Constantine Writer Brings Horror To Batman's Hometown In Gotham By Midnight

Constantine writer Ray Fawkes and acclaimed artist Ben Templesmith are bringing horror to [...]

By Jamie Lovett

Constantine writer Ray Fawkes and acclaimed artist Ben Templesmith are bringing horror to Batman's backyard in the new series Gotham by Midnight, launching this November (via Blastr).

The series will star Gotham City Police department's Midnight Shift, led by Detective Jim Corrigan. The Midnight Shift is the CPD's supernatural crimes team, tasked with dealing with crimes too weird for even Batman to tackle.

The series will spin out of the ongoing weekly series Batman Eternal, which is also co-written by Fawkes, but tell it's own story apart from that series.

Of course, Batman will be making appearances in the series, but his role will be as an advisor to Corrigan and his team.

One key element of the series is that Corrigan has a secret: he is the host to the Spectre, one of DC's most powerful supernatural forces, making his New 52 debut.

"Jim Corrigan's terrible secret is he carries the divine judgment of God around in his body, not of his own free will," says Fawkes. "So he's better motivated than anybody to get involved whenever a big, supernatural monster shows up on the scene. If he doesn't do something, sooner or later The Spectre is going to handle it, and he has an Old Testament way of handling things. We will be seeing The Spectre here and there, but that's usually what happens when Corrigan messes up and doesn't get it handled in time."

Other members of The Midnight Shift include Corrigan's fellow detective Lisa Drake, forensic investigator Dr. Szandor Tarr, and religious consultant Sister Justine, a nun with a "very peculiar and particular talent."

Fawkes has shown he's plenty capable of handling supernatural stories in his tenure writing Constantine, and Templesmith has made his name on books like Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse. This isn't Templesmith's first time visiting Gotham either, having contributed a story to the recent Legends of the Dark Knight series.

Gotham by Midnight is the latest in a line wide creative shift coming to the DC's Batman comics line in the coming months, including more new series like Gotham Academy and Arkham Manor, and new creative teams and character designs for established series like Catwoman and Batgirl.

Gotham by Midnight #1 goes on sale November 26.

Trending Now: