Batman writer James Tynion has announced that he’ll be stepping away from writing DC superhero comics, including his current run on Batman.
According to Tynion’s newsletter, the prolific writer will focus his energies on his own creations work. Due to the success of his recent creator-owned titles, like Something is Killing the Children, The Department of Truth, and The Nice House on the Lake.
Coupled with the high-selling success of these projects, Tynion also revealed that he’s hard at work with developing his properties into television shows. With that in mind, the writer was at a cross-roads where he could have continued a successful run on Batman or move to work on his own original properties.
I was trying to make one of the most difficult decisions of my professional life. DC had presented me with a three-year renewal of my exclusive contract, with the intent of me working on Batman for the bulk of that time. I was grateful of the offer, but I couldn’t help but look at the success of my original, creator owned titles and wonder if it was the right choice.
Then I received another contract. The best I’ve ever been given in a decade as a professional comic book writer. A grant from Substack to create a new slate of original comic book properties directly on their platform, that my co-creators and I would own completely, with Substack taking none of the intellectual property rights, or even the publishing rights. Given my bandwidth, I knew I could only pick one of two contracts sitting in front of me.
James Tynion Says ‘Goodbye’ to Gotham
It was a tough choice, but ultimately James Tynion confirmed that he will leave both Batman and The Joker titles. His last issue of Batman will be #117, and his final issue of The Joker will be #14.
I am going to be leaving BATMAN with Issue #117 in November, and THE JOKER with Issue #14 next April, with no immediate plans to write any other superhero comics in the near future.
James Tynion went on to say how creatively fullfilling it was being on Batman. Not only did he get to utilize a lot of DC’s iconic characters, but he added a ton of new ideas to the Bat-universe.
I have loved Gotham City and the characters in it for my entire life, and most recently, I’ve loved creating brand new characters to flesh out and modernize the line – Characters like Punchline, Vengeance, Clownhunter, Ghost-Maker, Miracle Molly, The Gardener, and Peacekeeper-01.
Later this month we’re starting a big Batman cross-over event in the Bat-Books, Batman: Fear State, centering one of my favorite villains – The Scarecrow. It’s been the joy of my life to get to play with all of these toys that meant so much to me growing up, and bring a bit of my own spin to the mythology. Taking the reins of the main Batman title was a dream come to life. Validation of a decade of hard work.
Batman #112 will hit comic shops on September 7. Tynion’s last issue, #117, is scheduled for November.
Source: James Tynion IV newsletter
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