The Batman

[W.West]

HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE NYCC:

Originally Posted by via Newsarama

The Batman: Battle for the Cowl panel at New York Comic Con focused on what will happen to all the Batman books now that Batman R.I.P. and Final Crisis caused a job opening in Gotham City.

On the panel were Greg Rucka, Dustin Nguyen, Mike Marts, Mike Siglain, Peter Tomasi, Tony Daniel and Ian Sattler.

Sattler asked the audience how many people think Batman's dead. Very few responded. The audience guessed he was in the beginning of time or somewhere else in the multiverse.

Marts said that the three-issue limited series Battle for the Cowl begins in March and will address what happens in the void of Batman. Tony Daniel will write and draw the comic.

Daniel said he's enjoying the chance to write the Gotham characters, and he's been working closely with Marts on every element of the story. "I'm waiting for approval of how this ends, and if I get my way, I'll be very happy," Daniel said.

A series of five one-shots will also come out during the Battle for the Cowl event, each focusing on a different character or characters, including one for Man-Bat, one for Commissioner Gordon, and also the Network, the Underground and the Arkham Asylum one-shots. There will also be two one-shots called Gotham Gazette that will start and finish the series.

Sattler then played a game of "Family Feud" with the audience, where people had to guess what series were being announced to begin in June.

When a fan guessed Detective Comics, Sattler announced that Rucka will take over as writer on Detective Comics beginning in June with Batwoman in the lead role and J.H. Williams. Rucka said he's not sure how long he's going to be on Detective Comics, but he said J.H. Williams will be on the book for at least 12 issues.

"I think there's a legitimate question why we should care about this character. And the reason you should care is she's kick-ass cool," Rucka said.

When the crowd had only three successful guesses (out of eight) but couldn't get any more of them, Dan DiDio stood up in the audience to guess all the books being announced for June.

The other comic book series beginning in June are:

- Batman
- Batman and Robin
- Red Robin
- Outsiders
- Batgirl
- Batman: The Streets of Gotham
- Gotham City Sirens (with implications being that Catwoman would be part of the book)
- (the aforementioned) Detective Comics

The unsuccessful guesses, which will NOT be out in June, included:
- Nightwing
- Oracle
- Batwoman

The panel was then opened to questions.

- Was Bane ever considered for Battle for the Cowl? Marts: His involvement in Secret Six made him a little too busy.

- Will we see more Tim vs. Damian? Marts: Yes.

- Will Paul Dini be involved in future Batman books? Marts: Yes. Perhaps in more than one spot.

- Will the Batman books be tying into Blackest Night at all? Sattler: Yes.

- Will the fate of Wayne Enterprises be decided in Battle for the Cowl? Daniel: There's some foreshadowing in the first issue, but that will mostly be handled in the June books.

- Is Renee Montoya on an alternate earth? Rucka: "No. Is Grant Morrison on an alternate earth? Yes!"

- Will Owlman get a book? Tomasi: No. Batman and the Outsiders is out next Wednesday, and a lot will be revealed about Owlman in that.

- What is Joker doing during this? Sattler: You wait awhile for Joker.

- Since there's no Nightwing book, does that mean there's no Nightwing? Rucka: There's a character in Action Comics named Nightwing.

- Will there be any more Gotham Central characters showing up? Rucka: Yes, in Detective Comics they will lead back in because I can't keep away from them. Maggie shows up by Issue #856. The first four issues are an initial story with Batwoman, then there are three issues that are about her origin.

- Did Harvey kill the guy who shot Gordon? Rucka: Yes. And I don't think they've ever explained how he got his badge back. Sattler: We'll explain that.

- Will the whole DC Universe be involved in Battle for the Cowl? Daniel: Not really. We're going to see a few of the central characters like Tim Drake, Dick Grayson and Jason Todd as the main focus of the story. The battle is pretty much a three-way battle. It's going to be limited to just Gotham City. It's a very personal battle.

- (Asked by Marts) Are Catwoman, Knight and Squire, Ragman, and Black Canary there? Daniel: They're all there, but they don't necessarily all want to be Batman.

- Will Alfred be involved in all these books? Tomasi: You'll see his military background and a harsher side of him in Batman and the Outsiders. He's the eyes and ears of the Batman and the Outsiders Special.

- What's the motivation of those three characters who are battling for the cowl? Why isn't Dick Grayson the obvious choice? Daniel: Well, Grayson doesn't think there should be a new Batman. He thinks he's irreplaceable. But they all realize that without him, Gotham is a mess. But Tim might have a different idea, and think maybe he should step up before someone else takes over Gotham.

- What are the major villains doing now that there's chaos in Gotham? Daniel: Two-Face and the Penguin have gained alliances, with bad guys choosing sides in a battle for Gotham. Commissioner Gordon is losing control and people are asking him to step down. He's considering calling in the National Guard. "We also see the return of an old villain who's kind of new again."

Daniel said there will be two Batman-costumed people fighting each other during the series.

- Are there any plans for the Anarchy to appear again? Marts: He did appear in Robin recently, and we do plan to involve him in the future.

- Will we see interaction between Talia and Jason Todd? Marts: Yes.

- When is Grant Morrison coming back to Batman? Sattler: June.

- Is Deathstroke going to be in Batman and the Outsiders? Yes, Deathstroke is in an upcoming issue, and he'll meet Geo Force. There will be a bit of violence.

- How involved in Battle for the Cowl is Hush? Daniel: Not in Battle for the Cowl. Marts: He'll be around in June. Tommy's in an interesting spot right now because he looks like Bruce Wayne, so that story will be told.

- Are there people who are going to support different sides of the battle for Batman? Daniel: There's a network in Gotham City that Batgirl and Dick put together to control Gotham. There will be characters with whom they're close.

- A fan asked why Batman's corpse is in Final Crisis, but then he's at the beginning of time? Sattler: The answer will come soon. That corpse is something, and we're getting to it soon.

- What is Dustin going to be drawing? Tomasi: Well, he's up here, so you can guess from there. But it isn't announced yet.

- When is there going to be fallout from Final Crisis and Batman R.I.P. in the rest of the DC Universe? Sattler: Very soon. And it will be labeled on the front of the book, so you can't miss it.

- What number can fans call to get Jason Todd killed again? Sattler (joking): We'll have some kind of text message where you can vote during American Idol.

- Is Two-Face actually going to wear the costume? Rucka: It will be a giant penny that he flips. Sattler: We're not going to answer that question because it's

- Is Fabian Nicieza going to be involved in the Bat books? Marts: Yes. He's contributed greatly to the Bat books. You'll be seeing Fabe on the Bat books for awhile to come.

- What was the green-eyed monster attached to Bat-Mite? Marts: It is a story that will be told.

- Will we see Club of Heroes in Battle for the Cowl? Marts: Yes.

- Will the Spectre be involved? Sattler: No.

- Any more Edward Nigma? Marts: Yes, he'll be in the Underground one-shot. Daniel: He's in Battle for the Cowl #1.

- How will Battle for the Cowl affect the relationship between Batman and Superman? Sattler: It will, obviously. But Superman's going to be pretty busy. Rucka: Superman's not really at home. He's going to be on another planet most of this time. He's got his hands full. But I will tell you this -- he's Superman, and he will know who's under the cowl. If he had a problem with it, he'd address it.

- Will the Superman/Batman comic going to reflect these changes? Sattler: It will continue as a comic.

- Will Bat-Mite figure into what's going on with Bruce Wayne? Marts: Not in the next few months.

- More Neil Gaiman on Batman? Marts: His comic comes out next week. Sattler: The Neil Gaiman Batman stuff is "truly remarkable." Marts: They're two extremely special issues. It might be among Neil's best work. It's definitely Andy Kubert's best work. Sattler: There probably won't be more Neil this year, but you will definitely want to check out those issues.

- Will Red Robin be wearing the Kingdom Come costume in the June series? Sattler: We can't say.

- With Birds of Prey ending, will those characters be in Battle for the Cowl? Daniel: Yes. I love Birds of Prey, and we see them in every issue. They help Tim and Dick handle Gotham. Siglain: Check out the Oracle mini-series and the Batgirl series for more on them.

- Will there be variant covers for Battle for the Cowl? Marts: Yes. Daniel: Am I doing them? Marts: Yes. One variant per issue.

- Any chance Jason Todd will take on Azrael? Marts: There's a chance.

- Where will we see Bruce Wayne again? Sattler: You might see him again, but you'll just have to keep reading.

- How did Tim Drake grow his hair back? Marts: Fabian has an answer for that and it will be addressed.

- Will they all make it out of Battle for the Cowl? Sattler: There will be a coffin.

- When will we see Nightwing's lair again? Tomasi: Unfortunately, the lair is not going to be around. Sattler: Along with Nightwing, possibly.

- Where will Tony go after Battle for the Cowl? Marts: I'm not letting him go anywhere else.

- Which book will Stephanie Brown be in, and will she be appearing regularly? Marts: She'll be in Gotham Gazette next.

btw, Newsarama is on their shit aren't they?!

[myuserid]

No kidding their on their game. To many questions for me to ask right now. Any idea on who will be in the coffin? The Nightwing in Action comics isn't Dick is it?

[W.West]

I'm pissed that Tomasi won't be writing Nightwing...or that there won't BE a Nightwing!! However, with the addition of Batman and Robin, I see more Damien in our future and less Bruce Wayne. I don't think with Grant's return to the Batman title that we'll get Bruce back as Batman ASAP at all, anymore. I think there will be a period of time where whoever dons the cowl at the end of "Battle"(Dick or Tim) will essentially be Batman.

I'm happy that Rucka is on board of Detective Comics and we're FINALLY going to get a real origin for Batwoman! Its always great news to hear Greg is going to be writing the Gotham Central characters again(even though they deserve their own book). I can't wait for SDCC when "Battle" is over, and they'll announce just WTF "Gotham City Sirens" will be about. Though if its anywhere on the level that Catwoman was, then I'm game.

I've got this bad feeling that The Riddler will go bad again by the end of "Battle"(the entire event, not the 3 issues).

With Robin now becoming Red Robin, I'd be surprised if anyone not named Dick Grayson would be Batman. Dick loses the second best Batman family title, and Robin gets a new gimmick? Nah, Dick deserves more. And they probably are holding off Nightwings comeback to avoid confusion with the terrible idea of the new Nightwing over in Action Comics.

- Are there people who are going to support different sides of the battle for Batman? Daniel: There's a network in Gotham City that Batgirl and Dick put together to control Gotham. There will be characters with whom they're close.

Now thats REALLY interesting. Barbara Gordon gets her own mini(wonder if it'll show Commish going through his troubles...doubt it), but despite her close relationship with Dick Grayson its the lame Batgirl who comes up with "The Network". I'm interested to see how this goes down. AH! So excited!

Poor Spoiler..Tim doesn't care for you anymore and you're limited to Gotham Gazette while Man-bat gets his own one shot. lol Sucks being an irrelevant "back from the dead for no good reason" character doesn't it?


Nice to know that DC will place banners on books showing the aftermath of FC. +1 for Didio.


No. That is not Dick Grayson in Action Comics. THANK GOD. As for the coffin? No freaking clue. Let's hope its Jason Todd.

[JME2]

Originally Posted by W.West

I've got this bad feeling that The Riddler will go bad again by the end of "Battle"(the entire event, not the 3 issues).

I'm hoping that doesn't happen, either. His turn towards private consulting detective has been one of my favorite aspects of Dini's run and it makes for a much more interesting characterization of Nygma than cackling supervillain.

[myuserid]

With Robin now becoming Red Robin

How do we know for sure that this will be Robin? Couldn't it be Damien?

Right now, I don't see any other option than Dick becoming Batman. What else is he going to do if his book's not coming back?

Since there's no Nightwing book, does that mean there's no Nightwing? Rucka: There's a character in Action Comics named Nightwing.

I'd be interested in finding out more about this statement and what it means for Dick.

"We also see the return of an old villain who's kind of new again."

Any guesses on this one?

[W.West]

Originally Posted by myuserid

How do we know for sure that this will be Robin? Couldn't it be Damien?

Well I don't know for sure of course, but this is me assuming that the Robin we'll get in "Batman and Robin" will be Damien, thus leaving Tim to his own series. But then again, we haven't seen the relationship between Dick and Damien for that to really work...it could be reversed...again, this is still assuming Dick is going to be Batman by the end of "Battle"

Originally Posted by myuserid

Right now, I don't see any other option than Dick becoming Batman. What else is he going to do if his book's not coming back?

Exactly. And with Didio purposely answering the "fans" question about Dick Grayson/Nightwing's importance to the DCU in one of the Newsarama 20 Questions videos, I think he knows not to fuck with the Grayson fanbase. To take away Bruce AND Dick would be a terrible idea....to say the least.

Originally Posted by myuserid

I'd be interested in finding out more about this statement and what it means for Dick.

Again, its my guess that we won't see the NIGHTWING we know and love. We'll see that brought back from oblivion character using that brought back from oblivion name, in Action Comics. But we'll still get our monthly dosage of Dick Grayson in Batman.

Originally Posted by myuserid

Any guesses on this one?

Edward Nigma. I'm guessing that's hinting at the return of the villainous persona of The Riddler....unless we count Azrael as a villain...?

[Mrt1000son]

Now thats REALLY interesting. Barbara Gordon gets her own mini(wonder if it'll show Commish going through his troubles...doubt it), but despite her close relationship with Dick Grayson its the lame Batgirl who comes up with "The Network". I'm interested to see how this goes down. AH! So excited!

Cassandra Cain's the superior Batgirl to Barbra Gordon, she can outfight Lady Shiva, wheras Babs would've had her spine snapped (if she hadn't already)

How do we know for sure that this will be Robin? Couldn't it be Damien?

Right now, I don't see any other option than Dick becoming Batman. What else is he going to do if his book's not coming back?

Since The General's hijacked the Anarchy persona, I'm wondering if Lonnie will become Robin, or Red Robin at some point

As for Nightwing, I think he'll stay in Titans for the time being but I'd still bet big time on him becoming Batman if I wasn't so sure Bruce would return at the end of it all and take the cowl back

[W.West]

I hadn't thought of Titans actually. Maybe Dick leaves the team to Wally due to the events of Battle for the Cowl and Wally's loss of a starring role??

Maybe Red Robin won't be Tim or Damien...maybe Battle will set up Jason Todd for his own series?

I disagree about Cassandra though. She bores the hell out of me and her mini was on the mediocre side.

[lanternut]

Would DC dare kill off Dick, but then do the new Batman and Robin series as a Legends of the Dark Knight type early stories of Bruce and Dick?

[W.West]

Nah. They have ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN for that. They don't/wouldn't hurt continuity for that.

[Mrt1000son]

Originally Posted by W.West

I hadn't thought of Titans actually. Maybe Dick leaves the team to Wally due to the events of Battle for the Cowl and Wally's loss of a starring role??

Maybe Red Robin won't be Tim or Damien...maybe Battle will set up Jason Todd for his own series?

I disagree about Cassandra though. She bores the hell out of me and her mini was on the mediocre side.

Cass's incredibly cool, her own series was awesome, she owned the entire League Of Asassins, played Deathstroke for a chump and owned her parents, two of the deadliest hitmen/martial artists in the DCU

I wouldn't mind seeing Jason Todd back in some capacity, maybe he'll be Nightwing, it's said there's going to be a Nightwing in Action comics, maybe that could be Jason Todd


Wouldn't mind seeing Bane put in an appearence somewhere too

[JME2]

Originally Posted by Mrt1000son

I wouldn't mind seeing Jason Todd back in some capacity, maybe he'll be Nightwing, it's said there's going to be a Nightwing in Action comics, maybe that could be Jason Todd.

God, I hope not. The novelty of having Jason Todd back wore off long ago and as I've said before, Winnick should have killed him once and for all at the end of "Under the Hood".

[W.West]

Originally Posted by Mrt1000son

Cass's incredibly cool, her own series was awesome, she owned the entire League Of Asassins, played Deathstroke for a chump and owned her parents, two of the deadliest hitmen/martial artists in the DCU

I wouldn't mind seeing Jason Todd back in some capacity, maybe he'll be Nightwing, it's said there's going to be a Nightwing in Action comics, maybe that could be Jason Todd


Wouldn't mind seeing Bane put in an appearence somewhere too

I like Bane being in Secret Six than Batman comics right now...

The Batgirl series still isn't realistically in continuity with the other books. Its like they came up with a story for some random chick and said, "We'll worry about where this fits in later." She's the last person in the DCU I expected to receive and ongoing series.

Jason as Nightwing? Have you no respect?!! and the Nightwing in Action Comics will likely have a connection to Superman as the name implies, so that rules out Jason. Not to mention that Nightwing is solely there to uphold the values of Superman, which are completely different from Jason's ideals.

[Darth_Andrea]

Originally Posted by myuserid

No kidding their on their game. To many questions for me to ask right now. Any idea on who will be in the coffin? The Nightwing in Action comics isn't Dick is it?

No it's not Dick but it's been speculated that it's Connor Kent aka Superboy returned. However with the Origins and Omens story recently told this past week I'm starting to think it's not him.



Darth_Andrea

[Mewzard]

It was far too easy for Nightwing to be Connor. Besides, who would be the girl with him? Did Supergirl get a clone mixed in with Barbara? lol

As for the series, I see Dick as Batman, Tim as Red Robin, Damien as Robin, and Jason Todd as a new role, not listed among them. Maybe he'll take over as Azrael. Well, we have Batman, Red Robin, Robin, Batgirl, Batwoman...hmm...

[W.West]

He won't be Azrael, because Daniel said while Battle is going on, the Azrael series will be going on at the same time. So unless this comeback character comes back just to die, it won't be Jason behind the new Suit of Sorrows.

[Darth_Andrea]

Unless Flamebird is Matrix. She had a majority of Kryptonian powers plus telepathy, shape shifting and invisibility powers. It wouldn't really surprise me honestly. Conner and a fairly close relationship with her nearly brother and sister.



Darth_Andrea

Originally Posted by Darth_Andrea

Unless Flamebird is Matrix. She had a majority of Kryptonian powers plus telepathy, shape shifting and invisibility powers. It wouldn't really surprise me honestly. Conner and a fairly close relationship with her nearly brother and sister.

That would be cool.....but would mean no "Black Lantern Conner" to punch the shit out of "you don't even have a cape"-Superboy Prime

[methos]

Originally Posted by Darth_Andrea

Unless Flamebird is Matrix. She had a majority of Kryptonian powers plus telepathy, shape shifting and invisibility powers. It wouldn't really surprise me honestly.[/IMG]

well, Linda Danvers / Mae are still out there in the universe as of the end of Supergirl LD... she left after the Kara storyline after having a daughter with Superman...

so bringing her back as Flamebird could be a good storyline....

M

[Old School]

as long as jason todd is under that mask, I'm all over the RED ROBIN COMIC

it'll look nice with my red robin figure I bought years back

[W.West]

Back on topic...

It doesn't seem as if Tony Daniel will be accompanying Grant Morrison to return to the Batman title, so what will Tony pick up? What would you rather see him on? Who should follow his spot on the Batman book? Frank Quietly?

[Old School]

Originally Posted by methos

well, Linda Danvers / Mae are still out there in the universe as of the end of Supergirl LD... she left after the Kara storyline after having a daughter with Superman...

so bringing her back as Flamebird could be a good storyline....

M

they should keep flamebird as the only flamebird from the get go, there is really no reason to have two flamebirds. Unless there are on different earths

[Old School]

Originally Posted by Mewzard

It was far too easy for Nightwing to be Connor. Besides, who would be the girl with him? Did Supergirl get a clone mixed in with Barbara? lol

As for the series, I see Dick as Batman, Tim as Red Robin, Damien as Robin, and Jason Todd as a new role, not listed among them. Maybe he'll take over as Azrael. Well, we have Batman, Red Robin, Robin, Batgirl, Batwoman...hmm...

I dont see tim becoming red robin.

[Mrt1000son]

Originally Posted by Old School

they should keep flamebird as the only flamebird from the get go, there is really no reason to have two flamebirds. Unless there are on different earths

Err, as a Titans fan aren't you forgetting Bette Kane, the current Flamebird? I prefer the non-Kryptonian Nightwing and Flamebird to the Kryptonian ones

I don't see the point in re-starting every series from #1 every few years, I wasn't intimidated when I got into DC and some titles were over 600 issues strong, there's no need to restart Batman

The Batgirl series still isn't realistically in continuity with the other books. Its like they came up with a story for some random chick and said, "We'll worry about where this fits in later." She's the last person in the DCU I expected to receive and ongoing series.

And? None of the R.I.P titles seemed to be in sync with one another and most of the OYL stuff was out and runing endings in 52 before it was halfway through, the series was fine, the mini was more a filler between the Titans East arc in Teen Titans and her appearence in Batman & The Outsiders, more than anything it tried to tie up the god awful crap in the Robin arc set after OYL

[Old School]

Originally Posted by Mrt1000son

Err, as a Titans fan aren't you forgetting Bette Kane, the current Flamebird? I prefer the non-Kryptonian Nightwing and Flamebird to the Kryptonian ones

I don't see the point in re-starting every series from #1 every few years, I wasn't intimidated when I got into DC and some titles were over 600 issues strong, there's no need to restart Batman

thats what im saying keep bette kane as the only flamebird, no need to have two.