DC reinvents Batman and the Joker's first encounter with The Brave and The Bold

Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1 interior art
(Image credit: DC)

Batman: The Brave and The Bold is set to re-tell Bruce and the Joker's fateful first meeting as part of the new Dawn of DC era.

The anthology comic, which relaunches this May, will offer a four-part take on the lifelong foes' first encounter. Penned by Tom King and drawn by Mitch Gerads, DC has described the story as, “A tale of loathing, lies, and laughter, this may be the most frightening Joker story in a generation.” A bold - and indeed brave - claim.

The announcement was one of several made today on a panel at this year's WonderCon in Anaheim, where creators from numerous DC books gathered to talk the publisher's ongoing plans for the Dawn of DC refresh.

(Image credit: DC)

Also announced was the news that Unstoppable Doom Patrol, by Dennis Culver and Chris Burnham, is getting an additional issue. Originally intended to run for six issues, the series will now include a mid-run "bonus" issue drawn by David Lafuente. 

The panel also revealed that Cyborg-writer Morgan Hampton is being mentored on the series by none-other than the great Marv Wolfman. Although DC are keen to stress that Wolfman is not involved in the writing of the book, having the character's co-creator on your side is surely a vote of confidence in Hampton's direction for the series.

Finally, the panel previewed art from a whole slew of forthcoming comics, including some of Sweeney Boo's pages from Harley Quinn #28, which marks Dr Quinzel's official entry into the Dawn of DC - and her first big brush with her place in DC's larger Multiverse.

Dawn of DC is already underway, with more titles yet to be announced.

Check out the best DC stories of all time.

Will Salmon
Comics Editor

Will Salmon is the Comics Editor for GamesRadar/Newsarama. He has been writing about comics, film, TV, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he has previously launched scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for over a decade. He sometimes feels very old, like Guy Pearce in Prometheus. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places and he runs the micro-label Modern Aviation, which puts out experimental music on cassette tape.