The DC Entertainment: All Access panel at New York Comic Con 2014 revealed what's in store for Bruce Wayne in honor of Batman's 75th anniversary.
John Cunningham, VP of marketing for DC Comics and Warner Bros., Batman comic writer Kyle Higgins spoke about six major comics in the caped crusader's franchise, a mix of monthly and weekly stories Batman fans should check out.
Up first was “Batman: The Endgame”, a tale of how the Joker has succeeded in turning the Justice League against his arch-nemesis in his final attempt to take him down. However, Batman isn’t going down without a fight and has prepared himself for a day where his friends might turn against him.
Next on the list was “Batman Eternal”, what Higgins called the “spine” of all of DC’s franchises related to Batman. The DC executives then showed off their new 52 “Batgirl”, calling her “badass” not “cute,” unlike “Gotham Academy” which caters to a younger audience.
For those who like more serious Batman stories, DC also spoke about their “Gotham By Midnight” comic book and the “Arkham Manor” series. Check out what Higgins and Cunningham had to say about the DC franchises below.
Batman: The Endgame Part 1 (out now):
Higgins: “We first started working on this story back in February. Scott and Rick were planning something else, a kind of smaller story. Then Scott called me and said, ‘Wait this is Batman's 75th anniversary we need to go bigger.’ And so he pitched this story and I think it’s amazing. I think that its some of their best work by far…Joker is back and he’s not playing around anymore. This is Joker’s endgame, so check it out because it just keeps getting bigger and bigger…it’s pretty scary”
Cunningham: “What you find out in [Batman 36] is somehow the Joker has gained control of the entire Justice League. They come after Bruce and he’s pretty prepared for this moment.”
Higgins: “’Cuz he’s such a jerk. He’s Batman…the entire Justice League comes after him and you see Batman fight them one by one and all of his plans he has to take [each character] down.”
Cunningham: “We want to keep everything a surprise for readers…but our industry is filled with a lot of people who want to spoil everything. We knew this was coming and the Joker was coming back in this big surprising way. Believe me, we strategized on how to keep the secret. I don’t think anybody at the company thought this would stay a secret until the day it came out, and it did….it’s a big milestone for us because we [still] can’t believe someone didn’t leak it.”
Batman Eternal #27 (out now):
Higgins: “It’s basically like the spine of the Batman books right now. A lot of big changes from Batgirl and Catwoman, all of it comes out of Batman Eternal. It’s basically the status quo of Batman right now…It’s a huge mystery. Right now we’re sort of getting into the part where Hush is revealed as a major player. He’s pretty exciting.”
Gotham by Midnight (on sale Nov. 26):
Higgins: “Gotham By Midnight is a really scary book. The premise is really simple; it’s a comic book, a procedural book. But this crew of cops in the Gotham Police Force, they’re basically like the midnight shift. They deal with all the weird, creepy stuff in Gotham."
Batgirl #35 (out now):
Cunningham: “It’s the total revision of her character and how it’s being handled, mostly because of the creators that are involved.”
Higgins: “A few months ago we were looking into Batgirl and I knew that the creative team was going to be shifting off the book. We said, 'Well, what do we want to do with Batgirl?' and talked about it internally. She’s gone through a lot of things recently; she needed a shake-up in her life and she decides, you know like ‘real’ people do, I’m going to move and I’m going to go get a fresh start and try out something new.
“She moves to an area of Gotham called Burnside, which is basically like ‘Bat-Brooklyn.’ It’s a pretty hip part of the town and it’s an incredibly exciting comic book…We set up the new status quo with [issue] 35 but 36 is…badass, you guys…if you’re worried about it being too ‘cute’ it’s not. She’s a badass and out there kicking ass in the next issue.”
Arkham Manor #1 (on sale Oct. 22):
Higgins: “In Batman Eternal, Arkham Asylum collapses so the city is face with this difficult problem with, ‘Well, what do we do with all these crazy people?’ You have to read it to see how it happens, but [basically] Gotham seizes Wayne Manor and turns it into the new Arkham Asylum…
“[Batman's] thinking is, ‘Look, my father was a doctor and he dedicated his life to taking care of people and that included the sick and the mentally sick as well. I feel like my father would support me in this decision to give over my family home and keep all of these mentally ill people safe.’ But what happens is somebody starts killing off inmates.
“Batman decides, ‘Well the only way to stop this thing is from the inside,’ so he puts himself into Arkham Manor…It’s a creepy-type thriller and it’s one of the great stories. I don’t about you guys, but I’m a huge fan of Batman stories where you strip away all his [gadgets and uniforms]. It’s just him and his mind and he’s trying to figure out how to solve this thing….He’s also crazy, from a clinical point.”
Gotham Academy (out now):
Higgins: “I felt we didn’t have anything that was sort of youthful [in the Batman franchise]. So I called Becky Cloonan, who’s an artist and writer whom I’ve worked with on some vertigo stuff; I knew she was a big Batman fan. I said, ‘Becky I want to do something new. I want to do something kind of fun.’ We started talking about what it’s like to live in Gotham and sort of live in the shadow of Batman. For young people we were like, ‘Batman whatever. The Batsignal? Same old thing as every other night.’ So we formed this really cool school they live in, but there’s all kinds of secrets in Gotham Academy. Even though they live in the shadow of Batman, you see that all of their lives a really connected to Batman.”
