readers and incorporate all the creators’ needs.

DAVE: That is a phenomenal description of all comic book writers’ responsibilities to the rest of the team they are working with, outstandingly well put!

I don’t want to spoil it because it’s such a great beat. But toward the end of your story on page eight, there’s a stellar visual sequence that I was just so impressed by, Will knocked it out of the park. Did you have that visual in your head when you first envisioned the story or did you discover that sequence while writing?

RACHEL: I’m so thrilled that you loved this sequence! I had the images in mind while writing it. The sequence is a cornerstone of Scarecrow’s emotional journey throughout “Jump Scare.” It’s a visual cue to signify his demons and even see him with a little compassion. Something I love about DC villains, especially Batman’s is that we’re often given a window into the villains’ misguided perspectives, and this beat is meant to be that moment with Scarecrow. It was also a convergence of the story’s themes and a way to ground us within Gotham City throughout this long night of horror. It definitely took a talented artist to portray this sequence, and Will’s final page took my breath away!

DAVE: Rachel, thank you so much for doing this. I am confident readers are going to love your story when it comes out on 10/2/24, do you have anything else coming up that we should be keeping our eyes out for?  Or anywhere that we can follow you for future updates?

RACHEL: It’s been such a pleasure, thank you for having me! There will be much to come in 2024-5 that isn’t ready to announce yet. You can follow me @racheaissance on Twitter and Bluesky and @thecostumedicty on Instagram!

I could not have loved that interview more. I knew Rachel a little bit before we did this, and I feel like I know her so much better now. She is an awesome writer and a terrific person to interview. She also provided so much extra material for this Newsletter post to make things even richer.

I am going to end this week’s Newsletter with a screenshot of the fantastic playlist she put together for the story, go seek these songs out and listen to them when you read “Jump Scare” by Rachel Pinnelas, Will Robson, Andrew Dalhouse, and Clayton Cowles in the pages of DC’s I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST CRISIS on sale 10/2/24.

Next week we are going to be talking about a comic I have coming out in December, and how I feel about turning 32!

Stay safe!

—Dave Wielgosz