Today marks the 80th anniversary of Batman. Everyone around the world is celebrating the Caped Crusader’s legacy. And DC has taken a moment to unveil the next creative team to tackle his comic. It was announced in May that current writer Tom King would be ending his run early. He had begun when DC launched Rebirth in 2016 and had planned to write through issue #100. Likely due to a decline in sales, King will be ending with #85 after his current City of Bane storyline. And we now know who will be replacing him.
James Tynion IV is taking over King’s position. It was revealed during a Batman Day event at Barnes & Noble at Union Square. Tynion will take over from King in January with #86 and write through #100. At that point, a new creative team will be brought in for a relaunch. He’s exceptionally familiar with the Dark Knight. He’s also the writer behind the popular Batman/TMNT crossover series and has written for Detective Comics. Tony S. Daniel will be the penciler while Danny Miki handles the inks and Tomeu Morey serves as the colorist. All artists have previously worked on Batman.
James Tynion IV just announced as taking over writing from Tom King on Batman!! Exciting!! #BatmanDay #JamesTynionIV #DC #Batman80 pic.twitter.com/1k1Szr06aQ
— Jack Tobias (@JackTobias1) September 21, 2019
It’s exciting to know who is taking over for King. But that doesn’t mean he’s out just yet. He has an exclusive contract with DC and will be working on other projects once he’s off Batman. In the same month as Tynion’s start on Batman, King will launch Batman/Catwoman with artist Clay Mann (Heroes in Crisis). Selina Kyle aka Catwoman only recently reappeared in the book after the heavily anticipated wedding to Bruce Wayne ended up not happening in issue #50. This event left many readers upset, though King always planned to revisit this dynamic. And it’s nice to know that it will be further explored in January.
Batman is still one of DC’s biggest sellers. Its quality is still recognized as it was nominated for the Best Continuing Series at this year’s Eisner Awards. King himself took home Best Writer for Batman, Mister Miracle, Heroes in Crisis, and Swamp Thing. Hopefully, Tynion’s appointment comes with the sales DC is after.
