Popular baddies will be taking the stage this summer in DC's Year of the Villain, which will feature villain-centric stories in Batman, Justice League, Superman, Event Leviathan and more.
DC announced the series will premiere in May at a special price, saying "Comic book fans know that Summer can bring the occasional heat wave, but DC plans to keep it hot all Summer long and into the fall as more details are revealed about DC’S YEAR OF THE VILLAIN #1, the $0.25 one-shot that hits comic book shops May 1 and sets the stage for several major story arcs by some of DC’s most celebrated writers and artists."
The first issue will be written by acclaimed writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV, with art by Jim Cheung, who has worked on Justice League, The Avengers and X-Men Unlimited. The story will focus on Lex Luthor sacrificing everything to achieve his goal of gaining the support of Perpetua (who first appeared in Dark Nights: Metal).
The next part of DC's Year of the Villain will be featured in Justice League #25. Titled "The Offer," the issue will feature Lex presenting a sinister deal to some DC favorites. Other titles included in Year of the Villain include:
July – Year of the Villain: The Offer
August – Year of the Villain: Dark Gifts
September – Year of the Villain: Evil Unleashed
October – Year of the Villain: Doom Rising
As for Event Leviathan, the Year of the Villain storyline began in Action Comics #1007, which kicked off "Leviathan Rises" by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve Epting. As the story continues, it will feature Batgirl and Green Arrow as they try to solve the mystery to the identity of Leviathan.
Batman: City of Bane is a Year of the Villain story by Tom King and Tony S. Daniel. Beginning in Batman #75, it sees Bane and his minions have taken over Gotham City, while the Dark Knight seems to be missing. To make matters worse, Lex shows up to offer Bane the mysterious aforementioned deal.
To celebrate the event, a series of covers will showcase some of DC's most popular villains, including Cheetah, the Batman Who Laughs and Black Manta.
DC's Year of the Villain will feature special variant covers by Greg Capullo, Stanley Lau, Alex Maleev, Jorge Jimenez, and many more, with over 30 different covers available for the series. The 32-page one-shot will be available on May 1.