SDCC 2017: Interview with Paul Dini and Marc Andreyko for their Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Betty and Veronica crossover

By Steve Lam | Aug 25, 2017

Bam Smack Pow speaks with DC writers Paul Dini and Marc Andreyko about their upcoming Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Betty and Veronica crossover series.

At SDCC 2017, Bam Smack Pow had the pleasure of catching up with DC writers Paul Dini and Marc Andreyko. Dini — famous for being the co-creator (with Bruce Timm) of Harley Quinn — joins forces with Andreyko to bring us the upcoming crossover series involving Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Betty and Veronica.

As we discuss this crossover event with Dini and Andreyko, the pair reveals the challenges and joys of bringing these four iconic characters together. They also hint at a plot twist that will become the driving force for the series.

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Bam Smack Pow: Was the idea to always have Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy go up against Betty and Veronica? Did you have other crossover candidates in mind?

Paul Dini: I told DC I really need to do this because I love those characters so much. As much as I looked forward to working on it, I just felt that I needed to take it to another level. I’ve previously worked with Marc and I know that he has a wicked sense of humor and a great sensibility for these characters — for the world-building between these two characters. I just thought, “Wow, it would be so much easier and so much fun to write it with Marc!”

Marc Andreyko: I got the call from Paul and he said, “Do you want to do this with me?” I was like, “Wait a minute … you want me to write something with you!? … Just say when!” The idea was always from him. I was brought on because of the charity of his heart.

It could’ve been anything. It was just the chance to work with Paul. I don’t mean to embarrass him, but in college, I use to skip classes and tape Batman: The Animated Series on my VCR and dub out the commercials. It’s like DeNiro asking you, “Hey, you want to do a scene with me?” It’s just been so much fun working with Paul. If the audience has half as much fun as us writing it, then they’re going to love the book! It was an absolute joy … so much fun!

BSP: What were the challenges in bringing these characters together, to have them now play in the same universe?

PD: If you grew up with Archie, you sort of know — kind of like osmosis — certain things about the Archie world. In turn, you also know certain things about the Batman world. We speak a shorthand with the characters after a while. We just know what fits with the Batman characters and what fits with the Archie characters. You’re always respectful of what’s been done before and what’s been done currently. We were very lucky to get the worlds right in our first attempt.

MA: Well, for me, there’s just so many permutations. There’s Betty and Veronica in Riverdale and the traditional Archies, and Harley in the DC universe and Harley in the animated series. It’s a matter of trying to find … maybe for the both of us … boiling down the essences of these characters from all the different permutations of them.

This is actually a first for me in terms of writing for the Archie characters. And I love Betty and Veronica because I have definite parts of Betty in my personality — and far more Veronica than I want to admit. I don’t have any of her money, but I can be as bitchy as she can. It’s so much fun.

Getting to write this with another writer, it was like improv … like playing jazz. Because we both have enough of a background in writing this stuff, we’re actually throwing ideas to each other like, “You take the ball now.” It’s the best kind of collaboration.

BSP: Both Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are bigger than life characters. Was there a problem balancing their personalities with Betty and Veronica?

PD: There hasn’t been so far. I think Ivy is probably the most serious of all the characters. And she’s also, probably, in a weird way, the craziest and the most determined. As for the others … it’s four pieces of a whole puzzle — the intense, serious girl; the screwball; the good girl; and the high school queen. And it all works really well together — they bring out great things to each other.

MA: What’s nice for me about writing for Betty and Veronica — even though they’re truly frenemies and bicker a lot — we’re getting to show that they have a mutual friendship of their own. I didn’t want to write about girls fighting. Betty and Veronica do like each other. It’s like Blair and Jo in The Facts of Life. There’s a mutual affection for each other even though they push each other’s buttons.

BSP: With a huge wildcard like Harley in the mix, can you give us any hints in terms of spoilers or twists for this limited series?

MA: There’s a big twist in issue #2 — it forms the rest of the story. We should not tell you what it is … or who does it … or does what to whom. It’s the actual engine of the rest of the story and it was both super fun to write and super complicated.

Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica will be on sale on October 4, 2017. Physical and digital copies will be available for purchase via comic book retailers, bookstores, online retailers, and wherever comics are sold.

Next: SDCC 2017: Interview with James Tynion IV

Paul Dini started his career writing Filmation scripts. The most notable during that time was for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He would later write for other famous 1980s era cartoons: Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Jem.

In 1989, Dini worked on Tiny Toon Adventures at Warner Bros. Animation. In a matter of a few years, he joined Batman: The Animated Series. It was here that he and Bruce Timm created one of DC’s most famous and enduring characters — Harley Quinn.

Dini would also later move into the realm of comics and introduce Harley Quinn into that medium. In 2006, Dini became the writer for Detective Comics starting in #821. The same year, Dini started work on Zatanna and Black Canary, a hardcover graphic novel.

Dini would return to the animated realm for Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Venturing into new territory, Dini then wrote for the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum video game.

Dini is also the creator of Tower Prep. Though it aired on the Cartoon Network, it was a live-action series centered around an exclusive prep school where the attendees had special abilities.

Marc Andreyko is an award-winning comic book writer and screenwriter, and co-created the limited series Torso with Brian Michael Bendis. He also co-created, with P. Craig Russell, the award-winning What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen? — a Doctor Strange one-shot.

In 1997, Andreyko co-created The Lost which continued the story of Peter Pan with a twist — it was set in modern times, and the hero was a boy prostitute vampire. In 2004, he started work on DC Comics’ Manhunter series where he introduced the character of Kate Spencer. He also created the character of Damon Matthews in the series.

In 2010, Andreyko worked on a number of Batman titles which included Bruce Wayne: The Road Home: Oracle, and a fill-in story for Birds of Prey. In 2013, Andreyko would take over Batwoman from #25 to #40.

In 2014, DC Comics announced Andreyko as the writer for Wonder Woman ’77 — a series set as continuation of the 1970s Lynda Carter Wonder Woman universe.