It’s hard to imagine Gotham City without Batman. The Dark Knight and his home are practically synonymous with one another, to the point that when asked, practically anyone would be able to tell you that Batman lives in Gotham City, even if they’ve never touched a comic book in their entire life.
But a Gotham without the Bat is just what acclaimed creator Cliff Chiang will be bringing us this October, as he’s set to launch Catwoman: Lonely City. The four-issue, prestige format series will be written, illustrated, colored, and lettered by Chiang, and follows Selina Kyle as she returns to Gotham City after a lengthy prison sentence. After the deaths of Batman, Joker, Commissioner Gordon, and Nightwing occurred ten years prior to the events of the book, Selina finds Gotham to be a cleaner, safer city.
I’m sure that won’t last.
It’s an interesting concept for an Elseworlds-type story, and just… just look at this artwork.
Absolutely stunning work.
But wait, there’s more!
While not directly related to Batman, DC have also announced a new Human Target series, from Tom King and Greg Smallwood. A twelve-issue maxiseries, this will follow Christopher “Human Target” Chance as he investigates an assassination attempt made on one of the DC Universe’s most powerful men: Lex Luthor.
After Mister Miracle, Strange Adventures, Rorschach, The Omega Men, and Vision, it’s become evident that this format is where King really thrives. And like the Catwoman series above, the Greg Smallwood artwork is just unreal.
Plus, Batman is in three of those five images, so it tracks.
Both titles will be published under DC’s Black Label imprint, and you can check out more details for Catwoman and Human Target at the DC blog.
Catwoman: Lonely City #1 will hit comic shops and digital retailers on October 19, with Human Target #1 following on November 2.
