Batman writer Tom King still isn't saying whether the Dark Knight and Catwoman will get engaged, but he's more than willing to open up about what comes after Selina Kyle gives Bruce Wayne her answer to his marriage proposal.
Speaking with the press at Comic-Con International, including CBR's Managing Editor Albert Ching, King discussed what comes next for Batman, be it as a bachelor or engaged man. The writer also revealed that a new artist will be joining him for the arc; Joelle Jones will illustrate the storyline, which is titled "A Dream Of Me."
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"If he gets engaged, it hits Batman on one level -- 'Holy crap, I've never been engaged before.' If she doesn't get engaged -- if she says, 'Your past is too much to overcome, what you've just confessed in 'Jokes and Riddles' is the most horrible thing I've ever heard, and I can't be seen with you.' -- that's also something you've never seen from Batman before, and he's destroyed," King said.
No matter what Catwoman's decision, King makes one thing clear - Bruce Wayne is going on a road trip. "Batman leaves Gotham, he goes on a quest. We're going through the desert, he's got a horse, he's got a shotgun. He's going to have his shirt off with a sword, and hair on his chest -- we're going old-school Neal Adams here, guys. In his mind, he's entered someplace he's never gone, and now he's going to go off on a mission that's completely illegal. It's something the Robins are blown away that he's doing, it's something the entire Justice League doesn't approve of. But he's doing it on his own, because he hit that emotional breaking point -- or happy point -- that he has to move on with this."
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Of course, though he may envision himself as a dark loner, Batman has one of the biggest extended families in comics. Thus, it should come as no surprise that whatever his status with Catwoman is at this point, he won't be undergoing his journey of self-discovery alone. "He goes into the desert on a quest, and as he goes deeper and deeper down the river, Apocalypse Now-style, his friends try to rescue him. All the Robins are in this story. I started as a Robin writer. I started as a Dick Grayson, Robin War writer. This is a story about Jason, about Tim, about Dick, about Damian, and their reaction to what their father's going through. Damian's seeing him propose to someone who's not his mother. It's about them reacting to their father, and saying, 'Is he going crazy, or is he finally finding peace?' Of course, because it's comics, the way they try to determine that is to punch him in the face."
