Batman by Francis Manapul
If you’ve read The Flash relaunch with the Nu52, then you’ll be familiar with the writing team of Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato. Now instead of writing things like the Speed Force and Barry Allen’s various normal relationships, they’re venturing into the dark and brooding world of The Batman. Starting this spring, when they make the move to the book, Manapul and Buccellato want to put the Detective back in Detective Comics.
“We want to bring him closer to his roots and be more of a street-level type of hero…His superheroics will still be present, but the investigative part of Batman will be at the forefront”
Focusing on the detective aspect of Batman has been a problem for some writers, who choose to focus more heavily on the Dark Knight fighting the supernatural or bizarre, as well as getting into large scale fist fights. Beyond adding the depth to the detective front, they also want to introduce new characters that will focus heavily on the importance of family to Bruce Wayne, such as an ex-mob boss’ widow which has been put by Manapul as an important foil ” as they both relate and deal with the loss of those they’ve loved.”
Another important thing they want to examine is how far Batman is willing to go to protect Gotham. We’ve seen on multiple cases of what happens when Batman isn’t around to save the city, but even while he does best, Gotham is always a bubbling pot of degenerates and evil. There’s also the fact that Batman is obsessive about his crusade to save the soul of Gotham City. Manapul stated it thusly.
“Similar to the protective nature of a father to his child, his mission to keep it safe will always border on obsession…Unlike other heroes who protect their home because they want to, Batman has to. He’s going to be such a fun character to sink our teeth into.”
Those who worry that the book will too similar to The Flash can lay their worried aside, that it’ll be too ‘light’. Both writers are incredibly eager to start looking at things from Bruce Wayne’s point of view, someone who’s far more grim and brooding than Barry Allen.
“There is a perception that Francis and I are best suited for ‘lighter fare’ because of our run on the vibrant, fast-moving world of Barry Allen. But we also have a gritty and dark side that we will tap into as we get into the mind of the Dark Knight…Stylistically, we will use the tools in our toolbox to capture what we think the Bat-universe looks and feels like. Gotham won’t look like Central City, so you won’t be seeing all the bright reds, oranges and yellows that defined Flash’s world…In some form or another we’ve always written stories that are personal to us…We’ve always written stories about hope, and it will be very interesting to see what comes out when we walk through the sullen streets of Gotham City.”
A thing about Batman that not many writers put into their work is the hope that Bruce Wayne has that Gotham can be saved. He’s fights every night to save it from itself, but he’s a man that never stops hoping that one day, he will not be needed. Scott Snyder has that in his Batman work, and it’s good to see that it’ll be present in Detective Comics as well, coming this Spring.
Source: USA Today
