Previewing Batman in October

More Bat-titles have been trickling out...

BATMAN AND ROBIN #2
Written by PETER J. TOMASI
Art by PATRICK GLEASON and MICK GRAY
Cover by PATRICK GLEASON
On sale OCTOBER 12 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T
Batman’s fears about Robin’s tendency to dish out more pain than necessary are growing! And who is the man named NoBody, visiting Gotham City to say hello to his old friend Bruce Wayne and find out where he went wrong in his battle against crime.

BATMAN #2
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION
Cover by GREG CAPULLO
Variant cover by JIM LEE
1:200 B&W variant cover by GREG CAPULLO
On sale OCTOBER 19 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with three covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Bruce Wayne is back in the cowl, hunting a new and deadly killer in Gotham City – a killer with a vendetta against Bruce Wayne! But who is this mysterious killer in an owl skull mask? And is he the key to unlocking one of Gotham’s oldest and most terrifying secrets? Be there for their first brutal encounter!

PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE #1
Written by GREGG HURWITZ
Art and cover by SZYMON KUDRANSKI
On sale OCTOBER 5 * 1 of 5, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T
In this exciting new miniseries from novelist Gregg Hurwitz (You’re Next) and rising star artist Szymon Kudranksi (Spawn), the painful and dark past of one of Batman’s most devious foes is examined. How did young Oswald Cobblepot go from being the apple of his mother’s eye to the leader of underworld gangs and adversary of The Caped Crusader? Find out in PENGUIN: PAIN AND PREJUDICE!

BATWOMAN #2
Written by J.H. WILLIAMS III and W. HADEN BLACKMAN
Art and cover by J.H. WILLIAMS III
On sale OCTOBER 12 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T
Horror! A terrifying new villain stalks the innocent children of Gotham City! Intrigue! A threatening government agency is hot on Batwoman’s trail. Romance! Kate Kane’s new relationship is heating up!
Can Batwoman stop the new evil rising from the damp back alleys of Gotham’s barrios? And overcome the many challenges she faces as both Batwoman and Kate Kane? 2011′s most anticipated new series intensifies in this exciting second issue!

CATWOMAN #2
Written by JUDD WINICK
Art and cover by GUILLEM MARCH
On sale OCTOBER 19 * 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US * RATED T+ She’s a thief who lives to steal just for the thrill of breaking the law. He’s The Dark Knight, obsessively driven to battle evil with every ounce of his strength. They should keep each other at arm’s length, but…they just can’t seem to help themselves! Don’t miss this issue – things are gonna get messy!

 Source: http://www.gothamknightsonline.com/

Arkham City's Tim Drake Robin concept

"We wanted to create a Robin that players would identify as a contemporary character and move away from the traditional “Boy Wonder” image that most people know. Our vision of Robin is the one of a troubled young individual that is calm and introverted at times but very dangerous and aggressive if provoked. The shaved head is inspired by cage fighters, because we thought that Robin might be doing that in his spare time to keep him on his toes. Still, we kept all the classic trademarks of Robin’s appearance, such as the red and yellow colors of his outfit, the cape and the mask.
We really hope that people will discover our Robin as one of their new favorite characters in the Batman universe. He is back and he means business." KAN MUTFIC, JULY 2011

Source: Batman: Arkham City Community

For some reason I can't respond to my comments, so here is my reply to the question below:
Generally I'm happy with it. If I were to nitpick though; I don't like the cape, I'd want a floor length cape for Tim Drake. The exposed thumbs provides a massive security risk (thumbprints). I'm not a big fan of the hood either. The reasoning behind a buzz cut is nulified by a hood. Enemies can't pull his hair, but they can easily grab a hood.

This is a page from Robin 22 (so Tim would be about 13/14). In the story he goes undercover to join a 'summer camp' that is training 'ninjas'. It's basically a recruiting ground for thieves. The leader is a grown man who beats the kids up during the training sessions; a bully. Tim, usually level headed and calm, sees red and kicks his arse.

Compare this with Rocksteady's description:

"calm and introverted at times but very dangerous and aggressive if provoked."

Sounds like Tim Drake to me. If you are one of many for whom the cage-fighting doesn't sit well, just pretend that, like in this story, Tim is undercover in order to break up illegal activity.
I just hope that we see his intelligence reflected in the gadgets that he can use in Predator challenges (perhaps even a timed detective element to one of his exclusive maps?).
As I said, though, I think that generally it looks pretty good.

Fantastic Bat-family art

Some awesome artwork here. Make your perfect Bat-family!
Here is mine:

And with Black Canary in the Birds of Prey:

All artwork is by RonnieThunderbolts aka Jared.
Source: Superbuddies

The DCU Reboot: A missed opportunity?

Last week it was revealed that all every DC Comics title would finish it's run in August ahead of a line-wide relaunch in September. As the announcements continue to roll out regarding the reboot of the DCU, I am becomming more and more alarmed by what I am reading. With each new reveal, I am becoming more of the opinion that DC are making a rather large mistake.

Below I address some of my biggest fears, try to work out where they went wrong and suggest how I would have dealt with the reboot differently (it may require a time machine).

"We're allowing people who have never bought a comic book in their lives to download them on portable media devices and take a look,"

Now first of all, I have to stress that I think that this is a great move both for DC Comics as a business and for us as the consumers. Obviously, the move to digital comics being released on the same day, for the same price, as their printed counterparts was inevitable and DC must be commended for taking the plunge so early. The really smart move was to offer the digital+print combo pack for just a dollar more. This is what the hardcore fans want. I love reading comics on my iPhone, but they look SO much better in print.
My problem is that this could have been introduced at any time, with no need to change any continuity.

"for a more modern and diverse 21st century"

Below is a list of the 52 rebooted titles that have been announced for September.
Next to the titles, I am going to write a code. To show how 'diverse' the DCU has become, scan down the list and see how many of these titles feature straight, white men and women, or rather, don't feature one of the following minorities (extraterrestrials don't count for this):
EM=ethnic minority, HS=homosexual, D=disability, RM=Religious minority

1. Legion Lost  EM
2. THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES
3. Aquaman RM?
4. Hawk and Dove
5. Captain Atom
6. The Flash
7. Hawkman RM
8. DETECTIVE COMICS
9. BATMAN
10. BATMAN AND ROBIN EM
11. Nightwing
12. Batgirl
13. Batwoman  HS
14. BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT
15. Catwoman
16. Batwing  EM
17. GREEN LANTERN
18. GREEN LANTERN CORPS  EM
19. Green Lantern: New Guardians  EM
20. JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA  EM
21. JUSTICE LEAGUE International  EM
22. Red Hood and the Outlaws
23. TEEN TITANS
24. BIRDS OF PREY
25. Mr Terrific EM
26. DC Presents
27. GREEN ARROW
28. Vampire
29. Resurrection Man
30. Animal Man
31. Demon Knights
32. Static Shock  EM
33. Frankenstein, Agent of Shade
34. Voodoo  EM RM
35. Firestorm   EM
36. Justice League Dark
37. Red Lantern Corps
38. Swamp Thing
39. Wonder Woman
40. Stormwatch
41. Blackhawks
42. Sgt. Rock and the Men of War
43. All-Star Western
44. Deathstroke
45. Grifter
46. OMAC
47. Blue Beetle EM
48. Suicide Squad
49. Action Comics
50. Superman
51. Supergirl
52. Superboy

It isn't that diverse really. Especially when I'm counting Kyle Rayner and Damian Wayne, who are often drawn/coloured white (Kyle is half-Irish, half-hispanic, Damian is half-American, half-whatever Talia Al Ghul's heretage is).
Ethnic minorities: Where are Cassandra Cain, Renee Montoya, Jefferson Pierce and John Henry Irons? Where are the Great Ten or the Global Guardians?
Non-straight sexual preferences: Where are Scandal Savage and, again, Renee Montoya?
Characters with a disability: Where is Barbara Gordon? Where are the Doom Patrol?
I ask you to have a look at the creative team who crafted the comics that you read each month. Are they all straight, white men? If they aren't, then how many of them were?
As a straight, white man, I can tell you that we aren't all that great and we don't understand everyone from every viewpoint. Diversity in creative staff is just as important as diversity in your books. For every Gail Simone and Francis Manapul who have a book, there seems to be a Marcus To, Dustin Nguyen or Nicola Scott waiting on the wings.
The thing that worries me the most though is the apparent 'miracle cure' of Barbara Gordon. If this was a roll back to an earlier DCU, then fine I could accept that, but it isn't. I think that there are some large groups of people who need to know just what happened to their hero, this strong woman who refused to let a disability stop her from fighting. The explaination better be fantastic.

Continuity

It appears that parts of the recent Batman storylines and most of the Green Lantern storylines will remain intact. Other stories however, have been completely wiped out. Either do it for everyone or leave it alone. This is why Infinite Crisis and Final Crisis had no effect. They made the most minor of changes, which of course began to lead to big problems. If you have an opportunity to start everyone from a common ground, then you should use it. I'm not saying that everyone should be rest to how they were in 1980 (for example), but if I change the history of Wonder Woman completely and leave the Batman titles relatively unchanged, then I develop some serious problems pretty quickly. If everyone is changed to a similar degree, then we can explain the changes by quite simply saying 'that happened differently in this reality'. When we know that we can refer to Blackest Night for Green lanterns, but not The Flash though, it becomes very confusing for ardent DC fans, let alone new readers. Looking at the Batbooks, we have a deaged Bruce Wayne, who has apparently trained four Robins and has a ten year old son. This means that he has to have been Batman for at least eleven years (need at least a year before Ra's Al Ghul would take notice of him). The only way I can see this working is if he was 18 when he first donned the cape and cowl (putting him only seven or eight years older than Dick). If Batman has been around for eleven years, what does this mean for Superman or Wonder Woman? Have they been around that long or are the just starting out? Are we going to have three former Robins all with more experience than The Flash?

I don't think so. The more that is released about the reboot, the more it looks like we will simply see a near line-wide deage, costume redesign, the odd tweak to history and the occasional major facelift (see Teen Titans, Batgirl). This 'reboot' is probably not going to change things much more than the initial 'One Year Later' stories did in 2006.


Where did it start going wrong?

Quiver. In hindsight, it began with Oliver Queen's resurrection in 2000/1. Though I didn't buy the reason that he came back to life, the first three years or so of Green Arrow were good, but without a plan in place for his supporting cast, it quickly went off the rails. I started to get the feeling that he had been brought back with no real reason other than; Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow that we know.
I knew it was really going south however in April 2005. I was sat in a New York City hotel room and had just turned the final page of Batman #638 to reveal that the Red Hood was in fact, Jason Todd returned from the grave. The only thing that has shaped Bruce Wayne more than his failure to protect Jason Todd was his parents' murder. The death of Jason Todd had set the tone for all of Tim Drake's early adventures as Robin.
The years since have seen the resurrection of many characters. Some have been recieved well, some haven't. The problem though is how their resurrection affects what has been built in the time in between their death and new life. In the case of The Flash, Barry Allen's return has effectively relegated Wally West from the Premier League of superheroes to the lower leagues. His fans will constantly be looking for 'his time' to shine; will this year be his year?
The only return from the grave that has sat well with me has been Hal Jordan. This is because of the plan for how to use the character and how to integrate him back into the universe. The four Earth Green Lantern's were all given clear roles within the new line-up. The Green Lantern line has continued to be strong since.
The constant micro-management style of changes that we've been dealt (Infinite Crisis, 52, Countdown, Final Crisis, Brighest Day and now Flashpoint) has caused as many problems as it's solved. Surely it you want to bring back the Silver Age characters, a line-wide reboot would have been the way to do it?
To me this new DCU reboot seems like more of the same micro-management. If you're going to change it, then change it. If you want it to be instantly accessible, then do it. Crossovers must stop. Having to buy several books to understand a story shouldn't happen. I feel really sorry for new readers who are being advised to read Grant Morrison's Batman & Robin. They're in for a real shock when Bruce just strolls back into the mansion like nothing happened. It's not exciting or a mystery to be solved for most new readers, it is unwelcoming and off-putting. If a character's current state can't be described in a short blurb, then they have become too complicated.
Earlier this year I put some DC books in the classroom for the children to read (age 5-7). These books included a character profile page which summed up everyone in the book in two sentences. These weren't overly simple, they were bang on.
If children of five can grasp who these characters are in a couple of sentences, then I'm sure that new comic readers from 13-90 would be able to read a simple recap page.
Dark Horse's Star Wars books do this really well. They give a quick summary of the story and explain when in the Star Wars timeline the book is set.
If DC adopted this, then we could have stories set at any time in our favourite characters' careers. This is something we've seen hints of (Legends of the..., ...Confidential, recently Teen Titans: Cold Case and Batman: Orphans), but for whatever reason has never really seemed fully supportred by fans or editorial. Perhaps DC Comics would find this useful in distinguishing Earths for multiverse tales.

Why did certain books never sell as well as they could have?

Advertising. It's really that simple. If you aren't advertising a book to the audience that you already have, then how on Earth do you expect new readers to jump on board?
Many DC fans know how great books like Birds of Prey or Red Robin have been for the past year or so. The crime is that not every DC Comic fan knew that they were so good. Give us real teases, not pencil previews in the back of comics, not crossovers that make us sample a title. Talk it up. Build some hype. Take out a page ad space in your own magazines. USE YOUR ANIMATION STUDIO!! WB are pumping out three DTV animated features each year. Why haven't we seen a focus for Tim Drake? Kyle Rayner? Jamie Reyes? Heck, even Jonah Hex got a short, but that was only because the movie was coming out. Take a harder tack with the execs (who axed Batgirl: Year One and Teen Titans: Judas Contract) and make them see how these will work in conjunction with the comics to sell each other. The same goes for motion comics. Batgirl: Year One has been availiable on iTunes for nearly two years. I have an iPhone with the DC Comics app, I browse the DC message boards and visit the main site at least once a week, I check The Source daily, Facebook, twitter, Newsarama, you name it. I've watched all the animated features and shorts. How the hell did it take me TWO YEARS to find out about this?
Yes, they are in business to make money, and movie tie-ins sell, but DC Entertainment need to stop trying to use movies to sell these and start thinking about how the animated features, series and motion comics can be used to sell print and digital comics. The more people that buy comics regularly, the more people will be likely to buy the animated features.
How about a series of 5-10 minute shorts to play in front of new Young Justice episodes? A new short for each episode. Each short would showcase a different character in the DCU. Viewers could vote for which they want to be the next feature. This would build some hype for the feature and for each of the books that had been made into a short.

How I would have relaunched the DCU

I'll try to keep this as succinct as possible because, I'll grant, relaunching an entire universe is not an easy task and lets face it, the challenge is supposed to be to create an accessible DCU. A DCU that new readers can delve straight into. If I can describe the entire universe in a couple of sentences, then I think the professionals should be able to have all questions answered by the end of September.
Basically, we'd be rolling the entire DCU back to roughly Year 8 or 9 of it's existence as well as scattering some of it's more mobile American heroes throughout the globe. Bear in mind that this is a starting point for something new, not to retread old ground.
I'll start with Batman, since he is the true centre and flagship of DC Comics.
Roll back in time to Bruce is Batman, Dick is Nightwing, Jason is still dead, Tim is Robin and Barbara Gordon is Oracle. Nightwing protects Bludhaven and occasionally trips up to Gotham. Oracle travels the country with the Birds of Prey (Black Canary, Huntress and Zatanna).
For the most part, side-kicks and extended families would be cut. Superman and Supergirl protect Metropolis. Oliver Queen protects Star City as Green Arrow. Wally West is the Flash. Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner are sector partners, taking turns to do tours of duty on Earth and supporting the Green Lantern Corps in space.
Aquaman has the largest 'family', with Aqualad (Jackson Hyde), Tempest (Garth) and Aquagirl (Tula). This is quite simply because he is King of an Oceanic Empire and these are his apprentices, who he is training to act as his representatives. Kings are busy after all.
Jefferson Pierce's Black Lightning mentors Static Shock.
Jason Rusch would be the main host of the Firestorm matrix, which contains the concious imprints of it's previous hosts (including Ronnie Raymond and Prof. Stein).
Jamie Reyes is the Blue Beetle, Ryan Choi is The Atom, Hawkman and Hawkgirl are reincarnated into Egyptian bodies, Wonder Woman lives in Greece, Hawk & Dove are trans-atlantic sisters on different sides of the English private/state education systems.
I'd take the Golden Age heroes out of continuity and put them back into Earth-2.
The Justice League would be co-ordinated by Martian Manhunter and contain representatives from around the world. So Superman (USA), Aquaman (Atlantis), Wonder Woman (Greece), Dr. Light (Japan), Kapitán Atoma (Russia), Cap'n Marvel (Austrailia), Bhūgōla (Indian version of Terra) as well as the Green Lanterns and Firestorm.
The Outsiders, an infiltration unit, would be run by Nightwing and contain Green Arrow, Black Lightning, Cyborg, The Flash and the Atom. They are the CIA to the Birds of Prey's FBI.
Reflecting their age, the Teen Titans haven't assigned a leader, they ebb-and-flow in leadership roles. Robin, Supergirl, Blue Beetle, the Ravager, Static Shock, Empress, Hawk & Dove (part-time), Aqualad and Aquagirl (rotating).
Checkmate would be a corrupt government agency, seeking to influence the paths of dozens of countries. That title would follow agents as they begin to unearth the horrible truths about their organization.
The Coven would focus on Black Alice, Traci 13, Raven and other, original, characters who have their feet in pools of magical power.
 As well as having books that focus on different genres (Magical, mysteries, superhero, spy thriller, sci-fi), placing the books more globally would give the books distinct and different flavours. Already we can see a diversity in cultures and ethnicity as well as personalities and attitudes. It would be unlikely that two characters given the same problem would handle it in exactly the same way.
Again, these would just be the starting points, familiar characters could be reintroduced as long as editors were careful adapt their background to the new world that they'd be introduced into.

Am I wrong about the prospects of the DCU? Would you have rebooted differently?

What will be DC's 52 titles? UPDATED: 52 & done!

DC Comics are rebooting in September with all new #1's and revamped continuity. DC have stated that there will be 52 number 1's launched in September and that every comic will be released both digitally and in print on the same day.

Here is the press release as seen in USA today:

Starting this summer, the publisher will re-number its entire DC Universe of titles, revamping characters such as Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and others from its 76-year history for a more modern and diverse 21st century.

The first book to be released under this new era: Justice League No. 1, out Aug. 31. The series by writer Geoff Johns and artist Jim Lee reunites the famous lineup of Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Aquaman.

Johns promises a focus on the interpersonal relationships within DC's trademark superteam. "What's the human aspect behind all these costumes? That's what I wanted to explore," he says.

In September, an additional 51 first issues will make their debut, introducing stories that are grounded in each character's specific legend but also reflect today's real-world themes and events. Lee spearheaded the costumes' redesign to make characters more identifiable and accessible to comic fans new and old.
"We really want to inject new life in our characters and line," says Dan DiDio, co-publisher of DC with Lee. "This was a chance to start, not at the beginning, but at a point where our characters are younger and the stories are being told for today's audience."

In an even more important move in the competitive comics industry, DC is making all of the re-numbered titles available digitally via apps and a DC website the same day they arrive in comic shops. It marks the first time that a major comics publisher has done so with its popular superhero titles.

The company has come in second to Marvel every year since 2002 in market share, according to Diamond Comic Distributors.

While the two companies are making millions off movie adaptations of their comic books, print sales for both have dropped in recent years, as new technology gives readers many more options.

"We're allowing people who have never bought a comic book in their lives to download them on portable media devices and take a look," Lee says.

"Having the ability to give people access to these comics with one button click means we're going to get a lot of new readers."

As excited as Dan DiDio is about DC Comics' newest initiative, the company's co-publisher knows he can walk the hallways of the DC Comics offices in Manhattan and pick up the same vibe from his co-workers.
"If we can convince the people here we're doing something brand-new and fresh, we have a good chance to really get the people outside on board," DiDio says.
DC will re-number its entire line of superhero titles, beginning with all-new No. 1 issues starting Aug. 31 — 52 in all, including a new Justice League No. 1. Fittingly, the publisher put its creative superteam on its trademark superhero superteam.

Guided by writer Geoff Johns and artist Jim Lee, Justice League will begin its first year with an updated secret origin reflecting DC's new initiative, giving the group a reason for coming together that it lacked when the league first appeared in 1960. And while it will ultimately boast 14 members, at its core will be DC's A-list do-gooders: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern and Aquaman.

"The approach is very much about who they are behind the masks and how they interact together and how these personalities mix," explains Johns, DC Entertainment's chief creative officer. "With the world's greatest superheroes, how does that team actually work? Do they all get along? Being able to pull together and see how that relationship is forged and continues to grow has to be at the heart of that book."

For Lee, working on a team book is a different experience than a Superman or Batman, both of which he illustrated in recent years.
"When you have a Green Lantern mixing with a foil like Batman, you get scenes that are comic-book history. There's the epicness of it all. You're dealing with iconic characters and you want to give them all equal grandeur and weight."

In the rollout of the revamped DC Universe, some titles will return, a lot of titles won't, and DC will have a wider range of books starting in September, DiDio says. In addition, three-quarters of the creative teams will be shuffled around — series that are successful and writer/artist combinations that work well together won't be tweaked too much, he says.

"We've got a new set of creators coming in with new voices in the DC Universe," DiDio says. "We really want to bring a new energy and excitement to our books."

The characters also are getting a makeover. While most of the specifics are still top secret, Lee says he worked with both staff and freelance artists to redesign costumes in a contemporary way as well as alter the physicality of many heroes and villains to modernize the DC Universe.

"You're trying to have your cake and eat it, too," Lee says. "You're trying to keep the iconic elements there, but at the same time freshen up the look so that people are intrigued by what they're seeing and hopefully come and sample the wares."

The recent emphasis on diverse characters such as lesbian superheroine Batwoman, Hispanic hero Blue Beetle and African-American adventurer Cyborg (who will be a core member of Johns and Lee's new Justice League) also will continue.

"He's a character I really see as the modern-day, 21st-century superhero," Johns says of Cyborg. "He represents all of us in a lot of ways. If we have a cellphone and we're texting on it, we are a cyborg — that's what a cyborg is, using technology as an extension of ourselves."

There will also be a lot of diversity in the products as well, DiDio promises. "It's not just about straight superhero characters and stories. We're going to use war comics, we have stories set in mystery and horror, we've got Westerns."

While Lee allows that this kind of wholesale change is risky for DC, it's far more perilous to play it safe and not periodically examine these characters and how they relate to the readership.

"It's part of our jobs to make sure that these characters stay dynamic and relevant," Lee says. "And that's what drove us on a creative level to make these kinds of changes."

Update:
DC: The Source promise more reveals and information in the coming months, but not everything will be spoiled before September:

If you know us, you know we both hate secrets. In fact, you might’ve seen one (or both) of us have a grin or two on a convention panel recently. Why? Because it’s hard to keep a secret as big as the news we shared yesterday.
DC Comics will be making history this September. We’ll be renumbering the entire DC Universe line of comic books with 52 first issues. We’re publishing innovative storylines featuring our most iconic characters helmed by some of the most creative minds within the industry.
Not only will this initiative be compelling for existing readers, it’ll give new readers a precise entry point into our titles. And on top of that, all of these titles will be released digital day-and-date across the board.
Yesterday was just the beginning. After all, we don’t want to spoil the many surprises we have up our sleeves. It’s so important to us to make sure you maintain those feelings of excitement and unexpectedness when you pick up a new issue of our books.
We’re energized and looking forward to have you come on this journey with us as we make history this September. –Jim Lee & Dan DiDio, DC Comics Co-Publishers

Big changes indeed. I still haven't made my mind up if I think it is a good move or not. Certainly for Superman and Wonder Woman, a reboot is welcome, but Green Lantern, Birds of Prey and most of the Batman line are really strong at the moment.
Below, in capitals, are the ongoing titles so sale in August. Titles in italics are the changes that I think will be made and the additional titles that will bring us to a total of 52. Where I have written 'cancelled?' indicates titles that I think might go due to the shake up, but don't think that they will be directly replaced.
I will update this post as titles are announced. I will leave my original guesses untouched so that comparisions can be made. Bold & green=confirmed.

1. ADVENTURE COMICS replaced with Legion Lost
2. THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES

3. ACTION COMICS
4.  SUPERMAN
5.  SUPERBOY
6.  SUPERGIRL
7. SUPERMAN/BATMAN cancelled?
8. DETECTIVE COMICS
9. BATMAN
10. BATMAN AND ROBIN renamed Nightwing
Nightwing
11. RED ROBIN renamed Robin
12. BATGIRL cancelled?
13. BATMAN INCORPORATED replaced with Batwoman
Batman Inc will return in 2012 as a 12 issue maxi-series called Batman: Leviathan
14. BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT
15. GOTHAM CITY SIRENS cancelled? replaced with Catwoman
16. BATMAN BEYOND
Batwing
I think that the Bat-clan will be stripped down to be as simple as possible. Bruce is Batman, Dick is Nightwing, Jason is the dead Robin, Tim is Robin and Kate as Batwoman. Batman Inc and Damian are too steeped in backstory. They'll either be heavily modified or cut.
17. GREEN LANTERN
18. GREEN LANTERN CORPS
19. GREEN LANTERN: EMERALD WARRIORS replaced with Green Lantern: New Guardians

As much as I like Kyle, I worry that he'll be cut from the DCU. I think that we could actually be cut down to two Green Lanterns: Hal and John.

20. JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA
JUSTICE LEAGUE International
21. JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA
22. TITANS cancelled?
23. TEEN TITANS renamed Young Justice
24. BIRDS OF PREY
25. SECRET SIX as Suicide Squad
26. T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS
27. GREEN ARROW
28. BOOSTER GOLD
29. WONDER WOMAN
30. ZATANNA
31. POWER GIRL cancelled?
32. THE SPIRIT
33. JONAH HEX as All-Star Western
34. XOMBI
35. DOC SAVAGE
36. Aquaman
37. Martian Manhunter
38. Wondergirl
39. Blue Beetle
40. The Flash
41. Hawkman
42. Doom Patrol
43. Sgt. Rock and the Men of War
44. Red Circle
45. Static Shock
46. Outsiders
47. Arsenal
48. Firestorm
49. Challengers of the Unknown as Justice League Dark
50. Red Lantern Corps
51. Swamp Thing
52. Hellblazer
Mr Terrific
DC Presents
Captain Atom
Red Hood and the Outlaws
Animal Man
Demon Knights
Frankenstein, Agent of Shade
Voodoo
Vampire
Resurrection Man
Hawk and Dove
Stormwatch
Blackhawks
Deathstroke
Grifter
OMAC

Special update for 9th June:
52 and DONE!
Superman titles will be officially announced tomorrow, but I've seen unofficial confirmation of Superboy, Supergirl, Superman and Action Comics. So that is, as they say, that. I've also heard that Batman Beyond will continue.
Looking at my original predictions, I don't think that I did too badly. Remember bold&green=confirmed.

What do you think of the final line up?

Tony Daniel art preview from Batman 713

Right, try not to get too excited, but Tony Daniel just previewed this page on his blog.

That's right, both Batmen, Red Robin and Robin team-up!

Here is what he had to say (it's brief):

Cover for Batman 713.



Working on my next story. Can't reveal much, but at least I have some new art.

Batman Movie franchise after Nolan

If you've been following my twitter feed, then you know that after The Dark Knight Rises the Batman movie franchise will be rebooted. Produced by, yet seperate from, Chris Nolan.

The question is where to go?
In my opinion, another origin story would be redundant. Bring in Robin. Not Grayson, not Todd. Tim Drake.

Keep the stigma of Batman and Robin distant with a Robin that mainstream audiences aren't familiar with, but that still plays the familiar role (albeit with a modern edge).

In 2002/3, I began to write my own screenplay for a Batman movie which would feature the death of Jason Todd and how that affected the relationship between Bruce and Tim. I included Dick as an after thought and had made notes upon how to include him more fully in the next draft. I stopped writing it purely because Batman Begins was announced, but now that we are in a Batfilm-void situation again (or soon will be) should I have a bash at rewriting?

The first two-thirds of the very rough first draft can be read on the Writing Showcase page or downloaded directly here.

Let me know what you think, shall I give it a rewrite and send off a sample?

Damian Wayne flirts (in his own way) with Hit Girl

This little bit of fan art was created by Lebmat de Quevedo and it's original title is We're all Fucked Now.

Batman's little psycho-Robin has calmed down of late, but this would still probably be his idea of flowers.
Source: GeekTyrant

Why Tim Drake endures.

Newsarama have posted a great article on Tim Drake's continued popularity and touch on many areas that I have covered in my previous posts. Tim will always be my favourite Robin, probably because he is so cautious and was introduced to be a thoughtful detective that hangs out in the shadows to listen rather than burst through the door and start throwing punches.

"Tim Drake, the former Robin now wearing the mantle of "Red Robin," is a rarity.
Created in 1989, he's one of the few characters introduced during the Modern Age who are still popular with comic fans. In fact, he's among the most beloved heroes in the Batman universe, appearing in multiple titles each month, including the current crossover between Red Robin and Teen Titans.
"I think, given everything that's been done to him, he's exceeded all expectations," said Chris Yost, who launched the Red Robin title in 2009. "Tim Drake carried several Robin mini-series, his own title for well over 100 issues, [and] is currently in a Top 50 book 20 issues in."
But his introduction came at a time when the idea of a new Robin was far from being popular. In the '80s, original Robin Dick Grayson had "graduated" to an adult role, wearing the mantle Nightwing. Batman readers were given another Robin named Jason Todd, whose existence was markedly unpopular — so much so that readers voted to have him killed.
Marv Wolfman, the writer who created Tim Drake as Robin in the pages of Batman, said he thinks it was important that DC successfully restore the Robin legacy after Jason Todd's death. "Nothing was wrong with Jason except that the fans didn't take to him," Wolfman said. "He was a fine character, but during that time period in comics, the idea of a snotty, possibly criminal Robin could not be accepted. But look at Damian today. I had nothing to do with Jason so I could come in and create a Robin the readers of the time would like as a person."
Denny O'Neil, the Batman editor at the time, initially wanted to wait awhile before introducing a new Robin. "After we bumped off Jason, I thought eventually, we'd need a new Robin, but I thought we'd give it a year," he said. "But word came down from on high — I mean, higher than Jeanette [Kahn, then DC president] — no, we need a new Robin right away."
Yet O'Neil made sure the character was introduced slowly, something Fabian Nicieza, who currently writes Tim's character in Red Robin, noticed as a reader. "By developing the character slowly, making it obvious he would eventually become Robin, but not putting him into costume too quickly, fans got a chance to see the character's foundation," Nicieza said. "As a reader and rookie writer at the time, I remember thinking that Denny O'Neil's writing group was doing an excellent job of defining Tim's strong moral underpinning, and most importantly I think, the fact that he never became Robin for selfish reasons, he did it because he knew Batman needed it, and he knew how important Batman was."
O'Neil also had to face a new challenge, particularly after the death of teenager Jason Todd. Because stories were becoming more realistic, the editor felt like he had to come up with a reason why Batman would put another child in danger, something "they didn't think about in the early days, when they made the first Robin character," O'Neil said. "But we had to think about that, because of the realism we were using at the time in the industry. It was a different time. I even hired somebody to design a costume that would afford maximum protection, thinking it might be acceptable to put a child in harm's way if he was well protected. We used almost none of that design, but we did think about those things at the time."
To explain a child's presence in brutal battles, Tim Drake's character had to be developed in a way that made him an asset to Batman in the field, which the writers accomplished by making him a great detective and supportive presence for Batman. "We waited several months before we actually had Tim in danger," O'Neil said. "At first, he was the guy who did reconnaissance from across the street. This is not real life. This is fantasy melodrama, so eventually, the stories put him in danger. But we didn't want to be callous about it. And we wanted to establish that this child was more than just a kid that Batman decided to put in danger. Tim Drake was an asset."
O'Neil also wanted to eliminate the idea of Robin that was established in the old Batman television show, as a sidekick that said "golly!" a lot. And he credits Marv Wolfman with accomplishing a whole new level of intelligence and heroism in Tim Drake.
"Simply, with the end of Jason Todd, I was asked what I'd do to create a new Robin. My thoughts were that this Robin should want to be Robin and not Batman," Wolfman said. "That he have parents, to differentiate him from all other kid partners, and that he not only be a good athlete, but incredibly bright and intuitive. To accomplish some of that, I had him at the circus, as a very young child, when [original Robin] Dick [Grayson]'s parents were killed; I thought that would be something he'd never forget and would cement the memory of Dick's performance in his mind. The rest followed out of that."
Nicieza said the character seemed to be introduced as a likable character from the beginning. "Tim seemed specifically developed to counter the difficult creative position DC had been put in after what had happened with the 'marketing death' of Jason Todd," Nicieza said. "I imagine half the audience was happy with Jason's death and half weren't, so whatever you did with the next character to assume the mantle of Robin had to be smartly designed enough to keep your divided audience satisfied.
Wolfman decided to make the character very moral, and Chuck Dixon further developed that feature in subsequent comics featuring the character. "I think that he's good, bright, and though he figured out who Robin really was, he never said anything, [and that] meant he was honest," Wolfman said. "That he had a family and a background that fleshed him out before he became Robin helped. And that his ties were directly with Dick Grayson — being there for the death of his parents — gave him a heritage."
"I think that's a pretty hard foundation for fans not to embrace," Nicieza said. "They might not like his personality or the role of Robin in general, but you can't deny that it was hard not to respect Tim Drake."
Soon after his introduction, Tim Drake starred in several mini-series by Chuck Dixon that sold well and created industry buzz. "I think new readers were taken by Chuck Dixon's take on the character, which very smartly combined aspects of 'the making of a hero' arc with 'teen angst' that wasn't too dour, but gave Tim conflict in a fun way," Nicieza.
The character is also different from a lot of other heroes because he has faced a lot of adversity, but did so without becoming bitter or "dark," something that's a particular aspect of many other Batman characters.
Brad Meltzer, the best-selling novelist and comic book writer, was given the task of putting Tim Drake through a horrific experience in the mini-series Identity Crisis. "Full credit to [then Executive Editor] Dan DiDio, who knew that Tim's dad was about to be killed elsewhere, and said to me that if I could make it work with the plot, I could do it," Meltzer said. "And since Identity Crisis was about death in all forms — from death of family, to death of self — it worked perfectly for what we wanted. Plus, it was the kind of death that mattered — one that would impact the character forever."
Soon after losing his father, Tim also lost two of his best friends, Superboy Conner Kent and Kid Flash Bart Allen. Yet the impact of all the deaths was not a particularly negative one for the character, making him even more heroic and familiarly human for having experienced those things.
"He's embraced Batman's world, been put through hell, and come out the other side emotionally OK, in ways that Batman still isn't. He's still human in a way that Batman really kind of isn't," Yost said.
By the time Bruce Wayne was assumed dead, Tim Drake had evolved into one of the more respected heroes of the DCU. And with Bruce gone, his ascension from the title "Robin" was something most fans saw as fitting. "I have to believe that since Tim was in serious contention as someone who could take over for Bruce, seeing him evolve from Robin was inevitable. Tim still has lessons to learn, but they're different lessons now. Damien Wayne needed the role and lessons of Robin more," Yost said.
That's when Tim Drake began wearing the costume of Red Robin, a mantle that was first introduced in the DC mini-series Kingdom Come, which told of a future Robin-turned-Red Robin. So the costume and look were somewhat familiar to readers.
But what wasn't familiar was Tim Drake as an adult superhero, something writer Chris Yost had to establish. "Tim was in a horrible place when I got to him, having lost pretty much everyone he loved. Mom, Dad, Conner, Bart, Bruce... it was a rough patch. And Robin was always supposed to be the light in Batman's world," Yost said. "So honestly, I really wanted to bring the light back, to see Tim through the tunnel to the light at the end, and making sure it wasn't a train. I like that he can operate like Batman, be the detective, crack skulls, and still have a life. Still smile. He can be serious like Bruce, and enjoy it like Dick."
The other aspect of Tim Drake that has helped him endure is the role he filled in the Batman family as someone who thinks before he acts, mirroring his mentor Batman, but in a more caring and healthy way.
"I think he considers himself the spinal column of the Bat-family," Nicieza said. "His arrival brought Bruce back into the light, brought Dick back into the fold and in many ways, that status as a thematic lynchpin continues to this day, even now that he's on his own a lot more."
Now that Bruce Wayne has returned, it's unusual that the other players in the Batman family have not returned to their old roles, with Tim Drake continuing as Red Robin. Whether that lasts into the future is anybody's guess, although some fans have voiced a wish that he would someday become Batman.
"I hope he'll never be Batman," Yost said.
"Seriously, as a result of everything that's happened in the Bat-family the last few years," Nicieza said, "I'm kind of burned out to the whole on-going — never-ending it seems — conversation about 'who will this character become?' Will Dick go back to Nightwing? Will Tim become Batman? Or Nightwing? Will Bat-Mite become Sugar & Spike?
"How about if Tim is Red Robin?" Nicieza said.
For Meltzer, the most important thing for Tim's future is that he's handled with the same type of care he's experienced since his introduction 22 years ago. "I think the strength of Tim Drake has been the strength of the many writers and artists who treated him as Tim instead of just as Robin. That's why he endures," Meltzer said. "We all knew what Robin did. We now know what Tim would do as well. No small task.""

Source: Newsarama

Respect for Robin

If you are under 10, then you are already aware of what only a relative handful of your elders know: Robin can be really cool.

Kids love Robin for two reasons:

1- He is more relatable to them than Batman. They can find it easier to imagine themselves going on adventures with Batman than actually being him.

2- They aren't embarrassed about liking Robin. By the time teenagerism kicks in most people become so self-conscious that they would claim to dislike oxygen if the other kids at school thought it was lame. So how are they going to react when Robin is treated as a joke by sitcoms, magazines and the general public? Unfortunately this attitude sticks with them, probably until they have kids themselves.

Robin & me: a brief history
My first experience of Robin was Burt Ward in the 1960s Batman TV series. At three or four years old I was hooked on Batman and Robin. Every day at play group (nursery/pre school) my friend and I would play as Batman and Robin. This is one of my earliest memories - watching the show, playing the game, getting in a scuffle because some kid took the 'batmobile' from us.

I saw the Burton movies probably far too young (got turned away at the cinema for Returns, but saw it on VHS as soon as it was out).
I can still get upset when I think of how my little sister sat on and broke the leg off a Batman figure.
The Animated Series had me glued to the TV for half an hour each week. Here Robin is shown as a young college student who is smart and capable. The episode that highlights his origins was excellent (Robin's Reckoning).

I collected the Batman Returns action figures (including Tim Drake Robin!) and dipped into the Animated Series figures for the villians. My sister and I would spend hours making up stories with these figures, often with Robin as the hero, as an essential part of Batman's arsenal.

By this time I was living in the states (for a year) and would stand in the supermarkets and pharmacies reading comics (something that we never had in the UK stores) and Robin had his own comic! My prized possession book was the junior novelisation of Knightfall and the issue of TV Guide that had a Batman run down (must have been 55 year anniversary), including a whole page devoted to the three Robins (4 with Carrie Kelly).

We moved back to the UK and Batman Forever came out, again showing Robin. Even at 11 though, I knew that this version of Robin wasn't quite what I wanted, needed or expected.
Then, in 1997, came Batman & Robin. Following this farse I had a couple of years in which I didn't look for new Batman. I still watched the Burton movies, but that was it. Until 1999ish when I picked up Batman vs Predator III. Wow. This is what I'd been missing. Not a fully grown Chris O'Donnell, not a Holy-tights Burt Ward, not a child, but a competent, a strong, smart, independant teenager who was an apprentice to the Batman. This triggered my love of comics and I soon grew my collection. As I went to university and had my own income, this collection grew exponentially as I started buying the single issues each month as well as catching up on collected editions. Robin has also been featured on Teen Titans, The Batman and Young Justice TV shows and the awful video game Batman: Dark Tomorrow.

Where does the hate come from?
The problem is that for most people, my first experience of Robin is their only experience of Robin. As I grew and matured, I found other sources to feed my love of the characters, but most people have only ever seen the Adam West show and the (currently) 6 movies released since 1989 (of which Robin only featured in the worst two). Thus their view of Robin is somewhat skewed toward the camp and the buffoonish. The whole 'Robin is gay' joke that has been strung along in sitcoms like Friends, is one that has become cliche, but still damages public perception of the character. This of course stems from the 1954 book Seduction of the Innocent by American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham. Here he, essentially, suggests that all modern media is being created to warp children's mind and that violent and sexual themes have been hidden within the pages of comics and storybooks. He has created an idea that Batman & Robin are in a gay relationship and that Wonder Woman is a lesbian. His own pre-occupation with homosexuality in a time of repression aside, this is exactly the type of thinking that leads to claims of Marilyn Manson causing the Columbine shootings or Grand Theft Auto being responisble for car crime. Ill-informed, extremist scape-goating, yes, but damaging nonetheless.

More recently, I have been on message boards where people say that the love Batman, but hate Robin. How can you possibly hate a character that has been part of the mythos for nearly the entire publication history? Batman was first published in 1939. Robin was introduced in 1940. This is like saying you love Reggie Jeeves, but hate Bertie Wooster. You love Sherlock Holmes, but hate John Watson. To say that you find him uninteresting or irrating, fine, but hate? I think you might have only watched Burt Ward and Chris O'Donnell, little troll. Try reading some actual source material.
To use a very British comparison; to say that you hate Robin after only watching the '60s TV show or The Schumacher Batman movies is like saying you hate Miss Marple after only watching the new ITV series. You need to watch Joan Hickson or actually read some Christie to appreciate it.

Tim Drake
To my mind, Tim Drake has revolutionalised Robin. Don't get me wrong, in the 1970s and 80s Dick Grayson was doing alot of good things as Robin, but he didn't really flurish until he became Nightwing. Since 1989, when, at 13, he first revealed that he had deduced the identity of the batman, Tim Drake has grown as a character. He was never reckless like Jason, nor a dare-devil like Dick. Tim has been something else, rather than contrast Batman, Tim's Robin compliments him. He is happier to hold back and use the shadows to pick his moment, he is first and foremost a detective and we have seen that he doesn't mind getting his hands a little dirty to acheive his goals. Over the last few years, he has undergone personal tragedies that have forced him to become more serious about his chosen vocation. His evolution has taken him from a self-concious Peter Parker to a chess grandmaster crossed with Batman. Tim started out as the kid who played Dungeons and Dragons in his friend's basement and couldn't talk to a girl without going a bit funny. Now he is the teenager who struggles to maintain friendships because 110% of his time is dedicated to 'the job'. This is a character who has starred in his own ongoing series and mini-series for over 200 issues. Who has supported, not just in Batman and Detective Comics, but in Young Justice and Teen Titans as well as the whole host of Bat-books.

The Future
Now we have real opportunites in significant media to promote this 'new' style of Robin (that has been developing since the 1970s).

Arkham City and The Dark Knight Rises are coming out in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Both have rumours of a Robin inclusion. I doubt that we will see Robin feature in the main story for either of these, but as a side-line? Easily.

Could we see a turn from Robin in a co-op mulitplayer for Arkham City?

Just a glance at some of the websites devoted to videogames and you can tell thatthere is a buzz question. Will we see Robin? If there is co-op multiplayer for the Challenge Rooms, it seems obvious that Robin would be included, doesn't it?
UPDATE (21.06.2011): It has just been announced that Tim Drake's Robin and Red Robin costumes will be playable in Batman: Arkham City's Challenge Mode. He will have his own gadgets and combat moves. The first image is on the right. This is definitely a step in the right direction. Now everyone who plays Arkham City (and that'll be a lot) will know how cool Robin can be.

 

 

Could we have a visit to Haley's Circus to see the Flying Graysons as the epilogue to The Dark Knight Rises?
After all, Nolan apparently put the Joker card at the end of Batman Begins, simply as a way to raise excitement at the end of the movie and to hint that it really was just the beginning of his career as Batman. This was before he knew that he was going to make the sequel. He could very well do the same with the end of his swan song. As Bruce and Alfred settle down in the Batcave at the end of the movie the latter could hand an invitation to a charity bash at Haley's Circus starring the Flying Graysons to the former. What would get people more excited, what would symbolise the next step in the Batman's career more, than a hint at Robin?

Can we start getting some respect for Robin from the general public, will he stop being seen as a joke? I hope so, because, Goddamn, is some respect due his way.

Recommended reading:
Dick Grayson
Batman: Dark Victory, Batman: The Gauntlet, Robin: Year One

Tim Drake
Robin: A Hero Reborn, Robin: Flying Solo, Robin #116-120, Robin: Search for a Hero