It’s a good thing that the letters “DC” in DC Entertainment stand for Detective Comics, because it seems like almost half of their mainstream superhero line of books is set in and around the world of Batman. This coming August alone has twenty Bat-related books coming out. So hey, what’s two more? This October, DC Entertainment (via Entertainment Weekly) has announced two new books set in and around the world of Gotham City, both totally in current continuity.
The first is Gotham Academy, written by Eisner-Award-nominated artist Becky Cloonan (DEMO) along with Brenden Fletcher and illustrated by Karl Kerschl, and it arrives on October 1st. This one is a new, monthly teen drama “set in the shadow of Batman and the craziness of Gotham City with new characters and old, plus a secret tie to Gotham’s past….”  This is just my speculation, but my guess is that the teen protagonists of Gotham Academy will be the children (or somehow related to) famous Gotham City villains.  In a press release from DC Comics, Gotham Academy is described exactly like this: “Like, what’s up with Olive Silverlock? Is she crazy or what? Where did she go last summer? And what’s the deal with her creepy mom? And how come that Freshman MAPS is always following her around? Is she still going out with Kyle? P.S. Did you hear the rumor about the ghost in the North Hall?!”  Sounds like Harry Potter meets Mean Girls meets Batman, which sounds kinda crazy on its face, but also a possibly very lucrative premise if the right demographic discovers it.
Next up in October is Arkham Manor, which features a drastic change to the world of Bruce Wayne, as his home becomes the prison for his very worst enemies. This also means that at some point in the next couple of months, probably in the pages of Batman Eternal, something bad happens to the original Arkham Asylum, requiring Bruce Wayne to offer up his house as an alternative. According to the official description, “In Arkham Manor, stately Wayne Manor gets made over into the local psycho dungeon, and, perhaps predictably, some inmates wind up dead.” My question is, how long before one of Batman’s villains discovers the massive Bat-cave underneath? Arriving in comic shops on October 22nd, Arkham Manor is being brought to you by writer Gerry Duggan (Deadpool, Nova) and artist Shawn Crystal (Deadpool, Wolverine and the X-Men).
Check out the covers for the first issues of both series below:
Which book are you more excited for? Let us know in the comments below.
