DC is bringing the all-star creative team of writer Matt Fraction and artist Jorge Jiménez together for a fresh Batman relaunch. A new Batman #1 is coming this September with a throwback blue and gray costume, a new Batmobile, and "all the stuff that makes Batman the coolest character in comics."
Fraction and Jiménez are joined by colorist Tomeu Morey and letterer Clayton Cowles for the series relaunch which, in a press release, DC says will tell "connected but self-contained stories." The exact details of those stories remain under wraps from now, but you can take a look at a few unlettered interior pages by Jiménez and Morey as well as Jiménez's cover art and character design concepts in the gallery below.
Perhaps the most striking part of the art is Batman's new costume, which throws back to the Caped Crusader's classic blue and gray color scheme. The art also shows a bit of what DC is teasing as "a new look for Gotham City." We're also going to see a new Batmobile, but we'll have to wait for our first look at that.
"I wouldn’t be here if it wasn't for Batman. It was the first comic I ever read," Fraction says in the press release. "Jorge and I have a very superhero-forward kind of take on Batman. We've got a new Batmobile, we've got a new costume, we've got new characters, and we've got a lot of old ones too - good and bad; all the stuff that makes Batman the coolest character in comics. We want to celebrate it all."
"For this new chapter, we’re crafting a revamped aesthetic, bringing back Batman's blue suit in a definitive way," Jiménez adds. "It's a small shift meant to feel both classic and fresh, subtly evolving while staying true to the original design we’ve used in recent years. At the same time, I’m working on Gotham City's visual identity, giving it a fresh approach that sets it apart from my previous takes. I'm aiming for a slight pop influence, something that subtly nods to classic stories while keeping the dark and ominous feel of contemporary Batman."
Batman #1 launches this September. The current Batman series continues in issue #158 on March 26, which will see creative team Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair and Richard Starkings take over for a sequel to one of the greatest Batman stories ever told.
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