Batman: The World, the new anthology created by 14 authors from different countries
Batman
The world loves Batman, and to celebrate the character, as well as the talent of cartoonists around the world, DC Comics has announced Batman: The World, a 184-page hardcover anthology created by creators and artists from 14 different countries, with each story set in their country of origin.Batman: The World goes on sale worldwide on Tuesday 14 September 2021, just in time for Batman Day 2021 which will be celebrated on Saturday 18 September 2021. Localized editions will be available in North America, France, Spain , Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea and Japan. Jim Lee, DC Publisher and Creative Director of Batman said:
“Batman has become a true pop culture icon, known around the world. With Batman: The World, DC wants to show fans around the planet that Batman is not just a character, but a phenomenon that transcends languages and borders. ".
The international artists and all the covers
The volume is inaugurated by the award-winning duo composed of the writer Brian Azzarello and the illustrator Lee Bermejo (Batman: Damned, Joker, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel , Batman / Deathblow). In the story titled Global City, Batman reflects on his time in Gotham, protecting the city and its inhabitants from all sorts of threats. But when he looks over the bridges, alleys and skyscrapers, the Dark Knight understands that the call of justice knows no bounds, as there are wrongs to be remedied everywhere. The episode triggers a series of stories that narrate Batman's past and present, stories written by some of the most famous international voices in comics:Mathieu Gabella (texts) / Thierry Martin (drawings) - France Paco Roca (texts / drawings) - Spain Alessandro Bilotta (texts) / Nicola Mari (drawings) - Italy Benjamin von Eckartsberg (texts) / Thomas von Kummant (drawings) - Germany Stepan Kopriva (texts) / Michal Suchánek (drawings) - Czech Republic Tomasz Kolodziejczak (texts) / Piotr Kowalski, Brad Simpson (drawings) - Poland Ertan Ergil (texts) / Ethem Onur Bilgiç (drawings) - Turkey Alberto Chimal (texts) / Rulo Valdés (drawings) - Mexico Carlos Estefan (texts) / Pedro Mauro (drawings) - Brazil Inpyo Jeon (texts) / Jae-kwang Park, Kim Jung Gi (drawings) - Korea Xu Xiaodong, Lu Xiaotong (texts) / Qiu Kun, Yi Nan (drawings) - China Kirill Kutuzov, Egor Prutov (texts) / Natalia Zaidova (drawings) - Russia Okadaya Yuichi (texts / drawings) - Japan Each of the stories created specifically for this volume, therefore, sees Batman in one of the countries involved in this ambitious production. It is therefore not surprising that the Italian adventure, created by a quartet of aces such as Alessandro Bilotta (Mercurio Loi, Dylan Dog) to the texts, Nicola Mari (Dylan Dog) to the drawings, Giovanna Niro (Dylan Dog, Chrononauts) to the colors and Andrea Accardi (Chambara) to the lettering, see the greatest detective in the world in Rome, grappling with an all-Italian enemy. Ianus, the story created by the Italian team, is an extraordinary adventure that manages to successfully combine the darkest and most nocturnal essence of the Batman character with an all-Italian sensitivity, and sees four masters at the top of their form.
Publishers in each country are already partnering with DC Comics for international editions, and each of them will have a unique cover from the local creative team. International publishing and distribution partners include Urban Comics (France), ECC Ediciones (Spain), Panini (Italy, Brazil, Germany), CREW (Czech Republic), Azbooka-Atticus (Russia), Egmont Polska (Poland), JBC ( Turkey), Editorial Televisa (Mexico, Central America), Sigongsa (Korea), Starfish Media (China) and Shopro (Japan). In this regard Panini DC Italia has already published an official press release via the official Facebook profile:
Who are the Italian authors?
Alessadro Bilotta (Texts) is one of the greatest talents of Italian comics in recent decades, the Roman Alessandro Bilotta has taken the stage in the last five years, first creating the acclaimed Dylan Dog saga The Planet of the Dead and then making a lot of awards in 2018/2019 with the acclaimed Mercury Loi. For years he has been working on a permanent basis for Sergio Bonelli Editore. In June 2021, the miniseries The Men of the Week will be released for Panini Comics, created together with Sergio Ponchione.Nicola Mari (Drawings), on the other hand, is one of the most appreciated and revered designers in the history of Dylan Dog, over the years Nicola Mari has created a style that has made him unique. Able to combine American styles and European atmospheres, Mari has always been appreciated by critics and audiences for his enormous graphic talent. Colonna della SBE, for the first time Mari engages with an international personality.
Giovanna Niro (Colori) has established herself in recent years as one of the stars of coloring in Italy. Author with international experience (she has worked in America with publishers such as Image Comics and IDW Publishing on properties such as Star Trek, True Blood, The Bounce), she exploded at Sergio Bonelli Editore (Orfani, Mr. No Revolution, Dampyr, Dylan Dog ). In recent years we have also seen it on Netflix comic productions, such as Chrononauts: Futureshock.
Finally Andrea Accardi (Lettering) is an acclaimed draftsman, darling of critics and audiences and winner of prestigious awards such as Micheluzzi, Andrea Accardi in recent years has drawn especially for Sergio Bonelli Editore, tying his own intricate pencils to the Chanbara series. But he is also an extraordinary letterer with over twenty years of experience accumulated by collaborating with Panini Comics.
Before approaching this new anthology, we recommend that you retrieve some milestones of the Batman comic. You might just start with Frank Miller's Return of the Dark Knight which saw a recent reissue from Panini.
