I’m Not Sure What To Make Of The Two New Batman Ongoing Series

I love Batman as much as the next guy, and if DC has shown us anything over the years, it’s that every time you think we’ve reached peak Dark Knight, it can crank out new series, and we comic fans will still buy them.

That said, it’s kind of surprising that Arkham Manor and Gotham Academy, the new ongoing Bat-family titles announced today, are real and will be in our hands this fall.

Here’s what DC had to say about Arkham Manor:

"Arkham’s madness comes home in ARKHAM MANOR! A bold new series brought to you by the mad minds of Gerry Duggan (Deadpool, Nova) and Shawn Crystal (Deadpool, Wolverine and the X-Men). When catastrophe strikes Arkham Asylum, where will Gotham City house the world’s most dangerous criminals, and when inmates are found murdered, what is Batman prepared to do in search of justice? ARKHAM MANOR arrives on October 22nd."

Certainly, Bruce Wayne would do anything to keep his vast gallery of dangerous villains off the street. But inviting them home? What would Alfred say? And we’ve all seen what happens when you try to simply relocate the bad guys somewhere else. It’s almost like Batman didn’t even play Batman: Arkham City, and doing a thorough play-through of his own video game doesn’t seem like a detail he’d skip.

I have less to say about Gotham Academy because I’m so clearly not in the target demographic:

"GOTHAM ACADEMY, written by Eister-Award-nominated Becky Cloonan (DEMO) along with Brenden Fletcher and illustrated by Karl Kerschl, arrives on October 1st. It’s a new, monthly teen drama set in the shadow of Batman and the craziness of Gotham City with new characters and old plus a secret tie to Gotham’s past…"

Skip Harvey, the co-editor at our sister site Caped Crusades probably has it right when he says:

"These look like DC is trying to saturate every possible demographic of readers. Between these and Batman Eternal, there are going to be a lot of options for comic fans that don’t necessarily want to be married to New 52 continuity."

New and different, I definitely like. But these books are definitely going to test that peak Batman theory.

(via Entertainment Weekly)