Joshua Williamson Announced as New Batman Writer

Earlier this month, James Tynion IV announced his exit from DC Comics' ongoing Batman series [...]

Earlier this month, James Tynion IV announced his exit from DC Comics' ongoing Batman series leaving fans wondering who would step in to guide the Dark Knight's story forward after Tynion's run ends with Batman #117. Now, we have the answer. Joshua Williamson will be the next writer to take over Batman. ComicBook.com has confirmed that Williamson will begin his run on the title with Batman #118.

Williamson himself shared some additional details about his Batman run in a post on Twitter, writing that Batman #118 will arrive in December and begins a new storyline called "Abyss" as Batman leaves Gotham. Batman #119 will arrive in January and feature the first appearance of a new villain called Abyss. He also teased some additional Batman news to come.

"We're honoring the plan that the other books in the bat-line are doing while telling a brand-new story for Bruce Wayne as Batman in the DCU," Williamson wrote.

Williamson has been a very prolific and influential writer for DC. Not only does he have the current Future State: Gotham, Robin, and Infinite Frontier titles, but he has the upcoming Deathstroke Inc. debuting in September as well. Williamson also wrote The Flash for four years, from 2016's The Flash: Rebirth one-shot through The Flash #762 last year, totaling 100 issues of the main series as well as multiple annuals and several Batman crossover issues. As for Batman, Willamson's run will feature art by Jorge Molina. You can check out the covers for the first two issues, #118 and #119, below.

batman 118
(Photo: DC Comics)
batman 119
(Photo: DC Comics)

In early August, the Eisner-winning Tynion announced that he was leaving Batman in a move to Substack and a focus on creator-owned work, including the launch of a new comic, Blue Book, with acclaimed artist Michael Avon Oeming. Tynion wrote in a Substack newsletter that his last issue of Batman will be #117 in November, which will see the title through the Fear State event. Tynion was named the new Batman writer on Batman Day in 2019, picking up the title after the departure of Tom King.

"...I was trying to make one of the most difficult decisions of my professional life. DC had presented me with a three-year renewal of my exclusive contract, with the intent of me working on Batman for the bulk of that time. I was grateful of the offer, but I couldn't help but look at the success of my original, creator-owned titles and wonder if it was the right choice. And then I received another contract. The best I've ever been given in a decade as a professional comic book writer. A grant from Substack to create a new slate of original comic book properties directly on their platform, that my co-creators and I would own completely, with Substack taking none of the intellectual property rights, or even the publishing rights. Given my bandwidth, I knew I could only pick one of two contracts sitting in front of me.

"Which is a lot of preamble to say that I am going to be leaving BATMAN with Issue #117 in November, and THE JOKER with Issue #14 next April, with no immediate plans to write any other superhero comics in the near future. Instead, I'm going to dedicate my whole brain to building a bunch of really cool stuff on my own terms, without having to get permission from any publisher to make it."

Batman #118 will arrive in December.

What do you think about Williamson taking over Batman? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.

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