Could it be? Can it be true? DC has released a preview of the opening pages of Batman vs. Robin #1 ahead of its release in September, and it certainly looks as if our suspicion that Alfred Pennyworth might be coming back from the dead has something to it.

The seven-page preview from the oversized first issue of the series – each issue of the five-issue series by Mark Waid, Mahmud Asrar and Jordie Bellaire will run an extra-length 48 pages – might not build on what we already know for sure about the story, with no appearance of the Devil Nezha and only brief appearances from Robin and Bruce Wayne’s costumed alter ego, but what it does show certainly sets up what’s likely to be one of the highest stakes of the whole shebang moving forward… assuming that it’s not a feint hiding something even stranger behind the scenes.

Check out this preview of Batman vs. Robin #1:

Batman vs. Robin spins out of the opening storyline of the current World’s Finest: Batman/Superman series, as well as events in Joshua Williamson’s Robin series – and the recent Shadow War crossover between Robin, Batman, and Deathstroke Inc., as well. Given that Shadow War was a prelude to events in Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, that might mean that there’s a Great Darkness connection to what’s going on in this series… especially given that it was announced at San Diego Comic-Con that Waid is also contributing to the Dark Crisis: The Dark Army one-shot this fall.

Batman vs. Robin #1 goes on sale September 13.

We’ve been thinking about the potential return of Alfred for awhile; why not go back and look at our not-as-crazy-as-it-seemed-at-the-time theorizing on that topic from earlier this year?