Some days, even as cool as it is to work this job, it can be even cooler, and getting to debut some preview pages from a comic I'm dying to read fits that bill perfectly. Batman: Damned, billed as supernatural horror, is the latest team-up of writer Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo, in the first book from DC's new "Black Label" imprint, which seeks to show off darker and edgier material than the majority of it's all-ages books. Azzarello and Bermejo have teamed up previously on the graphic novel's Joker (2008) and Luthor (2015) and Bermejo took on writing and art duties for Batman: Noel (2011). Bermejo's gorgeous style has graced many a comic cover and interior, which is wholly unique and mesmerizing to behold. Truly, one of the finest writer/artists working in comics today. Azzarello has been scribbing words for comics for a long time, notably on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the critically-acclaimed 100 Bullets. If that's not enough to sell you on this large-format book, I don't know what is. Okay, there's also a Jim Lee variant cover (included below in the preview) and we're all suckers for Jim Lee. It's just science.
Here's the synopsis for Batman: Damned:
The Joker is dead.
There is no doubt about that. But whether Batman finally snapped his scrawny neck or some other sinister force in Gotham City did the deed is still a mystery.
Problem is, Batman can’t remember…and the more he digs into this labyrinthian case, the more his mind starts to doubt everything he’s uncovering.
So who better to set him straight than…John Constantine? Problem with that is as much as John loves a good mystery, he loves messing with people’s heads even more. So with John’s “help,” the pair will delve into the sordid underbelly of Gotham as they race toward the mind-blowing truth of who murdered The Joker.
BATMAN: DAMNED will run bi-monthly with issue one hitting comic shops on September 19th!