DC Reveals First Look at Batman/Catwoman Crossover The Gotham War

The Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War – Battle Lines #1 one-shot publishes later this month.

August 5, 2023, 1:02am

The Dawn of DC initiative definitely isn’t slowing down, throwing DC’s heroes and villains into some epic new storylines. One of the next to join that list will be Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War, a new event which will begin publishing later this month. This week, DC debuted a first look at how The Gotham War will begin, releasing a preview for the forthcoming Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War – Battle Lines #1 one-shot, which will be released on August 29th.

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Spinning out of the events of this summer’s Knight Terrors: Batman #2, The Gotham War will span into issues of Batman and Catwoman, a handful of special one-shots, and a Red Hood miniseries.

What Is The Gotham War About?

In Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War, a coordinated effort in Gotham City has led to a reduction in violent crime, but at what cost? Villains scatter as their lives begin to crumble under a new regime. And as Batman recovers from his epic battle through the Multiverse and the horrors of Knight Terrors, one name runs through his mind. One name at the heart of this new, safer Gotham: Catwoman. A conflict that’s been brewing for well over a year finally hits the streets, and it will fracture the Bat-Family as war erupts! From bestselling writers Chip Zdarsky and Tini Howard and artists Mike Hawthorne and Adriano Di Benedetto comes the opening shot of the Gotham War in Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War – Battle Lines #1, available at comic shops on August 29!

The Gotham War will go on to impact Batman #137 from Zdarsky and artist Jorge Jimenez, and Catwoman #57 from Howard and artist Nico Leon. It will also span a two-issue Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War: Red Hood miniseries from writer Matthew Rosenberg with artist Nikola Čižmešija. It will then culminate in Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War – Scorched Earth #1 from Zdarsky, Howard, and artists Mike Hawthorne and Adriano Di Benedetto, on October 31st.

“From the moment Tini and I started working on these titles, we realized we had a huge opportunity to build toward something that would shake up the power structure of Gotham City,” Batman writer Chip Zdarsky said in a statement. “The Gotham War is just that: relationships explode, relationships are formed, and it all leads to massive changes! Being able to take these kinds of big swings together has been extremely exciting.”

“Comics thrive on team-ups. Whether it’s a team of creators or a heroic partnership, all of my favorite stories are about two strong personalities and the space between them,” Catwoman writer Tini Howard echoed. “On the page, we’ve got one of comics’ greatest love stories: the world’s greatest detective and the world’s greatest criminal. And they both love Gotham City. But the course of true love never did run smooth.”

“I don’t want to spoil anything, but with Selina’s recent breakout from jail and Bruce’s struggles with Zur-En-Arrh, things are going to get intense in Gotham,” added Zdarsky.

Keep scrolling to check out the first look at Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War – Battle Lines #1, and share your thoughts with us in the comments below!