All-Star Batman ending with #14, to return with a new format

Scott Snyder has revealed that All-Star Batman will end as an ongoing series with issue #14, but will make a comeback in a to-be-revealed format.

It’s tough to put into words just how much writer Scott Snyder has done for the world of Batman over the last few years.

First, he took Detective Comics and made it a huge hit with a deeply psychological story with Dick Grayson under the cowl. He then took over the reins of Batman when DC launched the New 52 and, along with artist Greg Capullo, took the character in directions no one ever thought of. His run saw the birth of the Court of Owls, a redefined Joker and a modern take on the Dark Knight’s origin in “Zero Year”.

Batman became a perennial bestseller and not since Frank Miller had a writer made such a dramatic impact on a hero and his world.

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Once the New 52 Batman series ended, Snyder moved over to All-Star Batman, where he would work with a murder’s row of artists on a series that put the art front and center. It was visually unlike anything readers has seen before and made for the one of the best looking Batman series in years.

But as announced by CBR and Snyder on Friday, DC is taking things up a notch.

As revealed by Snyder, All-Star Batman is coming to an end with issue #14. And while the final issue will conclude the current “The First Alley” storyline with art by Rafael Albuquerque, it is not the end of the series.

Kind of.

Snyder said that while the All-Star Batman ongoing may be ending, the concept will continue and evolve into something more in line with what he wants to do with the series.

"“Essentially, I have started working on the arc with Sean [Murphy] already, and DC has been really excited about some new formats that they’re creating. Part of it is tied a lot of exciting editorial changes that they announced about a month ago. They’re creating bold, new initiatives – new lanes to drive in creatively – for creators to tell the kinds of stories like I was telling in All Star. They are artist-centric and a little bit left of center in ways that put the artist first, with a new artist format and with a new level of sophistication in terms of allowing for content that’s a bit more, how do I say this without spoiling stuff — adult, I guess.“DC approached me and said, how would you like to take some of the stuff that you are working on with Sean and do it a new, prestige format? Instead of doing it monthly, why not do it in this format that would allow for it to be a bigger stage, both for Sean artistically, and to package the story in a new way and then allow every subsequent story that I was going to do with Paul Pope, with Afua [Richardson], with Lee Bermejo, be done in this format that really foregrounds the art – different paper size, different cut, the whole thing? In that way, it seemed obvious and a perfect solution instead of having them work month-to-month on a normal-sized, conventional comic, we could be some of the first people to try driving in this new lane for DC.”"

Some may remember that when DC published The Dark Knight Returns, it was with a new format that really got the attention of both fans and retailers. If the plan here is to highlight the art, I can only imagine what DC has planned.

Comics published in a magazine format? Or maybe something done in a similar size to the Artist Editions IDW comes out with?

One can only wonder.

Snyder went to Twitter to announce that the story arc he has been working on in collaboration with Sean Murphy will be first out of the gate with a release date to be announced very soon.

Must Read: Preview: Star Wars: Captain Phasma from Marvel

Will this work? With Snyder behind it it’s tough to see it not working, but DC has always shown more of a willingness to experiment with formats than Marvel, so if anyone can make this a best seller, it’s them.

When a release date is announced, you can read all about it right here on Bam Smack Pow.

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