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DC Reveals Batman’s Future, Allies, and Villains

October 9, 2022

DC Comics reveals the future of Batman, his allied heroes and villains at New York Comic Con 2022.

CBR sits for DC’s Gotham City Panel moderated by editor Ben Abernathy with writers Frank Tieri (harley quinn), Meghan Fitzmartin (Tim DrakeRobin) and Ram V. (Detective comics) as guests, here to report all announcements, reveals, and more as they come.

Attendees enter the room scheduled to begin at 10:45 a.m. EST.

The panelists have arrived and the panel begins. As surprise guests, The Batman the star Paul Dano is present as the author of a new Riddler link, as well as Ed Brisson as the author of Batman Incorporated.

Dano was asked about the upcoming The Riddler: Year One, and the actor talked about the differences between working on a comic and needing a “bird’s eye view” as a writer versus an actor. He said playing the Riddler is “very different” from writing the character and building his world. “I had a lot of keyframes in my head, and I had an idea,” Dano continued, saying he was told to follow up to make a comic. After contacting DC and the project being greenlit, Dano recalled thinking, “Oh shit, I gotta do this.”

“Batman, to me, has always been his inner gold,” Dano said of the Riddler in the film. “I just kept reading Batman comics throughout filming,” Dano added, saying it was done to get into the mindset of the Riddler who “worships the Batman altar.”

“I hope it’s just kind of its own thing,” Dano said of the comic and the deeper exploration of the Riddler’s psyche, and how it tells an “emotional story about a trauma”. Inside title artwork was shown, along with a video message from Riddler: first yearthe artist of Stevan Subic. “I can’t wait for you guys to see the story,” the artist said in the recording.

After the first issue’s release date was announced as October 25, Dano had to leave immediately due to his “busy schedule”.

The conversation then moved on to the essentials. Batman and mention of characters and events introduced by James Tynion IV Batman run, like Ghost-Maker and “Fear State,” discussing how Ghost-Maker will lead Batman Inc. in Brisson’s new series, with the mic passed to the writer to talk about the title.

“Honestly, I don’t know if he’s the right guy,” Brisson said of Ghost-Maker leading Batman Inc., talking about his rivalry with Batman and pushing to surpass him, as well as how whose old comics he revisited to tell the story. “He’s a bit of a jerk,” Brisson also said of Ghost-Maker. “We’re going to explore how he earns the trust of the team, something he doesn’t seek to earn.” Brisson continued to talk about the title’s new characters, such as Blackness and more, with Brisson saying that Blackness is a “Badass, Irish vigilante” who brings Batman Inc. their new mission in the title.

Brisson complimented John Timms’ art and designs on the series, and how he delivers the title’s emotional core with his artwork. “It can get lost in its pages because it focuses so much on the small details,” described Timm Brisson, calling it “phenomenal” for the way it juggles ten characters and “makes it easy”.

“John is definitely progressing as an artist,” Abernathy added.

The next title we were talking about was Tim DrakeRobin, as the first issue of Fitzmartin’s new series with the Robin hit the screen. Fitzmartin was asked who was growing her favorite Robin, which she called a “trick” question because they “are all awesome.” She said that Tim Drake is the Robin although she really grew up, mentioning what Dick Grayson was doing then and that Jason Todd was dead at the time. “I feel a kinship about it,” Fitzmartin said of Tim’s writing.

“I think he represents the burnout generation,” Fitzmartin said of Tim’s popularity and why he means so much to people. She called his “empathy” what makes him such a great detective and beloved by readers, as they “see themselves in Tim”.

Fitzmartin was asked about Tim’s writing through Batman: Urban Legends and the following titles, which she explained were about “Tim finding his identity”. She described how her series is meant to separate Tim from the rest of the Bat-family in order to discover and explore who he is on his own.

When asked about Tim’s new boathouse in Tim DrakeRobin, Fitzmartin said, “I love boats” and said Gotham’s warehouses and many estates had been explored, but she really wanted to include a marina in the series. “They’re so abstract and cool,” she said, continuing that they allow Tim to have his own space with his own vibe.

The robin The writer was asked to work with artist Riley Rossmo on the title, to share his appreciation for his work and how he can make a marina feel “so lived in” and his art is “incredibly kinetic”.

Abernathy’s next question to the audience was “Who loves Harley Quinn?” entrust the panel to Tieri as one of the harley quinn‘s old writers.

A new title has been announced, Multiversity: Harley screws up the DCUwritten by Tieri with art by Logan Faerber and released March 2023.

Tieri revealed that in the title, Harley returns to Coney Island and discovers that she has inherited a time machine. Thus, she goes back in time and when she returns, she discovers that the DC Universe is controlled by Starro the Conqueror. The writer went on to say that even though Harley was back in time, she managed to “screw up” all of DC’s hero origins and will have to fix what she did. He also announced that the iconic harley quinn Artist Amanda Conner will design covers for the series.

After talking about Harley Quinn, Detective comics was the next title to focus on, with Ram V. talking about his “Gotham Nocturne” arc. “I always felt like there was always that initial sense of dread and tragedy,” V said while watching Batman: The Animated Seriesexplaining how he wanted to bring that “feel of gothic tragedy” to Batman and the city through an operatic story.

V was asked about Two-Face in the title, which continued to talk about how Two-Face was “cured” of his condition at the time of his run. “We’ll see Two-Face become this metaphorical character where Gotham’s duality comes out,” V said, explaining how he’ll mirror the nature of Gotham in the book.

The writer went on to say that the goal with “Gotham Nocturne” was set up like a proper opera, and teased that “cool arcs” were in store for readers. He talked about bringing back Barbatos and the B: CAS aesthetics throughout its history. He also added his praise to artist Rafael Albuquerque on the title.

“Wow, those are going to be some really weird choices,” V recalled writing the book, after being asked if he worked while listening to opera music, also saying that the title did a “full tour of different types of music.

The panelists were then asked about their favorite early Batman-related books since their comic book exposure. Brisson called “Batman: Year One” a “cop-out,” but said he reads the story every year. Fitzmartin said “No Man’s Land” is what “sparked the love and joy for Gotham City,” but said his favorite story is the “Bruce Wayne: Murderer, Batman: Fugitive” storyline. Tieri said his first exposure to Batman was the TV series starring Adam West and talked about growing up with the show, and for his favorite story he said, “I love when they broke their backs. Yeah , that was cool.” V said his exposure was B: CASbut says her favorite story is Batman: The Long Halloweenand added that while working on “Gotham Nocturne” he gained a new appreciation for Grant Morrison’s run and “Batman Returns.”

When asked what else the panelists had to do, Brisson mentioned Deathstroke Inc., Batman Incorporated, marvel’s Predator and more. Fitzmartin revealed that she contributed to the next wild storm anniversary stories with Stormwatch on the way, plus stories with Apollo and Midnighter and where they are after action comics“World of War Saga”. She also mentioned how Dark Crisis: Young Justice will end soon. Tieri described his own projects, while V mentioned the collected addition of Swamp Thing go out, but said that its Detective comics the series is his main focus when he’s not emailing Abernathy with more “crazy ideas”.

Abernathy announced that fans attending the panel will receive free issues of batman versus robin #1, Detective comics #1062 and a free movie ticket for black adam at the end of the panel.