Happy 80th Anniversary, Dark Knight! To celebrate such a momentous occasion, among many things, DC is putting out a giant Detective Comics #1000. The colossal 96-page issue will be an anthology full of stories written and drawn by an all-star cast of creators including Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Paul Dini, Tom King, Tony Daniel, Denny O’Neil, Brian Bendis and Neal Adams. What a list of giants spanning Batman’s rich history in print!
Included among these talented creators is filmmaker and podcaster, Kevin Smith. While primarily known for his profane gift of the gab, he has written some comic books in the past, most notably his stories starring Batman, Batman: Cacophony and Batman: The Widening Gyre. Smith has been paired with the legendary artist and current DC Co-Publisher and CCO, Jim Lee, for Detective Comics #1000.
Gun store clerks?
Jim Lee seems pretty darn excited for the upcoming collaboration, because earlier this week he took to Twitter to post some pencils for an unfinished panel. Take a look:
Closeup of a panel from my 8 page story for DETECTIVE 1000 written by @ThatKevinSmith. Thrilled and honored to be part of this monumental milestone! Out later this month! Check your local comics retailer for all the exciting info!#dccomics #detective1000 pic.twitter.com/EjPzeZ7imH
— Jim Lee (@JimLee) March 7, 2019
As a huge Kevin Smith fan, at first I believed that this panel took place in a convenience store, which would have been fitting as Smith famously began his film career by making a film set in such a place. The “All Sales are Final” sign really fooled me at first. Upon closer inspection, I’m a little disappointed to find that it’s likely not a convenience store, but looks more like a firearms dealer. The image is strategically zoomed in to avoid seeing the vendor’s products. However, at the very least, we can see that the clerk has called in some reinforcements for his patron.
I personally cannot wait to read Smith’s words with Lee’s art. Along with the many other fine creators in this issue, it’s something any Batman fan is not going to want to miss.
Detective Comics #1000 will hit digital and physical shelves on March 27.