Tom King Hopes BATMAN/CATWOMAN is His 'Dark Knight Returns'

rooter of Tom King’sBatmanseries will have to await longer than gestate to see his story end . But it may be more than deserving the delay , now that King has carry his hopes forBatman / Catwomanto stand the test of time , like the most personal ( and least restricted)Batmanclassics .

This December , the main serial will be handed off tonewBatmanwriter James Tynion IVwithout delay , and notably following theYear of the Villain : Hell Arisenclashexpected to quetch off the unexampled twelvemonth of DC stories . Butthe projectedBatman / Catwomanseriesbringing King ’s run on the Quran to an end has been stay past January . Thankfully , sports fan need n’t worry about King getting to finish his love story . Instead , the Good Book has been delayed to give it the best prospect of pull in a place among the mostmemorable , standalone stories to research the DC image .

First , fans can breathe a suspiration of ministration thatBatman and Catwoman ’s romanticist reunionwill joystick , at least for the foreseeable time to come . speak toNewsarama , King explained how the write up of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle wo n’t just pay off years of hisBatmanrun , but place upright apart – as much as hisVisionseries , and hisSheriff of Babylonand Eisner Award - winningMister Miraclebook with Mitch Gerads . Instead of the end of his run on DC ’s Batman serial :

Comic book art: Batman faces the four Robins: Nightwing Dick Grayson, Red Hood Jason Todd, Red Robin Tim Drake, and Robin Damian Wayne.

When we wrapped up “ City of Bane ” we wrapped up the bad guy part . Someone was pull down Batman and bringing them back up and if you see with the modish issue , Batman and Catwoman are in a goodish space now . Where they ’ve acknowledged who they are and what they ’ve lost and what they ’ve risk and then they ’ve now come back together .

The final spark of this was always planned to be about what that relationship is and what it could perhaps intend to them . And by doing it in its own book , the way I ’ve done Vision , the way I ’ve done Mister Miracle , the way I ’ve done Sheriff of Babylon , it give me more infinite to do something super special , to have this be as meaningful as those Word of God . To make it not another Batman issue , even though I love writing Batman issues .

Not that I could , but I want to do something like the Dark Knight Returns . Where you sort of step back from the universe to give the universe more power . Those are the comics , like Long Halloween , that both define and redefine the character for a coevals . And that ’s our ambition . I do n’t know if we ’re going to do it , but I believe we can do it with what we have .

Comic book art: batman by arkham asylum

That is a tall order , but one that seems a bite more potential … now thatMask of the Phantasmwill be canonfor the serial publication . Meaning Bruce ’s decision to see happiness off from the role of Batman is blend in to come at a cost .

These quotes pop the question even more context for the sentiments King utter via Twitter , in reply to the first issue ofBatman / Catwomannot being include in the January solicitations for DC , as expected . Again , it seems to be in pursuit of makingBat / Catstand as a all over vision on its own . Which intend delaying the release so artist Clay Mann ( and colorist Tomeu Morey ) can provide the artwork for every single issue :

So . We resolve to go big . While process on the initial issues of Bat / Cat , [ Clay Mann ] and I started to realize we might have something well here , a Mister Miracle or a Vision in the populace of Batman , an attempt to do what Frank did with DKR , a defining of the characters . But to accomplish something that ambitious requires a minimizing of compromises . DKR did not have filling in artists . So Clay tender to do the whole affair , at 22 Page , but he ’d of course necessitate fourth dimension . When the good creative person in funnies says “ let ’s do it aright , ” you do n’t say no . But all that intend that Bat / Cat is pushed back a bit , which is why it ’s not in the January solicits . The first scripts are in ; Clay ’s draw them now ; they look gorgeous ; I , hopefully like you , ca n’t wait for this one to be out . Thank you all for your patience .

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