Move over, Bruce Wayne – there’s a new Batman coming to Gotham City to fight crime, and instead of a cape, he’ll be wearing a manga-style suit of armour.
As DC Comics geared up for the annual Free Comic Book Day giveaways last Saturday, the publisher announced it was dethroning Wayne and introducing a new Dark Knight.
Writer Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo won't say who will be under the armoured cowl when Batman issue 41 is published next month. "The character we're putting under the cowl never expected it, never saw it coming and never set out to be Batman. It comes out of left field, and he realises that he's the only one that can make it make sense," Snyder says.
Wayne ends his run as Batman in issue 40 following a climactic battle with his archenemy the Joker in the appropriately named storyline Endgame – but, of course, this is comics and so it doesn’t mean that he is gone for good (he has previously relinquished his role as Batman at least twice).
“He might not be under the cowl when the story starts but his presence will be a big part of the story and shape it,” Snyder says.
Batman is one of the most enduring comic-book heroes, the star of long-running comic books, TV series and movies – with the latest, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which will finally team up DC's big two (plus a few others) on the big screen, due for release next year.
Any kind of change to the character’s comic-book mythos can be risky. But Snyder and Capullo – who designed the new armour – say their intention is to inject new interest into the Dark Knight comic books by putting a new person in the role.
“It gives us a chance to see Batman from this incredibly different angle,” says Snyder.
The new Batman wears a manga-inspired suit of armour, Capullo says, plus another uniform underneath that’s used when armour might be too bulky.
DC hope that by shaking things up in Batman, it will attract new readers to the book.
Snyder says: “This gives us a new lease on the book, and it gives hopefully fans a sense of how fun Batman can be.”
The new Batman is one of many changes in comic books recently. Marvel is recasting a version of Spider-Man as a multiracial teenager, while Thor is now a woman. DC Comics also reimagined icons including Superman and Wonder Woman during a reboot a few years ago.
It comes as comic-book superheroes are more popular than ever in movies and on TV, with Hollywood blockbusters such as Avengers: Age of Ultron, which opened last week, or on the small screen, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD and DC's Gotham, which tells the story of the young Bruce Wayne after the murder of his parents, Detective Jim Gordon and many of the men and women who will eventually become Batman's greatest foes.
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