Some more November DC news - Batwoman and 'Tec

[ficticons]

Two items of interest.

1) Courtesy of The Source, here's a first look at the variant cover for Batwoman #0, coming out this November. Art by Amy Reeder, who will be the artist on the book's second arc.



I might not have guessed off the top of my head that this was Amy Reeder's work, since it's quite different from the style of her Madame Xanadu work and Supergirl covers. I think it shows she's versatile, though, which is a good thing.

More about the book's story, also from The Source:

“BATWOMAN #0 has been a great experience in that it’s a real combination of everyone’s efforts due to the nature of the story and how it’s constructed. It has been a real pleasure.,” [J. H.] Williams [III] said. “This special ‘bridge’ issue straddles between what came before and what is to come, but manages to be it’s own unique thing. It’s unusual construction allows two threads of content to run simultaneously, building to a greater whole, hopefully creating an interesting reading experience.”

“The element I’m most excited about with our run of BATWOMAN is the way we’re trying to balance the big action with a more personal story. This has been a challenge because we didn’t want to just have one action-oriented plotline for Batwoman and a separate personal story for Kate Kane — we’ve really tried to weave the two together, and show how one impacts the other,” [W. Haden] Blackman [co-writer] said. “The first arc is very much a superhero horror story, but we’re hoping the horror elements are made even scarier because it’s all happening to characters the reader cares about.

“The #0 was very rewarding to write because it re-introduces Batwoman through the eyes of Batman. It gave us a chance to compare and contrast Batwoman with a character everyone knows very well — and I think that it’s all the ways she is different from Batman that make her a really compelling and honest character.”

2) The Source has also published news about a Commissioner Gordon co-feature in Detective Comics, starting in the November issue (#871). It'll be written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Francesco Francavilla. More info and a bit of teaser art under the cut.




The co-feature...will not only standalone but also become part of a greater story Snyder is telling...

Snyder says: “I’m a huge fan of Francesco’s work and have been for quite some time. His style is dark and daring with a good amount of noir to it, but there’s also a striking physicality to his art - his characters always look very real, very vulnerable and human. Which is why I always thought he’d be perfect for the job; because this story is dark and dramatic with some big revelations, but it’s also about Jim Gordon, the man, coming to terms with some very tough skeletons from his past… Or rather, one skeleton in particular - someone who has just now returned to Gotham, too…..."


Both of these look really interesting.

Comments

[perletwo]

ooOOoo, pretty pretty Commissioner..... drools

[biznizzonpeyote]

Is it just me that sees Gordon in his Year One appearance (i.e. young)? Or is it just some funky lighting?

I'm glad that Batwoman's getting her own book, though it's too bad that Rucka is on leave from DC to write it. ...Didn't someone say that DC was going to try to make her the Silver Age Batwoman, or was that just a malicious rumor?

[darkblade]

No they are bringing back the Silver Age Batwoman for the new "Batman as a in world franchise" book but she wasn't supposed to be connected to this Batwoman at all.

[biznizzonpeyote]

So there's gonna be Kate Kane Batwoman AND a new Batwoman in Batman Inc.

They're gonna have... two Batwomen at the same time?

...Well, if the Flashes and Green Lanterns can do it, then maybe it will be alright...?

[darkblade]

I don't think the returning Silver Age Batwoman is going to keep that name.

[darkknightjrk]

I don't think she's going to keep being Batwoman. In fact, I think Morrison said that she's with El Gaucho, the Batman-like crime-fighter from Argentina, and the reason why her and Bruce split was that he found out that she was dating both of them at the same time.

[darkknightjrk]

"Is it just me that sees Gordon in his Year One appearance (i.e. young)? Or is it just some funky lighting?"

I'm going to go with funky lighting. I'd also wager that they're trying to make him a lot more healthier than his own age to help make him more viable as a Commissioner of the police, let alone a star in his own co-feature.

[kamino_neko]

I might not have guessed off the top of my head that this was Amy Reeder's work, since it's quite different from the style of her Madame Xanadu work and Supergirl covers.

I think a lot of that's the difference in colouring, though. The colours on Madame Xanadu are...I don't want to say flatter, because that gives a completely wrong impression on what it's like...but there's just a LOT more highlights on this cover than anything from her MX issues. Kate's eyes, to me, simply scream Reeder. And the format is very similar to her MX covers. (I'm not seeing any Supergirl covers credited to her...are they upcoming issues?)

[thebigapricot]

Reeder is on covers for Supergirl starting with this week's issue. She is doing the next three with Richard Friend.

[kamino_neko]

Cool, thanks.

[ficticons]

That's a good point about the colouring, and one I hadn't really considered. I actually went and had another look at some of her MX covers and I can see what you're talking about re: Kate's eyes.

[turtlefu]

Oh my godddddddd
It's almost heeeeeeeeeere
I literally can't wait for Batwoman. I NEED THAT BOOK.
I will buy every issue and every trade. I want Batwoman to last for a very, very very very very long time!

[benicio127]

That cover for Batwoman is something I want to frame and put on my wall. That is gorgeous.

[schmevil]

Amy Reeder is love.

[stubbleupdate]

It's not going to be the Skeleton from BKV's run on Batman, is it? That might be nice.

[jeyl]

"it re-introduces Batwoman through the eyes of Batman. It gave us a chance to compare and contrast Batwoman with a character everyone knows very well."

Didn't we just have that in the last issues of Detective Comics where Batman's story was being paralleled with Batwoman's story? Wasn't that enough? And why must this story be seen through Batman's eyes? Is there not enough confidence in Kate's character at the studio even after her good run in Detective Comics?

Grr. This is her story, not his.

[darkknightjrk]

I read it as that there's literally going to be a team-up between Bruce and Kate and we're going to be seeing Bruce's perspective on her.

As for enough confidence in Kate's character--I think it's more just giving an intro to people who didn't read Det as a primer for her. That's why it's a #0 issue. If it was #1, I might agree.

Plus, I'm kinda curious to see how Bruce and Kate would work together.

[ficticons]

“I suspect that Batwoman is socialite Kate Kane. I intend to prove it beyond a shadow. I need to know if she can be trusted, what her motivations are. I’m going undercover.” – Batman: Mission Log Entry 2756

This info was part of the solicit for Batwoman #0, as found at recent The Source article about November Bat-happenings.

I'm inclined to agree with darkknightjrk about it being an intro to Kate for those who haven't been reading 'Tec with her in it, seeing as it's a 0 issue. Still, I do also see where your worry comes from - there are potentially various ways it can be done, and what we don't want is a story that ends up being not enough about Kate.

[nezchan]

Everything else aside, I am loving the art in both of these. The Jim Gordon one could just be framed and hung as-is.

[maijson]

Jock and Francaville on Detective, Reeder and Williams on Batwoman, Paquette on Batman Inc, Gleason on Batman and Robin, Nguyen on Batgirl, Marcus To on Red Robin, and Jimmy Broxton on Knight and Squire?

Damn, this is probably the most visually interesting line-up of Batman books we've had in decades. Well it would be if David Finch wasn't here to muck everything up.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Whoa whoa whoa - they're doing a Knight and Squire book? As in a monthly? Woo!

[darklorelei]

I think it's a mini? And it's being written by Paul Cornell! Should be great.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Oh. Well, take what you can get, and all that - I'm just happy that they're finally getting a book. They're cool characters, they've teamed up with the big boys, they've been around in one version or another since the mid-'40's or so - 'bout time.

[thehefner]

That promo art has me super-excited for the Jimbo story, but my immediate reaction was, "Someone from his past? Will we finally be seeing the return of Barbara and/or James Jr?"

Nope, guess not. One would think they'd follow up on one of the bigger threads of BATMAN YEAR ONE, but eh, the affairs of supporting characters are what they are...

[psychopathicus_rex]

It'd be nice if they brought back James Jr., yeah - I mean, the kid was only present at one of the pivotal turning points in Batman and Gordon's relationship; you'd think we'd see him all the time.

[yaseen101]

I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be Flass.

[thehefner]

Me neither, except since Tony Daniel's been working overtime to officially bring the works of Loeb and Sale into canon, they'd have to ignore Flass' death in DARK VICTORY, which itself ignored that Flass was still alive when Gordon married Essen.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I'm not sure we really NEED a Commissioner Gordon co-feature - a lot of Batman stories wind up being Gordon stories by default, anyway. He's a great character and all, but I think he works best alongside the Bat-Clan, as their liaison to regular law enforcement, not solo.

[thehefner]

Eh, aside from that one-shot feature in the BATTLE FOR THE COWL tie-ins (one of the few to be rather good, I thought) and that Scott Morse one-shot that sadly no one read, Gordon hasn't had much any focus since OFFICER DOWN.

From the Bronze Age up through the work of Dixon, O'Neil, and Rucka, we used to frequently see Jimbo starring stories, which often allowed him to show off what a great character he is even (especially?) when he's not with Batman. And while he also works beautifully in the Bat-clan, we've rarely seen any stories of him recently that shine a spotlight on him. He's just kinda been "there" ever since he's been back as Commish.

Frankly, I'd buy the shit out of a new GOTHAM CENTRAL book with focused on Jim and Bullock.

[psychopathicus_rex]

I guess so - what I'd do, though, is just have a good Gordon-related storyline in the main comic. If nothing else, there's an older one that they could easily pick up here - back around the time of 'Knightfall', he was starting to lose faith in the relationship between him and the Batman. What with Az-Bats running around, and then Dick filling in for Bruce, it was becoming increasingly obvious to him that there was more than one person wearing the costume, and that pissed him off. He'd thought he was dealing with just one man whom he'd built up a trust over the years, and suddenly there are these new guys running around pretending to be him, and causing all manner of chaos. It caused a good deal of friction in his Bat-dealings for a while, and while that was more or less wrapped up, here we have Dick as the Batman again. I can't imagine that Gordon is too pleased with this, yet we haven't seen any sign of friction so far. I don't think this is being true to the character - if he was upset when it happened once, he'd certainly be at least irritated when it happened again.