Batman's Newest Heroes Are Connected to Rebirth

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inferiorego

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Edited By inferiorego  Staff

Tom King and David Finch's run of Batman has the Caped Crusader dealing with two new superpowered beings named Gotham and Gotham Girl. However, as the first arc of the new series comes to a close, we've learned that having superpowers and a good heart isn't enough to be Gotham City's savior.

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Writer Tom King talked to GameSpot about the end of "I Am Gotham" storyline and revealed that the origins of these two new characters have ties to Rebirth, the DC event that reshaped the entirety of the publisher's landscape.

Because Gotham and Gotham Girl's powers were created in a laboratory, there may be potential for more metahumans to come out of that same camp. King explained that their origin story is part of something larger, which will be the "spine of the DCU going forward," and it is connected to Rebirth. This will be something that drives all of the books at DC, but at this point in time, he has to be vague.

While there is no way to know just yet, there may be a connection between Dr. Manhattan--from Watchmen--and the laboratory where Gotham and Gotham Girl originated. As of right now, DC and King are keeping a tight lid on all these puzzle pieces.

While King is no stranger to writing comics, with critically acclaimed series like Sheriff of Babylon, Vision, and Omega Men under his belt, Batman is a key title in DC's line. "A lot of people read Batman. I feel there's a responsibility in writing that book to steer the DCU in the direction that will keep fans coming back. Part of that is having stories that star Batman and spin out into other books. Part of that is reacting to stories that happen in other books. This is one of the huge branches of the DC Universe tree."

At this time, King was unable to comment on the upcoming story where Batman leads his own Suicide Squad, which was revealed back at Comic-Con. More information will be released in the upcoming months.

In issue #6 of Batman (on sale September 7), King and artist Ivan Reis end the "I Am Gotham" story utilizing lesser known villains from Batman's past. "I wanted D-List villains, and I picked the ones where I could see something amazing with them" said King. "Captain Stingaree was the easiest one because he seems like the silliest villain, until you read what he wants to do. He's a quadruplet who goes crazy, and he thinks his brothers are each secretly Batman. And Stingaree wants to kill them. That's really f**ked up."

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"For Kite-Man, I just like the challenge of 'What can I do that makes Kite Man cool but kind of funny?' Once I got in my head the moment of Kite Man rushing through a window and robbing them, it was my tribute to Stilt-Man. He'd be in the background, robbing diamonds from the 80th floor of buildings. I wanted to do a tribute to him. As for Colonel Blimp, I just like his name. I love the movie it's based on, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp."

King explained that he tries to put a little bit of light into this books--with bizarre villains from an earlier era in comics--since the majority of what he writes, tonally, is very dark. "That becomes easy to me. I feel like Batman staring out a window being obsessed with something is very easy to me, so you never want to lean into everything you're good at, which is an odd thing to say. In Batman, I want to do something that's not that, not just a man contemplating. I wanted to do something fun, that makes you laugh, and makes you gasp. My favorite parts of Batman are the moments that make me laugh, and that's why I'm so excited to write it."

The conclusion of the "I Am Gotham" storyline hits stores on September 7 in Batman #6.

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redmanta

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#1  Edited By redmanta

can't wait for the conclusion

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casper4690

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Awesome !,King I think your officially my favorite modern comic writer

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NightFang3

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#3  Edited By NightFang3

Gotham Girl is really losing it.

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righteous300

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Sad to see what's happened to Gotham Girl.

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apokos7

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Always nice to see Ivan Reis' art and can't wait for the conclusion to I Am Gotham and for I Am Suicide to begin.

Gotham Girl shouldn't have shaved her head though.

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HighAccuser

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I wish Ivan Reis was on another book. A Lantern related book.

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nickschuff

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Though I've found that most people are ambivalent towards King's run so far I have personally really enjoyed it and have admired the symbolism and attention to detail he has put into the series. King has been a great successor to Snyder. Really looking forward to this epilogue issue and the upcoming story arc. In other news, Ivan Reis needs to be put on a regular series ASAP!

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casper4690

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Hopefully Gotham girl regrows her hair. King is highlighting the emotional impact that the death of her brother had on her

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superior_prime_maybe

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Intrigued

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xsbrx

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Bad hair day with Gotham Girl :/

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jim158

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F yeah. She loved her brother so much. She is bound to do some crazy disconnected things. She just got extremely interesting. Most the time when someone dies other characters don't seem to care to much.

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Cagnazzo82

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#12  Edited By Cagnazzo82

Looks like Gotham Girl is taking a page from Ms. Marvel...

...Or is it Batwoman?

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teefurtree

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Why is Batman always yelling something with his mouth wide open in all the latest covers?

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Lunarstorm

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Got to read this today

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Inglewoodian

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This current Batman run is amazing. It makes me wish the issues came out once a month so it would have lasted longer lol my only problem was Gotham taking down the Justice League. Like really dude? This scrub ass new booty just beat up Superman, Aquaman, Flash, Wonder Woman & Cyborg by himself? AND he hasn't even been doing the hero thing a solid year in comics? Stop it. Ridiculous. Batman should have just let Alfred finish Gotham off and saved the JL that shame.