DC Comics has announced Batman & Robin: Year One, a new 12-issue miniseries from writer Mark Waid and illustrator Chris Samnee beginning this October 16.
The story concerns Bruce Wayne as he “adjusts to the realities of adopting orphan Dick Grayson.” Concurrently, “a mysterious new crime boss called the General” with equally mysterious ties to Two-Face “has come to Gotham to claim the city by disrupting and destroying its other mobs. Batman and his new sidekick, Robin, are out for answers, but it’ll take everything they have to navigate both sides of their relationship as father and son and dynamic duo, with Dick Grayson’s present and future hanging in the balance!”
In the DC press release, Waid notes the miniseries will be more of a Bruce/Dick story than one concerning Batman/Robin, stating “It takes place only a month or two after Bruce adopted Dick, and it’s sinking in for Bruce that he has no idea how to be a father to a kid that age. He has no role model—his own father was long dead by the time he was Dick’s age. Nothing he’s ever done has prepared him for this, and Alfred—wise as he is—doesn’t have much experience here either.”
Samnee adds, “Dick is everything Bruce is not—impetuous, flamboyant, reckless- but he’s also precise; he can stick a landing. He’ll take orders when they make sense to him, but he’s keen to improvise, testing his role within the Dynamic Duo. The first pages you’ll see will showcase how they’ll be acting, and reacting, as they adventure out into Gotham City on patrol together. We’re so excited for this story to finally be told.”
Fatherhood, right? As the synopsis states, the book’s primary antagonist will be the General, a Damien Thorne-esque contemporary of Dick Grayson who happens to be a brilliant military strategist. Intriguingly, the cover of issue #1 sees a number of other familiar villains (Catwoman, Joker, Clayface, Professor Milo, etc.) swarming Batman and Robin in a nod to the opening credit sequence of the Adam West series.
While its unlikely any of these characters will appear in the miniseries proper, the inclusion of Tom Hardy’s Bane is interesting. The closest West’s Batman ever came to his receiving his own version of Bane was when Val Johnson guest-starred as the Minstrel. (Seriously, go back and watch his one and only two-parter, “The Minstrel’s Shakedown/Barbecued Batman”—he very nearly succeeds in leveling Gotham City with an earthquake-causing lute.)
We’ll see how Waid and Samnee’s Portrait of Eddie’s Father-inspired take on the dynamic duo pans out when when Batman & Robin: Year One hits shelves later this year. In the meantime, enjoy a preview below.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
BatmanChris samneedc comicsMark WaitRobin
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