DC kicked things off on the second day of New York Comic Con with the Gotham City panel about all things Batman. Moderated by DC group editor Rob Levin, the panel began by announcing a Sirens: Love Hurts, a four-issue DC Black Label miniseries from writer Tini Howard and artist Babs Tarr arriving this February.
The creative team described the series focusing on group of four female friends (Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Black Canary) and the stresses of their adult lives all the investigating a serial killer. This is a book for all the “true crime girlies.”
Tarr voiced her enthusiasm for the project, calling it a dream. With each issue featuring the characters in different outfits, the creative team is hopeful it will prompt new cosplays.
Inspired by books like Long Halloween, Love Hurts takes place over the course of a year. Howard said it’s “Long Halloween for the girlies.”
The miniseries will consist of four oversized issues each taking place over four seasons. It starts in the summer and ends at the wedding of Dinah Lance and Oliver Queen in the spring. It’s an approach not dissimilar to Superman: For All Seasons.
Though “love” is in the title, Tarr and Howard emphasized female friendship is the core of the book. A major plotline is the conflicting friendship and romance between Ivy and Harley Quinn.
Howard’s favorite panel is Dinah showing off her wedding ring to her friends. The creators cited the influence of various romance manga on the book.
Moving onto the main ongoing Batman title, artist Jorge Jiménez was on hand to discuss the book which recently relaunched with writer Matt Fraction. Having drawn the book for a number of years, Jiménez described how he has reinvented his style for something more “classic” and having the colors more flat and less rendered.
Levin teased a new villain named Minotaur debuting in issue #4. He’s the head of a new criminal organization called Taurus. Editorial loved the design of the Taurus logo so much that they created temporary tattoos that they gave to panel attendees.
It’s been one year since the launch of Absolute Batman from writer Scott Snyder and artist Nick Dragotta. Snyder remarked how humbled he still is by the critical and commercial success of the book. Surprisingly, Snyder revealed he was initially hesitant to work on Absolute Batman. However, his friend and colleague James Tynion IV called him on the phone and was able to convince Snyder he was the right person to take on the book.
Dragotta relishes playing with the traditional imagery of Batman, especially since he and Snyder are able to break all the rules.
As readers are know by now, the Absolute version of the Joker is vastly different than the mainstream version. The Absolute Joker flips the traditional Batman/Joker dynamic with Joker being a wealthy person with unlimited resources at his disposal Snyder compared Joker as as the joker card in a playing card deck in that his value can always change.
Snyder emphasized above all else that Absolute Batman is a horror book. Fans can look forward to Scarecrow debuting in future issues as well as the return of Poison Ivy. Snyder will reunite with artist Jock for issue#15.
Snyder relayed how he was able to pitch Jock to draw the Detective Comics “Black Mirror” storyline at SDCC years ago.
The panel then announced Absolute Catwoman, co-written by Snyder and Che Grayson and drawn by Bengal. The six-issue miniseries will reveal Selina Kyle’s origin story climbing up the social ladder. It’s an inverse Icarus where in order to win she has to go all the way down. Snyder praised her ideas.
Absolute Catwoman was designed as the “Batman” of the Absolute Universe in that she has all the gadgets, suits, and resources. Snyder realized there was so much to the character that they needed to expand her story that couldn’t be confined to the main Absolute Batman book. The miniseries will introduce some new characters to the Absolute Universe.
Dragotta described designing the technology Catwoman wields with a question: “What if Apple made weapons?”
Grayson compared this take on Catwoman to the main character in Girl with a Dragon Tattoo.
Finally, Harley and Ivy: Life and Crimes is six-issue miniseries from writer/artist Erica Henderson will explore the early days of the the iconic couple. It will feature infamous “faceless Joker” that was a major aspect from DC’s New 52 era who plays the role of the returning toxic ex-boyfriend. Henderson teased the appearance of Golden Age Red Tornado, Ma Hunkle. Henderson admitted she finds herself rewriting the dialogue after drawing it.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more coverage from NYCC ’25.
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