Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason to take over BATMAN AND ROBIN; Tony Daniel to remain on BATMAN

Well, this was certainly unexpected news.

Just announced over on the DC Blog, starting in November, exit Grant Morrison and [insert artist name here] from DC's top selling book, Batman & Robin, and enter the former Green Lantern Corps creative team of writer Peter J. Tomasi and artist Patrick Gleason.

Tomasi had this to say, "I'm incredibly excited to be working on Batman & Robin! I mean who the hell wouldn't be?!?  I've enjoyed my few forays into the Bat Universe with Nightwing, Batman: Blackest Night, and Batman and The Outsiders, and was always hoping I'd get a chance to tackle a main Bat book, so to be able to take the monthly reins from Grant on such a tremendous book is a dream come true and it's going to be a blast, especially when my partner in crime is artist Patrick Gleason, who I've had a great working relationship over in Green Lantern Corps!"

I thought that the Scott Snyder writing Detective Comics news was the most surprising Bat-creative team-related news so far. Well, that lasted a whole 24 hours.

But not everything's a-changing. Yesterday, DC announced that Tony Daniel will remain the writer/artist on Batman, despite the brief return of writer Grant Morrison for Batman #700 and the current two-art story that fills in the gap between "Batman R.I.P." and Final Crisis.
 


So what does all this mean?

It would seem that Grant Morrison is done with Gotham City for the time being. We've now got writers on Batman, Detective Comics, Batman & Robin and Batman: The Dark Knight, and none of them are from Scotland. There have been rumors for a while now that Morrison's got some big project planned that has to do with the multiverse and this may be the non-confirmation confirmation that he's moving off all of his regular books to work on that.

Morrison originally said that he had two years worth of Dick Grayson-as-Batman stories, which would have taken us to Batman & Robin #24 or thereabouts. We're not quite going to get there. These things happen.

A much as I love Peter J. Tomasi's work (And I do. A lot.) I can't help but see this as a step back for DC Comics. Anecdotally, Batman & Robin is the most pulled book here at iFanboy and it's the top selling book at my local comic shop. This is all because of Grant Morrison and, as great as this new creative team is, you've gotta figure that sales are going to slide a bit in November. But, what can you do? Sometimes plan changes and creators can't stay on books forever.

I know that Tomasi and Gleason are going to bring their A-game and, when all is said and done, we'll probably get some great comics because if there's one thing that Tomasi knows, it's how to write the Bat-family. He showed that during his stint on Nightwing. After that book ended I said that Tomasi should be given one of the main Bat-books and now that's finally come to pass.

Oh, and I think after all of these announcements it's safe to assume that Bruce will be back beneath the cowl come November. As he should be.
 

Comments

  1. blackest night batman was awesome so i have high hopes for this

  2. Awesome news! I would hope that it would Dick as Batman that Tomasi got to write but if it’s Bruce and Damian that’s cool too. I wonder if Morrison has anything else planned other than the Multiverse project he talked about so long ago?

  3. Avatar photo Jeff Reid (@JeffRReid) says:

    Oh, wow. I was under the assumption that BATMAN & ROBIN would end when Morrison left it. I suppose that it is true what they say when you "assume" things.

  4. also tony danie i can take or leave i liked battle for the cowl but his batman wirtting was pretty meh

  5. i mean tony daniel

  6. I can’t believe this. This is just ridiculous. NOVEMBER? Wow they pulled his ass off this book with Flash like speed. Shame on them. Instead of just ending the book, they’re going to let the quality drastically fall. Here’s hoping Morrison lashes out at San Diego for such a silly move.

  7. I love Tomasi and Gleason and I’m pretty excited for this, but I’m with you Conor.  I will totally miss Morrison.  I have absolutely loved his take on the Bat family of characters.

  8. Wow, well this is interesting. Though it wouldn’t be surprising if we hear of another bat book with Morrison as the writer, not saying that’s what’s going to happen, but it wouldn’t be surprising. But cool, I’m going to continue to pick up the book. 

  9. This just ruined my Thursday 🙁
    I’ve found that I’m losing a lot of my passion for comics and superhero comics in particular lately and Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin was one of the few books that still hadd me excited month to month. With him leaving I might drop superhero comics entirely. He’s one of the few original voices in superhero comics right now and I really hope he at least moves on to new DC U book. If not, I guess I’ve still got Joe The Barbarian

  10. im gonna miss Morrison but i think its time for a change

  11. Well, at least we’ll get three solid Batman & Robin trades out of the deal. 

  12. This is very sad news. I like Tomasi, but let’s face it – Morrison on Batman is something special

  13. This is awesome awesome news.  People who don’t think Tomasi can be as creepy and weird as Morrison didn’t read Green Lantern Corps.

  14. also, that’s not to say Tomasi is a bad writer, quite the opposite. GLCorps and BN Batman were loads of fun, they just don’t get me excited to go to the comic store every wednesday…

  15. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    If Morrison can’t stay on, Tomasi is well suited to the task. He’s one of DC’s best and deserves the nod. As does Gleason. 

  16. I’m excited to read Morrision’s Bruce Wayne: Agent of Checkmate in December.

  17. Wern’t we promised a years more worth of Morrison Batman stories?

    I could have sworn that Morrison said something about another "season" of Batman and Robin (his wording)

  18. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    That’s covered in Conor’s write-up. 

  19. I will give Tomasi a fair shake on this because of his Green Lantern work, So he has the first arc to wow me.

  20. @West: I’m confused as to who Morrison would be lashing out at. The mirror?

  21. Between Snyder on ‘Tec and Tomasi here I might end up reading TWO Batman books? How’d that happen?

  22. This is interesting. I’ll be sad to see Morrison leave Gotham, but it had to end sometime. His story has been epic, so if he’s reached a conclusion that feels natural and organic, I can live with that.

    I’m a big Tomasi/Gleason fan, so that’s kind of exciting. Not as thrilled about Daniel going solo on Batman proper, but we’ll see where that goes.

  23. I think I shall take this opportunity to reclaim $3.00. I thought I was the last person who would ever utter the words, "I wish Grant Morrison were writing this book," but good is good.

  24. Really sad to see Grant go, but Tomasi can handle it.  Loved the Mighty, his Nightwing stuff, BN Batman, and GL Corp, so I’m excited about Tomasi stepping up to Batman and Robin.  I’ve liked Daniel on Batman also, so its going to be tough figuring out which Bat books to buy.  I don’t know about this Snyder guy, but i feel like i need to at least give it a shot, and if i’m going along that line of thought, i guess I’ve gotta give Finch a shot too.  Damn, I’m going to end up getting all these… and my poor poor wallet is going to hate me.

  25. Knowing Morrison is leaving – I think it is a mistake for DC to continue this book. Batman & Robin, under Morrison, reads and feels like a limited series because it is so uniquely different. It feels like the "real" All-Star Batman . . . or at least what All-Star Batman & Robin should have been . . . 

    Tomasi and Gleason’s work would probably sell (and read) better if DC just separated their stories and started with a new title.

  26. Oh man. They’re leaving Daniel on? He’s written the wort Batman I’ve read in years!

  27. Guys, forgive me for not being a pessimist, I don’t think any of this neccessarily means Morrison’s Batman tenure is at an end.

    A quick look at newsarama a telling, they report that "DC is also telling fans to “wait a few days” for the answer to the questions they feel inevitably come out of this announcement". Which the rama suspects, as well I do, that DC still has something up their sleeve regarding Morrison and Batman.

    I mean, Grant DID explicitly state that he has ideas that directly spin out of his Return of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Robin deal. And nothing has really shaken up to presume those ideas are in jeopardy.

    My guess is they’re waiting to SDCC to announce yet another bat-title, Batman & Batman starring both Bruce and Dick as Batmans. 😉

  28. I am sad to see Morrison go but i am really excited about seeing Tomasi write Batman & Robin

  29. The Tomasi/ Gleason news is exciting!

  30. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

  31. I think it’s more likely that, like previously, Morrison’s story is going to continue in another book.

    Either way, I’m interested to see where Tomasi and Gleason will take the title. 🙂 

  32. Interesting. This is a pretty easy drop for me. Unlike many, I find Tomasi to be okay, but not worth my monthly $3 — the notable exceptions being his creator-owned works like The Mighty and The Light Brigade. His super-hero work has been just average for me. I think i’ll be dropping B&R and picking up Snyder’s ‘Tec. i really don’t have much interesting in Tony Daniel or David Finch writing, so it looks to me like Detective will be my book — until I hear if Morrison’s got another Batman thing in the works.

  33. You know who’s perfect to replace the writer and artist for Batman and Robin?

    Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason.

    I’m so excited to see these two work together again! Gleason doing a Bat-book does seem to be a bit off (there isn’t any raptor villains in the Bat-verse!). But I think this title can only stay consistently great now that we have a great team to replace Morrison.

    The only bummer is that it fully proves Quitely was never going to come back to the series at all. Which seemed obvious even before this announcement, but it’s still a bummer. 

  34. I like the direction Morrison’s done, but I’m definitely going to be picking up Tomasi/Gleason.  Daniels…well, he can just do what he does, but I won’t be along for it. 

    Also, people, November is like hella far away, like 3-4 more issues of Morrison.  That ends his tenure at issue 16 or 17.  That’s a strong run, and if he’s moving on to an even bigger project that will bring enjoyment, then I don’t begrudge him one bit.

  35. Hope this gets a relaunch to make this is a good jumping on point crystal clear.

  36. dammit

  37. Morrison is crap. Tomasi is great. Best news in quite a while.

  38. So that means I’m keeping B & R, picking Detective back up and dropping Batman. Love Daniel’s art, but not so much on the writing.

  39. I look forward to this new creative team, but Morrison sure left the bar high.

  40. Very excited about the new team, but i’m not a fan of it being Batman and Robin, seems like that is Morrison’s creation and should go down with him.  Im kinda worried about this info.  This means that the Dr. Hurt story is gonna wrap up incredibly fast over the next couple months.  Love Morrison i want to know what next.  Maybe going back to Marvel?

     

  41. I think Morrison said he was taking a break after his Batman run

  42. Tomasi knows how to write Dick Grayson perfectly. But if hes no longer batman then i dont know how i feel about this…

  43. Ive never been a Morrison fan and I was very polarized about his Batman work(ranging from "damn this is coolest issue Ive read in a WHILE" to "this is the dumbest amatuer bullshit I ever read") so I cant say I’ll be shedding a tear to see him go, BUT I kind of wish he would have stayed on to atleast finish his story. You know how it is with Morrison, often times nothing makes sense until the end so it would suck if a lot of open plot holes stay unresolved.

  44. I tend to think there’ll be a further announcement about Morrison on Batman.  The interviews he gave about having plans for the character post-Return of Bruce were not very long ago, and I wonder if DC just feel they’ve got scope for another new title, or possibly some kind of year long maxi-series.  After all, they will have had people buying Return Of Bruce Wayne for almost 6 months, so maybe they think there’s a customer base for one more title.  This is a good creative team, but I do wonder just how many Batbooks might be too much.  Still, I’ll be dropping Batman again as soon as the Morrison arc finishes.

  45. Am I the only one who cares about Dini’s Streets of Gotham book? To me that’s the only book today who tells real (IMO) Batman stories, and i’m getting kinda worried that no one is talking about it. Please don’t be canceled!!

  46. clunk! dropped like a stone.

  47. @DarkKnightDetective I think Morrison’s story is almost finished anyway. The Dr Hurt stuff seems to be coming to a head in he current B&R arc and Bruce is almost back home. Seems to me that’s about it. I honestly can’t think of any plot holes left dangling that aren’t getting tied up in the current arc.

  48. I’ve seen nothing anywhere indicating that he’s leaving before finishing his story.  Where are you seeing this?

  49. As far as writing goes, Tony Daniel is an empty pair of pants.   The sooner that guy moves on, the better.  This is pretty disappointing.  That said, Tomasi is strong when he skews serious, so I think Batman & Robin will be pretty good.  

  50. WHY GOD, WHY??!!??!!  Tomasi is okay but I’m hardly a fan of GLC or The Mighty.  The only Scott Snyder I have read is American Vampire which I dropped after three issues of sappiness, and I don’t even know who the other dude is.  I sure hope Streets Of Gotham isn’t going anywhere!!

  51. Well, I am disappointed that Morrison is leaving and the series is not ending. It seems that there are just currently too many bat-books in the mix (especially with the limited series and one-shots coming soon), and I’m not sure if the majority of readers are going to be able to continue shelling out $3 per book without DC offering their best writers and artists. That said, DC should drop Tony Daniel like a bad habit. "Batman" was excellent under Morrison, and then continued to offer a great story under Judd, but Daniel is empty. His art is mediocre and his story-telling simply stinks. I really hate that one of DC’s flagship books is continuing to be treated like a second-rate step child. Of all the books on my list, Detective and Batman should be my favorite, and right now, I can’t say they are. 

  52. Please, lets get rid of Tony Daniel. He’s damaging my reputation.