Behind the Scenes (Texts From Superheroes)

Hey all!

We wanted to share a little behind the scenes of our writing process with you wonderful folks. Here's a sneak peek at a few of our recent texts including the original first draft and the final version we eventually went with. Enjoy!

First draft:

Batman: I think an old Atlantean weapon can help us fight Darkseid. I need to study your records.

Aquaman: Oh sorry, we don’t have records.

Batman: How can you not have records? You’re a society!

Aquaman: An UNDERWATER society! Paper doesn’t exactly do well down here and ink just floats away.

Batman: So you don’t track your history?

Aquaman: Oh we do, we pass it down orally through our oldest historians.

Batman: Great, I need to talk to them then.

Aquaman: Okay, funny story … they’re kind of turtles.

Batman: What???

Aquaman: They live so long! One of them met Oscar Wilde!

Batman: Atlantis is a mess.

Final version:

First draft:

Cyclops: Okay, we need to send out bait to draw out the Sentinels. Obviously we use Nightcrawler.

Kurt: What? Why me?

Cyclops: Because, your name is Nightcrawler.

Kurt: AND???

Cyclops: And nightcrawlers are a kind of worm used as bait.

Kurt: They’re what???

Cyclops: You didn’t know that?

Kurt: No! Wolverine gave me my English code name. He said it was cool!

Wolverine: Oh no, you’re a worm. Sorry bub. My bad.

Kurt: Years! Years I’ve gone by this!

Cyclops: Look, are you gonna be bait or not?

Final:

First draft:

Batman: I know you’ve been in Gotham stopping crimes. Stay out of my city.

Flash: Hey, your commissioner keeps calling me for help.

Batman: Gordon called you!?!

Flash: Yeah, I met him at a crime convention and gave him my number.

Batman: A, What is a crime convention. And B, that bastard!

Flash: Maybe he lost your number.

Batman: He doesn’t have it, I make him contact me by shining a big light in the sky.

Flash: Hmm, maybe try a phone?

Batman: The light’s my thing! That’s like me telling you to try walking calmly.

Flash: How dare you even suggest I … oh I get it now. All right, the light stays.

Final version:

First draft:

Bucky: I got through the security door you said was impenetrable.

Falcon: That’s great! How’d you get in?

Bucky: I killed three of the guards and sequentially broke the bones of the last one until he opened the door, then I killed him too.

Falcon: Are you serious? That’s so dark!

Bucky: You know my history, it’s dark as hell. Why did you want to work with me if you couldn’t handle it?

Falcon: I don’t know, I thought you’d be like a snarky bad boy sidekick!

Bucky: I’m not a bad boy, I’m a fucking assassin!

Falcon: I am rapidly starting to understand the difference.

Final version:

Original:

Batman: Robin isn’t allowed to hang out with Kid Flash anymore. He’s a bad influence. Robin came home high yesterday!

Flash: What? That doesn’t sound like …. ohhhhhhhhh, wait, was he bouncing off the walls, shaking, rambling incoherently?

Batman: Yes! Do you know what drugs he took?

Flash: Kind of. The boys wanted a snack so I gave them my special energy bars – they’re about 10 pounds of sugar condensed into one bar. But they’re not doing drugs! Don’t worry.

Batman: Robin sugar crashed so hard his heart stopped.

Flash: Oh god, maybe I am doing drugs.

Final version: