Artist/writer Marc Silvestri gives an interesting description for his Batman project, Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo, in a trailer for the long-awaited limited series, which, as the title says, sees the Dark Knight team up with the Clown Prince of Crime.
As the trailer begins, Silvestri calls Deadly Duo "a buddy cop horror story," then says that the story begins with the Harlequin of Hate finding himself in a dilemma. "You definitely get the idea that something's going on here. It has to do with the Joker," Silvestri continues as the trailer shows his artwork from the title. "And then we move to Batman doing his Batman stuff. He's investigating a crime, he realizes the Joker has done something that gives Batman kind of no out and by the end of the first issue they're teammates." Silvestri then mentions how his friend and DC Comics publisher/CCO Jim Lee would tell him every so often to do a Batman project and that it took seven years to get Deadly Duo off the ground.
Deadly Duo's Origins
Later, Silvestri states that the best part about Deadly Duo being part of DC's Black Label imprint, which is aimed towards mature readers, is that it's not canon to the DC Universe, an aspect that to him as a storyteller is "very freeing," further noting that the book is dark, but does have some comedy. As the trailer draws to a close, Silvestri shares his hope that fans of both the Caped Crusader and comics enjoy reading Deadly Duo as he did making it.
Deadly Duo itself was originally announced in 2018 at Comic-Con International, during which Lee and Silvestri discussed how the series came about. "Marc and I worked in the X-Men offices back at Marvel together, we shared studio space together," Lee recalled. "When I left, I was still in contact with a lot of the folks at Image and [Marc] drew a piece for a Batman anniversary special and ever since I saw that piece — I knew he had to draw a Batman project. It was out of that conversation that this project came."
A recent synopsis for Deadly Duo from DC delved into the series' plot, saying that Harley Quinn has been kidnapped by unknown new criminals. Worsening matters is the presence of "mysterious, Joker-like creatures" lurking about Gotham City's streets and the disappearance of Commissioner Jim Gordon, which leads to Batman allying himself with the Joker.
The first issue of Batman & The Joker: The Deadly Duo arrives on Nov. 1, 2022.
Source: DC Comics