2019 marks the 80th anniversary of Batman’s debut, and DC has big plans for the Dark Knight. Among those plans is a major new storyline that will officially induct the Arkham Knight character into the main DC Comics continuity.
DC will be mirroring the approach taken for Superman’s 80th anniversary earlier this year, with the publisher releasing the oversized anniversary special Detective Comics #1000 and a hardcover collection called Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman.
Art by Jim Lee et al. (DC Entertainment)
Like Action Comics #1000 before it, the 96-page Detective Comics #1000 will feature a massive lineup of DC creators collaborating on a wide variety of stories. Regular series writer Peter Tomasi and artist Doug Mahnke will be joined by Geoff Johns, Brian Michael Bendis, Paul Dini, Christopher Priest, Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Kelley Jones, Dustin Nguyen, Alex Maleev and others.
Tomasi and Mahnke’s main story in this issue will feature the official DC Comics debut of Arkham Knight. While former Robin Jason Todd has been a mainstay of the Batman franchise for decades, his Arkham Knight identity was created specifically for the 2015 video game Batman: Arkham Knight. And while the villain was featured in various Arkham Knight tie-in comics, he’s never appeared in the traditional DC Universe before. DC is billing this as “a new version” of the Arkham Knight, suggesting that someone other than Jason may be wearing the costume this time.
As for Detective Comics: 80 Years of Batman, that hardcover will feature a mix of classic Batman reprints and a few never-before-seen tales. One new story from writer Paul Levitz and artist Denys Cowan will explore an early trauma in Bruce Wayne’s childhood. This book will also feature the original art layouts from Lew Sayre Schwartz (who worked as a ghost artist for Batman co-creator Bob Kane) from a story that originally appeared in Detective Comics #200. The book will also feature new essays from creators and historians like Cory Doctorow, Neil Gaiman, Glen David Gold and Denny O’Neil.
Look for both books to hit stores in March 2019. Let us know in the comments below if you’re excited for Batman’s big anniversary and the DC Comics debut of the Arkham Knight.
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