A new era of DC Comics is on the horizon as they just announced that the world of Tim Burton's 1989 Batman film will continue in a new digital-first comic series. Joe Quinones, who will draw the new upcoming series, has shared multiple character concepts for the series, titled Batman '89. The concept art shows what some of the announced characters might look like. The new series will be written by screenwriter Sam Hamm with art by Quinones, and will debut on July 27 on digital platforms.
Batman '89 will continue the adventures of Michael Keaton's caped crusader. The series will pick up the threads left behind after Batman Returns, reviving Burton's world in comic form. It will explore the original characters from the films, allowing readers to pick up where they left off by taking many fan-favorite aspects and adapting them in new and exciting ways. Characters like Catwoman will return to the streets of Gotham, along with brand-new creations that will usher in new tales. Quinones' drawings provide eager fans an insight into the style of DC's digital-first series.
Surprisingly, this isn't the first time a project like this has been pitched. In 2015, Quinones worked on a version of the newly announced series. After the pitch fell through, Quinones published a blog post featuring multiple images of his concept art for the discarded Batman mini-series. He has now shared images of new concept art on Twitter. Unsurprisingly, both his old and new concepts are based on the general aesthetics of the Burton films. However, there are some differences in the Dark Knight's design, with the concepts showing some minor alterations. The other characters, especially Commissioner Gordon, have changed quite a bit and are inspired by other sources.
It must be emphasized that these are just initial concepts, so there's a good chance that the final designs seen in July's series may be different. However, the Bat-suit suit is currently a mix of Burton's Batman, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, and Bruce Timm's Batman: The Animated Series. The distinctive glowing eyes are inspired by the animated show, whilst the overall look of his costume is nearly the same as what Keaton wore apart from the cape, which has a blue tinge that differs from the films' black cape. Quinones seems to be taking more artistic liberties with this new version compared to his scrapped 2015 one. Additionally, the under armor concept is something that wasn't seen in the films. But keen eyed-fans will recognize the design from when Batman Returns came out, as an action figure with the same design was released. Quinones' sketch has likely been inspired by the film's unused costume.
Alongside the under armor, another 1992 action figure was sold by retailers. That figure was Robin, who did not appear in Batman Returns despite being advertised with the film's collectibles. In DC Comics' announcement, they confirmed that a new version of Robin would debut in the series, therefore, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that they might also draw on that unused concept. Bruce Wayne himself is quite a bit different from Keaton's looks, as the artist notes next to his character concepts, he has a stronger jaw, a flatter nose, and has wavy hair. His hair isn't just brown like Keaton's original look, as this version of Bruce is older and his hair is greying, establishing that a significant chunk of time has passed since Batman Returns' end. Another difference from Quinones' 2015 concept is that Gordon has changed quite a bit, resembling a look closer to Batman: The Animated Series than Pat Hingle's version.
Although there are many similarities, it's clear that the designs have evolved whilst retaining a similar style to the now-dead 2015 project. In the scrapped concept characters like Two-Face, Robin, Batgirl, Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy would have been brought into the Burton-verse. Ultimately, all of these characters have a strong chance of showing up in the series. But as time goes by, plans are bound to change and these initial concepts are a good guide for what some of the Batman series' characters might look like and who could appear.
Source: Twitter