Dark Days Coming For The DC Universe In New Event From Batman Creators
03/20/2017 09:01 am EDT
Kicking off DC's next big Bat-event following the currently-unfolding "League of Shadows" storryline, The New York Times best-selling writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV will collaborate with iconic artists Andy Kubert, Jim Lee and John Romita Jr. for Dark Days: The Forge #1 and Dark Days: The Casting #1.
Spearheaded by Snyder, these new stories will "reveal the dark underbelly of the DC Universe," according to the publisher. The mysteries of The Forge and The Casting will hit shelves on June 14 and July 12, respectively, and will have story impact across DC's publishing line.
Snyder, who currently writes All-Star Batman, established himself during a long run with artist Greg Capullo as one of the most significant Batman writers of this generation of comics creators. The New 52's Batman title was a bright spot at a time when DC was generally getting pummeled by fans and critics.
Tynion is writing Detective Comics rather than the "main" Batman title, but he's an obvious choice to work on an event like this with Snyder: not only are the two friends, but Tom King's Batman is centered primarily on the Dark Knight himself and a fairly limited supporting cast, while Detective Comics deals with the larger cast of the city and the bat-family.
"Art like this demands an epic story," said Snyder. "Dark Days posits a mystery that traces all the way back to when I started on Batman. I've hinted at them over the years with Easter eggs and clues. This is a mystery that literally begins at the dawn of man and spans generations of heroes and villains and ultimately leads to huge revelations about the past, present and future of the cosmology of DC. I couldn't be more excited for DARK DAYS. It's the prelude to the event we've been developing for years."
No word on whether that is the long-discussed Snyder/Capullo event, something tied to the DCU's Watchmen sightings, or something else.
"We're taking all the ethos and excitement of the work Scott and I have been doing in the Batman titles and unleashing it across the entire DC Universe," added Tynion IV. "The size and scope of what we're looking to do with Dark Days could only be accomplished by the best of the best. Andy, Jim and John are legends. All of us on this project are pushing one another, and every concept, to the extreme."
Visually powering this event is a master class of artists, including Kubert (who drew Batman for writers like Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman), Lee (who has worked on the character with Frank Miller and Jeph Loeb) and Romita Jr. (currently working on All-Star Batman with Snyder), who will drive DC's initiative to bring artists to the forefront of the storytelling process. Beginning with Dark Days, these writers and artists will collaborate to develop new ideas and characters, further enriching the DC Universe.
"Working with Scott and James on Dark Days is the culmination of the big ideas and endless brainstorming that came out of a recent creative summit," said Lee. "It was tremendous fun having peers like Andy Kubert and JRJR in with some of our top writers. Strategically, Dan and I have talked for a long time about bringing the artist back to the table in the genesis of big, epic events. The creative summit was just that, and the level of collaboration was truly invigorating and electrifying. We can't wait to share Dark Days with the DC faithful…they're in for a thrill ride!"
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