"Arkham Manor" & "Gotham Academy" Ongoings Hit Bat-books in October

[RobinFan4880]

With the events that just happened in Justice League, I could see Batman finding a new hideout for a while. Combine that with the Batsgiving teaser of what will happen to Alfred, I could see there being a justification for Arkham Manor.

Gotham Academy looks... Alright. I have sort of had my fill of that genre lately. I hope it is successful but I won't hold my breath.

[BatGlamorous]

AM is the worst idea in comics I've heard in ages. If it wasn't a Bat-title (and thus immortal) I'd bet it's gone by this time next year. 8-12 issues at most. It even sounds more like a mini than an ongoing.

Academy is pretty promising and fun. I trust that DC will grim-dark it up quick though, sigh.

[K. Jones]

So the word is these are in-continuity.

I hope Gotham Academy is sort of "loose continuity" the same way Harley Quinn is.

Arkham Manor is just weird as hell, though. I mean the Batcave is down there! And Luthor knows about it! But in the wake of all the paranormal stuff happening with Blackfire underneath Arkham Asylum, to say nothing of the Mad Dog influence, the ghost of Amadeus, the possible soul-emptying possession that the Black Mask is capable of these days ... I mean this is a real shakeup. Could we see Bruce move back into the Penthouse? Could Corporate Synergy DEMAND that Bruce live in a Cabin on the Manor grounds, like Ben Affleck?

Admittedly, being broody guy living in the old Victorian house up on the hill, sitting in his dead father's dusty old studies and looking at statues and paintings and gazing broodingly into the fireplace is a trope run into the ground for our old chum, Bruce Wayne. But Stately Wayne Manor is sacrosanct.

It does feel temporary, if only that Wayne Manor doesn't have the secure architecture or floorspace for the entire population of Arkham. I mean does Joker get a "cell" in Bruce's old bedroom? Or do they build a modern housing facility adjacent to/alongside the Manor, and use it as offices, the way the did with the Elizabeth Arkham House? And didn't they just Reborn Arkham?

[ReverseReverseFlash]

Looks like DC is going into another "Batman on the fringe" type story where we wonder if he's going to morph into a scary Kingdom Come type entity.

[jhfrail]

I hate both concepts. I'd really love to see what would happen if DC would actually TRY to replace cancelled Batman titles with something NOT Batman. It sounds weird, I know, but think about it. One of the reasons DC isn't as diverse as it should be is because the readers who buy everything related to a particular corner of the DCU don't try much else. It's not that they don't like other things, but that they're financially stretched. I'm one of those readers. I'd probably look into things like All Star Western and GI Combat, except that I can't afford to do that. I'm already on the hook for something like 15 Batman titles every month. It's not even really that the dollars are talking. Batwing should have been cancelled at least a year or a year and a half ago. It hung on, despite abysmal sales, solely due to the first three letters in the title. The Gotham corner of the DCU could use some thinning.

[The World]

Nah DC, I'm good.

[Creeper75]

I agree, Batman should have 2 titles and maybe a couple of satellite titles and that is. But I Dont know if people are not reading Vibe or katana because there are Many batman titles or because DC is failing to créate interest in them like image is doing with its new titles.
Other one could say that the money DC makes with batman allows them to publish other things.

This titles could be " The haunted asylum " And " the mistery academy" at Image , but as it is DC, they attach Batman to them

[RobertoDaCosta]

i thought Gotham Academy would be something like Batman building a young army of Batman Inc... even Batman Academy for potential recruits..
but this is not interesting. i'll decide with the preview, cause so far the solicitation hasn't convinced me yet.

[Kid A]

If we have to keep getting more Batman books, this is the way to do it for sure.

Like people have already said, the Arkham Manor concept is pretty ehhhh, but I love the idea of Gotham Academy.

[LoneNecromancer]

This titles could be " The haunted asylum " And " the mistery academy" at Image , but as it is DC, they attach Batman to them

Yeah, this feels to me like an attempt to have tonally different books but make sure they sell by attaching Batman to it.

[nepenthes]

Fantastic news. They're obviously very left field but the concepts are solid and it's great to see DC experimenting in these directions. much more interesting than trotting out another Red Robin series or something.

Arkham Manor...not actually such a weird an idea. Many people have proposed the idea that Bruce should house a jail in the batcave himself, the Asylum being so useless. Add Alfred as a potential patient and a new base of operation for Bruce and there's TONS of potential in the concept.

We also had a thread a while back on new titles we'd like to see - an ongoing Arkham series was at top of my list

[Diggy]

So sales are down and they're cashing in with Bats again huh? Whatever I can't complain.

[C_W]

For some reason I have an unsettling feeling that Gotham Academy will be surprisingly good?

[Iam Fear]

Academy looks cute. It's nice to see Gotham Youth that aren't dead sidekicks.

Give them some time and the storyline will likely lead to that.

Gotham Academy sounds like something that could actually be fun to read with that creative team.
Which is surprising considering how bleak everything in the Nu52 is.

[dropkickjake]

Arkham Manor sounds weird. How can that concept support a true ongoing? Surely at some point they would have to move the crazies out of Bruce's house? Whatever. We'll see as October gets closer what kind of book this looks to be.

Gotham Academy sounds like Batman meets Harry Potter. Thats not necessarily a bad thing though, I suppose. I'm excited about this one mainly because it doesn't seem like a particularly "safe" title. I'm starting to really like Doyle. Between what I've heard King and Seeley say about him and the launching of this book, I think we might be in for an exciting time in the Bat office. Looks like he'll really be taking chances.