DC's Dark Knight versus a dark Gotham night in Jock's Black Label Batman debut

Batman: One Dark Knight #1 excerpt (Image credit: DC/Black Label)

Iconic Batman artist Jock returns to Gotham City this December, but this time he's doing it solo.

Jock will be stepping up to draw and write a three-issue prestige comic book series titled Batman: One Dark Knight. Scheduled to debut December 21, One Dark Knight will be set during a Gotham City blackout as Batman is, according to DC, stuck on the wrong side of town.

Batman: One Dark Knight #1 cover (Image credit: Jock (DC/Black Label))

"I think most readers know how much I love drawing Batman, so I was thrilled by the prospect of marrying the visual take with my own storyline for Batman: One Dark Knight," Jock says in the announcement. "I wanted to tell a propulsive, tight action tale, set over one typical night in Gotham City; except when a blackout strikes it's a night that goes very, very wrong for Batman. I can't wait to share more with everyone soon!"

Batman: One Dark Knight begins as the hero is escorting a Gotham City Police unit across town during a heatwave. Their cargo is an apparently new villain called EMP (as in Electro-Magnetic Pulse, not the WildCATS Character Emp), and his destination is Blackgate Prison. En route, Gotham City's power grid goes down somehow (could EMP be involved, given his name?) and puts a few roadblocks between Batman and his destination.

As a DC prestige format book, each issue of Batman: One Dark Knight will be 48 pages - double the page count of a typical comic book. It will also be classified as for readers 17 and up, as part of DC's Black Label imprint.

Here's a preview of Jock's Batman: One Dark Knight #1:

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Batman: One Dark Knight will be Jock's first writing gig for DC, after writing his own comics in with Savage Wolverine #9 - #11 and various anthologies. He had previously drawn memorable Batman stories such as 'Black Mirror,' The Batman Who Laughs, 'Hungry City,' and 'Ends of the Earth.'

This new limited series is the second writer/artist-driven Black Label book in recent memory, following the announced Catwoman: Lonely City by writer/artist Cliff Chiang. Chiang, coincidentally, is drawing a variant cover for Batman: One Dark Knight #1 alongside the primary one by Jock (and a Forbidden Planet exclusive variant). Lee Garbett is also drawing a variant, said by DC to be in a special 'Blackout' theme, along with a pair of variants by Mike Mayhew. Here's a look at all of the Batman: One Dark Knight #1 covers:

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Batman: One Dark Knight #1 covers

Batman: One Dark Knight #1 (of 3) goes on sale on December 21.

Keep track of this and all the new Dark Knight stories with our constantly updated list of new Batman comics, graphic novels, and collections.

Chris Arrant covered comic book news for Newsarama from 2003 to 2022 (and as editor/senior editor from 2015 to 2022) and has also written for USA Today, Life, Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, Marvel Entertainment, TOKYOPOP, AdHouse Books, Cartoon Brew, Bleeding Cool, Comic Shop News, and CBR. He is the author of the book Modern: Masters Cliff Chiang, co-authored Art of Spider-Man Classic, and contributed to Dark Horse/Bedside Press' anthology Pros and (Comic) Cons. He has acted as a judge for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, the Harvey Awards, and the Stan Lee Awards. Chris is a member of the American Library Association's Graphic Novel & Comics Round Table. (He/him)