Many creators have worked within the DC Universe, but few have created as many worlds within that universe as Tom Taylor. The Eisner-winning writer has proven time and again that he is the man when it comes to crafting alternate universes for our favorite characters to inhabit. From Injustice to DCeased to Dark Knights of Steel, Taylor’s imagination has spanned multiple dimensions. So, it’s almost refreshing to see him settle in for an extended stint writing Detective Comics, DC’s longest-running ongoing comic book series, set in the good old DCU. Now deep into his second year on the book, Taylor’s ongoing arc finds Batman teaming up with Green Arrow and Black Canary for a story that finds the heroes reckoning with their past. But don’t worry, it’s not all nostalgia and classic comics for Taylor these days. He also recently wrapped up the first arc of his all-ages reimagining of the Arthurian legends, C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table, and we took the opportunity to talk to Taylor about both. Here’s what he had to tell us…

For those who’ve not yet discovered it, how would you describe C.O.R.T.?

C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table is an all-ages book about a group of kids who pull a sword out of a stone and weapons fly out to all of them, and inside the weapons are the Knights of the Round Table. So, you've got King Arthur in Excalibur, for instance. It's a new group at the Round Table being trained by the original Knights of the Round Table to save the world. It’s cool as hell. [laughs]

Children of the Round Table is co-created with Daniele Di Nicuolo, who is an absolute superstar. He has some of the most energetic, expressionistic, fully realized characters you've ever seen. He makes that book a joy.

Were you into the Arthurian legends when you were growing up?

Yeah, I read a bunch of them. Obviously, I saw the original Excalibur movie as a really young kid. I love that sort of mythology and I love the idea of what we hope to do with C.O.R.T. This is their first adventure. I would love to do that sort of Percy Jackson thing where—hopefully, if the trade sells—we get to come back and age them up a year each time until we see them when they're 19 or 20, until they're no longer Children of the Round Table. They’ll be…I don't know, something that hopefully also starts with a C so that the “C.O.R.T.” still works. [Laughs]

I write these things because I want people to give them to kids so they’ll come to the greatest storytelling medium on the planet. It’s like, “Check it out, and then come read Superman. Then come read Nightwing. Then come read Batman.”

Speaking of Batman, what can you tell us about your ongoing run on Detective Comics?

We've just been doing an arc called “The Courage That Kills,” which is basically about a character who is the opposite of the Scarecrow. There is a character called the Lion, who creates a courage virus, which could potentially be a lot more devastating for Gotham because nobody has any inhibitions. Nobody looks before they leap. Nobody thinks, “Hey, maybe I shouldn't stand on top of this moving train.”

Batman is infected in issue one and slowly, slowly, slowly loses his inhibitions and his fear. We find out what kind of man he is without fear.

I’ve been working with Mikel Janín on Detective Comics, who I'm just absurdly fortunate to work with and collaborate with. He’s just a stunning artist who's coloring himself for the first time ever, and it seems to have lifted his already incredible art to another level.

This story’s premise makes so much sense, it’s amazing no one’s used it before.

I actually went back in time. I went, “Surely this has been done before. Surely. Not in the 1940s or something? No?”

Yeah, it was just one of those ideas that hit like a bolt of lightning. Mikel has just nailed it, of course. There’s a really creepy first issue that ends with 49 dead people on a boat in Gotham Harbor with nobody knowing why they've died except for one child who has no fear. It's a great story and the Lion is a great villain. Not wanting to spoil too much, but we learn he was basically created by Batman. It's a character that loves Bruce Wayne. He absolutely loves Bruce Wayne, and his nemesis is the Batman. Both have crossed his path in his childhood, in his teens… It’s a six-issue arc that’s just finished.

We’ve heard that Green Arrow and Black Canary are coming to Gotham. Two heroes who’ve often worked well with Batman.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a huge Green Arrow and Black Canary fan. I love them. My son's favorite character in the world is Black Canary. It's great to bring them to Gotham and to have Green Arrow in Gotham, and have them butting heads with Bruce a little, as they do. But there’s still a lot of mutual respect there.

The story is about someone from their past. Another hero that they fought alongside in their early twenties, who didn't make it. They never knew who he was, his identity was never revealed, even after he died. It's their meeting at his grave, and, finally, somebody comes to claim him. They start to learn who he was and the fight he was having. They—in a Kylo Ren way—need to finish what he started. It's a really fun story and it's just great to write those three.

With your schedule, do you have time to read any current comics?

Yeah, I'm reading lots of things. I'm excited about a heap of comics. I just read Absolute Martian Manhunter. An absolute cracker of a book. I loved it. My kids adore all the Absolute books, like Absolute Wonder Woman, Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman. Particularly my 15-year-old, who hadn't read a comic in a while. He read all of Absolute Batman and went, “What can I read next, Dad?! What Batman can I read?”

“Er, do you want to read Dad's Batman? Here it is.”

Then he’s like, “Your Batman was good, Dad.”

I’m like, “Thanks, buddy.”

It sounds like you have the perfect son!

Right? Yeah. [Laughs]

You know, I love what's happening at DC at the moment. I'm excited for the new Supergirl movie and the Lanterns TV show and everything DC has coming. I love that, at a time that is very difficult globally, we have these incredibly powerful characters who are morally incorruptible, standing up against evil and greed and corruption in incredibly cool ways. I think everything DC’s doing is fantastic. Yeah, it's a good time to be a DC comics reader.
 

Detective Comics #1108 by Tom Taylor, Pete Woods, Bruno Abdias and Lee Loughridge is now available in print and as a digital comic book. Look for the first six issues of C.O.R.T.: Children of the Round Table by Tom Taylor, Daniele Di Nicuolo and Rain Beredo at your local comic book shop and digital comic retailer, or keep an eye out for the trade collection in stores later this year!