DC Comics Announces New Batman/Superman Series
John F. Trent
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DC Comics announced a brand new Batman/Superman series. The series will be written by Joshua Williamson with art by David Marquez.
The series will spin out of DC’s The Batman Who Laughs as Batman and Superman will face a new threat in the Secret Six.
The first arc of the new series will see Batman and Superman hunting down six heroes who have been infected by a deadly pathogen created by the Batman Who Laughs. The pathogen turns the heroes into the “evilest versions of themselves.” The first arc will take place in Gotham City and will appear to initially take on a detective focus as Batman and Superman will first have to identify the superheroes who have been transformed by the deadly pathogen.
Williamson elaborated on what we can expect in the new series to The Hollywood Reporter.
“We discover, through the Batman Who Laughs series that the Batman Who Laughs have been working on this massive plan since Metal. What it is is, he has sleeper agents throughout the [DC Universe]. They’ve been infected, and they’re slowly turning into the worst versions of themselves. Some of them know they’re changing, some don’t. Some aren’t aware it’s kind of like a Jekyll and Hyde situation where they’re not aware of [what] the other side is doing.”
He continues:
“This is happening to six people — we’ve been calling them the new Secret Six — who have been turned. But who could be turned? Who are they? [Batman and Superman] have to go out and figure it out. But that means spying on other heroes, friends, allies. We talked about the end of The Thing, where it’s the two of them and they’re like, ‘It could be you, it could be me, but now we have to work together.’”
Williamson discusses just how important the Secret Six will be:
“It becomes this mystery across not just this book but really the line. It’s a thing where it’s not just going to be focused on this one book; it starts here, but you’re going to get a situation where, if you are reading the line, you might start piecing some stuff together before like bigger reveals happen. You might be like, ‘Oh this weird thing’s happening over here, I wonder if that’s connected to the story here,’ and that’s cause, yeah. It is.”
Marquez spoke about why he decided to take the DC Comics project after nearly a decade at Marvel Comics.
“When I heard the possibility of working with DC, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do more work-for-hire stuff after wrapping up with Marvel. They really kind of had to sell me on the idea of doing the series.”
Marquez added,
“That I’d be able to build it from the ground up, and also that it was actually a meaningful big project, were really important factors.
In terms of the characters involved and the role it plays in broader DCU and its evolving narrative, working with Josh who’s one of the biggest writers there — these reasons sold me on the idea of doing this book. If it wasn’t all of those unique characteristics altogether for one project, I probably wouldn’t be doing work-for-hire stuff right now.”
Marquez would highlight that this isn’t a “throwaway” story describing it as a dark story that entertains.
“This isn’t throwaway, like ‘everything is perfect and back to normal,’ illusion of change stuff. With characters that you love, ‘I had a great day’ is not a story, you know? ‘I had a great day, until…’ is a much more interesting story. You want to see these characters tested, and this is maybe a mean way to do it, but it’s going to be a fun ride. It’s definitely fun to draw. There are dark stories that torture the reader and there are dark stories that are entertaining for the reader. This is the latter.”
Along with the announcement of Batman/Superman. DC Comics also revealed that Scott Snyder and Jock’s Batman Who Laughs miniseries has been extended by one issue. Instead of six issues it will now be seven. This final issue will feature the “final showdown between Batman and the Jokerized version of himself who originated from the Dark Multiverse in DARK NIGHTS: METAL. Bruce Wayne will have to outsmart Bruce Wayne in this ultimate test of good vs. evil, so don’t miss the finale to the epic miniseries that will tear up the very foundations of Gotham City!”
Batman Who Laughs #7 Cover by Jock
Batman/Superman #1 will hit comic book shelves on August 14, 2019. It will feature cover art by David Marquez and Alejandro Sánchez along with a variant cover by Leinil Yu.
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