Batman: Arkham Knight Prequel Comic is a Great Move
One of my favorite Batman comic book series, since I am not a big fan of the DC New 52 Universe, was actually the Batman: Arkham City miniseries. The limited series was written by Paul Dini, the lead scenario writer for Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, provided a good bridging story between the Arkham Asylum and Arkham City video games. DC Comics has now announced that there will release a new prequel Batman: Arkham Knight comic series that will depict events that occurred before the upcoming Arkham Knight game. This is a great move by DC Comics and Rocksteady to flesh out the world of the Arkham Trilogy and give fans a taste of what is in store for the hotly anticipated gaming experience.
The Arkham City miniseries later led to the awesome Batman: Arkham Unhinged series. Basically, Arkham Unhinged was an anthology series that really fleshed out the world of the Arkham video games created by Rocksteady Studios. It provided some interesting backstories on events that were referenced, but not expanded upon, in the game. I would not mind seeing another Arkham anthology series, this time based around the events of the Arkham Knight game rather than the events of Arkham City.
With all the delays of the Arkham Knight game, I am greatly anticipating anything to gear me up for the release. The Arkham Knight comic will certainly fill that void for fans, or people who have been dying to learn about what has been going on in the world of the Arkham games and the event’s of Harley Quinn’s Revenge.
The great news is that Peter J. Tomasi is writing the series. Tomasi is a terrific writer, and his recent work on the Batman and Robin series was among my favorite work for the New 52 Universe. Tomasi has a great grasp on the world of Batman, so he is a good asset to join the transmedia universe of the Batman: Arkham franchise. So far, the cover artwork that has been released looks great. I love the mash-up cover image showing Batman’s cowl over the Scarecrow’s head.
The first issue of the Batman: Arkham Knight prequel comic is due out next month as a digital first comic on February 25. A print release of the comic will follow later. The Batman: Arkham Knight game is due out on June 2 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC.