BATMAN '89: ECHOES Will Introduce "Burtonverse" Takes On Harley Quinn And Scarecrow

BATMAN '89: ECHOES Will Introduce "Burtonverse" Takes On Harley Quinn And Scarecrow

DC Comics is continuing to expand on the worlds introduced in Tim Burton's Batman and Richard Donner's Superman, with comic book sequels to both Batman '89 and Superman '78 announced...

By MarkCassidy - Aug 22, 2023 08:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Batman (1989)

DC Comics (via ComicBook.com) has announced that sequels to both Batman '89 and Superman '78 are coming this November, and we have a first look at some covers and concept art below.

Batman '89: Echoes will pick up shortly after the last series, with the Caped Crusader nowhere to be found following his showdown with Two-Face. Batman's absence prompts ordinary Gotham citizens to wage their own war on crime, with disastrous consequences.

One again pairing writer Sam Hamm (who also penned the screenplays for 1989's Batman and 1992's Batman Returns) and artist Joe Quinones, Echoes will introduce "Burton verse" takes on Harley Quinn and the Scarecrow.

In Superman '78: The Metal Curtain, from returning writer Robert Venditti and artist Gavin Guidry, we learn that another relic of Krypton crash-landed in the Soviet Union, fuelling the rise of a powerful new enemy for the Man of Steel (most likely Metallo, based on the cover art).

Check out some variant covers for the respective first issues below, along with official synopses.

superman-78-the-metal-curtain-1-1-25-variant.jpg

batman-89-echoes-1-open-to-order-variant-rossmo.jpg

superman-78-the-metal-curtain-1-wip.jpg

Batman '89: Echoes

"You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts! After Harvey Dent's crusade against Gotham and Batman, the Caped Crusader has disappeared without a trace. In his place, ordinary citizens have taken to the streets to root out crime. As innocents get hurt, the question on everyone's mind is the same: Where is Batman? Sam Hamm, screenwriter of the 1989 Batman movie, and Joe Quinones reunite for another tale in Gotham!"

Superman '78: The Metal Curtain

"When the planet Krypton exploded, its last son was rocketed across the cosmos and came to settle in a small town in Kansas. But what else came with him, and what if a piece of his home landed somewhere we never knew about? As Superman has become a symbol of strength and pride for America, the Soviet Union looks to crush that image with a creation of their own, built by their own might and forged by their own power! Robert Venditti returns to the Man of Steel with new artist Gavin Guidry!"

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Forthas
Forthas - 8/22/2023, 8:06 AM
The nostalgia strategy has moved to the comic pages. I guess it could not hurt. It might be interesting enough. Will there also be a Schumacher Verse and which Batman would they use?
IronDean2099
IronDean2099 - 8/22/2023, 8:14 AM
@Forthas - just say one of them is the Schumacher version of Hush or something, idk.
Forthas
Forthas - 8/22/2023, 8:12 AM
I hope they use Superman 78 to give proper respect to what could have been a great villain...

Origame
Origame - 8/22/2023, 8:14 AM
@Forthas - ...you think superman clone that sounds like lex for some reason and magic kryptonian killing finger nails could've been a great villain?
Forthas
Forthas - 8/22/2023, 8:17 AM
@Origame - It's all in how you present it.
Origame
Origame - 8/22/2023, 8:43 AM
@Forthas - ...you think kryptonian killing finger nails can work conceptually?
Forthas
Forthas - 8/22/2023, 8:51 AM
@Origame - Soooo...my understanding is the character was supposed to be Bizarro initially. I have NEVER been a fan of Bizarro and I think Nuclear Man was a slight upgrade. Sure the fingernails were silly but everything else was fine. I don't think the fingernails were any worse than cold vision and heat breath that Bizarro uses.
Fogs
Fogs - 8/22/2023, 8:57 AM
@Origame - think Sabretooth
SanFranLand
SanFranLand - 8/22/2023, 8:58 AM
@Origame - when I was little I thought he was totally cool. Looks goofy now but I can see how it could be updated
Matador
Matador - 8/22/2023, 8:59 AM
@Forthas - Had they gone a bit darker ala Superman 2 that villain would have been Doomsday level but they went a bit silly with the story.
Origame
Origame - 8/22/2023, 9:15 AM
@Forthas - I mean, how? I really don't see what's so silly about cold vision and heat breath when superman has heat vision and cold breath. Especially when you have a character who's defining power are finger nails that, when they scratch you, take your powers away and make you quickly age.

Also, bizarro had personality that was completely removed from nuclear man.
Origame
Origame - 8/22/2023, 9:16 AM
@Fogs - but those were actual claws that can kill you the same as wolverine claws.

These nails just scratch you and take your powers away.
Origame
Origame - 8/22/2023, 9:17 AM
@SanFranLand - I mean, I thought batman and Robin was cool as a kid. Doesnt make it good.
Fogs
Fogs - 8/22/2023, 9:19 AM
@Origame - Yeah, but we're talking about adapting/updating him, right?
DiegoMD
DiegoMD - 8/22/2023, 9:37 AM
@Origame - I hope that they have him in My Adventures With Superman, reinvent him and redeem him in the process. This is a character who would greatle benefit from a reinvention!
Origame
Origame - 8/22/2023, 9:42 AM
@Fogs - I mean, you really think they'd have superman get gutted by those nails? They were in the script for a reason, so it was a conceptual problem.
Origame
Origame - 8/22/2023, 9:43 AM
@DiegoMD - id say just forget about him and use bizarro instead. Did wonders for superman and lois.
Forthas
Forthas - 8/22/2023, 2:33 PM
@Matador - I think you are right. There were some weird weaknesses he had like he would pass out of he was not in sunlight. This made him seem a bit too weak or at least easy to beat
Doomsday8888
Doomsday8888 - 8/22/2023, 8:18 AM
First mini was mediocre but the Superman one by Venditti was damn good.

Still gonna trust Venditti.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 8/22/2023, 8:30 AM


That Batman art is good.

That Superman art is crapola.

dracula
dracula - 8/22/2023, 3:43 PM
@DocSpock - yeah but batman 89’s writing sucks

Superman’s is great

Ill take writing over art
DocSpock
DocSpock - 8/22/2023, 7:09 PM
@dracula -

Very true. Would have been nice if they could both look good and be good.

Sigh....
LucasTurkeyNeck
LucasTurkeyNeck - 8/22/2023, 8:33 AM
I remember in the late 90’s Joel Schumacher claimed that the next Batman film was going to be less “toyetic” and more dark.

If I’m not mistaken Christopher Lloyd was under consideration for scarecrow and Madonna was in consideration for Harley Quinn . Supposedly Batman was going to be gassed by scarecrow sending him into a hallucination featuring joker which would have had Jack Nicholson in a cameo.

I truly think had the studio not interfered Schumacher COULD have made a decent Batman film.

I mean the man directed The Lost Boys, 8mm, and falling down and also wrote Car Wash. so he was capable of making good movies.

Who knows.
CoHost
CoHost - 8/22/2023, 8:48 AM
@LucasTurkeyNeck - Schumacher's career is literally inconsistent. Half his movies are good, half his movies are bad.
Fogs
Fogs - 8/22/2023, 8:59 AM
@CoHost - this.

He said many times his own goal was to be closer to the 60's series. This can be seen specially in Batman & Robin, the camera angles, acting, etc.
LucasTurkeyNeck
LucasTurkeyNeck - 8/22/2023, 9:31 AM
@CoHost - well, that’s why I said capable.

Take from that what you will.
SanFranLand
SanFranLand - 8/22/2023, 8:59 AM
Bring it! Love the first Batman ‘89 with the VHS hardcover. I’ll take more!
Fogs
Fogs - 8/22/2023, 8:59 AM
Still the best movie suit. White eyes make it perfect.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/22/2023, 9:03 AM
That Batman art is amazing gorgeous
dragon316
dragon316 - 8/22/2023, 9:10 AM
Superman sounds boring As fan of Superman movies I was disappointed with first hardcover it was little boring but I will still buy them spin off to movies same with transformers cross over comics some are good and others bad and boring
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 8/22/2023, 9:43 AM
DC Comics couldn't even do Batman 66 right. And these covers show that they can't do Donner's Superman or Burton's Batman right either. They are drawing Reeve's Superman very wrong. The terrible cover by Guidry is using Kidder's likeness from pickup shots in Superman II when she looked bad due to cocaine use.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 8/22/2023, 9:47 AM
So are they going to use an actor's likeness for Harley Quinn and Scarecrow? Like Julia Roberts for Harleen Quinzel and Al Pacino for Dr. Crane, they were both big in the early 90s.
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 8/22/2023, 10:03 AM
@soberchimera - Well, the '89 book was mostly a hodgepodge of dead concepts that didn't make it into the movies (Like Billy Dee Williams becoming Two Face), and Madonna was supposed to show up in a sequel after Batman & Robin. I guess one could argue the cover art kind of sort of looks like her.
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 8/22/2023, 9:48 AM
Batman 89 was kid of all over the place story-wise, I got the second one is a bit more focused.
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 8/22/2023, 11:29 AM
Vicky Vale going to become Harley Quin??
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 8/22/2023, 11:32 AM
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 8/22/2023, 11:34 AM
MahN166A
MahN166A - 8/23/2023, 7:43 AM
@slickrickdesigns -

It would definitely make sense. Perhaps Joker left her some Smylex as a parting gift. Or she just went insane from her constant interactions with him.
Stockholm Syndrome and such.
Slotherin
Slotherin - 8/23/2023, 8:33 AM
@MahN166A - couple that with fear toxin
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