It looks like DC Comics is going to have its cake and eat it too, as the company has announced that Tom King will indeed be leaving the long-running Batman comic after issue #85, which will conclude his epic City of Bane storyline. However, King fans should rejoice since the writer will be able to finish the storylines he started with a new 12-issue maxi-series coming out in 2020 called Batman/Catwoman.
According to a press report from DC, this is part of a new initiative from the company that will lead to the series going from twice monthly to once monthly, which should give fans a mixed reaction. On one hand, fans won't have to spend so much to read this story, but on the other hand, they won't get the next part right away anymore.
DC editor-in-chief Bob Harras had this to say about the move:
"We're making changes to our comic book publishing line to set DC up for continued success. We're starting with the bestselling BATMAN comic after ‘City of Bane' wraps up in December. ‘City of Bane' is an incredible story and an integral part of our overall ‘Year of the Villain' campaign, and a new Tom King and Clay Mann Bat/Cat series in 2020 fills the gap once BATMAN begins to ship monthly."
Tom King also released a statement about his Batman/Catwoman series, which should get fans excited since King is at his element when he does 12-issue maxis:
"Batman and Catwoman is a chance to do what Morrison and Quietly did in Batman and Robin: launch an ambitious, accessible, beautiful, thrilling new series that concludes years of stories and defines what Batman is, can, and will be. This will be a comic about what the best Batman comics are always been about, how our greatest hero turns fear into bravery, pain into hope, trauma into love. It's the story I always wanted to tell, and I'm telling it with the man I consider to be the greatest artist in comics, my brother Clay Mann."
"It's tough to leave Batman. It's a gift and a joy to be on that book. But I'm leaving it to work on the biggest, most ambitious projects of my career, comics I get to make with the best collaborators in comics. And that's a gift and a joy too."
While it's disappointing to know that those rumors were true, it's good to know that King will get the chance to end his story, even if it's in a 12-issue maxi-series. Many of us would have liked to see King reach those 100-plus issues he originally planned for but this is more than most writers get when they are reassigned to other titles.
Batman/Catwoman will launch in January 2020.
Read:Tom King's Batman Run to End Prematurely?
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