Batman Solicits!

[espanolbot]

BATMAN AND ROBIN #26

Written by DAVID HINE
Art by GREG TOCCHINI
Cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
1:10 Variant cover by J.G. JONES
Le Jardin Noir – France’s very own Arkham Asylum – falls under siege! Someone has freed the lunatics, and unless they can be stopped, they’ll turn Paris into a surreal Hell on Earth! Batman and Robin join Nightrunner in a mind-bending battle with the strangest lineup of villains this side of Bizarro World.
On sale AUGUST 10 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Spot the references!

Well, there's a Clockwork Orange, obviously. Nightrunner's gone a bit Dali and... errr, and the Effiel Tower being used as an Eye Trauma Comics homage.

BATMAN: GATES OF GOTHAM #4-5


Written by SCOTT SNYDER and KYLE HIGGINS
Art and covers by TREVOR MCCARTHY
1:25 Variant covers by DUSTIN NGUYEN
Batman, Red Robin, Robin and Black Bat are all thrown into a race against time as The Architect’s true plan is revealed! But what does that mean for Oswald Cobblepot and Tommy Elliot? And just how does the first Super Villain of Gotham City factor into The Architect’s plot to destroy the city’s first families? Be here for the exciting penultimate issue!

And in issue #5, it’s Batman vs. The Architect! The downfall of a major Gotham family! The betrayal of Damian Wayne! It’s all here in this final issue, plus the untold fate of Gotham City’s first Super Villain! Be here as GATES OF GOTHAM sets the stage for a bold new direction in the Bat books!
Issue #4 on sale AUGUST 3
Issue #5 on sale AUGUST 17
4 and 5 of 5, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

And Cass is mentioned in the actual solicits. Sweet. ^^ Admittedly in the last two issues, it looks like a cool mini so I'm not gonna complain. The covers certainly have been all kinds of gorgeous.

BATGIRL #24

Written by BRYAN Q. MILLER
Art by PERE PEREZ
Cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN
Stephanie Brown has done her best to put her past behind her, but as the Repears’ mysterious client stands revealed, Batgirl’s going to learn the hard way that those who fail history are doomed to repeat it. This issue has it all: Secrets unearthed! Alliances broken! Splash pages!
On sale AUGUST 10 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Hm, mysterious cilent? Someone from Steph's past? Oh no, it's the flaming bum!

Or the dude with the dreads who knocked her up, whichever.

The cover's certainly pretty though.

And finally,
BATMAN BEYOND #8

Written by ADAM BEECHEN
Art by CHRIS BATISTA and RICH PEROTTA
Cover by DUSTIN NGUYEN
Batman’s slipperiest foe steps out of the shadows and into the spotlight for a “Legends of the Dark Knight” issue that reveals, for the first time, the full story of Inque! Her past is blacker than anyone ever knew… and considering the new ally she’s fallen in with, her future could be darker still!
On sale AUGUST 3 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

This could be interesting. For those young folk out there who don't know who Inque is, she's the blob monster in this clip,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksa_VPodygI

Comments

[thanekos]

Mister Magritte's hands there do not look so well from that distance.

[grazzt]

"Well, there's a Clockwork Orange, obviously."

Not only that, but it's also a reference to "The Son of Man" by Rene Magritte, which uses an apple instead of an orange. The fact that he's floating might also be a reference to another Magritte work, "Golconda".

[pepperspray101]

aaaaah! I want to get excited! (fuck I am excited) but I'm SO SCARED TOO! Oh Cass! Oh Cass! Please DC do NOT fuck this up!! T-T *reading the part about damian's betrayal* NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo!! WHY, do they have to go there, WHY?! Can we just have one family story out there that DOES NOT involve betrayal?? ToT damnit! I hope whatever happens, Cass gets to spank him at the end. That's the only thing that will make up for it! :(

[funbox]

Why do I feel that Damian would like that. In fact, I feel that he'd be in to domination

[pepperspray101]

little brat would, wouldn't he? XD

[icon_uk]

Batman and Robin (and Nightrunner) versus the return of the Painting that Ate Paris would be kind of awesome...

Love the Nguyen cover (which practically goes without saying)

I liked Inque, a lot, to the extent I don't think I want her Beechen-ised.

[darkknightjrk]

"Love the Nguyen cover (which practically goes without saying)"

Think that's good? Check out the cover he did for the newest 80-Page Giant:



"I liked Inque, a lot, to the extent I don't think I want her Beechen-ised."

I had the same thought--"I like Inque, but she's probably going to be ruined here."

Interesting thing I noticed about Inque..

[big_daddy_d]

She's the one Batman villain that Terry has yet to actually beat on his own. If he did, then feel free to correct me and give me a point of reference, otherwise, every episode I've seen, she fucking trounces him and it's always another party who beats her.

Also..betrayal of Damian...eh thinking it's not going to be something that obvious. I am curious about Gotham's First Super Villain though. Really looking forward to Gates of Gotham.

[jelly_ace]

Alfred should really be in more covers. And posters.

[mrstatham]

Yeah, given the track record of the poor old Batman of the Future villains under Beechen's pen, I don't have a hope for poor Inque.

Which is a shame. She was like an amazing cross between Clayface and Poison Ivy, with a dash of Lady Shiva.

[midnightvoyager]

That WOULD be awesome.

However, that second cover is wildly awesome. Kinda Hellboyish, I love it.

[recognitions]

A Magritte reference on the cover of a Batman issue not written by Grant Morrison? It really is the end of the world.

[octavius-rodens.livejournal.com]

Wasn't there a deconstructionist villain in Justice League Europe a long time ago? I wonder he's behind what's going on in the Batman and Robin issue.

[icon_uk]

Yes, Deconstructo, but he was Deconstructionist, not a Surrealist.

[red_menace]

My money's on Cluemaster being Steph's mystery villain.

[ebailey140]

Seems a little beyond his range. Whatever the client's master plan is, it involves needing that nun's DNA. That suggests someone who's mixing the mystic with science which, well, doesn't sound like Cluemaster.

This is someone who, I'm guessing, is to be Batgirl's Joker, the way Alice is Batwoman's and Anarky is supposed to be Red Robin's. So, it'll need tobe someone who's Steph's opposite, but matches up well to her.

However, unlike Kate's and Tim's Jokers, I expect this one to be the opposite of the Chaos/Order dynamic that's the norm with Bats and their main adversaries. The client is always referring to sticking to the plan, how this or that person is in the place the client wants them, etc. Steph, meanwhile, is, as Bruce calls her, the wild card.

[red_menace]

You may have a point there, but was mysticism implied in the previous issues? I don't have them with me right now, or I'd check, but I really don't remember.

[ebailey140]

The nun who's DNA they're after had "the ability to remove maladies from the acursed". So, the client is thinking this mystical power is in the DNA, and that DNA is needed for whatever the master plan is.

[drexer]

I've always thought we would get an explanation such as 'the miracles of yesteryear are the products of mutants and superpowers when such words did not exist'. So I'm not quite seeing a direct mystical connection; we'll have to wait and see.

[perletwo]

Dustin's Batgirl cover is beautiful, but I had a moment of real panic when I saw it, where I thought 'Hoshit, it's got everybody who's ever appeared in Batgirl - gotta be a final issue. DON'T CANCEL STEPH!!!!11!1!'

Then I read the solicit and calmed the eff down. I'm actually halfway intrigued by what the Reapers' client is after. DNA from a dead singing nun is critical to the master plan, which to me equals awesome, whatever the heck it is.

[ebailey140]

A nun who had "the ability to remove maladies from the accursed." So, the client needs a lot of money to finance the master plan, can do something with DNA, and specifically needs the ability to do what that nun did.

[perletwo]

Right! Right. It was the Reaper who turned out to be a musician/singer. Sorry, I'm sick and wrote that while on the glorious rush of the first dose of prescription drugs. :D Anyway, these bits and pieces do sound interesting - how do we define "accursed" in this context? Looking forward to it all coming out in the wash.

[q99]

Oh, hey! This means Damien finally gets to meet Cassandra like he wanted, doesn't it?

[cypherfdp]

I swear, when I first saw Nightrunner, I thought he was X-Force Deadpool.

[drexer]

I swear, if DC released a collected edition of their Batgirl covers by Dustin Nguyven, the things I would do to acquire it/once I had it would probably break a couple of international laws.

Sooooooo pretty....

[red_menace]

I would kill for some poster versions of those covers. They're so...neat.

[terrykun]

I love how excited Beryl/Squire looks inside The Compact. ^_^

"Steph! Did you know your steering wheel's on the wrong side?!"

[autumn_lily]

I was more fascinated by Klarion laying all over the top of the car!

[endis_ni]

Scrolling down that Gates Of Gotham cover, at first I thought it was one of Mike Mignola's.

[blackruzsa]

Inque!!!! She was the most interesting BB character to me back when I was eight years old. Wondered where she'd gone off to.
And I love the large cast Batgirl cover.