Klaus Janson, inker of the groundbreaking Dark Knight Returns and current co-artist of its worthy threequel, Dark Knight III: The Master Race, is currently appearing at a comic book convention in North Carolina known as NC Comicon.
Yesterday, he appeared at a panel and of course, he discussed DK III. It was recently announced that the series would be getting one more issue from its original 8-issue run. That brings the series up to 9 issues. According to Janson, issue 9 is the end, the final issue of that series. However, he seems to believe that there’s definitely a possibility for a DK IV or even a DK V, saying, “As far as I know, issue nine is it. That’s where the story wraps up, but I suspect there will be a Dark Knight IV and Dark Knight V at some point.”
It should be noted that Frank Miller himself has also mentioned Dark Knight IV, so it looks like there is a strong possibility of another sequel series. Of course, it all depends on how this current series is received at the end of its run.
What could possibly come next in this universe? Janson turns the conversation over to Carrie Kelly, calling her “one of our favorite characters,” explaining that she is smarter than Batman and isn’t bogged down by his emotional trauma. Does this mean that the DK Universe will eventually shift focus on Carrie Kelly instead? That would be interesting. I mean, it’s clear that these stories have been about Carrie as they have been about Bats. We’ve seen this girl grow into a very capable crimefighter, setting the stage for her to eventually surpass the master.
What do you think? Ready for a 2 more series’ in the Dark Knight universe? Interested in a series where the primary focus is on Carrie Kelley?
Check out the rest of the panel coverage over at Bleeding Cool.