The Dark Knight's first villain after leaving Gotham City in the aftermath of the upcoming "Fear State" storyline is Abyss, an all-new character debuting in December's Batman #118.Abyss is the creation of the new creative team behind Batman -- writer Joshua Williamson and artist Jorge Molina -- and stars in a self-titled story arc beginning in December.
Little is known about Abyss at the moment, aside from a costume that incorporates sleek body armor, a purple hooded cape, a scythe-like weapon and finned gloves similar to Batman's. Jorge Molina did urge fans to "check out his first appearance" on Twitter, indicating that the new villain may be male.
Williamson and Molina's debut on Batman features Bruce Wayne venturing beyond Gotham City and leaving his home in the protection of the Bat-Family. DC's November 2021 solicitations revealed this absence would lead into next year's "Shadows of the Bat" event running in Detective Comics.Â
This is not the first time that Bruce Wayne has departed his home turf. Notably, in Grant Morrison's run on Batman Inc., Bruce focused his efforts on establishing an international crimefighting team and left Gotham in the care of Nightwing, who was wearing the Batman suit at the time, and Damian Wayne. In a possible ode to this era, Batman is returning to his Batman Inc. Batsuit in Williamson and Molina's upcoming story.
James Tynion IV, the current writer of Batman and the co-creator behind a multitude of new characters in Gotham, including Ghost-Maker and Punchline, announced in August that he would be leaving DC to focus on Substack creator-owned comics.
Batman #118 goes on sale in December, followed by Batman #119 in January 2022.
Source: Twitter