Are you ready to return to Batman’s pulp roots? In advance of Batman Day on Saturday, DC Comics has announced Batman: Dark Patterns, a 12-issue maxiseries exploring four, self-contained cases. The book comes from writer Dan Watters and artist Hayden Sherman and will be set early in Batman’s career as he attempts to solve “twisted mysteries” plaguing Gotham City.
“I love the strangeness of Batman. A man dressed as a huge, gothic bat, solving crimes in a hostile city of black magicians, mad scientists, and superstitious, cowardly criminals. I’ve always wanted to write a series of mystery stories that would home in on that aspect of the character—a dweller in the shadows of Gotham’s towering, delipidated spires,” said Watters via a press release provided to Comic Book Club. “After watching The Batman, this desire was reaffirmed. Batman: Dark Patterns explores the pulpiest part of the Dark Knight’s rich history and gives readers an entirely new perspective on the early years of DC’s Dark Detective.”
Per DC, the first case will be titled “We Are Wounded” and involves a series of gruesome murders that may be the work of a serial killer, or something far more ominous. “Each case is born from Gotham and its people adapting to the horrors they’ve been subjected to over recent and not so recent years—from Joker poisoning the water supply to the Falcone gang war. The criminals are superstitious and cowardly… but how could the whole city not be superstitious and afraid?” continued Watters. “And Batman’s role as a wounded healer shrouded in urban myth, who seeks to give hope to the hopeless.”
Each arc will run three issues, with four stand-alone mysteries total (you can do the math there). Triona Farrell will provide colors, Frank Cvetkovic is on letters. The book will hit stores on December 11 with a main cover by Sherman and a variant cover by Stevan Subic.
Check out the covers, and several unlettered interior pages, below. You can click to view larger versions.
