For DC Comic Books fans or lovers of the Rocksteady Studios computer game series, the news that DC has released a prequel to the upcoming Batman Arkham Knight will come as a rapid fire Kerpow to the head the head. It’s the latest Digital First series for the superhero legends and acts as a pretty cool precursor to the upcoming release of the game in June 2015.
The first three comic books from the series have already arrived and they’re available to download through the DC Comics app, which is a treasure trove of more than 30,000 comics from throughout the long and illustrious history of the creators of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Aquaman. Each episode is 79p in the UK with a similar price tag in the US ($3.99 by the look of things), so it’s pretty inexpensive to flick through a few pages to find out a little more about the masked villain who will dominate the game.
The new comic book series bridges the gap between the Joker anihilating Batman: Arkham City and the latest game from the series, Arkham Knight. It introduces the eponomous new armoured villain who appears to be unrelenting in his determination to destroy the Bat, working closely with other villains from the Gotham universe like The Scarecrow.
It picks up as Batman walks out of Arkham Asylum carrying the bloody corpse of the Joker to leave him with Police Comissioner Gordon and head back to Wayne Manor to heal his wounds. However it takes but minutes for trouble to rear its head in the form of a rebooted Electrocutioner and Batman is bavk in the fray fighting fir his life.
The good news is that it doesnt take long before Arkham Knight puts in his first appearance either and while we’re probably not going to get to find out who he really is until the game’s release, it does give us a few more clues in terms of his power, influence, intent and danger levels. It’s been a while since Gotham had a truly epic new villain to cast a shadow over the city, but that’s exactly what we’re getting in both the game and the comic book.
Batman Arkham Knight has been written by DC regular Pete Tomasi, who’s previous work includes the recent Batman And Robin series, as well as Nightwing, Green Lantern Corps and Brightest Day. The artwork has been supplied by Victor Bogdanovic, inker Art Thibert and colourist John Rauch. However, with the Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice movie on its way in 2016, there’s a danger that the Arkham Knight story arc of the game could get lost in the media excitement over the film.
The rest of the prequel series will be released in the coming months in advance of the game’s arrival on the PlayStation 4, Xbox ONE and Windows PC.
