I sometimes find that screen adaptations which stick too closely to the original comics are kind of boring/lack a certain energy, because the things that make a graphic novel brilliant aren't the same things that make films brilliant. Did you find this a big challenge in adapting Black Charity? How did you balance staying loyal to the original material against making something that would stand on it's own?
That's exactly right! The graphic novel lacked a proper three-act structure and was more atmospheric. I combined some characters, and added in many plot points and new scenes. With the graphic novel, I knew the basic beginning, and basic end of the story, but I needed to fill out the dramatic action with a lot of scenes I extrapolated from what the graphic novel hinted at, to motivate the story towards the general arcs of the book. I also changed the ending, to make it less pessimistic (slightly). There can be a lot of rebuilding in these kinds of adaptations... it's easier for a new writer to take on the task, I think, lest the original author be too close to the material and not be able to spark new ideas that riff on or tear out the original work.