Batman welcomes a new lead writer and artist in December

DC has named the next writer of its flagship comic book title Batman, and its someone DC fans know quite well: Joshua Williamson.

"I'm writing Batman!" Williamson tweets. "As Batman leaves Gotham, I'm starting a new storyline called 'Abyss' drawn by the awesome Jorge Molina."

For 'Abyss', Molina will be paired with veteran Batman colorist Tomeu Morey. The letterer who will join them has not been confirmed.

Williamson makes it a point to note "the oval is back," referring to the yellow oval version of the Batman emblem that recently reappeared in Detective Comics.

"We're honoring the plan that the other books in the bat-line are doing while telling a brand-new story for Bruce Wayne as Batman in the DCU," Williamson continues.

Williamson has created a new villain called Abyss (yes, as in the title of the story-arc), who you can see on Molina's cover for Batman #119. The villain will debut in Batman #118, however.

"The bat is out of the bag!!! I've been waiting to do Batman all my career and now it’s the time," Molina tweets. "Teaming up with the amazingly talented [Joshua Williamson] on this exciting ride where we'll explore new adventures for the Dark Knight while bringing a classic feel to it."

Batman group editor Ben Abernathy adds to this, tweeting that the final page of Batman #118 is "shockingly fun!"

Williamson, who has already become the de facto lead writer at DC, adds Batman to an already busy portfolio of two monthly ongoings in Robin and Deathstroke Inc., along with the event series Infinite Frontier, and the limited series Future State: Gotham (with co-writer Dennis Culver) and Justice League Incarnate (also with Culver). Outside of DC, he is also guest-writing The SIlver Coin #6.

This will technically be Williamson's second stint on Batman, after co-writing 2017's Batman #21 and #22 with Tom King as part of 'The Button' crossover with his The Flash run.

Williamson takes over DC's Batman title after current series writer James Tynion IV announced on August 8 that he decided to leave the title in order to focus more on his creator-owned work.

As part of this, DC will be slowing down the release schedule of Batman (at least temporarily), going from twice-monthly to once monthly.

Batman #118 goes on sale this December.

Keep track of this and all the new Batman comics, graphic novels, and collections in 2021 and beyond.

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)