Bleeding Cool is getting word of a new Batman: Black & White comic book series being created by DC right now. I understand that a handful of DC Comics freelancers who may have found their other work for DC curtailed, delayed or postponed for whatever reason, have found themselves reassigned and decommissioned to this new digital-first comic book, planned to be published sooner rather than later. DC has continued to publish digital-first titles as planned, including The Batman Adventures Continue and Teen Titans Go.

Batman Black and White is a series of comic book limited series published by DC from 1996 featuring 8-page black and white Batman stories. It began when editor Mark Chiarello hosted a dinner table discussion with a few famous comic-book artists who talked about what single complete run of comics one would be happy to be stranded on a desert island with, and all agreed on Warren Publishing's Creepy. Work that included that of Alex Toth, Frank Frazetta, Al Williamson, Angelo Torres, Gene Colan, Steve Ditko, Bernie Wrightson, Richard Corben and more, written and edited by Chiarello's own mentor Archie Goodwin.

Chiarello pitched it to DC the idea of a Batman-themed black and white anthology from the best artists around, and was a major success for the publisher, the first issue including stories the likes of Ted McKeever, Bruce Timm, Joe Kubert with a final story by Archie Goodwin, and José Antonio Muñoz. Subsequent issues included work by Walter Simonson, Richard Corben, Kent Williams, Neil Gaiman and Simon Bisley, Katsuhiro Otomo, Brian Bolland and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Warners produced semi-animated adaptations of several of the Black and White short stories and released them as motion comics. Several Batman: Black and White statues have been released by DC Collectibles. Some of these are based on designs used by various artists for their contributions to the three volumes of Black and White stories, since spinning off into action figure and plastic versions. Could it be that these new stories may inspire other versions to follow? Bleeding Cool continues to cover the current global situation and its impact on the comic book industry, and you can catch up with this link.