Frank Miller put in a surprise appearance at New York Comic Con this morning, revealing news about the long-MIA All-Star Batman and Robin and Dark Knight III: The Master Race, and that there may even be more to come after the third Dark Knight.
During the Q&A portion of the Dark Knight 30th Anniversary Panel — an event celebrating the 30th birthday of Miller's original The Dark Knight Returns — Miller let slip some news that hadn't previously been announced by DC Comics (or anyone else, really).
First, a fan asked if All-Star Batman and Robin would ever be completed.
"We just started it," was Miller's response.
All-Star Batman and Robin has become a tale of great infamy in the comic book world, for a number of reasons — and all of them controversial. For starters, DC and Miller promoted the heck out of it before it was published, but it barely got through a few issues before it was drastically delayed again and again (issue #1 was released in 2005; issue #10, the last to be published, arrived in 2008).
Miller's depiction of Batman was heavily criticized for making him seem cruel and gleefully sadistic. It wasn't entirely apparent at first, but as more issues were published, Batman began looking like a sociopath who loves hurting people, and not so much like a dark knight nobly protecting his city. It was almost like a bad joke, with the punchline being Batman's oft-repeated catchphrase, "I'm the g--d--- Batman!"
Elsewhere, DC announced today that Miller will be reteaming with his Daredevil: Man Without Fear artist John Romita Jr. for some kind of spinoff book that ties in with Dark Knight III. Nothing more is known, except that Miller's longtime inker Klaus Janson is also on board.
One last note. At one point during today's panel, DC's Jim Lee was talking about Dark Knight III and referred to it as "the finale" of the Dark Knight story. However, attendees are reporting that he very quickly backtracked, deciding instead to call it "the third act."
Could DC be planning more titles to come from the Dark Knight universe? This world used to be designated Earth-31, but that changed when the New 52 hit, and it's unknown what earth it is now. However, DC could be sitting on a gold mine if ongoing titles were to be launched based on the Dark Knight-verse, and the fact that there's already at least one spinoff in the works just shows that the notion of perpetuating that world is at least being considered.
Stay tuned to T-Lounge all week long for more from New York Comic Con 2015.
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