The first New 52 Detective Comics Annual features a showdown between Batman and the Black Mask. Artist Roman Molenaar joins writer Tony Daniel on Detective Comics Annual #1. The artist talked with The Source about joining the Batman family.
“He knows exactly how to write for an artist which makes it a delight setting up the pages,” says Molenaar of Daniel, “Fans can expect fast-paced action and details all over the place as far as the art goes. Batman will need all of his physical and mental strength for this Annual and be ready for the return of one of his most diabolical villains!”
“The first DETECTIVE COMICS ANNUAL features the return of one of Batman’s most dangerous adversaries – the Black Mask!” adds editor Mike Marts. “Picking up from where readers last saw him in the ‘Night of the Owls’ storyline, gangster Roman Sionis has once again donned the maddening mask and formed his False Face Society. How will the Dark Knight combat this unique threat? And is there an even greater villain lurking in the shadows?”
The countdown is on to Tony Daniel’s final Detective Comics after a spectacular Batman run starting way back with Grant Morrison on R.I.P. The artist will be moving on to Justice Leaguein which he’ll draw DC’s biggest icons and the New 52 debuts of classic villains like the Cheetah.
Detective Comics #12 courtesy DC Comics
DC Comics The Source provided preview art from Detective Comics #12 written and drawn by Daniel and a promise of the final fate of Charlotte Rivers, a guest appearance by Robin. Plus Two-Face the hero you cheer for? Daniel’s backup story starring Harvey Dent continues.
Tony Daniel exits Batman and and takes on the entire Justice League. The outgoing Detective Comics writer/artist will team with Geoff Johns to reintroduce an infamous villain to DC Comics The New 52. The Cheetah roars in Justice League #13. DC Comics revealed Daniel’s preview art and talked with both creators.
“I’m thrilled and honored to again work with Geoff Johns on this JUSTICE LEAGUE arc,” Daniel told THE SOURCE. “It’s going to be a lot of fun and I can’t wait to work on my favorite characters. JUSTICE LEAGUE is the first book I pull because of the big stories and the great Jim Lee art inside. I’m very happy that I get a chance to focus all my energy on making my best artwork for Geoff and the fans of JUSTICE LEAGUE.”
Tony and I will be re-introducing one of DC’s iconic villains – the Cheetah – and uncovering her mysterious connection to Wonder Woman and the Justice League,” added Johns. “For me, the Cheetah is up there with Black Manta, Sinestro and Captain Cold as one of the most iconic villains in the DC Universe, and she’ll become a major villainous force in 2012 and beyond. The fallout from JUSTICE LEAGUE #12 starts here as we head towards next year’s TRINITY WAR.”
Rock and Roll legends KISS are back in a brand new ongoing comic book from IDW this week. KISS #1 kicks off with a story called Dressed to Kill by Chris Ryall and Jamal Ingle.
From the publisher:
“Four ordinary humans in 1920s Chicago find themselves caught up in a battle of epic proportions that will reverberate across time and space in “Dressed to Kill,” part 1!”
This “Demon” variant cover is my Michael Gaydos.
Detective Comics writer/artist Tony Daniel revealed his love of KISS at Fan Expo Vancouver. Daniel may be acclaimed for Batman but he reveals how KISS inspired him and first paid work. I asked if he shared my love for the movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.
“I did and when I was a kid man I loved that show. I like 7-year-old – it was a long time ago. As a kid those guys are like superheroes. They’re more than like rock stars. Every kid in my class loved KISS just because they look crazy and had the makeup on – dragons and space guys and what not. What I remember it was so weird. But back then you didn’t have video recorders, Tivo – you watch it once and when it’s over you’re like, man what did I just see. Today you can rewind and watch it again. It was such a weird – you know maybe that screwed me up or something it was very…I just remember it being very bizarre. I’m sure if I watched it now I might feel disappointed in it (laughs) but it was super cool back then as a child.
(I interject asking about how KISS art was his first paying work so to speak)
Yeah it was my first commission. I drew a giant poster size picture of all of four characters. One kid was gonna buy it from me for like two dollars and another kid was gonna give me a big giant stack of basically the entire collection of KISS trading cards and I went with the trading cards and ended up getting into a brawl afterwords with the guy that lost. So yeah, you know blood, sweat and tears from age 7 on with the art.”
You can see my entire interview with Tony Daniel here.
DC Comics The New 52 gave Tony Daniel the creative reigns of Detective Comics as writer and artist. Daniel put Batman on the trail of the Gotham Ripper, introduced a new love interest – TV journalist Charlotte Rivers, gave us the dreaded Dollmaker and left one an absolutely freakish cliffhanger with the Joker.
Daniel’s first seven issue are collected in Detective Comics Volume 1: Faces of Death in hardcover out this month. Batman’s pursuit of the new serial killer in Gotham made him a target while balancing his budding romance with Charlotte, who is out to unmask the killer and the Batman. Here’s the link to buy.
One of Daniel’s triumphs has been the clever use of classic rogues and introducing new enemies in Gotham City. Hypnotic is after Batman and Wayne Enterprises in Detective Comics #10 out this week. This issue continued the back story starring Two-Face.
To see and hear Tony in his own words discuss his villains, the Two-Face story and which old school villain he will reintroduce next here’s the link to my interview with Daniel at Fan Expo Vancouver.
DC revealed Detective Comics Annual will hit August 29th. Tony Daniel puts Batman in a battle with The Black Mask. This special Annual is illustrated by Romano Molenaar and Sandu Florea.
Roman Sionis appeared in last week’s Detective Comics #9. I called this one hellish hour in the Night of the Owls. Black Mask was a pawn in Jeremiah Arkham’s insane plan to escape when an army of Talons invaded Arkham Asylum.
If you want to know more of Tony Daniel’s plans for Detective Comics including the New 52 version of an old foe here’s my interview with him from last month’s Fan Expo Vancouver.
The Night of the Owls crossover events violently tears into Detective Comics #9 as Talons invade Arkham Asylum. The Court of Owls have judged Jeremiah Arkham unworthy. The inmates of Arkham may be the only thing saving him from a death sentence until Batman joins the chaos.
The pencils are plot are eerie and violent mirroring the madness and manipulation inside Gotham’s notorious address. The Black Mask, Clayface and all of Arkham’s “patients” are pawns in his plan to escape the Council of Owls’ assassins. This a thrilling hour during Night of the Owls you don’t want to miss.
In my interview with Tony Daniel (see below) the man behind Detective Comics expressed his hope to work on a Clayface story. In this issue the classic villain has brief moments that are a great tease for what Daniel might do with him.
This issue features a back story starring Two-Face. Tony Daniel (see his interview link below) takes Harvey Dent into a dark, seedy deal with a devil and sets him for an anti-hero to cheer for. Syzmon Kudranski created a murky violent underworld for Harvey to creep through on his mission.
Here’s my interview with Tony Daniel at Fan Expo Vancouver (with more video clips from the creator in his own words.) I asked Daniel about Batman’s Rogues Gallery, the Two-Face back story in Detective Comics, the villains he wants to use next and how rock legends KISS inspired him.
Tony Daniel at Fan Expo Vancouver, photo by ComicsBlend.com
Tony Daniel made a rare appearance at Fan Expo Vancouver, the city’s first major comicon. The creative force of DC The New 52 Detective Comics shared his take on Batman’s foes and the new villains he’s bringing to plague Gotham City.
“Batman has the greatest rogue’s gallery of all the comic book characters in the world probably so it’s easy to use those characters and find something fun and creative that you’ll enjoy as a writer and the fans will enjoy because they love seeing these villains.
What I try to do in Detective is bring in a little bit of the new as well as a little bit of the old. I created a character named the Dollmaker who I think fits in rather well with the other characters, the other villains taking up residence in Gotham City.”
Daniel launched his Detective Comics run with a violent showdown and shocking cliffhanger for Batman’s archrival and his favorite villain.
“My favorite villain…well my favorite villain is the Joker but I’ve only used him sparingly. I worked with the Joker in Grant Morrison’s RIP. That was a lot of fun. (Say Thank you to my gushing!) That was…you know…I can’t believe I was part of that it was just a great experience. I’m lucky to have done the work with Grant on that. And then of course Detective Comics #1 I show a nice fight, battle that goes on between Batman and the Joker and we leave it off with his face hanging on the wallI would love to get back to him. I can’t say when but I’m sure it will be soon because we can’t leave him hanging there so to speak.”
Detective Comics #1 courtesy DC Comics
Detective Comics #8 was the start of a backup story starring Two-Face. Daniel says you may experience conflicting feelings for Harvey Dent with this tale.
“He’s pretty much the protagonist of the story so you gonna end up rooting for him. He’s kind of the good guy in the story but he’s still a bad guy so it’s the perfect noir style story which I absolutely love that. Those old school detective stories. The Jim Thompson stories. He’s a great noir book writer – one of the groundbreaking writers from the 50’s and 60’s. I love that pulp fiction type atmosphere and I’m going to bring that to my Two-Face backup story so I’m having a lot of fun with that.”
Daniel praised artist Szymon Kudransky as the perfect fit for back up story.
September will mark the one year anniversary of DC Comics The New 52 with big plans for Detective Comics. Daniel says he will change-up the villains.
“One of the characters we’ve seen before in the Penguin arc at the Iceberg Casino. He’s the guy that shows up and gives Batman some trouble and we deal with a lot of radiation and villains that are experimental. We have one guy who is a new 52 version of Professor Radium so we haven’t seen that guy in a long time and I kind of breathed new life into that character but he’s new…he’s a 52 version so he’s not the same Professor Radium so hopefully people will like that. It’s a story I’m writing and Ed Benes is doing the art work.”
Daniel expressed his ambition to create a story with Clayface and a bigger arc with the Scarecrow. Detective Comics #1 ended with a shocking fate for the Joker and Daniel hopes to dive back into the fate of Batman’s archenemy.
In the Fan Expo Sketch Duel against Whilce Portacio and Yanick Paquette, Daniel revealed his early comic book dreams were inspired by KISS and how the love of the rock band led to this first commissioned work. I asked if he shared my love for the movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park.
“I did and when I was a kid man I loved that show. I like 7-year-old – it was a long time ago. As a kid those guys are like superheroes. They’re more than like rock stars. Every kid in my class loved KISS just because they look crazy and had the makeup on – dragons and space guys and what not. What I remember it was so weird. But back then you didn’t have video recorders, Tivo – you watch it once and when it’s over you’re like, man what did I just see. Today you can rewind and watch it again. It was such a weird – you know maybe that screwed me up or something it was very…I just remember it being very bizarre. I’m sure if I watched it now I might feel disappointed in it (laughs) but it was super cool back then as a child.
(I interject asking about how KISS art was his first paying work so to speak)
Yeah it was my first commission. I drew a giant poster size picture of all of four characters. One kid was gonna buy it from me for like two dollars and another kid was gonna give me a big giant stack of basically the entire collection of KISS trading cards and I went with the trading cards and ended up getting into a brawl afterwords with the guy that lost. So yeah, you know blood, sweat and tears from age 7 on with the art.”
Detective Comics #9 arrives May 2nd featuring Mr. Toxic and the Two-Face backup story.
By Editor
My only regret – not bringing more books to be signed – including Gambit and the X-ternals – anybody remember that one?
