DC’s solicitations for October arrived today, revealing a project from Christian Ward that originated from a social media post last year.
“One day I’ll do my cosmic horror Batman,” Ward wrote on Twitter (0r X, or whatever it’s called now). Someone was listening, because that image spawned a three-issue, 48-page Black Label series from DC, and it kicks off Oct. 10.
With this being the day after San Diego, it might seem odd that DC wouldn’t have mentioned such a major project at the convention, but there is something appropriate about Ward essentially announcing it on Twitter. Here’s the original tweet:
A little more than a year later, and here’s the solicitation text:
BATMAN: CITY OF MADNESS #1
Written by CHRISTIAN WARD
Art and cover by CHRISTIAN WARD
Variant cover by BILL SIENKIEWICZ
1:25 variant cover by MARTIN SIMMONDS
1:50 variant cover by CHRISTIAN WARD
$6.99 US | 48 pages | 1 of 3 | Prestige Plus | 8 1/2″ x 10 7/8″
(all covers are card stock)
ON SALE 10/10/23
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!
The first issue will have three variant covers, by Martin Simmonds, Bill Sienkiewicz and then one featuring the original image by Ward:
“City of Madness is my love letter to Batman and a pseudo sequel to Arkham Asylum: Serious House on a Serious Earth and I have absolutely not come to play,” Ward continued on Twitter.