What do you want to get out of your remaining time in London? Nothing massive or extremely outside my comfort zone, please.
Well, what is England? Crucible of Industrial Revoltion. That's big. If you go to West Yorkshire next week, that's not too far from Sheffield, one of the centres or steel production and so forth.
But this week is more Batman-oriented. Firstly, I want this week to be one apart from the remainder of the year. I really would prefer the year's remainder to carry on as if becoming Batman were not an all-encompassing objective, from which my mental and physical health must be secondary. Batman's 'obsession' must be moderated. That is the Zen way. The source of his psychic aquifer would still be rich, but it ought be left untouched.
England is the home of Mentmore Towers, Hatfield House, Knebworth House and Pinewood Studios.
Can we entertain the idea of what would occur were you not to become Batman? Not to create a Batman film.
Well, I'd see it as a great thing. Because I think the infrastructure would be there to get you there, but perhaps forces outside your control - to say nothing of influence - would mitigate.
Let's for a time consider what a working relationship with Warner Bros. would be like.
Firstly, though you're not God, and have little position to judge others, I'm not so sure the legacy of the Warner's née Wonsal née Wonskolaser, is one I'm beloved of. For goodness sake, Jack Warner deceived his own brothers to obtain control of the studio bearing the name of their kinship.
Time Warner - Time magazine I don't necessarily have a beef with, even though the publishing arm has since been spun-off from the media conglomerate. Again, the Wonsal's appear. Time Warner is a big corporation. It's a legal person. So what do I make of it?
Let's consider one of its units, DC Entertainment. Now personally, the remainder of the DC Universe has come to be of negligible interest to me, largely confined to a curiosity of Gothamite denizens.
Operating out of Burbank at the new DC HQ, in addition to Warner HQ, the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle, soon to be relocated to Hudson Yards in the West 20s. It could work, it really all could. But I also feel like there would be so many compromises.
Truly, maybe in my heart of hearts, and knowing what I know at this juncture of my cosmic spiral, I feel like the best I could hope for would be to put out the intention willfully and with positivity and let the Universe decide. The actual Universe, in contrast to the DC Universe.
Which brings us to...Would Giusep and yourself be willing to do 'your own Batman'? Oooooffffaaa. You know what this means. Not Bruce Wayne, not the the Dark Knight. Not a trademarked, established icon of American pop culture. Your own creation, intellectual property fruit of the minds of the Billings Brothers?
Sharing many a characteristic of Bruce/Batman, but an original creation - your own interpretation. This is difficult, because Batman's symbolism already carries such a gravitas in the world's collective consciousness. I daresay there's nary a fictional character which possesses the power Batman does.
In any respect, I truly believe now that your priority is to make any desire - whether to become Batman or any other such goal - relegated secondary to what's best for your health, what is sustainable for your psyche. Bruce is just gonna make himself a mischief if he keeps up this bizzo. It's not good for you. And anything that's not good for you, cannot be good for anyone else either. Take care of yourself so that you can take care of each other.
Now, to be clear, none of the above so far is ruling Batman out. I like to consider it as moderating an instinct lest it drive you crazy. To become a cinematic Batman is a worthy goal. So let's pause to ponder, what is a feasible alternative, whilst not outwardly sacrificing your original intent?
Imagine Joseph and yourself were able to cast a character - and perhaps an accompanying rogue's gallery - as a befitting substitute that held the potential to then transcend Bob Kane and Bill Finger's creation. I think a further exploration of who those two men were, their working relationship, and whether the merit still stands thereafter deserves exploration. After all, the integrity of the creator of a symbol that has become beloved to me has import.
All of this deserves a thorough exploration and study of Batman. I am beginning to sense a drift toward being favourable to Joseph and I manifesting our own character. Who knows, perhaps Anthony McCormack has a role to play here too.
I think in tandem, particularly whilst being in the United Kingdom, James Bond ought be explored further too, or perhaps Ian Fleming. I'd love to use this week to read a biography of his, as well as Kane and Finger. I think the reality of what Bond represents to me has gained clarity, and Batman may follow suit. For what it's worth, the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover holds curiosity for me also.
Where possible - and the Ninja Turtles link suggest this also - I'd like any pursuit of the Dark Knight herein - and by that I mean from 2017 onward - to go forward hand-in-hand with Japonais/Zen. I want the two to coexist, and in that sense, if a brand new creation is borne of that, so be it. I just truly believe it's perhaps the only sustainable way forward for moi. The Zen Warrior = The Dark Knight. Bruce Wayne as Rising Sun's Captain John Connor-san. A Scottish backyard Connery née Commander James Bond of the Royal Navy.