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Dark Knight double dose: DC Comics reveals Black Label Batman Beyond, young Batman series
Two of DC's top Caped Crusader creators have new stories coming in 2022.
Two of DC Comics' top Batman creators have just announced brand-new series starring their respective versions of The Dark Knight, both set to launch in 2022. On Wednesday, the publisher revealed that both Batman: White Knight creator Sean G. Murphy and Batman and Batman/Catwoman writer Tom King will be returning to the Caped Crusader next year with two very different takes on the character, one of which will bring Terry McGinnis into a whole new world.
Murphy's next Batman adventure will be a return to the White Knight universe that began with Batman: White Knight and continued with Curse of the White Knight and White Knight Presents: Harley Quinn, all part of DC's adult-driven Black Label imprint. Titled Batman: Beyond the White Knight, the eight-issue miniseries will be written and drawn by Murphy, and will feature Batman Beyond himself, Terry McGinnis, leaping into the White Knight universe 10 years after Bruce Wayne wound up in prison.
“I really missed working in Gotham and it feels so great to be back,” Murphy said in a statement. “Drawing Neo-Gotham as an upgraded, retrofitted futurescape has been a blast. I'm working hard to blend the Beyond aesthetic with the White Knight world. Batman Beyond and Terry McGinnis fans will get everything they loved about the animated series, as well as a few twists."
The White Knight universe began with the premise that Jack Napier, aka The Joker, had reformed himself and set out to become Gotham's new savior, while attempting to convince everyone that Batman was the city's true greatest villain. From Harley Quinn to Azrael, the alternate universe has gone through a lot of reinvention of Batman mythology so far, and now Batman Beyond is next.
But while Murphy looks to the future, King will be looking to the past. As Comic Book Resources revealed Wednesday morning, King's next Batman tale will be Batman: Killing Time, with art by David Marquez and Alejandro Sánchez. A six-issue miniseries focusing on a younger Batman, the book will follow what happens when Catwoman, The Riddler, and The Penguin team up for "the greatest robbery in the history of Gotham City." This would put them in Batman's crosshairs no matter what their target was, but this time around, they're going after a secret artifact that belongs to none other than Bruce Wayne. What follows is an "action-packed tale of a young Batman desperate to recover his most prized possession."
Though he moved on from the main Batman title back in 2019, handing the reins off to writer James Tynion IV, King has continued to work with his own version of the Caped Crusader since, launching the maxi-series Batman/Catwoman to follow up on the characters' shared romantic history and potential future together. It's not clear if Killing Time will be a clear prequel to these events, or more of a standalone story, but as anyone who's read King's Batman run knows, he's fascinated by the dynamic between Gotham's various supervillains.
Both Batman: Beyond the White Knight and Batman: Killing Time launch in March.
