Jason Todd: Robin, Red Hood, Arkham Knight Appreciation 2020

[Drako]

That doesn't make it any better, and arguably, is actually worse.

Why do you think it's worse?

[Sergard]

After Joker War: The Future of Batman and Gotham City in 2021

[...]That finally changed in Batman #99, with Batman assembling every member of the Bat-family and vowing to undo the mistakes of the past. Whatever happens in Batman #100, Batman's victory will only come with a lot of help from Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Batwoman and the rest of the team. And as Abernathy teases, that should pave the way for a more consistent presence from these characters in the future.

"I think one of my favorite sequences in all of The Joker War was the gathering of the Bat Family back together, as that’s been a goal of mine since taking over this position," he said. "The Bat-Family is really a super hero universe in and of itself and greater connectivity among the titles is the goal for the coming year."[...]

...joy. More connectivity. I thought DC was going for less events and more character-driven stories.

[Sergard]

Tony Akins

"New faces (and some old ones) being met on the streets of Gotham City’s Hill District. #dccomics #gothamcity #redhood #dcentertainment"

[RedBird]

Well, this was an unnecessary discussion.
I hope whoever uploaded the first panel had a lot of fun reading all the reactions.

I did

Ha, Cheeky.

I thought that comment about this irking more fans than what was done to Wally and Ivy in HIC combined was an exaggeration till I saw the reactions of an out of context, out of continuity panel yesterday.

Shipping is serious business, that's for sure.

...joy. More connectivity. I thought DC was going for less events and more character-driven stories.

Do you suppose the original statement of more character driven stories and less events was meant more towards other dc titles, in the form of OGNs and digital only releases, and was excluding the Bat-Family mains. Especially since it seems as though the Bats are viewed as almost existing in their own universe. With all these books dropping, and the maybe/maybe not relaunch around the corner, I wonder if we'll still see a Red Hood title in the future. If DC will drop it altogether, or if they will finally promote the title with a new long term creative team and give it a push.

[Zaresh]

Ha, Cheeky.

I thought that comment about this irking more fans than what was done to Wally and Ivy in HIC combined was an exaggeration till I saw the reactions of an out of context, out of continuity panel yesterday.

Shipping is serious business, that's for sure.



Do you suppose the original statement of more character driven stories and less events was meant more towards other dc titles, in the form of OGNs and digital only releases, and was excluding the Bat-Family mains. Especially since it seems as though the Bats are viewed as almost existing in their own universe. With all these books dropping, and the maybe/maybe not relaunch around the corner, I wonder if we'll still see a Red Hood title in the future. If DC will drop it altogether, or if they will finally promote the title with a new long term creative team and give it a push.

I saw the Kori-Babs wars. It is.

About the connectivity, I think you're onto something. It's straight what fans write in their fanfics and fancomics, and I suspect it's the approach DC is, well, approaching, to be honest. I would've prefered each tittle being its own thing with some nods, occasional supporting roles and guest starrings here and there; but I don't think it's going to be an event feast anymore.

[Sergard]

[...]

Do you suppose the original statement of more character driven stories and less events was meant more towards other dc titles, in the form of OGNs and digital only releases, and was excluding the Bat-Family mains. Especially since it seems as though the Bats are viewed as almost existing in their own universe. With all these books dropping, and the maybe/maybe not relaunch around the corner, I wonder if we'll still see a Red Hood title in the future. If DC will drop it altogether, or if they will finally promote the title with a new long term creative team and give it a push.

I've found the article: Jim Lee Says a '5G Reboot' of the DC Universe Is 'Not Going to Happen'

"There won't be a project called '5G', or a big reboot, or whatever," Lee said during a prerecorded video for fans. "We really want to focus on individual titles, and organically build up individual characters over the course of the next year."

Lee continued to explain that there are "a lot of great ideas...floating around. And rather than dumping it all in one month and renumbering the line and going for that really short term spike in sales, we just naturally gravitated to the story ideas and concepts we love and building them into the mythology, the ongoing [DC] mythology, in a very organic way."

Theoretically you could be right. When I read Jim Lee's statement for the first time, I didn't even think about the possibility of exclusions. I just assumed that this approach was a general rule that holds true for every character. Although viewing the batfamily as their own little universe doesn't feel very "organic" to me.

Altogether, this feels like a huge letdown. I'm tired of how DC utilizes the batfamily.

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

The Batfamily isn't going to be excluded, if anything, it is what will set the pace for this new "era" of DC as whole.

[RedBird]

The Batfamily isn't going to be excluded, if anything, it is what will set the pace for this new "era" of DC as whole.

So, the Batfamily will have more connectivity amongst its titles, AND will focus more on building up individual titles organically?
The first option sounds much more likely to be under a heavier editorial mandate than the second option, which is why they sounded a little contradictory.
Though admittedly, it could be just a misinterpretation, the information in that 5G article is a little vague. The more direct news in relation to the Batfamily is the Joker war article, with the goal of greater connectivity between titles.
Which to be honest, does not sound very appealing considering previous instances where the titles had more connectivity with crossovers and events and such. Whatever is planned, here's hoping it works out though.

[Restingvoice]

Greater connectivity is not the problem. Greater connectivity is a good thing if you're writing a shared universe. That's how it should be.

The problem is top-down hiearchy. When only Batman can determine the course of the story, and only Batman story can affect the rest while each of the family members are not allowed to grow and affect the other titles including Batman. That is unnatural storytelling and the opposite of organic character driven stories.

For the universe to have both greater connectivity and character-driven, each character must be allowed to affect each other with equal chance. No more top-down pyramidal directive.

[Frontier]

After Joker War: The Future of Batman and Gotham City in 2021




...joy. More connectivity. I thought DC was going for less events and more character-driven stories.

I mean, I'd personally prefer character-driven interconnectedness like in the 90's rather than just isolated books that rarely connect with each other at all aside from when events happen.

But that's just me.

[Dark_Tzitzimine]

Gotham Knights by Joey Vazquez

[RedBird]

The problem is top-down hiearchy. When only Batman can determine the course of the story, and only Batman story can affect the rest while each of the family members are not allowed to grow and affect the other titles including Batman. That is unnatural storytelling and the opposite of organic character driven stories.

That has definitely been one of the biggest overarching issues in the recent attempts to connect the Bat-Family titles. So unless there's a shakeup to how DC approaches this though, unfortunately we may be in for more of the same top-down layout, with everything circling around Batman. Again, hopefully that won't be the case though.

I mean, I'd personally prefer character-driven interconnectedness like in the 90's rather than just isolated books that rarely connect with each other at all aside from when events happen.

But that's just me.

Yeah, that would nice too. Perhaps not with all the titles, things are more crowded now than they were in the 90s, but the main ones at least, like Nightwing and Batgirl or Robin or BOP etc.

[RedBird]

Lovely artwork, and on that topic, is anyone else looking forward to that new Gotham Knights game?

I know they only recently dropped the initial trailer, but I still want to know more about the game and see more screenshots asap.

I'm still very pleasantly surprised that a game focused on the Bat-Family was greenlit. Never really thought it would happen.

[Zaresh]

Lovely artwork, and on that topic, is anyone else looking forward to that new Gotham Knights game?

I know they only recently dropped the initial trailer, but I still want to know more about the game and see more screenshots asap.

I'm still very pleasantly surprised that a game focused on the Bat-Family was greenlit. Never really thought it would happen.

I am. I'm honestly interested in the game. I can't help but wish for some Witcher 3-like game, for some reason.

[RedBird]

I am. I'm honestly interested in the game. I can't help but wish for some Witcher 3-like game, for some reason.

One thing I always wanted in the Arkham series, especially when it expanded into Gotham City, was the ability to help random Gotham citizens. Not just NPCs that are part of a mission, I mean to be roaming or patrolling the city, and randomly coming across crimes in progress. Since this game is all about taking up the mantle and the legacy of the Batman, you can have it so that the more you take time to help people, the more your reputation grows. So something similar to Red Dead Redemption.

Any particular Witcher 3-like elements you'd like to see?