Is Batman finally going to kill The Joker in DC Comics? Michelle Jing Chan has sold her debut graphic novel for big bucks. David Michelinie and Mark Bagley’s Spider-Man run is getting an Omnibus
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Episode Transcript:
Is Batman going to kill The Joker?
Michelle Jing Chan graphic novel nabs big bucks.
David Michelinie and Mark Bagley’s Spider-Man run gets collected.
This is Comic Book Club News for November 7, 2023.
Is Batman Going To Kill The Joker In DC Comics?
You’ve seen three Jokers in The Three Jokers. You’ve seen two Jokers in The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing. And now, will you finally see a dead Joker in the pages of Batman?
Spoilers past this point for Batman #139. In today’s new issue, which kicks off the “Mind Bomb” storyline from writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Jorge Jimenez, The Joker is once again on the loose and coming for Batman. Only he doesn’t want to fight regular Batman… He wants a piece of the Batman of Zur-en-arrh, an alternate, extreme personality created by Bruce Wayne to protect himself in cases of extreme stress.
And while regular Batman has a no-killing rule, Zur-en-arrh has no such compunctions. When that personality takes over, he straight up says that he’s going to kill The Joker. Given that there are two other Jokers, as reestablished earlier in the issue, it is distinctly possible that Batman could, finally, take The Joker’s life. Or at least, a Joker.
So is this it? Is this where Batman crosses the line? First, though, he has to deal with an array of other Zur-en-arrh style personalities that range from an Adam West of Zur-en-arrh, to a Michael Keaton of Zur-en-arrh, and every iteration in between. And that’s no joke.
Michelle Jing Chan Sells Debut Graphic Novel For Big Bucks:
Writer/artist Michelle Jing Chan has sold her debut graphic novel for some big bucks. As reported by Bleeding Cool, Somewhere in the Gray was bought at auction for six figures by the publishing house Farrar Straus & Giroux.
A queer author/illustrator of Chinese descent who lives in the Pacific Northwest, Chan went viral for her comics about her 92-year-old grandfather and was written up on Buzzfeed among other places. Even with the notoriety, this is a surprising amount of money for a debut graphic novel.
The plot of the book is about, a girl who is “dating the most popular girl at school, and what seems easy for her friends—being intimate in any way with their partners—doesn’t feel quite right to her as she learns it’s more than okay to live somewhere in the grey of asexuality.”
Said Chan of the deal on Instagram, “I still can’t believe that I’m going to be a YA author-illustrator!!! SOMEWHERE IN THE GRAY is the project of my dreams and the story I wish my younger closeted bi/ace self would have had. It honestly still doesn’t feel real, but I am so, so excited and grateful to be working on a project so personal to me.”
The book is expected to be released in 2026.
Marvel Collecting David Michelinie And Mark Bagley’s Spider-Man:
If you need more Carnage in your life, then we have some good news: as reported by ICv2, Marvel will be releasing an Omnibus collecting David Michelinie and Mark Bagley’s Spider-Man run next year.
Running a hefty 1,048 pages, the volume will collect the first appearance of Carnage, the return of Peter Parker’s parents, and many more stories. That second one stuck around for a while, by the way. His parents definitely weren’t robots or anything.
Titled Spider-Man by Michelinie & Bagley Omnibus Vol. 1, the book will also include stories by Al Milgrom, Eric Fein, and Fabian Nicieza, with art by Chris Marrinan, Aaron Lopresti, and Brandon Peterson, among others. Perhaps it should have been titled David Michelinie and his Amazing Friends?
Regardless of title, the book will be released in June of 2024.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. The Alex Zalben of Zurr-en-arrh.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
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