If you were approached to write a famous character you've never written before, what kinds of things would you do to prepare?

Well, this isn’t hypothetical, I am in this position all the time.

What I generally do is try to read two things; 1) their first story, and 2) their key stories.

I need to know where they came from, what the creator had in mind. Then I try to find out what stories people best remember that character for. They are not necessarily the BEST stories, they may just be the most pertinent to the readers’ memories of them. And I try finally to read their latest appearances.

From there, I generally try to contact their creator or the writers most closely linked with them, to get their advice and okay. If they clear me, I proceed. I have turned down a couple jobs because the creator was uncomfortable with the situation with their publisher, for example (Black Lightning and Blade). It’s like crossing a picket line, I prefer not to do it.

Then I spend a lot of time finding what I can love about the character. If I can’t find that, I turn the book down. The character, readers, and creators who worked on that character deserve that, I think.