Twelve years ago, DC Comics made the boldest publishing move in its history with the New 52 relaunch. That relaunch/reboot, while initially successful, ended up as a missed opportunity. Now, DC Comics is looking to start a new publishing initiative again with DC All In, only this time, they’ve seemingly learned from the mistakes of the past. The classic DC universe will remain, with a new, edgier universe existing alongside it. This was all announced by DC writers Joshua Williamson (Superman) and Scott Snyder (Batman, Dark Nights Metal) in a special announcement video, which you view below:

Snyder is part of what they are calling “Absolute DC.” This will be an adjacent universe featuring reimagined takes on DC’s biggest characters, starting with Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. This resembles Marvel’s Ultimate Comics line from the early 2000s. Snyder himself will write Absolute Batman, which looks to feature the most jacked-up Dark Knight we’ve ever seen. Unlike the New 52, this new universe will coexist alongside the current DC Universe, which will continue with new creative teams or new storylines for their existing titles. The classic universe will not get a reboot again.

Another difference from Marvel’s Ultimate line is that while the DC Absolute titles will be their own universe, they will tie-in to a greater storyline connected back to the classic DCU involving Darkseid. As Snyder explained, the main DC Universe is a world predicated on “Superman energy.” This was something made explicit in the mini-series Doomsday Clock. Meanwhile, the Absolute Universe is a “wild world” composed of “Darkseid energy.” Certainly, the looks of the Absolute versions of the DC trinity look much darker and edgier. The heroes of this new universe will be underdogs. They’ll have to be “tougher and more resourceful” than their counterparts, according to Snyder.

Absolute Batman

This series is written by Batman legend Scott Snyder, featuring art by Nick Dragotta. In this iteration, fans will be introduced to a version of the Dark Knight that doesn’t have the money, mansion, or butler of his core-line counterpart. Readers will quickly find out what makes this the “Absolute” version of Batman when the debut issue arrives at participating comic book shops and digital retailers on Wednesday, October 9.

Absolute Wonder Woman

For Diana, there is no island paradise, no sisterhood to shape her, nor a mission of peace. So what is the purpose of an Amazon warrior in this new universe? Eisner Award-winning writer Kelly Thompson and breakout artist Hayden Sherman reinvent her from the ground up in Absolute Wonder Woman #1, on sale October 23.

Absolute Superman

Writer Jason Aaron (Thor) and artist Rafa Sandoval join forces to present a new Man of Steel with the launch of Absolute Superman #1. This Superman has no family, no Fortress of Solitude, and no home. Will he still stand for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow in this new universe? Readers can find out when Absolute Superman #1 hits participating comic book shops on November 6.

DC Universe Ongoing Series

All of this begins in October, with the DC All-In Special. The special will be an 80-page flip book. It contains one side drawn by Wonder Woman artist Daniel Sampere, and the other by artist Wes Craig. The other side of the book will be from the point of view of Darkseid. The seeds for all of this will begin in DC’s current summer crossover event, Absolute Power. The special will reintroduce Darkseid “As he should be, the greatest villain of the DC Universe,” according to Snyder. This will culminate in the much-anticipated return of a new Justice League, formed by Superman. The regular ongoing DC titles will get new creative teams, or new jumping on points for fans. Arriving first in October are the following:

Superman

Superstar artist Dan Mora joins Joshua Williamson in a new story arc spinning out of Absolute Power. One of Superman’s most lethal enemies returns. The Man of Steel and Superwoman (Lois Lane) must now deal with the return of the rampaging Doomsday. But how long will Lois’s newfound powers last? And as if Doomsday isn’t trouble enough, another one of Superman’s greatest enemies lurks in the shadows: the Time Trapper.

Action Comics

Another one of DC’s foundational titles goes weekly beginning in October! “Death of the Phantom Zone” spins directly out of Absolute Power and Batman/Superman: World’s Finest. Writer Mark Waid and artist Clayton Henry plunge Superman into the Phantom Zone to prevent an otherworldly horror from laying waste to Metropolis. In the second story, “Supergirl: Universe End,” Eisner Award winner and Zatanna: Bring Down the House writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Skylar Patridge take Supergirl to the farthest reaches of space. All in pursuit of a mysterious threat only she can handle.

Batman

Chip Zdarsky, Jorge Jiménez, and Carmine Di Giandomenico are back with a vengeance with a new story arc, “The Dying City. It features an unexpected turn from the Riddler, a mysterious new superhero named Commander Star, and the shocking murder of one of Gotham City’s greatest citizens. Batman ships twice monthly in October.

Detective Comics

Following “Gotham Nocturne,” another of DC’s most historic titles gets a new creative team in the form of superstars Tom Taylor (Nightwing) and Mikel Janín, and a new story arc, “Mercy of the Father.” Years after the tragic murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, a ghost from Gotham City’s past has been lying in wait to strike at Batman ever since that fateful night in Crime Alley. This story will result in major changes for the Dark Knight, and things may never be the same again.

Expect more announcements for new creative teams for the classic ongoing DC titles at Comic-Con, as well as for the new series in the Absolute line.

Originally published July 17, 2024.

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For over 80 years, DC Comics has been continuously publishing Batman and Detective Comics. And in that time, they have produced some of the best, most creative runs on any superhero comic book series ever. So many, in fact, it was hard to narrow them down to a “10 best.” But for our money, the following are the greatest creator runs by a specific comic writer or writer/artists combo in the history of Batman.

10. Doug Moench and Kelley Jones

Writer Doug Moench and artist Kelley Jones were a dream comics team on the Batman titles, producing a 42-issue run from 1995 to 1998. These issues leaned heavily on supernatural stories and good old-fashioned detective yarns. This writer/artist duo picked up from where the Knightfall Saga left off. That 1993 story saw Batman seriously injured and replaced for a time. Their mid-’90s run was a back-to-basics approach, after two years of different characters under the cowl, like Azrael and Dick Grayson.

Moench’s propensity for the spookier side of Batman lore was perfect with Jones’ art style, which often made Batman’s villains look more grotesque than ever. Although the two had a lengthy run on the ongoing title, we can’t forget to mention their Batman and Dracula DC Comics trilogy. These were a series of out-of-continuity stories that told what-if style tales about Batman as a vampire. When you combine these three Elseworlds stories with their regular run in the ongoing Batman title, it all makes for a truly memorable run on the character.

Issues in Doug Moench and Kelley Jones‘ Batman Comic Run:

Batman 516-552 (1995-1998) Batman and Dracula: Red Rain (1991), Batman: Bloodstorm (1994), Batman: Crimson Mist (1998)

9. Paul Dini

Writer Paul Dini became a Batman legend in another medium outside of comics before tackling the Dark Knight’s adventures in print. As a producer and writer on Batman: The Animated Series, Dini wrote several iconic episodes, including redefining Mr. Freeze in “Heart of Ice,” and co-created Harley Quinn. Not to mention he wrote both the Arkham Asylum and Arkham City video games. But years after the show ended, Dini did a significant run of Batman stories in Detective Comics and Batman: Streets of Gotham.

Working together primarily with artists Dustin Nguyen and Don Kramer, Dini wrote stories that expanded and gave depth to newer villains like Hush. He also wrote several one-and-done mysteries stories, once that reflected some of his best work on the animated shows. While his non-comics Batman stories might have had a greater impact on popular culture, his run on the character in the pages of the Dark Knight’s birth medium of comic books shouldn’t be forgotten.

Issues in Paul Dini’s Batman Comic Run:

Batman: Streets of Gotham #1-4, #7, #10-14, #16-21, DCU Holiday Special #1, Detective Comics #821-824, #826-828, #831, #833-834, #837-841, #843-850, #852, (2006-2009)

8. “New Look” Batman

When most people talk about the best Batman and Detective Comics runs, most people begin in the ‘70s. But a very important Batman comics run happened in 1964 -1968, which literally saved the character from irrelevance. For much of the ‘50s/early ’60s, the restrictive Comics Code censors neutered Batman as a character. Instead of fighting criminals, he fought aliens and wacky monsters in stories mainly aimed at 6-year-olds. And Bob Kane’s art (and those of his copycat ghost artists) was hopelessly dated in an era of Marvel heroes. Sales slipped badly, and something needed to be done. Legend has it that if DC couldn’t raise sales on the Batman comic books, they would cancel one or both of them.

So DC editor Julius Schwartz hired veteran writers John Broome, Gardner Fox, and artist Carmine Infantino to revamp Batman, just as they had for the Flash. Infantino illustrated every other issue of Detective, with longtime penciler Sheldon Moldoff now instructed to mimic Infantino’s art, not Bob Kane’s. The stories featured a lot of one-off bad guys and dynamic artwork. And saw Batman actually being a detective for the first time in years. This era also gave us the iconic yellow oval Bat emblem and introduced Batgirl and Poison Ivy. This 1964-68 comics run of Batman revitalized the character for younger readers. Many saw Batman as their dad’s hero in previous. The success of this Batman run led directly to the ABC creating the TV series. Which, of course, mercilessly spoofed the comics, but the comics themselves remain a retro blast to read.

Issues in the “New Look” Batman Comic Run:

Detective Comics #327-371, Batman #164-200 (1964-1968)

7. Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers

Though it’s one of the best, this Batman comic run often gets forgotten, thanks to the long shadow of game-changing work from Denny O’Neill. And, it was only eight issues long, running in the late ‘70s. But writer Steve Englehart, famous for work on Marvel titles like Avengers, wrote several character-defining issues of Detective Comics that were some of the best Batman work ever published until that time. Englehart, together with artist Marshall Rogers, really doubled down on Bruce Wayne as a suave, James Bond-style ladies’ man, giving him a femme fatale love interest named Silver St. Cloud.

Together, Englehart and Rogers gave new life to discarded Golden Age villain Dr. Hugo Strange and introduced the definitive version of the assassin Deadshot. Both characters would become mainstays of Batman’s rogues gallery from then on. One of his Joker stories, “The Laughing Fish,” even found new life as a fantastic episode of Batman: The Animated Series years later. He even made a once-cheesy villain like Doctor Phosphorus cool. Steve Englehart would return years later for a Batman tale here and there. But nothing beats the original Englehart and Rogers combo. Their Batman run was brief, but the impact on Batman and his comic legacy was big.

Issues in Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers Batman Comic Run:

Detective Comics #469-476, 1977-1978

6. Tom King (with various artists)

Writer Tom King had the unenviable task of following up Scott Snyder’s celebrated Batman run back in 2016. Yet King’s Batman introduced lots of new concepts in innovative stories, some of which worked like gangbusters, and a few that landed with a thud (killing off Alfred Pennyworth counts as the latter). But during King’s nearly 100-issue run, he finally deepened the Batman/Catwoman relationship, even if fans were (wrongly) denied their wedding. However, the abruptly ended nuptials of Bruce and Selina were part of a pretty amazing story involving the oft-misused Bane.

King’s Batman comic run also included the Joker vs. Riddler crime saga “The War of Jokes and Riddles,” a story that stands as one of the great modern Gotham City stories. They paired King with incredible artists during his run—David Finch, Mitch Gerads, Clay Mann, Lee Weeks, Jason Fabok. But especially Mikal Janin, who illustrated Batman the most. But everyone brought their A-game. We eagerly await our first Tom King Batman omnibus, DC Comics. This run one was one of the greats, flaws and all. And yes, one big flaw was killing Alfred. That keeps this entry down one whole notch on our list of the best Batman comic runs.

Issues in Tom King’s (with various artists) Batman Comic Run:

Batman: Rebirth #1, Batman (Vol.3) #1-85, Annuals #1-3, Batman/Catwoman #1-12 (2016-2022)

5. Frank Miller

You thought this run would be way higher on the list, didn’t you? We wouldn’t blame you if you did. The footprint that writer/artist Frank Miller left on the character of Batman is, quite frankly, enormous. Both his Batman: Year One, which he produced with artist David Mazzucchelli, and The Dark Knight Returns, are the most iconic versions of Batman’s “first” and “final” stories ever put to print. And everyone who has adapted Batman in every medium since has found influence in them. And they’re both really, really good.

So why this mid-level placement in the best Batman comic runs list? Well, both Year One and Dark Knight Returns are just eight issues long, all together. And his other, later runs on Batman? Well, Miller’s All-Star Batman was so terrible even Jim Lee’s art couldn’t save it. His 2001 Dark Knight Strikes Again is one of the most disappointing sequels ever made in any medium. The third chapter, which had a co-writer and different artist, was just ok. So, in the end, it’s a draw. If we were judging individual Batman comic stories, then Miller’s Dark Knight Returns and Year One would be at the top. But in terms of extended runs on the Caped Crusader, collectively, it’s all about as great as it is awful.

Issues in Frank Miller‘s Batman Comic Run:

The Dark Knight Returns, Batman: Year One, 1986-1987, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, 2001-2002, All-Star Batman 2005-2008, DKIII: The Master Race (2017)

4. Jeph Loeb, with Tim Sale and Jim Lee

Most of writer Jeph Loeb’s run on Batman was in mini-series format, with one notable run in the regular ongoing Batman title. But man, what a way to leave a stamp on a character. Loeb and artist Tim Sale first worked together on a series of Halloween specials in the mid-90s. However, their pièce de résistance remains the 13-part mini-series The Long Halloween. This intense murder mystery involved almost the entire rouges gallery in key ways, and it had a payoff worthy of the year-long build-up. Every panel of Tim Sale’s artwork is a stunning composition.

This creative team reunited for the underrated sequel, Dark Victory, a few years later, which introduced Robin into the story. But Loeb wasn’t done quite yet. In 2002, he teamed with superstar artist Jim Lee (now DC president) for a 12-part story called Hush. It’s another long-form mystery, but Loeb played to Lee’s strengths and gave him big action in addition to mystery. All of these comic runs stand out as some of the best Batman stories of all time to this day. One can see the fingerprints of these modern classics all over modern Batman films, including the recent The Batman.

Issues in Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, and Jim Lee‘s Batman Comic Run:

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special, Batman: Madness – A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special, Batman: Ghosts -A Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Special, Batman: The Long Halloween #1-13, Batman: Dark Victory #0-13, Catwoman: When in Rome #1-6, Batman #608-619 (1994-2004)

3. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo

The 2011 New 52 reboot of DC was hastily put together and is largely disliked today. But there was at least one big exception to the quality dip of that reboot everyone agrees on, however. And that is writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo’s run on the series. This run introduced one of the coolest concepts to the mythology in years, the mysterious Court of Owls, a secret society controlling Gotham for decades. Snyder and Capullo also gave us one of the best Jokers storylines in decades in The Death of the Family. After decades of Frank Miller’s Year One as being the definitive “early years” Batman, Snyder and Capullo unleashed Zero Year. This was an arguably more epic take on Batman’s first twelve months on the job.

Scott Snyder found a way to combine a psychological take with big superhero action, and it always works. We should add, even before the New 52 reboot, Snyder wrote one of the best Batman stories ever, The Black Mirror. Only that time it was with Dick Grayson as the Dark Knight and not Bruce Wayne. The Snyder/Capullo run officially ended with the two-part Last Knight on Earth. But they unofficially continued their Batman partnership in the event series Dark Nights: Metal and Dark Nights: Death Metal. Both of which featured Batman in a central role. This one is the most recent of the truly great runs of Batman’s ongoing comic titles.

Issues in Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo‘s Batman Comic Run:

Batman (Vol.2) #0-52, #23.2 and Annual #1-4 Batman: Futures End #1; Detective Comics #1000 and Batman: Last Knight on Earth #1-3, Dark Nights- Metal #1-6, and Dark Nights – Death Metal #17 (2011-2018)

2. Grant Morrison (with various artists)

By the time they took on the regular ongoing Batman title in 2006, writer Grant Morrison was already a comics legend. Specifically, Morrison was known for Batman, having written the graphic novel Arkham Asylum and given the character a significant part in their JLA run. But their take on the Dark Knight’s ongoing series successfully combined elements of every era of the character before, from the ‘50s sci-fi goofiness to ‘70s high adventure, in one wonderful almost surreal run that even saw Batman dead and his former protégé Nightwing replacing him in the role.

Morrison’s run also introduced Bruce’s son Damian Wayne as Robin, now an iconic part of Batman’s lore. Their extended storyline Batman: R.I.P. remains one of the greatest and trippiest Batman stories of all time. They also created new villains that are now legit parts of the rogues gallery, like the Flamingo and Professor Pyg. Combined, it was an epic seven-year run on the character, playing across multiple series and even the event Final Crisis. The art by Adam Kubert, Frank Quitely, Tony S. Daniel, and others also raises this run into the stratosphere.

Issues in Grant Morrison’s Batman Comic Run:

Batman #655-658, #663-683, Batman & Robin #1-16, Batman #700-702, Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #1-6, Batman Incorporated #1-8, Batman: The Return #1, Batman Incorporated #0-13, Batman Incorporated: Leviathan Strikes #1, Batman Incorporated Special #1, Final Crisis (2006-2013)

1. Dennis O’Neil (with Neal Adams, various artists) Has the Best Batman Comic Run

After the end of the Batman ’66 TV series, the character’s reputation as a joke was cemented in popular culture. So DC did something drastic and doubled down on returning Batman to his 1939 status as an avenging creature of the night. Writer Dennis “Denny” O’Neil and artist Neal Adams produced 11 issues from 1970 to 73. These stories restored Batman to his role as Gotham’s Dark Knight Detective. They separated Batman from Robin (mostly), making him a brooding loner again. In their Batman comic run, they introduced major villains like Ra’s al Ghul and Talia. They made the Joker a homicidal maniac again, and brought back Two-Face after decades.

O’Neil also introduced the concept of Batman as a sexy globetrotting adventurer, in the style of James Bond. While the O’Neil/Adams collaboration only lasted three years. Later, O’Neil wrote dozens of other Batman stories with collaborators like Irv Novick and Dick Giordano. One of those stories, “Appointment in Crime Alley,” is widely considered one of the best Batman stories ever. O’Neil became group editor of the Batman line by the ‘90s, guiding what other writers did. But his own Batman run is the most influential run on the Dark Knight of any creator to date. Bob Kane and Bill Finger might have created the architecture of Batman, but Denny O’Neil and his artistic collaborators did the rest.

Issues in Dennis O’Neil’s (with Neal Adams, various artists) Batman Comic Run

Detective Comics 395,397,404,410, 480-491, Batman 232, 234, 235, 237, 243-248, 251-266, (1970-1980) Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989)

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As we get ever closer to the release of Matt Reeves’ The Batman in 2022, fans are eager to learn more about the enigmatic new take on the Dark Knight. While there are only a few trailers and clips out there, we have a wealth of brilliant comic stories to look at when considering where The Batman‘s plot might go. So after much reading, digging, and detective work, here are the Batman comics we think will influence Matt Reeves’ film. Though 2022’s The Batman may not be 100% based on any one of these comics, several of them almost certainly offered inspiration.

The Batman‘s Comic Book Basis

During DC FanDome 2020, Reeves teased some comics that came into play when creating the new Batman movie. You’ve probably already read some of the most obvious suspects, like Year One and The Dark Knight Returns, so we’ve picked a few lesser-known reads. We’re also highlighting some of the comics that Reeves himself has pointed to as having shaped the murder-filled movie.

Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 1 (1939) – Bill Finger, Bob Kane, Gardner Fox, and Jerry Robinson

Seeing as this The Batman‘s plot will focus on Bruce Wayne’s early years, it makes sense to go back to the beginning. Though you may think of Golden Age comics as wacky and often weird—which they were—Batman’s early appearances came across as plenty dark. He was very much the hard-boiled detective that Reeves’ new Batman movie will focus on. He even killed people, which Robert Pattinson’s new Dark Knight iteration might also, at least, think about doing. It’s a far cry from the no-killing mythos DC Comics creators later created, and even further from the militarized Bruce of Christopher Nolan’s film series.

These stories often center on a theme we’ll hit again and again in this piece: Batman as an actual detective. It’s Batman as a ground-level hero who uses violence and wits to get what he wants. That was lost in later, more wacky iterations. And the detective aspect from the comics has often been what fans most want to see translated to the screen. If Reeves pulls from these classic tales then we could finally get the live-action “world’s greatest detective” that we’ve all been waiting for. Basing 2022’s The Batman on these early detective tales from the comics would be a smart way to go.

Batman: Year Two (1987) – Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis, Paul Neary, Todd McFarlane, Alfredo Alcala, Adrienne Roy, Todd Klein, Richard Starkings, Augustin Mas, and John Costanza

Reeves confirmed that his Batman movie will take place in the so-called “Year Two” era of Batman. That means we had to suggest this sequel to the lauded Year One by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. Year Two opens with Jim Gordon getting the Commissioner promotion, something we’ll likely see in The Batman. There’s also the factor of Leslie Thompkins, a key part of Bruce’s backstory. Tonally, this dark tale centers on Batman taking down a murderous vigilante. Fans of the theory that the Bat-symbol on his chest might be made of the gun that killed his parents might also want to note that Joe Chill’s weapon plays a key part in the finale of this tale…

While Leslie Thompkins doesn’t seem to be a part of The Batman, the Reeves film is proudly a detective story. It also follows the chaos and crimes of a Zodiac Killer-inspired Riddler. Plus, as always, this film will reckon with the truth about the Waynes and likely who was behind their death. But whether we’ll finally see a real live-action Joe Chill is another question entirely. Either way, the Year Two Batman comic may offer some basis for the 2022 movie.

Batman: The Long Halloween (1996) – Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, Gregory Wright, and Richard Starkings

This ’90s classic comic will likely be one of the key influences on Reeves’ The Batman. Even though Year Two is obviously the official sequel to Year One, The Long Halloween also continues the narrative of Year One. Loeb and Sale focus on a burgeoning Batman hunting down a brutal and theatrical serial killer. After seeing trailers for The Batman, this feels familiar. This is a rare contemporary Batman story that leans into the World’s Greatest Detective of it all. It’s also interesting as a comic that shapes the origins of some of Batman’s best-known rogues, which Reeves stated was key to 2022’s The Batman and its approach to the Penguin, Catwoman, and of course, the Riddler.

Another obvious influence is this serial killer detective story. Could The Batman take directly from the Halloween and date-inspired murderer here? Probably not as it seems that the Riddler is the culprit in Reeves’ film. But the Riddler does play a key part in The Long Halloween alongside the film’s other rogues. So what could we see translated to the screen from this comic? In the story, Carmine Falcone hires Riddler to solve the mystery of who the so-called Holiday Killer is. John Turturro will be playing Falcone, so we could see him team up with Paul Dano’s Riddler. Reeves could also take inspiration from the Catwoman and Batman relationship in this comic. The Long Halloween‘s Catwoman is a detective in her own right. She saves Batman during the story. That seems a likely route for the film to follow here with its focus on the two young vigilantes.

Batman: Scottish Connection (1998) – Alan Grant, Frank Quitely, Matt Hollingsworth, and Bill Oakley

I wrote extensively about this ’90s oddity when The Batman set photos revealed Bruce Wayne in a graveyard in Glasgow. Though it’s unlikely that the movie will be even partially set in Scotland, Reeves did reveal his take on Gotham was inspired by Liverpool. So, the British Isles are at least coming into play. This is an exceedingly fun book that follows Bruce as he heads to Europe on Wayne family business only to discover a strange mystery. Scottish Connection centers Alfred Pennyworth—whom we hear speaking to Bruce over the graveyard scene in The Batman trailer—and a historical mystery connected to the Waynes. If you were paying attention at Fandome, then you’ll know that could be key.

Batman: Ego and Other Tails (2000) – Darwyn Cooke and JonathAn Babcock

Another comic Reeves mentioned by name as an inspiration for The Batman is this one-shot by the late, great Darwyn Cooke. If you’ve read the story it’s clear why. An introverted and conflicted Bruce Wayne fights against the fear living inside him after he was complicit in a horrific murder. Working as both a reimagining of his classic origin and a metatext on the nature of Batman and his role in the crimewave of Gotham city, this makes a lot of sense for Reeves’ more humanist and complex look at the Dark Knight. Ego also positions Batman and Bruce as two almost completely separate entities.

Much can be made of the fact that we barely seem to see Bruce Wayne in the trailers for Matt Reeves’ The Batman. That could be a representation of Ego’s influence on the film. In that case, we’d essentially see Bruce and Batman living separate lives. It would be a brave and likely controversial choice. The most obvious inspiration from this comic, though, will be the exploration of the Bruce/Batman relationship. What drives Bruce to be Batman? How does his violence impact those around him? Does it really make the city a better place? Those are all key questions in Ego and could come into play when The Batman hits the screen on March 4, 2022.

Batman: Heart of Hush (2009) – Dustin Nguyen, Paul Dini, Derek Fridolfs, and John Kalisz

Though Hush might have come to mind when we first got a glimpse of the masked killer, I’m not including that smash hit series here. Instead, you get Nguyen and Dini’s sterling slow-burn sequel. As for what Reeves could take from the comic book, Selina and Bruce fight side by side here. Dano’s Riddler could potentially take notes too, as the mastermind uses Selina against Bruce to devastating effect. Plus, there’s also the gorgeous noir aesthetic that Nguyen imbues with a beautiful darkness and just enough light to let the shadows in. It’s clear Reeves is going for a contemporary noir, so that’s another potential visual inspiration for The Batman. 

Batman: The Court of Owls Saga (2011) – Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and More

The Batman wasn’t the only big Dark Knight announcement that came out of FanDome. DC also revealed a new Bat-Family video game featuring the Court of Owls. But that’s not why we’ve recommended this one. Reeves described how The Batman would center on dark secrets, corruption that goes to the center of Gotham, and the battles between the high-powered families who have built it. If you’ve read The Court of Owls Saga, it surely came to mind. There are also echoes of Ego here as Bruce grapples with a new threat that forces him to look at himself, his family, and his role as Gotham’s most famous protector.

While it seems unlikely that the Court of Owls will appear in what seems to be a more intimate and small-scale Batman story, tonal things could be taken from here. Much of the Court of Owls focuses on Bruce struggling to find the truth about the Wayne Foundation. And him being targeted by a shadowy group that doesn’t want him to better Gotham. Those comic themes seem very easy to translate to 2022’s The Batman, especially in Matt Reeves’ more grounded take on the hero.

Batman (2014) – by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato, with Jared K. Fletcher

If you read our piece about Colin Farrell’s interesting Batman purchase, then you’ll be aware of this particular collection. This late New 52 era series boasts Manapul and Buccellato’s stunning visual storytelling alongside another exploration of Gotham’s corruption. We know those themes are at the core of Reeves’ The Batman. This immersive and experimental book could serve as a great framework for trying to look under the hood of both Batman and Gotham.

If we were to guess what Reeves might directly take from this comic story we’d say it’s likely the close working relationship between Batman and Harvey Bullock. But with Gordon (Jeffery Wright) playing a big part in The Batman, it’s more likely that we’ll see that relationship reimagined with Batman and Gordon working together. In the comics Batman and Harvey Bullock take down a drug ring and a dangerous street drug; we definitely could see that come to life in The Batman. Reeves has also talked a lot about corruption at every level of Gotham, which this Detective Comics run really leans into. So if there’s one Batman comic to check out, this is probably it.

Whether or not Reeves will pull directly from any of these comic stories is still to be seen. But as a huge fan of Batman and a storyteller invested in exploring the rich history of the character, it seems likely he and The Batman will draw from the incredible well of yarns comics creators have shared over the eight-plus decades since the Dark Knight first debuted.

Originally published August 25, 2020.

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Everybody knows Batman. A millionaire kid saw his parents murdered in front of him, and spent the rest of his life devoted to becoming the thing the criminals fear, waging a one-man war against Gotham City’s most evil, but creating ever-worsening monsters along the way. You could ask anyone about Batman and they’d tell you roughly the same. Because of movies and television and just general collective unconsciousness. But what about the actual comics? You know, the place where Batman began. What are the stories anybody looking into the character’s history absolutely needs to read?

Below are our picks for the 7 most essential comic book story arcs in the history of DC Comics’—and comics in general’s—most popular hero. With a publication history spanning over 80 years, it’s impossible to touch on every beginning and every milestone. Instead, we’re going to focus on the stories that have shaped Batman—and the public’s perception of Batman—in the modern era. If people want to read a handful of stories to give them the best idea of the hero and his world, these are the touchstones.

7. “The Man Who Laughs” (2005)

.I know people are going to jump down my throat for not putting “The Killing Joke” on this list. But I feel like Ed Brubaker and Doug Mahnke’s 2005 one-shot is a better representation of the actual, issue-to-issue insanity of the Joker. No reason to show people an outlier and not the rule. This story tells the post-“Zero Hour” first meeting of the Joker and Batman. And is a retelling of their first encounter back in 1940 in Batman #1. It’s a piece of history and a bit of the “now” all at once, and features some excellent artwork of the Clown Prince of Crime. The title even refers to a Victor Hugo novel which was turned into a silent Universal horror film with a lead character that was the visual reference for the Joker. See, it all comes together!

6. “Under the Red Hood” (2004-2006)

Jason Todd was a tragic, and ultimately very forgettable Robin. Replacing Dick Greyson as Batman’s sidekick, Jason became an annoyance more than anything. When DC held a reader poll whether he should live or die at the Joker’s hand, the numbers sided with death, leading to the “Death in the Family” story arc. That could have been the end of it, except Judd Winick and artists Doug Mahnke, Eric Battle, and Shane Davis upended continuity with their story of a not-actually-dead Jason who’d merely gone crazy at the Joker’s hand and grown up to become the violent and vindictive Red Hood, a reference to the Joker’s earlier persona. It illustrates the Joker’s twisted evil and the inherent problem with Batman using children—orphans he’s pledged to parent, no less—as sidekicks in a very dangerous activity.

5. “Hush” (2002-2003)

Speaking of Batman’s past coming back to bite him, we have a story which brings in a huge number of Batman villains, Bat Family members, and even Superman, all in a twisty mystery plot surrounding an unknown stalker. While the mystery here doesn’t work all that well—if you get to the end and still don’t know who Hush is before the reveal, you probably aren’t cut out to be a detective—Jeph Loeb and artist Jim Lee’s depiction of the fraught but undeniable romance between Batman and Catwoman, which really comes to a head here, is essential.

4. “The Court of Owls” (2011-2012)

The most recent essential on this list, the “Court of Owls” arc was the first for writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo on their award-winning run, and the first following the creation of the DC Comics-altering New 52 timeline. It introduced the secret underground society of the same name, with ties all the way to the highest levels of Gotham City’s power structure. While most of the New 52 books were a let-down for fans, the Snyder/Capullo run on Batman definitely was not, and made the book one of the best in comics, and this arc specifically delivered enough twists and turns and conspiracy theory fun for even the most well-versed in Batman lore.

3. “Year One” (1987)

There’ve been a lot of retellings of Batman’s origins over the years (too many, some would say). But if you want the one as essential as it gets, it’s this arc from the late ’80s by writer Frank Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli. In a fairly genius move, Miller has most of the story told through the eyes of the not-yet-Commissioner James Gordon and his attempt to battle the criminal underworld of Gotham City while contending with the incredibly corrupt GCPD. He’s not a perfect man, but he is a good man, and that’s better than Gotham deserves sometimes. Concurrently, we see Bruce Wayne’s initial foray into fighting crime following his years-long exile where he learned all the skills that would make him Batman. It’s a brilliant and brisk book that was the basis for much of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

2. “The Dark Knight Returns” (1986)

And speaking of Frank Miller, the writer and artist’s work prior to “Year One” is the genre-defining, post-modernist look at Batman, and the basis for much of what the DCEU has done thus far, for better or worse. Depicting a Gotham City long after Batman has retired and most of the main stable of villains have been killed, apprehended, or just stopped, we find an aging Bruce Wayne forced to come back into the shadows when threats new and old pop up, and even leads to an infamous showdown with DC’s resident goody two-shoes, Superman. This is a very wordy four issues, but worth it for what it did for the title, the character, and really for comics, though I do wish the films wouldn’t be quite so beholden to the Miller version of the Dark Knight.

1. “The Long Halloween” (1996-1997)

Far and away the best and most essential Batman story of the modern age is Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s year-long adventure from the mid-’90s. A new villain, the “Holiday Killer” is murdering someone every month, each time on a different—you guessed it—holiday. While all of this is going on, the hot shot new district attorney Harvey Dent is trying to take down Gotham’s organized crime rings while just about all of the major Bat-villains show up and raise havoc for at least one issue. The Riddler gets a great turn as a forced informant, and it ultimately leads to Dent’s downfall to the villainous Two-Face. This arc was the direct inspiration for the backbone of Nolan’s The Dark Knight. And it’s the book that gives readers the best look into the world of Batman and all of its many dark alleys.

Featured Image: DC Comics

Originally published January 25, 2018.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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Tony S. Daniel / Image Comics

”Plants, fish, animals all turn a monstrous version of themselves.” says Snyder. “It mutates you into these predatory, monstrous beings that devour anything in their path.” This is the world in which we find Valentina Riggs, a “ferryman” with an 18 wheeler and low-grade PTSD sprinkled with snark and wrapped in a short temper. She transports goods and people through the darkness to refineries that still have the resources to shelter what’s left of the human race across the post-apocalyptic landscape. “I’ve always loved the idea of American subcultures and the idea of this sort of truck culture. But reinventing it in a way that would make it more post-apocalyptic, with macabre gallows humor to it.”

Tony S. Daniel / Image Comics

Typically, Image Creators work on an advance against royalties. However, Nocterra is the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign-a first for Snyder. He and Daniels decided to crowdfund last August because, although they had committed to Image before the pandemic and the subsequent shutdown, they wanted a way to connect with fans.

“We felt the best option was to create something with a connection and give people the collaborative process as it evolved,” Snyder says. “If you pick up the Kickstarter, and then you pick up the issue, the issue is quite different, in terms of color, obviously, but it’s also the lettering and the dialogue are different as the project evolved and I adjusted to art that Tony made.” The campaign succeeded, reaching its $40K goal the first day. It ultimately made over $200,000 by the campaign’s end. Enough to cover the first eight issues of Nocterra, plus the premiere of the new comic Chain self-published on Snyder’s own imprint Best Jacket.

Tony S. Daniel / Image Comics

Like Snyder’s Wytches was inspired by the natural fear any parent has for their children, the concept of Nocterra’s storyline is from Snyder’s own fear of the dark as a child. “When I was about my son’s age, I had a real acute fear of the dark,” Snyder remembers. “I think as I got older, I started to realize it wasn’t really a fear of the dark so much, as it was anxiety. I wanted to do a book where the dark actually is as scary as you fear it was a kid. Where it transforms.” 

And transform it does. The human shades, the apex predator in the rapid evolution depicted in Nocterra, are the most terrifying of the lot. Both capable of complex thought and speech as well as incomprehensible violence. “It’s literally about a darkness that keeps people apart and changes them into things that are monstrous and unrecognizable to each other,” Snyder says. The comparisons to the pandemic and our new reality are impossible to miss; however, the concept existed long before the unrest of 2020. 

Tony S. Daniel / Image Comics

Val has been orphaned twice. Her earliest memories are of an orphanage in China; legally blind as a child, slowly watching the edges of her world turn dark. Eventually, a couple adopts her and brings her to America to receive corrective surgery. Her adopted parents didn’t survive the “event,” and years later, she and her brother Emory are making due at one of the last remaining lit outputs with a thriving human population. 

“With each of the books that we’re doing for Best Jacket, I’m trying to create characters that are a blend of my co-creators, backgrounds, and mine,” Snyder explains. “My childhood fear of the dark is part of it, but what Tony brought to her, as a father with daughters, is hopefulness and protectiveness. So we developed her brother”.

Life is dangerous on the roads, any truck that breaks down is a death sentence for the passengers, but with high risk comes high reward, and Val hopes to earn enough money to buy the basest of necessities. Light. “In this world, halide or Xenon arc lamps are so rare they’re like gold. Because if you get one, the belief is that it can reverse the shade “infection” if it’s caught early enough.” Explains Snyder. So when Val meets a traveler that requests passage to one of the last known human sanctuaries, she jumps at the chance. The sanctuaries, rumored to have solar stimulators that can mimic sunlight, might just save their lives.

They just have to survive the trip. 

Daniel’s organic diversity of the characters and the juxtaposition of the shade attacks with thoughtful moments between Val and Emory will draw you in.  “I always knew that I wanted Tony on this project,” Snyder says. “I spoke to him about the book over two years ago. When I felt the story had the muscularity and the kind of bombast that his work really speaks to. But at the same time, it was emotional and had world-building. So I just thought it’d be a good fit for him.” Add to that colorist Tony Meura’s punched-up pinks and reds, And World Design colored lettering and you won’t be able to put this one down. 

“It’s a dream to get to work with a genuine friend on something that you’re making from scratch.”

Nocterra #1 is available now from Image Comics.

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Superhero media has never permeated more of mainstream pop culture than it is right now. Avengers: Endgame is the biggest movie of all time at the box office, and the MCU overall is the biggest franchise in film history. Meanwhile, the DC heroes prop up the entire CW network and have their own streaming service. Yet the actual comic books that spawned all of these mega popular superhero franchises sell just a few thousand copies a month.

All that said, the comic book pages are way ahead of their big and small screen counterparts in injecting these same superhero franchises with wild imagination and narrative vigor. We see this foremost in Jonathan Hickman’s House of X and Powers of X, which is redefining the X-Men franchise for the next decade, and Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV’s Justice League, which tackles giant cosmic concepts about the Multiverse and the nature of reality.

DC Comics

Perhaps more than any other mainstream comic titles, these two prove that actual comic books are still crucial to the future of all of these high profile brands. There are things the comics are doing with both iconic properties that, at least right now, could only happen within their pages. And what these comic series have in common is that they’re both BIG. Bigger in scope and scale than what the movie adaptations could even attempt in 2019.

Marvel Comics

House of X and Powers of X currently deal with death, reincarnation, and myriad chimeric amalgamations of different X-Men fighting AI run amok. It also has all the mutants on Earth residing on a giant, living island that produces drugs that the X-Men then provide for humanity.

Over at DC, Snyder and Tynion have set up the epic Justice/Doom War. On the surface, it might seem like another Legion of Doom vs. the JLA story. But under their watch, it has expanded into an epic that deals with the the nature of existence itself, and the underlying energies that govern the cosmos. Snyder and Tynion have introduced the concept of Perpetura, the mother of the Omniverse, whom galaxies develop around even as she sleeps. You know, simple stuff.

DC Comics

To be fair, there are certain comic book shows that take such wilder stories from superhero comics and translate them pretty faithfully. Shows like Legion, Doom Patrol and The Boys are adaptations I never thought I’d see accurately rendered in live-action. And yet, here we are. But for the most part, the MCU and DCEU movies have played it safe when it comes to some of the wilder concepts originated in the comics. That doesn’t mean they are in any way bad, it just means they can only get so out there. The feat being that they might alienate the general audience.

Marvel Television / FX Networks

What is “too out there” today definitely could change in the future. Ten years ago, a movie like Endgame—with its alternate timelines and cast of thousands⁠—would have seemed impossible to bring to the big screen. Even when the comic book story that inspired it, The Infinity Gauntlet, had already been told in the comics medium decades earlier. So maybe a decade from now, the general audience might be more than ready for the more mind-bendy stories currently being written about those characters like Wonder Woman and Wolverine in the comics. After all, the comics are still the petri dish to test out ideas and go for broke in terms of letting a creator’s imagination run wild, something Hollywood can’t quite afford to do yet on a larger canvas. Not when so much money is at stake.

DC Comics

So if you love superhero stories and get all hyped up for the latest MCU movie or DC TV series, you are doing yourself a disservice by not reading the comics where these concepts originated from. Although House of X and Justice League are just a couple of examples, there are literally dozens more. Some of the most innovative stories with these very same characters you love on screen are happening right now in the medium that spawned them. And years down the line, when the live-action versions finally do catch up to where the comics are today, you can tell all your friends “yeah, it’s cool. But it was even cooler back in the day when the comics did it first.”

Images: Marvel / DC Comics

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Detective Comics is one of the longest running comic books to have ever graced the shelves of our local comic shops. The first issue came out in 1937 and only two years later in issue #27 Detective would introduce one of the most famous heroes of all time: the Batman! Now 80 years later DC is celebrating that monumental anniversary with the release of Detective Comics #1000.

The oversized 96-page issue will be filled with stories from some of your favorite Batman creators, including a new eight page yarn from Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and FCO Plascencia that encapsulates all that’s fun and exciting about the classic detective origins of the iconic character. Along with some exclusive pages we got to chat to Capullo and Snyder about their work on the landmark issue.

Nerdist: How did you two come to reunite on Detective #1000

Scott Snyder: [DC] approached me a few months ago and asked if I wanted to do something with Greg for Detective #1000. That title is such a seminal part of my whole tenure on Batman and means so much to me, that I knew that I wanted to do something and there was nobody else I wanted to do it with other than Greg.

Then they asked us to do the opener for the book. We’ve been doing so much with Batman for so long, and we still are with all the big cosmic stuff and all kinds of horror, that I wanted to do something that showed, no matter how many stories you do with this character, no matter how many cases you solve with him he’s always ripe to be reinvented. There’s always a sense of excitement and a kind of youth and a sense of beginning to him. No matter how long you’ve worked on him, there’s always a thrill to open up a blank page and say ‘we’re writing a Batman story.’

There are great easter eggs in the story, including Slam Bradley from the first ever issue of Detective Comics. How much fun was that?

Snyder: The funniest thing for us story-wise was that I had to ask them for files from the archives because of how hard those early issues of Detective Comics are so unavailable and dated and corny, but awesomely fun. I made a list of all the detectives who appeared in the early issues including Slam Bradley, and all the names were like Silver this, and Chess Rockwell that, and I really wanted to include them somewhere. It was a lot of fun to point at the grand tradition of detection, and how Batman is part of a larger history of solving mysteries.

This story seems a little different from the more serious and creepy Batman stuff you’ve done together. 

Greg Capullo: I got typecast with creepy stuff early on, after X-Force, and here I am! But a lot of the Batman stuff that I’ve done with Scott has been in the light, so this was a true dark detective story, where he’s going around with a flashlight in a cave. We’ve done some dark stuff before but this really felt like the traditional Batman that we all know. All these magical moments felt like they were from the Batman you grew up with as a kid, and then you get to go in to the room and discover all these amazing characters, and also anytime there’s Detective Chimp, I’m excited!

You introduce something entirely new here with the Detectives Guild, which seems to hint at a larger tradition outside of Batman. Could you tell us a bit more about coming up with them?

Snyder: I just felt as though one of the things that we associate with Batman is this vast library of stories; he’s probably the character with the most esteemed shelf of literature written about him. I think because of that, sometimes there’s this sense sometimes that he’s old and maybe he’s done, like we’ve seen him in so many iterations and yet the thing that makes him so adaptable is that aside from the gadgets, the car, the caves, the planes, all that cool stuff, he’s the World’s Greatest Detective. And to be a detective is to pursue mysteries that sometimes are much bigger than yourself, and that means that you’ll always have new stories to be pursued. And so I wanted to do something here that creates a tradition of that. Ultimately the tradition of detection is the tradition of being curious, of being human.

Detective Comics #1000 hits shelves on March 27.

Images: DC Comics

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Scott Snyder has one of the most prolific careers in comics. His epic, cosmic stories are shaping the contemporary DCU as we know it, but in a new psychological horror miniseries with his frequent collaborator and comics art icon Jock he’s going back to basics–sort of–and the pair are having a lot of fun returning to their horror roots. One of the breakouts from Snyder and Greg Capullo’s Metal event, The Batman Who Laughs is a terrifying alt-universe vision of Batman who after killing the Joker is infected by a toxin that’s released as his foe dies. The instantly iconic character design made him a fan favorite, though Snyder always felt like there was more to explore with the horrifying villain who rarely had a chance to shine in the cosmic cataclysm of Metal. “From the very beginning I always knew I wanted to do more. That was one of the most frustrating things in Metal, I barely got to use him! We only had six issues to do a giant cosmic event.”Nerdist: Scott, when did you actually start to plan the next Batman Who Laughs story?Scott: “At that time I started talking to Dan [DiDio] and Jim [Lee] about possibly doing a miniseries with him at a later date, and they were all for it. So it really came down to making sure that the story was exactly where it needed to be, and making sure that we had the exact right team on the book. I really want it to be something that stands on the shelves alongside my best work. It’s not meant as a kind of quick miniseries just because the character was popular–it’s meant to be a spiritual successor to the work that I did with Jock and Dave on Batman: The Black Mirror that probes and examines the darkest parts of Bruce’s psyche.”Nerdist: Jock, what were your feelings when Scott first reached out?Jock: “I had a really good feeling about it when Scott called, which is what happened all those years ago when he called me about Black Mirror. This is definitely a spiritual successor to Black Mirror, and we both had other stuff to do and Scott told me ‘I’m just gonna tell you this thing I’m doing and you’re probably not gonna be able to do it.’ And as he explained it to me I stopped him and just said ‘Scott, I’m on board, this is great.’ I knew we could put in some of the tone that we’ve established together over the years and fit it into this, but also have some of the bigger action set pieces that we don’t get to do in stuff like Wytches, because this is Gotham.”Nerdist: The Batman Who Laughs is a much grimmer book than we’ve seen recently. What drew you to this story?Scott: “For me, I wanted to get away from some of the more cosmic stuff I’d been doing in Justice League, and just get really psychologically probing. I wanted to create a story where Bruce starts to find dead Bruce Waynes around Gotham, and as it happens each one of them lived a life that seems happier than him. But as the autopsies start, Bruce realizes there’s a darker plan going on with who’s bringing them here–it’s the Batman Who Laughs–and he’s got this bigger chess game that he’s playing from Metal to now to sort of unleash a real nightmare on Gotham. I wanted it to be a return to form and go back to my roots–in terms of it being grounded and gritty, and not Green Lantern and Superman and the stuff that has become such a part of my Batman writing–but to not just go back and do the same thing we’ve done before.”Nerdist: Jock, could you tell us a bit about creating the visual world of The Batman Who Laughs?Jock: “It’s very easy drawing Scott’s scripts. Instinctively, it’s very straightforward to me, and I know what he’s going for, and that’s pretty much what he gets from me. So apart from trying to make Gotham as cool a place as possible, Batman as awesome as possible, and the Batman Who Laughs as freaky as possible, it’s business as usual. There’s some moments in issue two where he just lets loose and starts taking people apart, and that was fun deciding how he would do that, and what kind of physicality he has. The Grim Knight as well, he’s this very violent version of this icon that we all know, and he’s sort of a force of nature, and forces of nature are always super fun to draw.”

Images: DC Comics

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Warning: This article includes spoilers for Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth

James Tynion has been one of the most prolific creators on DC’s roster in recent years, and he’s about to bring the comics world crashing in on itself with the massive Justice League and Aquaman event Drowned Earth. We chatted with Tynion about bringing the story to life, devastating the Hall of Justice, and saving the world with Wonder Woman!Tynion revealed to us that Drowned Earth is such a huge story that it actually outgrew its original home in another DC comic. “Originally we just had a storyline that was going to be playing out in the pages of Justice League that Scott [Snyder] had come up with, and we were working very closely on it,” Tynion said. “But it was actually DC that realized not only is this right before the Aquaman movie comes out, it’s also before the massive new Aquaman run by Kelly Sue [DeConnick], and Scott’s just cooked up an event-level storyline in the pages of Justice League—so why don’t we just turn this into an event?”The world of the story is vast one, spreading over the entire globe and featuring a huge roster of DC heroes. For Tynion and collaborator Scott Snyder, it was a riot. “It was a lot of fun! The thing I really wanted to zero in on was that this is what happens when most of the Justice League has been taken out,” Tynion said. “Three members of the Justice League are off-world, Aquaman and Wonder Woman have basically fallen off the edge of the world after the events of the previous issue of Justice League, Batman is in a wheelchair under the Hall of Justice, and all of a sudden there’s a full-on alien invasion. How does this stripped down Hall of Justice deal with that?”It’s a visually stunning book with art from Howard Porter and colors by Hi-Fi, and Tynion was quick to celebrate his collaborators. “The Ocean Lords are these seagods that had already been established by Francis Manapul, so creating the visual landscape for this book was a real collaborative effort working with Howard, Hi-Fi, the Aquaman editorial team, and the Justice League editorial team,” Tynion said. “So it was a huge discussion down to how we distinguish the infected water from the normal water! It was honestly just this big, fun collaboration bringing all these ideas together. But for me, what Howard really brings to the table is his character work and the physicality. He just has such a great understanding of how they need to sit on the page.”The first issue is a huge statement of intent, and for Tynion and Snyder it was a chance to set up a new status quo. “The most fun here was the fact that Scott and I have talked a really big game about how we want the Hall of Justice to be the centerpoint of the whole superhero community, a rallying point, and this is the first time we really get to see that,” Tynion said. “It might not be their best go, as the aliens are definitely winning as we get to the end of the issue, but this is the kind of huge and immersive DC Universe that we wanted to establish coming out of Metal.”As our exclusive unlettered pages showcase, Wonder Woman is a vital player in Drowned Earth, and her appearance is a fantastic character beat that teases the future of the event. “Diana plays such a key role in the story, and it was one of those things where we were going back and forth on whether we wanted to reveal whether or not Diana was coming to the rescue, or if we wanted to end the issue on a down note,” Tynion said. “But I’m really happy with the way we landed it. From the pages of Justice League, we know that Poseidon is dead—he was killed by the Legion of Doom—and that these seagods have been summoned to Earth and pulled out of Grave of the Gods, which is this big mysterious place that we’re going to learn about. So as much as we’re dealing with the mythology of the sea, we’re also dealing with the idea of how gods work in the DCU.”Will you be picking up Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth #1 when it lands tomorrow? Just want to see Wonder Woman kick some alien butt? Let us know below!

Images: DC Comics

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Scott Snyder has gained both critical acclaim and a fan following for his consistently stellar writing of Gotham’s caped crusader, and he’s now brought his epic storytelling to the entire Justice League.

At this past weekend’s San Diego Comic Con, we got a chance to talk to Snyder about his current Justice League run, the importance of the kind of stories he’s telling right now, and his upcoming projects—the “Drowned Earth” Justice League arc that will eventually cross over into Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Aquaman, and his new mini-series, The Batman Who Laughs.

Snyder’s Justice League is an expansive tale that builds off of the events from his limited Batman series Dark Nights: Metal and the miniseries Justice League: No Justice. By the end of Metal and No Justice, the boundary to the known universe, the Source Wall, has been broken. This unleashes all manner of dangers, including the Totality, a massively powerful energy source that hurtles towards Earth. It’s up to J’onn J’onzz and the Justice League to figure out whether to intercept or accept this mysterious comet, which may just be the original source of all life. It’s through this fantastical set-up that Snyder is able to explore themes of human nature, leadership, community, and belonging.

In speaking with Snyder, it’s immediately clear he cares deeply about the legacy of DC Comics and the ideals that its superheroes have classically stood for. His writing in Justice League not only pays homage to the idea that heroes strive to be their best selves—and thus encourage us to do the same—but also aims to attract readers who have perhaps never felt like the comic book target audience. “My whole goal with this was to make it feel like if you have never read a comic, you can come in and read Justice League and be suddenly immersed within the entire grandeur and the majesty of it,” he said. “The kind of epic, comical lunacy of the story, all of it at once.”

Snyder said, “For years, the Justice League was always, for me, the book I wanted to write. And I felt that if I got it, my two goals—three goals, really—were to make it connective, so it felt reflective of the great stories happening at the DCU and also drove the story. That it felt epic in scope on purpose, and that it also felt inclusive for readers.”

Inclusivity is a major theme that threads through Justice League, from featuring the Hall of Justice (a staple of the animated series, but not so much in the comics) to scenes of J’onn J’onzz creating a mental boardroom for all members so they can both openly discuss matters and, you know, banter and have actual emotional conversations. When asked about what he was most proud of this run, Snyder explained that he loved writing the relationships between the heroes. “I love the scenes where it’s like Flash talking to Kendra [Hawkgirl] and both of them expressing their fears. There’s a scene coming up between Batman and Superman where they really talk about the things that they’re afraid of…those are the moments that really speak to me.”

There’s a level of sensitivity and human connection in Snyder’s writing that speaks to the issues of the present day, and what we need our heroes to stand for currently. “At this particular moment, I feel like we’re facing challenges that require a sense of community and inclusion, and so that’s what the Justice League is about,” Snyder said. The Justice League “put their base here on Earth…they’re in it with us.”

This is contrasted with the Legion of Doom, who believe in embracing our base human nature because history has “proven us to be tribal and small and selfish.” Rather than striving to be better people, the villains advocate a return to our more biologically animal instincts, where the strong prey on the weak and discriminate based on who they feel is worthy enough to belong in this world. “In that way it kind of felt like this story is crazy, and robust, and bombastic, but it’s also very personal,” Snyder said. “It’s about what I worry about for my kids and about what heroes, I think, mean to me.”

Unlike past Justice League runs where the iconic DC heroes were more like “these looming godlike characters,” who fought these villains, Snyder ultimately said he wanted to give his run a “sense of fun again, and that sense of warmth, and of intimacy.” That means really bringing in the entire pantheon of JL heroes.

“I wanted, you know, when you open up a two-page spread, you see Adam Strange, and Swamp Thing, and Plastic Man, you know, you see everybody,” he explained. “I want the League to feel inclusive, and expansive, and again, celebratory about the whole DCU. And that means, arc by arc, you’ll see characters like Firestorm and Blue Beetle and all these kind of ones that you might not expect to see in the book coming in.”

Snyder also discussed Justice League’s next arc starting in issue 10, “Drowned Earth.” As the Source Wall deteriorates, ancient gods and beings start to break out of the prisons they were locked into. Snyder promised vengeful gods, “fish monster zombies,” and a crazy, fast paced tale, but beyond that a thoughtful exploration of its heroes. He said it’s set to be “an intimate story about Wonder Woman and Aquaman, and what it’s like to be somebody connected to magic and infinity in a time when those things aren’t what they used to be.” This arc will eventually feed into DeConnick’s Aquaman solo series.

Dying to see more of the Batman Who Laughs? Writer @Ssnyder1835 and artist @Jock4twenty bring him back alongside a NEW evil Batman in THE BATMAN WHO LAUGHS — a new miniseries coming this Fall. #DCSDCC #SDCC2018 pic.twitter.com/cyVciJmsbP

— DC (@DCComics) July 20, 2018

Snyder also talked about The Batman Who Laughs, a miniseries focused on the breakout character from Metal. Batman Laughs is a nightmare version of Batman who exists in a world where Batman kills the Joker, and a toxin in Joker’s heart makes it so that whoever kills him must become the next Joker. It’s an exploration of one of Bruce’s greatest fears come to life. Snyder will author the new series alongside artist Jock, who he worked with on his first Batman story, Black Mirror. “We’re going back to our horror roots for this one, and we want to sort of make Bruce Wayne experience his worst nightmare,” said Snyder.

Both The Batman Who Laughs and Justice League’s “Drowned Earth” are set to premiere in November 2018.

What project are you most excited for? Sound off in the comments!

Images: DC Comics

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After the multiverse-shattering events of Dark Nights: Metal and Justice League: No Justice, the world’s greatest heroes have restructured the Justice League, and the long absent Martian Manhunter has rejoined the team as its leader. J’onn has taken it upon himself to coordinate the team to face the upcoming threats coming to the Earth due to the break in the Source Wall at the very edge of the universe.

Together they’ve faced Darkseid, the Injustice League, and every variety of giant monster from outer space, but now the League has learned that the Multiverse itself is dying, with maybe less than a year to live. Thanks to the break in the Source Wall, a new energy source called the Totality has arrived on Earth, and may be the key to saving the Multiverse. Can a newly reformed League find the answers to save reality in enough time? Find out in issue #2 of Justice League from Scott Snyder and Jorge Jimenez!

Publisher: DC Comics

Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist:  Jorge Jimenez
Cover Artists: Jorge Jimenez, Jim Lee, Scott Williams (variant)

Here’s the official synopsis for issue #2:

The post Can Superheroes Save the Multiverse in JUSTICE LEAGUE #2? (Exclusive Preview) appeared first on Nerdist.

The Justice League has had a bit of a rough go of it these past few years at DC Comics. On one hand, the team’s long awaited big screen debut did not exactly set the world on fire. And while their recent comic book incarnations these past few years have ranged from adequate to pretty darn good, something has been missing from the League for a while now—something that has kept them from true greatness. But with this new series relaunch from superstar writer Scott Snyder and fan favorite former Marvel artist Jim Cheung, DC has lit a fire under the League’s collective butt, and their first issue of Justice League is everything you love about the team, but cranked up to 11!

Writer Scott Snyder, whose five-year run on Batman is among the best ever for that character, is following up on events he introduced in his Dark Nights Metal series, as well as his recently concluded Justice League: No Justice mini-series. That event introduced the idea that the Source Wall at the end of the universe has cracked, and that all kinds of dangerous energies are pouring out of it into the universe. This causes a new iteration of the League to form, led by long missing member the Martian Manhunter.

Issue #1 opens in medias res, with the League being telepathically coordinated by J’onn into fighting an insurmountable surprise foe—the first of several in this issue. We get all the amazing splash pages that Jim Cheung became famous for while at Marvel, and they’re simply gorgeous. Cheung made name for himself  illustrating books like Young Avengers, but he’s taken everything he learned there and applied it here, the original team book.

With this issue, we see that Snyder is very liberally borrowing from the very best eras of the League’s past, chiefly the four-year run by Grant Morrison, along with the Justice League Unlimited animated series. From Morrison, Snyder has borrowed the notion of a core membership made up of DC Comics’ biggest heroes, taking on the kinds of threats that are simply too huge for any one hero to take on alone—threats so big they are literally mind-boggling in their scope.

Snyder has expanded Morrison’s “Big 7” to a “Big 9,” but that’s because he recognizes that the League’s other most famous recent incarnation, the animated series, added Green Lantern John Stewart and Hawkgirl to the line-up, as the kids who grew up with that cartoon expect to see those particular characters on the team. Another concept borrowed from JLU is the idea that all the other heroes from the DCU are essentially “backup” for the main team, and called upon when needed. This leads to a ton of cameos from other famous DC characters, who are essentially all Leaguers now too.

But despite being influenced by the best aspects of the League’s storied history, this is definitely still a Scott Snyder jam. A lot of the sense of mystery he became so famous for in Batman stories like “The Court of Owls” is on full display here, just taken to a more cosmic level. If you loved his iteration of Batman, he is very much still that Batman here, only you get the joy of seeing him play against his teammates. (There is one particular moment where Bats is trying to hide something shady from the Martian Manhunter, a telepath, and it results in a fairly hilarious character moment that showcases both heroes in their purest forms.)

If I have one complaint about this issue, it’s that it shows how DC’s continuity is still super messed up post-Rebirth. For example, the Martian Manhunter suggests he’s been away from the League for a long time and is just now returning, but in the New 52 continuity, which is all still in play as far as I know, J’onn was never a member of the main team. His founding member status was taken by Cyborg, who is still here. Also, a Hall of Heroes in the lobby of the League’s HQ showcase a lot of characters from the team’s past who are clearly from the pre-Flashpoint continuity. None of this is really Snyder’s fault, but it would be nice for DC to address their screwed up continuity sooner rather than later.

In the final analysis, Justice League #1 offers everything you could want from a JL comic, and promises a big bright future for the team. Here’s hoping Snyder and Cheung have as legendary a run as Snyder and Greg Capullo did on Batman. The Justice League deserves it.

RATING: 4.5 OUT OF 5 BURRITOS

Justice League #1 will be available at comic book stores on Wednesday, June 6, 2018.

Images: DC Comics

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The post JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 Restores the Team to Greatness (Review) appeared first on Nerdist.

The first ever livestreamed DC publishers panel hit WonderCon this weekend, and we were there! Whilst most of the panel focused on the company’s new imprints–DC Zoom, Ink, Black Label, and Sandman Universe–Jim Lee and Dan DiDio didn’t disappoint fans when they pulled Scott “Spoiler Alert” Snyder on stage to spill the beans about a new line of Justice League books, which look to be out of this world… LITERALLY.

The new direction of the DCU will start officially on May 2nd, the Wednesday before Free Comic Book Day, with DC Nation #0. It’s a 25¢ comic book sampler showcasing “the next evolution of the DCU.” Brian Michael Bendis and José Luis García-López will have a short story that leads into Bendis’ upcoming “Man of Steel” series. The writer revealed that the upcoming Action Comics #1000 will “introduce a new villain who’s a real force of nature, a real threat to Superman. He’s Superman’s equal, if not better.” Also in DC Nation #0, Scott Snyder and Jorge Jiménez will introduce the threads of Justice League: No Justice, followed by Tom King and Clay Mann, who’ll focus on the Joker’s reaction to Selina and Bruce’s upcoming nuptials! Via video feed, Tom King teased that “when you have Batman and Catwoman about to get married and the Joker steps in the way, the whole world blows up.”

Snyder took the time to thank fans for their response and support to the recent era of DC books. “We were really nervous doing Metal. I was scared and Greg was scared, but we loved it and you guys showed up,” Snyder shared before beginning his fantastically spoiler-filled sermon about his new Justice League line. “There are things that we haven’t even seen yet that defy all kinds of rules about comic book storytelling,” Snyder smiled.

The main Justice League title spinning out of the No Justice miniseries will be written by Snyder, with art by Jim Cheung and Jorge Jiménez. It’ll see the Justice League back in the Hall of Justice, which will have portals to transport the JL around the newly expanded DC Universe. “I want this to be my superhero soap opera that showcases everything I’ve learned at DC,” Snyder told us. It’s not just the Hall of Justice that’s making its return though, because Snyder revealed that “if we’re using the biggest heroes in the universe, it only makes sense that we use the biggest villains in the DC Universe. I’m bringing back the Legion of Doom. It’s a double helix of awesome!” Snyder announced to cheers from the packed hall.

Snyder’s biggest reveal, though, was that that there’ll be two brand new ongoing Justice League books post No Justice. Justice League Dark, written by James Tynion IV with art by Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, and Brad Anderson, sees the cult classic team return, but this time led by none other than Wonder Woman! She’ll be joined by Swamp Thing, Zatanna, Detective Chimp, and Man-Bat in one of the wackiest and most fun lineups we’ve seen for a long time. “Justice League Dark is the biggest craziest magic book you can imagine. It’s the biggest magical war thrown into one place,” Snyder enthused.

The second new title is Justice League Odyssey, written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Stjepan Šejić. It’s literally the Justice League in space, which is incredibly exciting, and the book looks to be totally different from anything else in the current DCU. “The Justice League realizes it has to be bigger and bolder,” Snyder told us. Led by Cyborg, Odyssey will also feature Jessica Cruz, Azrael, and Starfire as they team up with Darkseid, whom Snyder described as the “Hannibal Lecter” of the team. Color us intrigued!

Which Justice League books are you most excited about? Can’t wait to get to know more about Detective Chimp? Upset that Swamp Thing’s character design is obviously based on Alan Moore? Let us know below!

Images: DC Comics

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DC Comics has big plans for 2018, and at 10am on a chilly Saturday morning they shared them with those of us brave enough to battle the con traffic and get a seat for the inaugural DC Publishers Panel Live Stream at WonderCon. Chaired by Dan DiDio and Jim Lee, the panel hosted a selection of star talent and focused heavily on the newly announced creator curated imprints: DC Zoom, DC Ink, Black Label, and Sandman Universe.

Introducing DC Ink and Zoom’s EIC Bobby Chase, DiDio stated that the young readers and middle grade imprints are “our way to reach out to a different, younger audience who’re reading different books, manga, and graphic novels!” Bobbie Chase has been working on Zoom and Ink since 2012, and is clearly incredibly passionate about the new lines, adding “it’s fantastic, and it’s been a long time coming.” The massive success of DC Super Hero Girls has been a big part of why DC moved forward with Zoom and Ink, and Chase has gotten a who’s who of kids fiction for the new releases. “We’re working with some authors who’re at the top of their game and so well known in the middle grade book market. We’ve just got some really exciting people coming in,” Chase exclaimed.

DC Zoom is the middle grade line, which is aimed at readers ages 8-12, and Chase told us they’d be focused on “coming of age stories with a safety net, stories focused on kids learning about their world” and will include creators like Meg Cabot–whose Black Canary: Ignite story was announced with art by Cara McGee–Franco, Art Balthazar, Shea Fontana, Minh Le, and Dustin Nguyen. DC Ink is aimed at the young adult audience and the fantastic Mariko Tamaki was on hand to talk about the book she’s writing, with art from Steve Pugh, Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass. The story will see Harley as she finds her feet in Gotham, moving in with a crowd of drag queens as she deals with the encroaching gentrification of Gotham. “It’s been really amazing to have this freedom to write something this big at DC,” Tamaki said, smiling. “It’s really fun to have that space, to be grounded in the character. It’s about really staying true to the character whilst finding new ways to interpret her.”

After an exciting opening which promised a fresh, new, and necessary direction for DC, all eyes turned to Jim Lee as he opened up about his passion project, DC Black Label. The imprint will see DC attempt to harness the power and popularity of some of their cult classic comics like The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke. The pair were joined on stage by Mark Doyle, who’s Executive Editor of both Vertigo and Black Label, to talk us through a video about the upcoming titles. Numerous creators appeared including Scott Snyder, waxing lyrical about his new Batman book with artist Greg Capullo at the imprint. “What black label means to me is freedom,” Snyder explained. “The story that we’re telling is a cumulation of all the storytelling that Greg and I have done on Batman, it’s how our Batman story ends.”

Finally it was on to Sandman Universe which looks to be a massive expansion of the beloved comic. “Neil is just an incredible treasure trove of stories, and he created all of these incredible characters,” Doyle espoused before screening a video of Gaiman himself, who stated that “the four writers dreaming this dream with me are the best in the universe.” One of those writers, Nalo Hopkinson, joined Doyle on stage to talk about her new Sandman book that’ll introduce a new house to The Dreaming–The House of Whispers. On a recent trip to New Orleans, Gaiman told her that “I want you to take the toys I’ve created and tell your own stories,” which, for Hopkinson, was a dream. “I get to take the bits of Sandman that resonated with me and bring them back out,” she shared. The upcoming Sandman Universe #1 special with a cover by Jae Lee will be the entry point for fans.

Which of the DC Imprints are you most excited about? Can’t wait to read a new Sandman book? Just wanna see some great YA DC comics? Let us know below!

Images: DC Comics

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The success of DC Comics‘ standalone stories The Dark Knight Returns, Kingdom Come, and Watchmen led to the creation of the Elseworlds label, which gave creators the opportunity to tell stories about icons like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman outside their regular continuity. After dozens of graphic novels, however, the Elseworlds label disappeared, along with many alternate versions of DC’s greatest heroes.

Now, a new version of that same idea is coming back: DC has announced DC Black Label, a new publishing imprint that gives premier talent the opportunity to expand upon the canon of the publisher’s iconic Super Hero comic book characters with unique stories outside of the current DC Universe continuity. An all-star lineup of creative teams will craft their own personal definitive DC stories in the tradition of compelling literary works like Batman: The Killing Joke, DC: The New Frontier, and Watchmen.

“Many of our perennially best-selling, critically acclaimed books were produced when we unleashed our top talent on standalone, often out-of-continuity projects featuring our most iconic characters, a prime example being Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns,” explains publisher Jim Lee. “Creating DC Black Label doubles down on our commitment to working with all-star talent and trusting them to tell epic, moving stories that only they can tell with the highest levels of creative freedom.”

DC Black Label makes its publishing debut with the previously announced Superman: Year One saga from legendary author Frank Miller and artist John Romita Jr. The three-part prestige series will hit shelves August 2018. John Ridley’s The Other History of the DC Universe, announced in January, will be published under the new imprint as well. And Kelly Sue DeConnick (Bitch Planet) joins DC Black Label for her first major work with the company, alongside artist Phil Jimenez, with Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons. Each DC Black Label series will have a unique format and release schedule to best serve the story and creative vision. In addition, the new imprint will be brought to life with a stylized new logo, evoking the sense of sophistication fans can expect in these new series.

“DC Black Label offers leading writers and artists of any industry the opportunity to tell their definitive DC stories without being confined to canon,” says executive editor Mark Doyle. “We are carefully crafting each series to fit the vision of the creative team. All of these creators are masters of their craft.”

The following books round out the first wave of DC Black Label titles:

Superman: Year One from Frank Miller (The Dark Knight Returns) and John Romita Jr. (All Star Batman, Superman)

A groundbreaking, definitive treatment of Superman’s classic origin story in honor of his 80th anniversary. This story details new revelations that reframe the Man of Steel’s most famous milestones—from Kal-El’s frantic exile from Krypton, to Clark Kent’s childhood in Kansas, to his inevitable rise to become the most powerful and inspiring superhero of all time.

Batman: Last Knight On Earth from Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, the creative team behind Dark Nights Metal

Batman wakes up in a desert. He doesn’t know what year it is or how The Joker’s head is alive in a jar beside him, but it’s the beginning of a quest unlike anything the Dark Knight has undertaken before. In this strange future, villains are triumphant and society has liberated itself from the burden of ethical codes. Fighting to survive while in search of answers, Bruce Wayne uncovers the truth about his role in this new world—and begins the last Batman story ever told.

Batman: Damned from Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo, the creative team behind Joker

On a deserted Gotham City bridge, a body is found. Whispers spread the news: Joker is dead. But is this a dream come true or a nightmare being born? Now Batman and DC’s outlaw magician John Constantine must hunt the truth through a Gotham City hellscape. The city’s supernatural recesses are laced with hints about a killer’s identity, but the Dark Knight’s descent into horror will test his sanity and the limits of rationality, as he must face a horror that doesn’t wear a mask.

Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons from Kelly Sue DeConnick (Bitch Planet) and Phil Jimenez (Infinite Crisis)

A Homeric epic of the lost history of the Amazons and Queen Hippolyta’s rise to power. Featuring monsters and myths, this three-book saga spans history from the creation of the Amazons to the moment Steve Trevor washes up on the shores of Paradise Island, changing our world forever.

Wonder Woman: Diana’s Daughter (working title) from Greg Rucka (Wonder Woman)

It’s been 20 years since the world stopped looking to the skies for hope, help, and inspiration. Now the world keeps its eyes down, and the powers that have risen have every intention of keeping things that way. Amongst a scattered, broken resistance, a young woman seeks to reclaim what has been forgotten, and on the way will learn the truth about herself, her heritage, and her destiny.

The Other History of the DC Universe from John Ridley (12 Years a Slave, The American Way)

A compelling literary series analyzing iconic DC moments and charting sociopolitical gains through the perspectives of DC Super Heroes who come from traditionally disenfranchised groups, including John Stewart, Extraño, Vixen, Supergirl, Katana and Rene Montoya, among others. At its core, the story focuses on the lives of those behind the costumes, and their endeavors to overcome real-world issues. It isn’t about saving the world, it’s about having the strength to simply be who you are.

Are you as excited about this new direction for DC? Be sure to let us know down below in the comments

Images: DC Comics

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On April 18, DC Comics‘ second longest running series, Action Comics, will hit a major milestone and become the first American comic to ever reach 1000 issues. The 80-page issue includes art and stories from huge names like Brian Michael Bendis, John Cassaday, Olivier Coipel, Paul Dini, José Luis García-López, Geoff Johns, Dan Jurgens, Tom King, Louise Simonson, Scott Snyder, and Marv Wolfman! It will also feature an unpublished story by the classic Silver Age Superman artist Curt Swan. To celebrate this huge moment, DC has released a free five-page story called “Of Tomorrow” and you can read it right now, right here!

The current fan fave Batman creative team of Tom King, Clay Mann, Jordie Bellaire, and John Workman have put together a heart-wrenching story about love, family, and the end of the world as we know it. It’s an exciting taste of the sequential smorgasbord that Action Comics #1000 will have to offer us, and it’s a fun free comic for you to read this new comic book day! As you can see from our sneak preview process page, the comic is full of classic Supes action, and this five-page story is the perfect way to get excited about the Man of Tomorrow’s 80th Anniversary.

Will you be flying faster than a speeding bullet to get Action Comics #1000? Who’s your favorite Superman artist? Is there one creator you’re especially exciting to see tackle the Son of Krypton? Pull on your red underpants and let us know below!

Images: DC Comics

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Laura Martin and Cully Hamner have been working together for over ten years. They even used to share a studio. So when it comes to collaboration, they’re a force to be reckoned with. When DC Comics approached Hamner about the possibility of illustrating a new Bat-book, Batman and the Signal, he had one person in mind to color it. “They came to me with this project and it just sounded like something that was a lot of fun,” Hamner told Nerdist. “It was a different idea for the Bat-books, something that was not only literally brighter in tone than the Bat-books but also from a character point of view. I thought it was an intriguing idea and so I went to Laura. I said to DC, ‘I have to get Laura, Laura is the one I like working with more than almost anybody.’ So she hopped on board.”

Batman and the Signal, written by Scott Snyder and Tony Patrick, puts Duke Thomas in the forefront and depicts a vision of Gotham that’s rarely been seen: Gotham by daylight. We have exclusive pages from issue #2 below.

Gotham has long been steeped in darkness. Even Batman‘s moniker The Dark Knight is a play on the shadows he was born in. This was an enjoyable challenge for superstar colorist Laura Martin. She explained, “It’s interesting because there’s so much material and history out there about Gotham at night, and so many different color schemes. You think about Batman Beyond and the red skies, and there’s just been so many interesting things done with Gotham at night which means there’s so much for me as a colorist to fall back on when I’m working on a Batman story. But for this I had to stop and think, ‘What would Gotham look like in the day? Is it grungy? Is it smoggy? Is it hazy? Is it completely bright and shiny? What would Gotham look like?’ I had to sit back and think of what do other cities look like in daylight?”

“The big thing is that Cully always offers me a lot of information on the page, there’s always a light source, and I always know where it’s coming from. I really tried to push the colors to make it look harsh, so it’s almost blinding compared to the nighttime scenes,” she continued.

The world of Batman and the Signal is vibrant and bright, a striking juxtaposition to the world of Gotham we’ve all come to know. For artist Hamner the details were vital in creating a vision of Gotham during the day. “I made a conscious effort to make sure that even down to the clothes people were wearing and the props they’re using, to make sure people are wearing hats or sunglasses. Reflective sunglasses are even better, to really give that idea that it’s daytime, you know? And I wanted to extend that to cityscapes too, to silhouette buildings in the distance to really give that idea of light pollution,” he said.

From the first page of the first issue, it’s clear as the light spills through the curtains of Wayne Manor that the Batman and the Signal creative team are really doing something different with this book. “One thing we talked about was including a lot of sunlight filtering into interior space. We wanted a lot of light pollution in this, we wanted it to feel like the light is infecting the shadows. But there are still heavy shadows, still places criminals can hide, and there’s still danger. So a lot of the interior scenes take place underground or hidden away but still have light filtering in from above, ” Martin told us.

Hamner expanded on the subtle visual motif. “That was definitely conscious. If you look at where they hold the Metas under the youth center, I made a really conscious effort to try and communicate this to Laura–that there are light tunnels and skylights that come from above down underground. You can still get those shafts of lights. In fact, the little prison under the youth center is called the Shafts for that reason.”

As you can see from our exclusive pages of the second issue, Batman and The Signal is a striking, exciting book with a fresh visual landscape crafted by Martin and Hamner. The first issue was a hit and the team are really excited for fans to see the where the story goes. “There’s some stuff in #3 that’s going to be really cool for people to see,” Hamner teased. “Go out and buy it because it’s awesome! It’s worth checking out for sure because it’s a different look for Gotham and I think Batman fans are going to dig that,” Martin exclaimed.

Batman and The Signal #2 is out on Wednesday, February 21.

Images: DC Comics

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The Justice League line-up of books have been pretty stable for the past several years over at DC Comics, with the core title focusing on the “Big 7” heroes, occasionally trading out Green Lanterns here and there. But now the team is going to be getting their biggest roster shake up in a very long time, and it’s coming courtesy of Scott Snyder, the man whose Batman run with artist Greg Capullo is one of the most legendary in the Dark Knight’s entire career.

Now we’ve learned that the fallout from the currently running Dark Nights Metal mini-series from Synder and Capullo will see the formation of a new League. Metal, which saw Batman and the other DC heroes take on the residents of the Dark Multiverse, will end on March 14 with issue #6. This will be followed by a new four-issue weekly miniseries that kicks off on May 9 called Justice League: No Justice, which will be co-written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, and Joshua Williamson with art by Francis Manapul.

When this weekly event is over, it will change the status-quo of the Justice League books, resulting in a new family on League titles, starting in June. The current Rebirth-era League books will end this spring, with Justice League #43 wrapping up the current iteration of the series, and Steve Orlando’s Justice League of America ending with issue #29. The new flagship Justice League book will be written by Scott Snyder, with Tynion and Joshua Williamson handling the other books in the line.

In a statement from Scott Snyder, the esteemed writer said “we thought we knew the entire map of the DC cosmos. We thought we had explored all there was to explore. But now we know that all this time the Multiverse was nothing but a fishbowl, and now we’ve been dumped into the ocean, unleashing terrifying new threats, and wondrous new possibilities. Metal opened up channels of storytelling that Francis, James, Joshua and I are excited to explore in a big way. When we’re finished, fans will never look at the Justice League in the same way again.”

In this four-issue miniseries, the super-villain Brainiac arrives on Earth with a dire warning for the Justice League: there’s a threat coming to destroy Earth, one that the heroes are ill-equipped to handle.  Brainiac thinks he holds the key to victory, but it means combining members of the League with some of the most dangerous villains in the DC Universe and sending them into battle against this extinction-level menace. The stakes are at their absolute highest; if one of these teams fail. It’s game over.

For the mini-series at least, the League will be split into four teams, each with very interesting rosters. “Team Mystery” will feature Superman, the Martian Manhunter (making his long awaited return to the League), Starfire, Sinestro, and Starro. Yes, that Starro, the giant starfish that fought the Justice League of America in their very first appearance in 1960.

“Team Entropy” seems to be led by Batman, and will feature Deathstroke, Lobo, Lex Luthor, and Beast Boy. All aside from Beast Boy are former villains. That should prove fun for Batman.

“Team Wonder” is led by — you guessed it — Wonder Woman. This magic based crew has Raven, Dr. Fate, Zatanna, and Etrigan the Demon in its line-up.

And finally, “Team Wisdom” features the Flash, Cyborg, Harley Quinn, the Atom, and Robin (Damian Wayne). Not sure how Harley fits in with wisdom, but there it is.

So what’s our takeaway from these teams? For starters, for the first time in a long time, no Aquaman on the team, and no Green Lanterns to speak of. Five members of the Titans/Teen Titans are part of the team, including all the members who are associated with the Teen Titans Go! animated series. Does this mean Titans or Teen Titans are getting cancelled? Too soon to say. It would also seem Black Canary, the Ray, Killer Frost, and Vixen didn’t make the cut either for this new League. According to Manapul’s preliminary art, it looks like each team will be color-coded as well.

“I’m laying out the biggest action of my life,” said Manapul in a statement. “The Justice League realizes that they need to expand their reach to become something bigger than they have ever been before. If you thought my work for Justice League: Darkseid War was huge, I’m taking the League to the edge of the cosmos with NO JUSTICE. Anyone who has asked for Harley Quinn, Martian Manhunter, Starfire, Zatanna, the Atom, Raven, or Doctor Fate to be in their personal Justice League will stand up and cheer.”

The Rebirth era has heralded some of the best DC stories in years, as their writers now seem to understand just what makes the DCU so endearing, in a way most writers didn’t understand during the New 52 era. Scott Snyder has been the most consistent voice at DC through both the New 52 and Rebirth eras, so his given the keys to the company’s biggest franchise seems like a no-brainer. Dark Nights Metal has been the kind of mind bendy, multiversal fun that DC has excelled at for decades. Here’s hoping that the artist paired with Snyder on the Justice League flagship title is none other than Greg Capullo. Because as the saying goes, “if it ain’t broke…”

For more concept art for No Justice, as well as images from issue #1,  check out our gallery down below.

What do you think of the big changes in store for DC’s premiere team? Let us know your thoughts down below in the comments.

Images: DC Comics

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The Dark Knight has brought together some legendary creative duos over the decades. The ’70s gave us Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams. In the ’80s, it was Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli. And, most recently, we have the mighty team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. Their nearly 50-issue run on Batman was the backbone of the New 52, and one of the best interpretations of the character, in an era where it’s sometimes hard to tell fresh stories about the Caped Crusader.

Now Snyder and Capullo are reuniting, telling a story not just about Batman, but one involving the Justice League and the entire DC Universe. Dark Nights: Metal is a new six-part mini-series event that begins in August and takes things cosmic, as story elements that Snyder and Capullo introduced in Batman way back in 2011 begin to pay off in ways no fan probably ever expected.At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, I got the chance to chat with Snyder about Metal, about what it means both for the DCU going forward, and for his partnership with Capullo to date. “When we started, I didn’t even think we’d make it through even an issue or two,” Snyder said of his and Capullo’s relationship. “We were always down each other’s throats. But then we really fell in love with each other’s work first, and then with each other–he’s like a brother to me now.” Even after the end of their Batman run, Snyder and Capullo “were always talking to each other so much when we were off, about Metal and everything.”

Before Dark Nights: Metal begins, two prelude issues came out over the last few months – Dark Days: The Forge, and Dark Days: The Casting. In these two specials, fans learned of a vast web of connections that goes back in time to the earliest days of the DC Universe, and involves some characters DC fans haven’t see in years–many of whom we had assumed were wiped from continuity (I’m looking at you, late ’80s version of Starman). So will Snyder exhume other lost characters from DC lore with Metal?

“Yes, there’s some super deep dive stuff,” Snyder said. “Things like [Metal Men creator] Dr. Will Magnus and [JLA villain] T.O.Morrow, and other fun stuff in Metal, and beyond that, secret histories of characters that I haven’t had a chance to write before, but that I also get to bring back from obscurity, and I’m really thrilled about it.”

He continued, “Metal is something that felt like Crisis On Infinite Earths in that way, but didn’t quite use the same pieces from before. I’ve read so many great stories about Alexander Luthor and the Anti-Monitor or the Monitors, done in all kinds of amazing ways by different creators, and didn’t want to go back to that well. So I thought, ‘What if I do something where I create a whole new area of the multiverse, with new villains instead?'”

Yes, Dark Nights: Metal will introduce a whole new aspect to the DC cosmology–the Dark Multiverse. So what inspired Snyder to come up with the concept? Turns out, it’s kind of rooted in real life science, and a show featuring one of our most beloved real life rock star scientists.

“I love Cosmos with Neil Degrasse Tyson, and my six-year-old loves it too,” said Snyder. “And one episode was about dark energy and dark matter, and it’s a fairly recent discovery that dark energy and dark matter exist, and that they essentially [make up] the majority of the universe, and we can’t perceive them except for their effects. So I started to think about: What if there is this construct in the DCU where the Multiverse is this tiny thing that floats on this roiling ocean of darkness?”

Clearly, this is a topic of great interest to Snyder. “Grant Morrison’s explanation for the Multiverse as this set thing is something that I love, but what if the Dark Multiverse was the subconscious?” he said. “What if this was some kind of dark, volatile fluid place that reacts to our hopes and fears. So if you fear something when you’re down there it materializes, and when you stop fearing it, it goes away. And those worlds bubble up and are hellishly kind of fluid. What if that suddenly broke though and came here?” That scenario is what lies at the core of Metal.

Snyder explains that, of course, Batman is the first one to discover the impeding threat of the Dark Multiverse. “The first wave of attack are these ‘Dark Knights’ that are his worst nightmares about himself,” Snyder said. “So they are super badass, and we’ve been working on creating them for a long time. They’re almost like, ‘What if Batman went too far, or went wrong?’ in all kinds of different ways. And because they exist as these fears they’re possible, whereas in the regular ‘set’ Multiverse, they wouldn’t be possible.”

Another character created by Snyder, who is finally getting his much deserved time in the spotlight as part of the lead-up to Dark Nights: Metal, is Duke Thomas. The teenager was introduced in Snyder’s Zero Year arc in Batman, before headlining the We Are Robin title. But recently, Batman has been mentoring Duke in a new role–he’s a partner, but not a Robin. Now Duke will be going by “the Signal,” and Snyder elaborated on his creation’s future in the post Metal world.

“I’ve been teasing a story about Duke, and how he’s this hero-by-day in Gotham,” Snyder said. “What I love is that the Gotham is different during the daytime. New threats are born during the day–threats that by nighttime are ready to fight Batman. And you need someone who is there by day, then meets Batman at the Batsignal and trades information.”

According to Snyder, Duke’s evolution has been in the works for some time. “It’s been the plan for a while, and it was Geoff Johns talking to us about it that helped form the idea back when we started Rebirth over a year ago.”

With his work on Dark Nights: Metal taking him well into 2018, another Snyder Bat-book will soon be coming to an end. Snyder confirmed that he will soon be finishing up his run on All-Star Batman, but that doesn’t mean he’s done with the Dark Knight. “I’m now doing the story I was going to do in All-Star Batman but in a different way, with Sean Murphy, and in a different format,” he said.”The story with Sean Murphy, I started tweeting about it like over four years ago. Sean and I came up with it when we were in Ireland together, all the way back in 2013. This story is one I’ve been dying to do for years and years, so this is happening 100%–we start on it next month.”

So worry not, Bat fans. It seems there Scott Snyder has plenty of more Batman left in him – and we are all much better off for it.

Dark Nights: Metal #1 hits comic book shops on August 16.

Images: DC Comics

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Nearly a decade before the debut of Batman in the pages of Detective Comics, America’s favorite mysterious nocturnal avenger was The Shadow. Appearing on radio as well as in pulp magazines during the 1930s and ’40s, the character was an early example of a vigilante who wears a dark cape and fights injustice in the gritty streets of the big city, but in secret is a wealthy playboy about town. Sound familiar? It should, because the character of the Shadow was a huge influence on Bill Finger and Bob Kane when they created Batman in 1939.

While the Shadow would fade from popularity as Batman’s popularity grew more and more, the character would continue to make appearances on occasion in various media. In 1973, he finally met Batman in an issue of Detective Comics, the first time the two crime fighting icons would ever team up.Now over forty years later, DC Comics and Dynamite Entertainment are bringing the two brooding, dark cloaked vigilantes together once more. Batman writer Scott Snyder together with Justice League of America writer Steve Orlando are bringing readers a modern version of a meeting of these two mysterious creatures of the night in a new limited series.

You can check out our exclusive preview of the first nine pages from Batman/The Shadow #1, together with all variant covers down below in our gallery.

Publisher: DC Comics / Dynamite Entertainment

Writers: Steve Orlando, Scott Snyder
Artist: Riley Rossmo
Cover Artists: Riley Rossmo (Variants) Tim Sale, Cliff Chiang, Riley Rossmo (coloring book variant)

Here’s the official synopsis:

Batman/The Shadow #1 is due to hit stores on Wednesday, April 26.

Are you looking forward to the long overdue team-up between these two dark defenders of the night? Let us know what you think down below in the comments.

Images: DC Comics

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Before his name was synonymous with Batman, writer Scott Snyder made a name for himself at DC with his reinvention of undead mythology with his DC/Vertigo series American Vampire. The series, which he created along with artist Rafael Albuquerque, re-imagines vampires as a population made up of many different secret species, and shows the crucial moments of vampire evolution and interspecies conflict throughout history. The original series lasted 34 issues and is currently in the middle of its second cycle.

Now the folks at Vertigo are proud to announce the latest American Vampire anthology, which will feature stories ranging from the American dustbowl and the South, to pre-Revolution Russia, and to the earliest days of American vampirism.Included in this anthology are writers Steve Orlando (Midnighter)  Marguerite Bennett (DC Bombshells) Joelle Jones (Ladykiller)  Elliott Kalan (The Daily Show with John Stewart, Spider-Man and the X-Men) Clay McLeod Chapman (Storage Space, Edge of Spider-verse) Kieron Gillen (Wicked + Divine) and, last but certainly not least, series creators Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque.

Artists on this latest anthology are Artyom Trakhanov (Undertow) Stephanie Hans (Angela) Andrea Mutti (Rebels) Rafael Albuquerque, Joelle Jones (Ladykiller). More writers and artists yet to be announced will be joining this anthology as well.

Here’s the official solicitation and cover image from DC/Vertigo:

AMERICAN VAMPIRE ANTHOLOGY #2

Written and illustrated by various
Cover by RAFAEL ALBUQUERQUE

This special features nine amazing stories set in the world of AMERICAN VAMPIRE, with lost tales, new characters and old favorites. Series creators Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque will be joined by other amazing creators such as Kieron Gillen (The Wicked and Divine), Steve Orlando (MIDNIGHTER), Marguerite Bennett (DC COMICS BOMBSHELLS), Elliot Kalan (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart), Joëlle Jones (Lady Killer), Clay McLeod Chapman (Storage Space), and many more!

On sale JULY 27 • 80 pg, FC, $7.99 US • MATURE READERS

Are you excited for more American Vampire? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Images: DC Comics / Vertigo

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