Batman and his sidekicks are getting infused with a healthy dose of Power Rangers energy for a new DC series. Batman’s popularity allows him to be used in all sorts of different storytelling genres, ranging from action to horror to comedy. The Dark Knight can help a creator tell whatever type of story that tickles their fancy. For the Immortal Legend Batman team, that means continuing their love and appreciation for all things Tokusatsu, which also influences Power Rangers. If you enjoy the colorful costumes the Power Rangers wear, then you’ll love what the Bat-Family dons in Immortal Legend Batman.
DC released a preview of Immortal Legend Batman #1 by Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom, Erica D’urso, Igor Monti, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain, and Becca Carey. It’s a six-issue Elseworlds book that combines sci-fi, westerns, Tokusatsu, and Batman into an entertaining mix, which the pages display. It begins with a man crashing his ship on a desolate landscape. He’s injured, but makes his way to a cave that’s littered with rainbow-colored diamonds on the ground.
He gets to the other side of the cave and uses a blaster to close it behind him. A figure appears to be chasing him. After crouching down relieved, the man is surprised when a person wearing a Power Rangers-style Batman suit powers through the debris. This Batman lifts the man by the shirt and dangles him over the cliff. Apparently, Batman is a monster hunter, so the man doesn’t know what the Dark Knight would want with him.
Batman says the man smuggled someone onto that planet two months ago, and wants to know where he is. “Tell me where he is!” Batman yells. “Tell me… where is Bruce Wayne?”
The other half of the preview is character designs by Dan Mora. First up are Batman, Nightwing, and Robin in their updated costumes. Instead of his suit being blue, the Batman costume goes for a purple aesthetic. We also see who we’re guessing is Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and either Tim Drake or Damian Wayne in their civilian clothes. Our Robin is passing through a planetary city, Dick is being cheered as some sort of racer, and Bruce is in a futuristic board room.
“Certain projects are the perfect storm of timing, idea and creative team,” said Higgins. “Immortal Legend Batman has been years in the making, dating back to stunning designs that Mat and I first saw from Dan Mora. Obviously, we have a love and appreciation for Tokusatsu, and it’s influence on our books like Radiant Black and Inferno Girl Red. The opportunity to bring that love to a very unique version of Gotham, with very unique versions of these characters, with Mat, Erica, Igor, and Becca, along with our editor Matt Levine, who we worked with on Power Rangers, makes this beyond a perfect storm.”
“Batman is fiction’s greatest hero, and we wanted to find a way to take everything that’s so great about him—his immense determination, resilience and selflessness—and explore it in a totally new way,” said Groom. “So, we’re taking Batman to the stars, turning him into a wandering hero, exploring humanity’s final frontier… and searching out deadly threats he inadvertently released upon the galactic community.”
Immortal Legend Batman #1 goes on sale Wednesday, August 27th. Let us know your thoughts on the preview in the comments below!
