Image Comics Co-Founder Marc Silvestri Working on a Batman/Joker Team-Up Book

Details have apparently emerged on Image Comics co-founder Marc Silvestri's long-in-development Batman comic.

The story, when it is finally announced, will be a 6-issue miniseries that teams Batman and The Joker against an unidentified common foe.

The details, while unconfirmed, come from industry news and gossip site Bleeding Cool, who have been tracking the Silvestri-on-Batman rumors literally for years, starting back during DC's "New 52" era of publishing (2011-2015).

This latest iteration of the rumor is the most detailed yet, giving a sense that perhaps all that following the scent has paid off...or maybe the book is just closer to being a reality than it was in the past.

While pairing the Dark Knight and the Clown Prince of Crime is hardly a new idea, it's much less common in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC Universe, where continuity has been tighter and The Joker has a history of brutal crimes against those closest to Batman.

Silvestri, best known for his creations Witchblade and The Darkness, still regularly works with Top Cow, but day to day operations at the Image Comics imprint are handled by Matt Hawkins, who is rumored to be editing the Batman/Joker miniseries. Silvestri has also -- like most of his Image Comics co-founders -- periodically worked outside of Image, usually with the "big two" at Marvel and DC -- on projects that caught his eye.

While Silvestri has worked on numerous Marvel projects in his long career, most notably a landmark run on X-Men and then occasional visits back to the mutant corner of the Marvel Universe after founding Image, his DC work has been minimal -- although he has professionally drawn Batman before, in a Batman Black & White story.