By: Scott Johnson on December 20, 2011
Several months ago DC Comics showed their commitment to bringing in new readers to comic books by relaunching their entire universe. In the summer of 2012, Warner Bros. will be releasing what looks to be the movie of the year based on a DC Comics character. Now, for the obvious question, why has DC Comics not announced a Dark Knight Rises prequel comic book?
Sure, the Batman movies are outside the regular continuity of the Batman comic books, but similar situations have never stopped other publishers from releasing comics based on their movies. In fact, Marvel Comics has already announced a four issue Avengers Movie prelude comic book series, which will start arriving in comic book stores in March.
Of course, The Avengers movie is the first of its kind, and we’re on the third Batman film from Christopher Nolan, so one could argue the first two movies were the prequels to The Dark Knight Rises. However, Nolan has revealed there is an eight-year gap between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. Doesn’t that translate into the perfect opportunity to do a prequel comic book series to fill in the gap?
There will be a ton more people that go to see The Dark Knight Rises than read the Batman comic book series. A Dark Knight Rises prequel comic book could turn out to be the best selling comic book of the year if DC Comics were to market it as an inside track to the movie. It could be an untold story from the missing eight years between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises that helps lead into the film.
Just look at how The Dark Knight Rises trailer has exploded on social media sites with everyone wanting to get a look. Imagine a Dark Knight Rises prequel comic book that doesn’t give away the plot of the movie, but reveals about as much new information as a new trailer would. There would be tons of media that would buy the comic and report on it, just so they could give the inside scoop on what may or may not be in The Dark Knight Rises movie.
