Fans of the Dark Knight will be able to return to the dark and gritty world of Paul Dini, Alan Burnett and Bruce Timm's
Batman: The Animated Series courtesy of a new comic book mini-series slated to hit shelves in April. As reported by EW, DC Comics will be launching a new six-issue comic series,
Batman: The Adventures Continue, which will act as a tie-in to the beloved show. Dini and Burnett will be writing the digital-first series, which will be illustrated by Ty Templeton (
Batman Adventures).
The series is being created as part of an initiative to introduce new characters into DC Collectibles'
Batman: The Animated Series line of toys. It highlight previously untold stories of characters that never appeared in the show's world, such as Jason Todd. Templeton will be designing these characters in Timm's iconic style.
“We’d gone from Dick Grayson to Tim Drake, and we had left out Jason. What we’re doing with this is looking at this as a chance to go back and actually acknowledge that was a part of the animated Batman’s history. For the first time, you’re going to see that story and you’re going to see what happened in that relationship. So, it’s our chance to not only to do Jason Todd but also the Red Hood," explained Dini.
"There are other characters like Azrael, who was popular in the comics around [the time of the show], and Deathstroke, who we never used in the animated series.”
“It’s fun that it doesn’t feel like we have to deal with the 15 year gap since we told stories with these characters. We can just feel like we just stepped into these things yesterday, because the shows and comics are always out there. They never go away," added Templeton.
"I didn’t want it to feel like there’s a big gap and Batman was old and Tim was in his 30’s or anything like that. I’m really happy it just feels like the next day.”
The first issue of the series will see Batman deal with a giant robot that breaks into Wayne Enterprises and steals an entire laboratory, with a secondary mystery involving Lex Luthor's return to Gotham City. Templeton and Dini also hinted at a third mystery, one for the reader regarding a
"character in the shadows observing all of this." Dini teased:
“There’s a stranger in town who has staked out the Batman family, who knows them very well, and is watching them from a distance with a mixture of amusement and deep hatred. That’s gonna be a challenge and concern for them at some point. The guy is so good that even though Batman and the others get glimpses of him, they have no idea who he is or what he wants, and that’s a mystery for them to solve.”
Batman: The Adventures Continue will also feature an "intense" storyline for Azrael, who comes to Gotham
"on a mission of death to recover something that’s been stolen from the Order of St. Dumas and that brings him into conflict with Batman."
Batman: The Adventures Continue will release digitally first in April before arriving on store shelves on May 6, 2020. The feature is illustrated by Dave Johnson with a variant cover by Dan Mora.