US comics publisher DC takes Batman’s war on crime worldwide next month in a new hardcover anthology, Batman: The World, which features a great line-up of artists you might not necessarily expect to take on drawing the Caped Crusader, including Spanish writer and artist Paco Roca and Japan’s Okadaya Yuichi.
The international project, first announced earlier this year, launches just as DC ramps up Batman’s departure from Gotham in November, a storyline spanning several titles, leaving his wards and allies to fill the void as protectors of the city.
Sadly missing from the Batman: The World mix is a British chapter, even though Panini here did launch its own reprint Batman title, Batman: Guardian of the Night, earlier this year.
The 184-page book is a first-of-its-kind publishing event, featuring Batman stories by top creative teams from across the globe, taking place in their home countries. The complete anthology will be localised to the following international territories: North America, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea, and Japan.
“Batman has grown into a true pop culture icon, known the world over,” said DC publisher and chief creative officer Jim Lee. “Batman: The World is DC’s way of showing fans everywhere that Batman is more than a character; Batman is a phenomenon that transcends languages and borders.”
Kicking off the anthology is a story from the award-winning duo of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Lee Bermejo (Batman: Damned, Joker, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, Batman/Deathblow). In the story titled “Global City,” Batman reflects on his time in Gotham, protecting his city and its inhabitants from all manner of threats. But when he looks beyond the bridges, alleys, and skyscrapers, the Dark Knight realises that the call for justice knows no borders, as there are wrongs to be righted everywhere.
Their story sets off a series of tales chronicling Batman’s past and present, stories told by some of the best-known international voices in comics, and each international version of Batman: The World will also feature its own unique cover art by the local creative team.
International publishing and distribution partners include Urban Comics (France), ECC Ediciones (Spain), Panini (Italy, Brazil, Germany), CREW (Czech Republic), Azbooka-Atticus (Russia), Egmont Polska (Poland), JBC (Turkey), Editorial Televisa (Mexico, Central America), Sigongsa (Korea), Starfish Media (China), and Shopro (Japan).
Here are some of the Batman: The World covers and in some cases, interior art…
Brazil: Carlos Estefan (writer)/Pedro Mauro (Artist), to be published by Panini
Carlos Estefan is a Brazilian/Italian, writer, of both comics and games, perhaps best known for his work on the western adventure graphic novel trilogy, Gatilho (“Trigger”), working with Pedro Mauro (art), but his work spans several genres.
Currently working from a studio in Itu, near São Paulo, Pedro Mauro describes himself as a “very precocious draughtsman”, his first published comic book work was as still a teenager for the western “Pancho” series, by Taika Editora. He later went on to work as a very sought after illustrator in the advertising industry, developing comps and storyboards for major international agencies, and finished art for magazine and book publishers in São Paulo.
In the 1990s, Pedro was invited to work and live in New York, where he stayed for 12 years, represented by and providing top level work at Paul Santa-Donato Studios.
He returned to comics in 2013,with a series about a famous female pirate, Back From the Dead Red, authored by Carlos Estefan, still unpublished. In 2014, Pedro began his collaboration with Italian publisher Sergio Bonelli Editore, drawing an episode of Adam Wild by Gianfranco Manfredi.
China: Xu Xiaodong, Lu Xiaotong (writers)/Qiu Kun, Yi Nan (artists), to be published by Starfish Media
Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to uncover information about the creators or publisher involved in the Chinese aspect of Batman: The World – but the art’s impressive!
Czech Republic: Štěpán Kopřiva (writer)/Michal Suchánek (artist), to be published by CREW
Writer Štěpán Kopřiva is the co-creator of several graphic novels, including the graphic album, Nitro, (in Polish, “Nitro těžkne glycerínem”), and who has also written several TV series, and scripted the 2004 film, Choking Hazard.
Artist Michal Suchánek has worked on a variety of comics. projects. “I’m super proud to be part of this unique project,” he says, “together with some real industry legends.”
France: Mathieu Gabella (writer)/Thierry Martin (artist), to be published by Urban Comics
Mathieu Gabella is a comic book writer well known for his work on historical adventure, fantasy and superhero stories for a variety of French publishers. His early work includes an adaptation of La Guerre des Boutons, by Louis Pergaud, with Vernay and Khaz.
His trilogy of superhero graphic novels, Idols, was published by Delcourt, with art by Emem, and wrote La Licorne (“The Unicorn”), a medieval fantasy thriller, working with Anthony Jean. At Dargaud, he wrote Book Three of the World War Two-set series Secret Service, drawn by Vax, and at Glénat, created the fantasy tale 3 Souhaits (“Three Wishes”) with Paolo Martinello, and the Conan the Barbarian story, Au-delà de la rivière noire (“Beyond the Black River”) with Anthony Jean.
He’s also written several of Glénat’s “They Made History” titles, biographies that include the story of Catherine de Médici, Robespierre, Charles de Gaulle and others.
Thierry Martin was born in Beirut, but moved to France in 1975, enrolling in the art schools in Perpignan and Nancy, and had an apprenticeship in animation at the Gobelins school in Paris. Initially working on adult comic titles, alongside work in animation for both TV and film, his first graphic album series was Le Pil, written by Olivier Taïeb, for Dargaud, using the pen name, Matrix.
His first graphic album published under his own name, Vincent, mon frère mort-vivant, written by Jean-Marc Mathis, was published by Soleil in 2005. He has since worked for for both Delcourt and Soleil (Paroles d’Étoiles, La Fontaine aux Fables), and continued his collaboration with Mathis for ‘Le Roman de Renart’ in 2007.
His most recent project is the crowdfunded graphic story, Comics Novel, written by Phil Cordier, a thriller that takes place in the middle of … tadammm .. comics!
Alongside numerous other French creators, Bande Dessinée d’Amiens is currently hosting an exhibition of “Envelope Art”, which includes work by Thierry, a project he instigated.
Germany: Benjamin von Eckartsberg (writer)/Thomas von Kummant (artist), to be published by Panini
Benjamin von Eckartsberg lives and works in Munich, Germany and has been working as both a writer and artist since 1993, on comics, books and much more.
He’s worked with Thomas von Kummant on the adventure series Gung Ho for some time, the seventh album just published recently.
Also Munich based, Thomas has worked for a range of publishers, magazines, advertising agencies and for film and TV production companies around the world.
Italy: Alessandro Bilotta (writer)/Nicola Mari (artist), to be published by Panini
Award-winning comics writer Alessandro Bilotta has created several comic book series, both in Italy and in France since the 1990s, including “Le strabilianti vicende di Giulio Maraviglia” and “Romano” for Vents d’Ouest and the ambitious SF title, “La Dottrina”. He’s also one of the writers working on “Dylan Dog”, and creator and scripwriter of the “Il Pianeta dei Morti” saga.
Nathan Mari began working full-time as a comic strip artist in 1989, and is best known for his work on Dylan Dog and Nathan Never, both published by Italian publisher Sergio Bonelli Editore.
Japan: Okadaya Yuichi (writer/artist), to be published by Shopro
Okadaya Yuichi debuted in 2007 as a graphic novel artist with “The Man of Tango”, followed by the
fantasy Samurai story titled “SEN” in 2010. Okadaya received the Special Achievement Award at 16th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2011 with “Hirahira -kuniyoshi ichimon ukiyotan”, a story about the real life Ukiyoe artist Utagawa Kuiyoshi and his pupils who lived the end of Edo period.
Korea: Inpyo Jeon (writer)/Jae-kwang Park, Kim Jung Gi (artists), to be published by Sigongsa
Mexico: Alberto Chimal (writer)/Rulo Valdés (artist), to be published by Editorial Televisa
Poland: Tomasz Kolodziejczak (writer)/Piotr Kowalski, Brad Simpson (artists), to be published by Egmont Polska
Russia: Kirill Kutuzov, Egor Prutov (writers)/Natalia Zaidova (artist), to be published by Azbooka-Atticus
Spain: Paco Roca (writer/artist), to be published by ECC Ediciones
Turkey: Ertan Ergil (writer)/Ethem Onur Bilgiç (artist), to be published by JBC
• Batman: The World launches worldwide on Tuesday, 14th September 2021, just in time for Batman Day 2021 (Saturday, 18th September 2021)
• For the latest news on Batman: The World and the World’s Greatest Super Heroes, visit the DC website at www.dccomics.com, and follow @DCComics, @DCBatman and @thedcnation on social media
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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