Heck Yes, Chip Zdarsky & Jorge Jiménez are Teaming Up for New Batman Run

The main Batman book lives and dies based on the creative team behind it. Some runs have been pretty damn good, and others haven’t entirely lived up to the potential that they seemed to have. DC’s Dark Knight gets new teams fairly frequently, and the publisher has announced the next duo to take over their most popular hero after current team Joshua Williamson and Jorge Molina end their six-issue stint.

Starting in the summer, writer Chip Zdarsky of recent Daredevil fame (and also Star-Lord) will be heading up the lead Bat-book alongside artist Jorge Jiménez, who you likely remember from James Tynion’s fairly recent Batman run, and colorist Tomeu Morey. The debut arc will be the six-issue story “Failsafe,” where Batman will start receiving nightmares of “a future he can’t stop,” as an enemy from his past wants to end Batman completely. Speaking to Comic Book, Zdarsky said that this arc would be Batman’s “Doomsday,” which is a pretty loaded word in the world of DC Comics. But as anyone who’s read his excellent Daredevil run knows, Zdarsky is really good at writing street level characters, and whatever he’s got in store, he’ll surely be able to pull it off.

“When DC approached me to write Batman,” he added, “I immediately thought about things that could really challenge the character mentally, physically, and in terms of his relationships.” One way he plans to challenge Batman is by bringing in Tim Drake’s Robin to help with this new threat (peep him in the cover above from Jiménez), and Zdarsky explained his desire to highlight the Dynamic Duo aspect of Batman that hasn’t gotten a lot of play in the main book for some time. “Tim Drake is a favourite of mine and being able to highlight him here has been a lot of fun.”

For his part, Jiménez expressed excitement at getting a chance to return to Batman with the new writer. “Chip’s one of the best writers in comic,” he said in a statement to DC Comics, “and his writing is inspiring me to create a new narrative and aesthetic.” All he could say was that “something different” was in store from his artistically compared to the cyberpunk and horror-themed stories he did with Tynion, and that fans should enjoy what’s in store.

Zdarsky’s recently cut his teeth on Batman with the DC Black book Batman: The Knight, along with recent stories in Detective Comics and Batman: Urban Legends. In moving to the primary Batman book, he’ll be in it for the long haul while also continuing to write Daredevil over at Marvel with artist Marcus Checchetto. “We’re just getting started,” said Zdarsky. “I’m just writing the Batman book I want to read….Jorge and I are taking Bruce Wayne to some really wild places and we hope everyone enjoys the ride!”

Zdarsky and Jimenez’s Batman run will begin with issue #125, releasing on July 5.

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