One night in 1993, Paul Dini was walking along La Peer Drive in Los Angeles. The writer and producer of Batman: The Animated Series was jumped and assaulted by two men. They left Dini close to death with a shattered skull and other significant injuries. Much like the comic book history of the Caped Crusader this act of violence left Dini a changed man. He told The Hollywood Reporter “Here I am writing these stories for an audience that loves this form, in comics, in animation, but now I was saying to myself, ‘I can’t go on with this. I don’t believe in it anymore. There is no hero for me. Where is my hero?’ The answer is: You have to be your own hero.”
In June, Vertigo published Dini’s autobiography Dark Knight: A True Batman Story. The graphic novel, drawn by 100 Bullets illustrator Eduardo Risso, tells the story of Dini’s journey back to health with the Dark Knight’s cast of characters offering “criticism and advice as if angels and devils on his shoulders.”
Dini visits Comix Experience, 305 Divisadero in San Francisco, on July 6 for a public event. The event starts at 6 p.m. and runs until 8 p.m. After the event, Comix Experience will host an exclusive Q&A with Dini for members of the shop’s graphic novel club.
The Comix Experience Graphic Novel Club was started as a unique method of offsetting rising costs associated with San Francisco’s steadily increasing minimum wage. The Dini event is just one of a number of exclusive events the club provides members. According to the website members receive the following:
- A curated selection of the best new graphic novel each month.
- Monthly live book club meeting and social event to discuss that book. We record and stream the in-store meeting so club members all over the world can also participate.
- Writers and artists of each of our picks participate in our monthly club meetings, (e.g. in person, speaking and doing a live event, or a video chat to answer questions). Click here to see videos of past meetings archived on the bottom of our Events page.
- Exclusive club-only invitations to attend a private after-hours in-person, in-store appearances by authors and artists
- Social media group for members to discuss the book internationally.
- Nice swag (like posters or these awesome bookplates) for the selected book wherever possible
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