I’m a huge fan of Huntress, and I always enjoy writing her. Also, it’s lots of undercover action and that is VERY fun to write. Who can we expect to play a prominent role, and which of them has been the most fun to write? Of course, there is no miracle cure and what Wear is actually setting up is a ticking time bomb in the heart of Gotham City.īatman is away from Gotham City during “Shadows of the Bat,” putting the focus on other members of the Bat-Family. The idea is that if this cure works on Gotham’s “worst,” it can cure everyone in Gotham of what ails them. Wear is promising Gotham a medical “miracle”-a cure that transforms those who have been historically Arkham’s patients, Gotham’s most dangerous criminals, into what seem to be contented docile models of society. When we meet him at the beginning of this series, he’s in the middle of a huge press conference promoting Arkham Tower, a new and improved 2.0 version of Arkham Asylum that recently completed construction just blocks away from City Hall. Arkham Tower is a new day for not just Arkham, but for Gotham City. Wear is a salesman-charismatic and convincing. It must be like planning twelve villains' weddings all in the same place on the same day! I couldn’t imagine coordinating them all. I am very glad that I only have to deal with MY twelve issues. Also, everything that’s being developed in this story is also being set up in the variety of other Batman stories that other people are working on.
It’s been a lot of late-night texting and figuring things out. It took a TON of planning and I could not have done it without Paul and Dave. But I also feel like writing Detective Comics and Crush and Lobo has been like the warm-up for pacing this all out. This is a pretty huge project-for me, at least. How did you juggle “Shadows of the Bat” with your other projects? What’s the experience of writing a weekly comic been like for you? You’re a pretty busy writer. Hopefully, the final result feels like The Grifters meets Die Hard, with BATS. Plus, we wanted something with a lot of different characters so you can give them all some space with the twelve issues. I’ve also always wanted to mix a supernatural menace with something that felt more like a con, where you can use the 12-issue structure to play out all of the twists and turns. I think we knew from the beginning it was going to have something to do with some kind of a new Arkham (post A-Day) and I had this vision of a Die Hard-type story because I, like so many, love Die Hard. So, we approached it as a sort of mini epic graphic novel of sorts. My editors, specifically Paul Kaminski and Dave Wielgosz, came to me with this project as a weekly 12-issue series. How exactly did “Shadows of the Bat” come about? Did you always envision it as a weekly event?
(Is he even really a doctor?!?) Plus, read through to the end for an exclusive first look at the Detective Comics 2021 Annual. And did we mention that this week’s Detective Comics 2021 Annualhelps set the whole thing up? With that in mind, we thought it was the ideal time to sit down with “Shadows of the Bat” writer Mariko Tamaki for a free-ranging discussion about what we can expect from her biggest and most ambitious DC storyline to date, which heroes will be taking a leading role and just how suspicious we should be of this oddly named new doctor.
“Shadows of the Bat” will catapult Detective Comics to new levels of action, mystery and suspense, while bringing some of the Bat-Family’s supporting heroes to the forefront. Wear may have other more sinister plans, but learning what those are will require them to infiltrate Arkham’s frightening new complex…and to do it largely without the aid of the person who trained and molded them into the heroes they are. The Bat-Family suspects that all is not as it seems with this new project and that Dr. However, Arkham is no longer just a simple asylum, it’s been upgraded and reimagined into a cutting edge, artfully designed new tower overseen by an enigmatic new personality known as Dr. Which brings us to “Shadows of the Bat,” a massive new 12-issue weekly Detective Comics event that kicks off in January and shines a big, bat-shaped spotlight on one of Gotham’s darkest corners-Arkham. “Fear State” may be reaching its end, but no matter what happens with the Scarecrow and Simon Saint’s oppressive Magistrate, when you’re talking about Gotham, there’s always a new terror hiding in the shadows.