Hello everyone and welcome back to Upcoming Comics! This week is my last Upcoming Comics post, and I wanted to just say how much I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts here at Batman-News. I’ve had so much fun working on articles and reviews with you all and I’ll miss this going forward. This has been an absolutely wonderful experience and I’m so happy to have had the chance to do it.
In addition to my farewells, I wanted to also ask you all to give a warm welcome to Jackson as he’s stepping in to take over Upcoming Comics! He's done excellent work with reviews, and has a passion for comics that I know will find it's way into his work on this weekly article. He’s going to do an amazing job, and I’m so excited to see his thoughts on comics going forward. So please be sure to welcome him in with open arms and give him a hello in the comments.
As for comics this week, we’re moving into the Knight Terrors finale and the opening issue of Gotham War! While it’s a lighter week in numbers, the content is pretty full with these two events opening and closing together. The Riddler: Year One also wraps up its story this week as well, making for quite the collection titles starting and finishing this week. So let’s take a closer look!
Upcoming Comics
Batman/Catwoman: Gotham War #1: Battle Lines
Crime is down in Gotham City…Could that be a bad thing? A coordinated effort in Gotham has led to a reduction in violent crime, but at what cost? Villains scatter as their lives begin to crumble under a new regime. And as Batman recovers from his epic battle through the Multiverse and the horrors of Knight Terrors, one name runs through his mind. One name at the heart of this new, safer Gotham…Catwoman. A conflict that’s been brewing for well over a year finally hits the streets, and it will fracture the Bat-Family as war erupts! From bestselling writers Chip Zdarsky and Tini Howard and artists Mike Hawthorne and Adriano Di Benedetto comes the opening shot in the Gotham War!
- Written By: Chip Zdarsky, Tini Howard
- Penciled By: Mike Hawthorne
- Inks By: Adriano Di Benedetto
- Colors By: Romulo Fajardo
- Cover By: Jorge Jiménez
Thoughts: I’m not at all excited to see another event and another big battle taking place in Gotham that will ‘fracture’ the Bat-Family. But who knows, maybe this book will surprise me.
Batman News Critic: Casper & William
Knight Terrors: Night’s End #1
KNIGHT TERRORS FINALE! SPECIAL OVERSIZE ISSUE! Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, along with the DCU’s other heroes, have escaped the Nightmare Realm only to find the Nightmare League has followed them home! The entire world has become engulfed in horror, and the last person standing to take down Insomnia is Deadman. But does he want to? And don’t miss the exciting ending that continues the Dawn of DC mystery and introduces Dr. Hate! Wait…who is Dr. Hate? Knight Terrors’ thrills and chills are brought to the DC Universe by DC architect and superstar writer Joshua Williamson with horrific art by comics legend Howard Porter!
- Written By: Joshua Williamson
- Penciled By: Howard Porter, Trevor Hairsine
- Inks By: Howard Porter, Trevor Hairsine
- Cover By: Howard Porter, Romulo Fajardo
Thoughts: I’m not at all surprised to find this solicit that is supposed to be focused on the end of an event promising a whole new character who will most likely lead to some other twist in the overall universe. Not surprised at all. I am, however, happy to see the end of this particular event.
Batman News Critic: Jackson
The Riddler: Year One #6
The time has come. Edward Nashton’s long, painful psychological journey and downward spiral have finally brought him to the point where he is ready to take direct action against the corrupt of Gotham. Embittered and abandoned and believing the world is aligned against him, he’s reached the time to lash out. His extensive research and clandestine operations have left him with a deeper knowledge of the city’s web of criminality than anyone in Gotham. And now he knows exactly which targets to strike and when. As Edward finally dons the mask of the Riddler, the series ends right before the start of his first murderous attack, shown in the opening scene of Matt Reeves’s film The Batman. Actor Paul Dano brought this character to life onscreen, and now he completes Edward’s arc with this groundbreaking prequel. Together with renowned European artist Stevan Subic, Dano has crafted a disturbing and emotional tale, filling out the backstory of one of the most unique and terrifying villains faced by any version of the Dark Knight.
- Written By: Paul Dano
- Pencils, Inks, & Colors By: Stevan Subic
- Cover By: Bill Sienkiewicz
Thoughts: With this book wrapping up, I’ll be eager to see Nick’s final thoughts on the book as a whole, and how it flows into the movie!
Batman News Critic: Nick
Beyond the Bat
Welcome to Beyond the Bat! Here we’ll look over titles being released by DC this week not focused on Batman. As a fifth Tuesday the focus is, as usual, mostly on specials and annuals and this one has the luck of getting to feature Gnort's Swimsuit Issue #1! I tend to always find a few stories in titles like this that I enjoy, and I'm looking forward to what it might have in store.
Ratings
Most Excited: Batman/Catwoman: Gotham War #1: Battle Lines- While I’m not looking forward to the event itself, I do hold some hope that the contents of the book will surprise me. It is a well known fact that covers and solicits frequently mislead, and I’m hopeful things will ultimately turn out to be fun.
Least Excited: Knight Terrors: Night’s End #1- I haven’t been excited about Knight Terrors this whole event, and the finale isn’t about to change that. Especially introducing a whole new character here at the end.
Wild Card: The Riddler: Year One #6- As the series wraps up, I’m interested to see how it chooses to tie itself into the movie it’s acting as a prequel to!
There’s not really much difference this week in my ratings, as I’m lukewarm on all the titles being released, but I still felt like I needed to slot them into place in this final Upcoming Comics article of mine.
Again, thank you all for all your support these last few years! I’ve already said it once, but I’ve really loved being a part of Batman-News and having the opportunity to share my thoughts with you all in one way or another as a reviewer. I hope you all have an amazing week, give Jackson a wildly warm welcome, and I’ll see you in the comments!
