Batman's origin retold through the lens of real historic events in DC's Dark Age

Imagine Batman born in the real world, against the fabric of real history.

Image credit: DC

News by Chris Arrant Editor-in-Chief

Published on Dec. 14, 2023

You know Batman's origin - it's become a proverbial historical event in pop culture, told and retold in various mediums over the decades. But what if Batman was born inside real historic events?

In the upcoming DC limited series Batman: Dark Age, writer Mark Russell (Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles) and artist Mike Allred (Madman, Silver Surfer) are reuniting to imagine the Dark Knight coming of age against the backdrop of the real world in which you and I live in.

"Meet Bruce Wayne, Gotham’s favorite delinquent son. In an origin story like no other, witness the boy become a dark knight shaped by a city in turmoil as it marches towards its prophesied doom," reads DC's official description of the special series.

This is a spiritual successor to Russell and Allred's previous DC book, Superman: Space Age, which recast Superman's primordial days against the backdrop of the Cold War and the Space Race.

"Set against the backdrop of actual historical events, [in Batman: Dark Age] Gotham comes alive, filled with the iconic characters who’ve loved and hated Batman over the years like you’ve never seen them before," DC's description continues. "Spinning out of the Eisner-nominated Superman: Space Age, Mark Russell and Mike Allred return to give audiences a look at Batman as a figure in American history fighting for justice in a world gone mad."

Russell and Allred are joined by colorist Laura Allred and letterer David Sharpe.

Batman: Dark Age is a six-issue series, with each issue being double the standard length of a comic book - with 40 story pages in each issue. And we have a first look at two of those pages from the first issue, along with two covers: