James Tynion's Plans for Batman in 2021

[Frontier]

Surprised Punchline isn’t having a comic of her own and riding the wave of support she got in 2020. Seems weird that we got the one shot and then she back to being relegated to a backup storyline.

Better safe than sorry on a new character?

[lemonpeace]

Better safe than sorry on a new character?

I don't think Punchline is meant to be a standalone character, at least not right now in her current phase of development. I think her current function is to squarely be an antagonist. to that end, it's probably best not to overindulge her with too much solo material because that'll either oversaturate her (like Joker) or overly humanizer as a protagonist (Deadpool, Harley Quin).

[Vordan]

Yeah so it looks like DC is using the anthologies to potentially test the market to see if certain characters are strong enough sellers to attract an audience. Would love to see Superfamily and Wonderfamily anthologies as well. Everything Tynion says about Natman sounds interesting, a cyberpunk horror Scarecrow story is right up my alley.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I like his newsletter and his creator-owned stuff. I'm not too fond of his Batman run but maybe I'm just burned out on batman and need a break.

[Frontier]

I don't think Punchline is meant to be a standalone character, at least not right now in her current phase of development. I think her current function is to squarely be an antagonist. to that end, it's probably best not to overindulge her with too much solo material because that'll either oversaturate her (like Joker) or overly humanizer as a protagonist (Deadpool, Harley Quin).

And it also probably helps keep Harper going by connecting their stories together...

[Westbats]

And it also probably helps keep Harper going by connecting their stories together...

I'd like to see Harper advance past Punchline when things come to a close, the more I think about it, the more it seems like Harper's identity could be compromised by someone in Punchline's group. While I can't see Cullen up and telling his new boyfriend Bluff that his sister is a vigilante (or even telling Punchline that himself), I could see Bluff putting two and two together if he ever met Harper out of costume. Likewise, I don't think it'll be long before Marcus Row (who is aware of Harper's association with Batman) comes to Punchline trying to get into whatever she's got planned while she's in Blackgate.

[Citizen Kane]

James Tynion sent out a newsletter last night with a lot of exciting info about his plans for the Batman and Joker titles.

There is a lot to take in, but here are some exciting bits I found interesting..

Urban Legends will spin out other gotham titles and mini series: "Urban Legends is going to be a real gift. A lot of storylines will be seeded in that title before they break out into their own titles… There are also more books to come in the Gotham line as the year goes on. Big moments in the core Gotham titles will set new runs in motion in other titles. Backups and shorts might turn into one-shots and miniseries and series, and we’re working to make sure it all matters."

On Batman's current wealth: "I'm bring him back to being a less problematic kind of Wealthy. Bruce Wayne, Millionaire, rather than Bruce Wayne, Billionaire. He’s not so rich that he could effectively buy Gotham City and fix it overnight. There are a bunch of much wealthier people than him in the city trying to maintain their power and influence and Batman is from their world and fighting against them, he doesn’t have the ability to just buy and sell them and walk away."

Planning the bat/cat dynamic: " I had a long chat with Ram V just the other day about how we can weave together a series of story threads between the Batman and Catwoman titles that are going to pay off incredibly when they all come together."


On the reaction to the Joker book: "I know there are a lot of folks who are going to have a knee-jerk reaction to there being a Joker book. If I weren’t writing it, I’d probably be one of them. Hell, back when it was first pitched to me, I said flat out that I wasn’t really sure how to make that work… And then I sat with it for a few weeks and said “okay, I know how to make it work, but it’s only going to work if we come at it from an unexpected angle.” And thankfully everyone in the Bat-Offices, and the DC offices bought into my angle. It is the scariest book I have written for DC Comics so far. And maybe the most human. I love writing Jim Gordon so fucking much. He’s been one of my favorite characters in all of comics for my entire life."

Backup Stories in Batman: "The Batman title is going have an unannounced backup features starting in April (After a two part ROBIN backup by my good pal Joshua Williamson and one of my favorite new artists, Gleb Melnikov, running between the March issues of both Batman and Detective) – I’ve been working with the artist on the next round of Back-ups since late this summer, and I could not be more excited to tell you about it. It is high octane manga-influenced action insanity, with an artist I love, and can’t wait to bring to into the Gotham fold."


Other small things:
-Next Batman arc is described as a cyberpunk horror story, introduces a new group caleld the unsanity collective
-Batman annual 5, that came out this week, sets up what's next for clownhunter's evolution
-He considers the current Batman era as roughly the midpoint between batman the animated series and batman beyond
-He has a 3 year plan for both the Batman and Joker titles, as always, it depends on how much people continue to support him on the titles

So basically, DC is going to slap the "Batman" label across the covers of a ton of spin-offs for fan-submission characters that barely got their noses wet in the Batman mythos, while little to nothing is going to be happening in the main Batman titles. What a disappointment. And "manga-influenced action insanity"? What!?

I don't mind the cyberpunk vibe that Tynion wants to move towards, but it seems to be a bandwagon move rather than a natural progression—I also just simply prefer the gothic nature of Gotham. If anything interesting comes of it, I might pick up a trade, but there's nothing Tynion's said so far that has me excited for this current lineup. See you in 7 months.

[Avi]

That there will be more conversation between creators sounds good. I can see different people working more closely together like Ram V & Tynion and Taylor & Tamaki.

If BatCat returns to continuity it'll be interesting to see how Ram V will include it in his Catwoman run.

[silverlantern]

I find Tynion a really talented writer whose Batman has been bland so far. From my understanding, a lot of his plans were changed due to the scrapped 5G plans and the coronavirus shutdowns, so he's only really been able to have free reign in the title starting in March. (As far as we know, he was meant to be the fill-in writer on the title until issue 100, where Tim Fox was going to take over that John Ridley was probably gonna write). The newsletter also implies that Jorge Jiminez is the main monthly artist so at the very least the art will be top - notch.

Speaking of Tim, the three year plan comment does have me thinking. If we're going off three years after March 2021, that should bring us to the year 2024. That year was rattling around in my head for some reason until I realized that the "canon" year of the Future State books for the Bat-line was 2025, the year where Tim takes the Batman mantle and Future State: Nightwing, Catwoman, Sirens and Red Hood all take place. 2024 would also be the 85th Anniversary of Bruce's debut and could serve as his temporary send off. I don't know how long term the DC editorial office is planning but maybe we have to take them at their word and Tim will in fact be the "next" Batman starting then.

[Bad Witch]

So basically, DC is going to slap the "Batman" label across the covers of a ton of spin-offs for fan-submission characters that barely got their noses wet in the Batman mythos, while little to nothing is going to be happening in the main Batman titles. What a disappointment. And "manga-influenced action insanity"? What!?

I don't mind the cyberpunk vibe that Tynion wants to move towards, but it seems to be a bandwagon move rather than a natural progression—I also just simply prefer the gothic nature of Gotham. If anything interesting comes of it, I might pick up a trade, but there's nothing Tynion's said so far that has me excited for this current lineup. See you in 7 months.

Seven months? Minimum of twelve maximum of three years...

[Bad Witch]

I find Tynion a really talented writer whose Batman has been bland so far. From my understanding, a lot of his plans were changed due to the scrapped 5G plans and the coronavirus shutdowns, so he's only really been able to have free reign in the title starting in March. (As far as we know, he was meant to be the fill-in writer on the title until issue 100, where Tim Fox was going to take over that John Ridley was probably gonna write). The newsletter also implies that Jorge Jiminez is the main monthly artist so at the very least the art will be top - notch.

Speaking of Tim, the three year plan comment does have me thinking. If we're going off three years after March 2021, that should bring us to the year 2024. That year was rattling around in my head for some reason until I realized that the "canon" year of the Future State books for the Bat-line was 2025, the year where Tim takes the Batman mantle and Future State: Nightwing, Catwoman, Sirens and Red Hood all take place. 2024 would also be the 85th Anniversary of Bruce's debut and could serve as his temporary send off. I don't know how long term the DC editorial office is planning but maybe we have to take them at their word and Tim will in fact be the "next" Batman starting then.

Tynion was absolutely only going to get to 100 and this future junk was going to be the new norm for years (it would of tanked ) thankfully didio was fired and they were smart enough to say future state (they paid for the work might as well use it for a few months) was a possible reality spinning out of death metal. They made it so they have options.

I don't think tynion will get three full years. I think he may get to the end of 2021 or midway through 2022 before the plug is pulled. Morrison got dicked around, king did as well. I don't think tynion will be able to keep the sales up. I totally expect a reboot in late 2021 or 2022. My dream would be to get zdarsky to come over and take over batman. I'd def settle for Taylor or priest. I'd even be down for a tomasi fill in run after tynion..

Future state is garbage and everyone deep down knows it. It's just some people are more optimistic. In two months this place will be filled with threads about how stupid it was...book it!!

[Morgoth]

Speaking of Tim, the three year plan comment does have me thinking. If we're going off three years after March 2021, that should bring us to the year 2024. That year was rattling around in my head for some reason until I realized that the "canon" year of the Future State books for the Bat-line was 2025, the year where Tim takes the Batman mantle and Future State: Nightwing, Catwoman, Sirens and Red Hood all take place. 2024 would also be the 85th Anniversary of Bruce's debut and could serve as his temporary send off. I don't know how long term the DC editorial office is planning but maybe we have to take them at their word and Tim will in fact be the "next" Batman starting then.

It looks logical on paper, but I doubt they can make some long-term plan in current situation. And also it depends on many factors, first of all on sales. And we also need to see if Tim will be accepted by the fanbase. Besides, if Reeves's Batman is succesful, 2024-2025 is very realistic date for sequel. It's unlikely they will replace Bruce at this point.
More likely they'll just will make Next Batman series similar to Batman Beyond, maybe even soon, since we've seen Next Batman on Infinite Frontier cover.

[Stars & Stripes]

I'd like to see Harper advance past Punchline when things come to a close, the more I think about it, the more it seems like Harper's identity could be compromised by someone in Punchline's group. While I can't see Cullen up and telling his new boyfriend Bluff that his sister is a vigilante (or even telling Punchline that himself), I could see Bluff putting two and two together if he ever met Harper out of costume. Likewise, I don't think it'll be long before Marcus Row (who is aware of Harper's association with Batman) comes to Punchline trying to get into whatever she's got planned while she's in Blackgate.

Three things:

- What would Bluebird's role be post-Punchline?

- Is her father, despite being aware of her association with Batman & company, aware that she's Bluebird?

- Is there enough demand for a Bluebird one-shot/mini?

[lemonpeace]

Tynion was absolutely only going to get to 100 and this future junk was going to be the new norm for years (it would of tanked ) thankfully didio was fired and they were smart enough to say future state (they paid for the work might as well use it for a few months) was a possible reality spinning out of death metal. They made it so they have options.

I don't think tynion will get three full years. I think he may get to the end of 2021 or midway through 2022 before the plug is pulled. Morrison got dicked around, king did as well. I don't think tynion will be able to keep the sales up. I totally expect a reboot in late 2021 or 2022. My dream would be to get zdarsky to come over and take over batman. I'd def settle for Taylor or priest. I'd even be down for a tomasi fill in run after tynion..

Future state is garbage and everyone deep down knows it. It's just some people are more optimistic. In two months this place will be filled with threads about how stupid it was...book it!!

you're projecting dude and probably shouldn't speak for others. unless the majority of people are lying for whatever reason, the people preemptively writing Future State off as trash are the minority. as they should because, and i think everyone deep down knows, it's a vapid and needlessly defeatist take.

[your_name_here]

Mentioned it in the Punchline thread but I’m intrigued by Tynions thoughts on bringing in Manga influences to western comics. It shows in his work in Batman (most of all Clownhunter) - and so far it works. Intrigued to see where he takes it.

Interested in his Joker book and ANOTHER new character he thinks will have the same appeal and impact as Punchline.