There's no shortage of upcoming Batman comics coming from DC, with mainline series including the upcoming two-month anthology event Future State, Earth One Vol. 3 finally getting a firm release date and DC Black Label projects also in the pipeline. Sean Murphy has a third entry in his praised White Knight maxiseries titled Beyond the White Knight, while Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok are planning a sequel to the strongly-received Three Jokers.
Another Black Label series that's--supposedly--upcoming that fans would be forgiven for forgetting, or even knowing about is Marc Silvestri's Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo. It sparked excitement back at SDCC 2018 with its creator and intriguing premise, but the silence that's followed gives some reasons for worry.
10 Excited: More Black Label Batman
DC's Black Label imprint has been incredibly kind, particularly to Batman as he's gotten a variety of great works from different creatives that told bold, refreshing and inventive new stories. This is thanks to, on top of their writers/artists, the basis that Black Label comics are meant to be canon, but alternate-timelines that are separate, and therefore free, from having to strictly adhere to mainline canonical lore.
White Knight, Curse of the White Knight, Last Knight on Earth and now Three Jokers were all successful, well-received comics that told exciting Batman arcs that even some of the mainline series can't match. Adding Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo, its high-profile writer/artist and premise to the imprint is certainly something to look forward to.
9 Worried: The Fate Of Arkham Asylum 2
One of the concerns rising from the radio silence since the series' announcement all the way back in 2018 is that it could suffer the same fate as a--potentially--former highly-anticipated Batman Black Label comic book series from the revered Grant Morrison. Morrison made his first big mark on the Dark Knight in the '80s, when Batman was discovering new highs in comic storytelling, with his book Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth.
It's not as much a household name as Frank Miller's legendary Year One and The Dark Knight Returns, but was acclaimed nonetheless for its unique aesthetic with various art styles and playing on body/psychological horror elements. That's why it was a bummer when, this year, Morrison said his tentatively-titled Arkham Asylum 2, starring a potential Damian Wayne Batman, was put on the backburner after three-ish years of silence. Things are looking ominous for The Deadly Duo, with this fate or worse--outright cancelation--being real possibilities.
8 Excited: Batman/Joker Team-Up
As expected from the title of the series, the central premise is that The Deadly Duo will have Batman and Joker team up. Being perhaps the most classic parallels in comic book history, having the two be forced one way or another for a common goal presents an exciting opportunity to create an unexpected and thrilling story, especially while having the freedoms that Black Label brings.
Silvestri gave a brief synopsis on the plot that another unnamed antagonist is making Joker's life particularly hard--so much so that he needs Batman's help. The Clown Prince of Crime takes Commissioner Gordon hostage to force Batman to play along. The unnamed supervillain is said to be an original character for the book, bringing on more intrigue.
7 Worried: The Fate Of Three Jokers
This isn't a knock on the quality of Three Jokers, rather, it's in reference to the development cycle of it. The concept of Johns and Fabok's miniseries was introduced way back in 2015 during the Darkseid War arc of their Justice League run with Batman having discovered via becoming "Batman: God of Knowledge" through the Mobius Chair that there were three Jokers.
And it wasn't until summer 2018 that Three Jokers was announced. Granted, should The Deadly Duo only suffer long development time instead of Arkham Asylum 2's shelving, it would be better, but it would still be frustrating for fans to have to wait several years for seven or so issues of a series to release with little-to-no word on it in between.
6 Excited: Marc Silvestri's Art
Like Sean Murphy, Silvestri is going to be the writer and illustrator for The Deadly Duo, and he's given fans a great look at his art style in the revealed cover art for #1. As expected, his rendition of the Caped Crusader looks wonderfully noir and brooding, and his ominous Joker in the background is reminiscent of Murphy's Joker in his cover art for White Knight.
Silvestri's taken more than one stab at Batman, with him also having done a variant cover for Detective Comics #1027, for instance, and a fantastic black and white piece. If the cover art for The Deadly Duo #1 is anything to go by, the art department is more than covered for Batman.
5 Worried: Potential Further Joker Oversaturation
While the Joker is among the best comic book supervillains of all time, it's that status that brings a drawback to an extent. Joker gets tons of exposure in Batman-related media. Since 2008, we've gotten three live-action, Hollywood Jokers--with Joaquin Phoenix's own excellent version having debuted in last years' Joker.
Even more so in comics, unsurprisingly, with Three Jokers, the Joker War arc and the recent announcement of him getting a solo series. Putting him front-and-center of another book is already playing the oversaturation risk, and if the story somehow doesn't pan out well critically, it'll look poorly on the character and his usage.
4 Excited: Silvestri's Comics Book Resume
Something else to inspire confidence in the potential quality of this series is Silvestri's overall comic book resume outside of just his collaborative works with DC Comics. Silvestri began with DC and First Comics, but eventually joined Marvel working on various series, including a variety of X-Men series in particular, though he's also worked on Avengers-related, Hulk and Spider-Man comics.
He was among the original artists that formed Image, working with the now-revered Jim Lee. Now Silvestri is the CEO of Image, and for Jim Lee to have put his seal of approval on his old friend to come draw and write his own Batman book should be a good omen.
3 Worried: Doesn't Do Anything Interesting With The Batman/Joker Dynamic
How Silvestri approaches the Batman/Joker dynamic, especially in a Black Label series, could prove a narrative concern. Given the high reputation for these two being involved in celebrated stories, using them as focal points--and this often--requires for effective, new creative tweaks to the formula.
Three Jokers gave fans Jokers inspired by different eras in comics, each with varying reasons for their obsessions with Batman as well in relation to the supporting cast. White Knight somewhat role-reversed Batman and Joker as menace and hero, offering different points of view for how this universe's versions of the characters can be perceived. The Deadly Duo doesn't need to reinvent the wheel, but needs to bring something new to the table along with what works.
2 Excited: Becoming A Maxiseries
Batman's mainline series aren't making as big of waves as they've become stale for some, but Black Label's fresh, creative outlets still provide things to look forward to. Allowing writers to play differently with conventional canon, as well as choosing what is and isn't canon in their respective universes has been a blessing in telling more compelling stories, and Murphy's success with White Knight presents another potential opportunity.
Should The Deadly Duo pan out well, becoming a maxiseries like Murphy's could give fans another exciting, new universe to see fleshed out alongside White Knight and perhaps Three Jokers.
1 Worried: The New Villain Underwhelming/Overshadowed
Something to hopefully also ensure Silvestri's book doesn't turn out to be an uninteresting and/or unnecessary Joker-involved story is that Batman and Joker's common goal is a new common supervillain. This antagonist being original adds to the excitement, but if the story largely rides on the quality of that character's writing, it could also break the series.
If this supervillain is a threat even to Joker, then expectations are high. Having the villain prove dull, Joker blatantly overshadows him/her, or both could be real narrative hurdles.