The worlds of Tim Burton‘s Batman and Richard Donner‘s Superman will finally continue. They are receiving sequels in the form of comic books this summer. DC Comics announced that they are adapting the universes that started the comic book movie craze in two separate series, Batman ’89 and Superman ’78. They will play out throughout six digital issues. The first installments will drop on July 27th and will continue to release weekly. The books are similar to the continuations of television classic with Wonder Woman ’77 and Batman ’66 from a few years ago. It’s a move by DC that is sure to make fans excited, as both film franchises ended on sour notes.
Return to the movie worlds of Batman '89 and Superman '78 in two #DCDigitalFirst comics series!
– Batman '89 written by @SamuelHamm and illustrated by @Joe_Quinones
– Superman '78 written by @robertvenditti and illustrated by @mightyfinelineDetails: https://t.co/gyraWErpzC pic.twitter.com/1GEN8rDMI4
— DC Nation (@thedcnation) February 16, 2021
Batman ’89 will be written by screenwriter Sam Hamm, who wrote the scripts for both Tim Burton‘s Batman films. Joe Quinones, of Dial H for Hero fame, will take over the art and help Hamm pick up the gothic adventures of Michael Keaton‘s Bruce Wayne right where they left off at the end of Returns. The series promises to tie up several loose threads left open by Tim Burton, including the return of Michelle Pfieffer‘s take on Catwoman and the debut of a new Robin, who potentially is based on Damon Wayans unrealized version of the character. Quinones is also creating a universe-accurate Two-Face, once intended to be played by Billy Dee Williams, that is “as close to movie magic as a comic can get”.
Superman ’78 will feature art by Wilfredo Torres, who previously worked on Batman ’66, and a story from Robert Venditti, who has operated in the world of DC before with a run on Hawkman. Set within the universe that made Christopher Reeves an icon, the book will tell stories that prove to fans that a man can truly fly. The timeline of the series is a little vaguer. The announcement did reveal that we will see a Lois Lane who does not yet know Clark Kent and Superman are the same. Plot details are also a little less ample. We may see classic Superman villains and other characters that didn’t get adapted in the film that would reflect Donner‘s vision.
The creative team took to Twitter and share some of the artwork for the upcoming projects, which truly show that these designs will forever be iconic:
We’ll be sharing more in the coming weeks and months, but in the meantime, here’s a look at some of my early character designs for the book: pic.twitter.com/7YgBdSN0pt
— Joe Quinones (@Joe_Quinones) February 16, 2021
I don’t want to spoil anything so here’s a look at a couple of the prelim drawings I did for the project. #Superman78 pic.twitter.com/kQR2JU9P3Y
— Wilfredo Torres (@mightyfineline) February 16, 2021
Source: Nerdist, Twitter (DC Nation), Twitter (Batman), Twitter (Superman)
