Eisner Award winning artist Christian Ward has announced that he will be writing and drawing a three part, prestige 48-page-issue miniseries called Batman: City of Madness. Based on Lovecraftian cosmic horror, it will act as a “pseudo sequel” to Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum: Serious House on a Serious Earth. In addition, Ward has listed Scott Snyder’s Batman: Court of Owls and Jim Starlin’s Batman: The Cult as inspiration for the series. The Court of Owls will feature prominently in the story as the gates beneath Gotham that they’ve guarded for decades break open. From below, a twisted version of both Gotham and Batman emerge, forcing the Court and Batman to work together to contain it.
My new book from @DCOfficial – a dream come true my cosmic horror Batman story – Batman: City of Madness a 3 prestige 48 page issue mini series written and drawn by me – out October pic.twitter.com/q9gelFsA9p
— Christian Ward (@cjwardart) July 24, 2023
Batman: City of Madness #1 will release October 10th, covers, interior previews, and solicitation below:
Buried deep beneath Gotham City there exists another Gotham. This Gotham Below is a living nightmare, populated by twisted mirrors of our Gotham’s denizens, fueled by the fear and hatred flowing down from above. For decades, the doorway between the cities has been sealed and heavily guarded by the Court of Owls. But now the door swings wide, and the twisted version of the Dark Knight has escaped…to trap and train a Robin of his own. Batman must form an uneasy alliance with the Court and its deadly allies to stop him—and to hold back the wave of twisted super-villains, nightmarish versions of his own nemeses, each one worse than the last, that’s spilling into his streets!
Visionary writer-artist Christian Ward unleashes his cosmic-horror take on Batman’s world, in a tribute to disturbing Dark Knight classics like Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Gothic! You’ll never look at Batman’s villains the same way again…you simply won’t have the stomach for it!
