No, you did not read that headline incorrectly – June may bring us three new Batmen in the pages of DC Comics! Do not fret because Bruce Wayne will still remain in the pages of Justice League and Justice League of America, with Detective Comics undefined at the time of this writing. The big changes come in the pages of Batman, Batman Beyond, and Earth 2: Society.
First, let’s discuss Batman. Scott Snyder recently joked on an episode of DC All Access that they toyed with the idea of re-titling the book “All-New Batman.” It looks like there may indeed be a change in the mantle of the Batman after the events of “Endgame.” Perhaps we will be enlightened in the 8-page preview to be included in the Free Comic Book Day title Divergence. It’s important to note that the book won’t renumber and will ship as Batman #41.
Scott Snyder had this to say to Newsarama about the shocking new status quo:
I don’t want to say. [Laughs] I don’t want to say! I know this is a new level of coy, but I will say that the mythology will be radically reinterpreted and stretched in a different way. [2014’s] “Endgame” was designed to be my last story on Batman, but if I stayed after “Endgame,” it needed to be transformative, where everything was put aside and reinvented. It’s going to be a new cast. I can say we’re going to bring in characters you haven’t seen in Batman before. We’re also going to play a lot with a lot of the other books—characters from We Are Robin and Batgirl are in the book. You’re going to see Harper and Cullen, characters we’ve created. And there will be a really different feel to it. We actually toyed with the idea of just calling it “All-New Batman”for a while, because it is that different. I can also tell you it’s going to be all-new villains. I want to go back to the spirit we had when we were creating Court of Owls, where there’s new villains, new threats, new cast.
Interesting stuff, huh?
As for the other two Batmen, they’ll appear in Batman Beyond and Earth 2: Society, respectively. Sure, the Batman Beyond could still be Terry McGinnis, but let’s not rule out Tim Drake, pending the ending of Futures End. We do know Earth 2 will get a new Batman that’s not Thomas Wayne. At this time his identity remains unclear. Looks like June is one big mystery!
Check out covers and solicits for all three books below, courtesy of Bleeding Cool.
BATMAN #41
Written by SCOTT SNYDER Art by GREG CAPULLO and DANNY MIKI
Cover by GREG CAPULLO
THE JOKER Variant cover by SEAN MURPHY
On sale JUNE 10 • 32 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
The all-new Batman makes his debut! Who is he, and what happens next? Find out here as a new era begins in Gotham City!
Batman Beyond #1 by Dan Jurgens and Bernard Chang.
At last, Batman Beyond gets his own ongoing series in THE definitive future of the DCU! But this isn’t the Beyond you think you know! With the Justice League missing and without Bruce to guide him, this new Batman will need to explore this bizarre world on his own while fighting to raise humanity from an opponent that’s already won.
The heroes Batman knew have failed, the world he knew has been turned on its head, and every step he takes will lead him either toward finding home – or further down the road of disaster!
EARTH 2: SOCIETY #1
Written by DANIEL WILSON
Art and cover by JORGE JIMENEZ
1:25 Variant cover by PAULO SIQUEIRA
On sale JUNE 10 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.
The survivors of Earth-2’s war with Apokolips find themselves on a new world, but can Green Lantern, Power Girl, a new Batman and the other heroes of Earth-2 create a new world that’s better than the last, or will their interference and good intentions doom this world, just like the old one?