It’s Batman vs. Bruce Wayne, and Batman’s a killer on the loose—or is he? Immortal Legend Batman is a mind-bending new Elseworlds series that’s inspired by Japanese tokusatsu like Kamen Rider and Ultraman. With a stacked creative team consisting of Kyle Higgins (Radiant Black, Batman Beyond) and Mat Groom (Inferno Girl Red) on writing duties, Erica D’Urso (Inferno Girl Red, The Mighty Valkyries) and Dan Mora (Superman, Justice League Unlimited) on art, Igor Monti (Moon Man) and Tamra Bonvillain (Supergirl) on colors, and Becca Carey (Absolute Wonder Woman) on letters, this cosmic-thriller Batman tale is something you’re going to want to add to your pull list!

The premise is this—in the distant future, humanity has taken to the stars using dangerous technology that has shattered the barrier between our universe and its shadow counterpart. Luckily, a cosmic Dark Knight has found a way to harness the energy that binds the two universes together. He is known as the Batman, and he and his partners, Robin and Nightwing, are the only heroes keeping the shadow monsters that have emerged at bay. But the Batman has seemingly abandoned his mission, choosing instead to fight and kill people. Has the darkness of the shadow universe finally infected him? Or could there be more to this situation than there might appear to be?

We had the opportunity to sit down with Kyle Higgins to talk about the release of the debut issue and what it feels like to be part of two distinctive storytelling traditions—DC’s Elseworlds and the world of Japanese tokusatsu.

First of all, what exactly is Immortal Legend Batman?

Immortal Legend Batman is our big new Elseworlds reimagining of the Batman and larger DC mythos. We are putting it all through a couple different influence lenses, but notably Japanese tokusatsu.

For those who don’t know, tokusatsu is a genre in Japanese storytelling. It’s mostly associated with things like Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Ultraman and the transforming hero subgenre. It's also what Godzilla and Kaiju are a part of. There are different tenets of tokusatsu that, beyond the aesthetics, we are tapping into that work incredibly well with Batman.

This series is set in the far future as these monstrous shadows attack human civilizations. They are held at bay by three superheroes—the Immortal Legends known as Batman, Robin and Nightwing. But when our story starts, Batman has actually abandoned his mission to try to rectify a huge mistake, leaving Robin and Nightwing to hold the line against these shadow incursions. What exactly Batman did and what he is trying to fix is at the heart of the series, and he is going to be going up against some threats that the universe has never seen before.

Along the way, we are going to be interpreting characters both new and old through a wildly different lens thanks to the incredible creative team. We have actually worked together quite a bit from our time both on Power Rangers as well as Inferno Girl Red in our Massiveverse line, so we all have a shorthand and a familiarity with each other, which allows us to push the boundaries of what we are going to try to do. This is a series that is going to take some really, really big swings. In particular, there is an upcoming issue that has a level of interactivity and immersion that I don’t think Batman readers have ever really seen before.

What genres would you define the series as?

Tokusatsu is certainly an influence, but there are other influences on this as well. Cosmic science fiction and the lone gunman western are big sources of inspiration on this series. The framing device of this book is built around Batman on this quest—on this mission to rectify a really huge mistake that has put the larger universe at risk. We will be exploring different worlds in every issue as Batman moves along the path trying to solve this colossal error.

The character designs were originally revealed at C2E2 for Batman, Robin and Nightwing. What was it like working with Dan Mora and Erica D’Urso to bring this concept to life?

The cool thing about this project is that it actually all started with Dan’s designs. Dan had designed the character sheets for Batman, Nightwing, Robin and a few others, and he posted them online way back in like 2019. Just before the pandemic, Mat, Dan and I started talking about the idea of building a proper book around these designs. The three of us had a lot of experience working together on Power Rangers, so the idea of taking some of those influences and bringing them over to Gotham felt like a really unique opportunity.

It's one of those instances of the designs informing the narrative. It's a fun way to try to build something. As we refined what exactly we are going to be doing in this universe, the designs then adjusted from there.

What is it like working on an Elseworlds story? I assume there is a lot of creative freedom?

The Elseworlds brand has been something I’ve loved my whole life. The opportunity to tell a story that is outside of continuity and is also outside of traditional interpretations of the characters, while staying true to the tenets that make the characters so amazing is something that is creatively addictive. It allows for such ambition and creativity that it becomes a way of worldbuilding that’s hard to do in the mainline books.

I also think that with that, though, comes a tremendous responsibility to take really big swings and to really push the boundaries on the types of stories that you are telling as an Elseworlds. That is something we very much take to heart on this book.

Last question, without any spoilers, what are you most excited for people to see when reading the series?

I’m most excited for everyone to see Mat, Erica, Igor and Dan's work in this very different, new way. These are creators whom I have so much respect for, whom I have been a huge fan of for many years, as well as a collaborator with. The opportunity to see them do really incredible work on such a big stage with fiction’s greatest character is something that I am incredibly excited about.

As for the story itself, I’m also really excited for readers to pick this up and experience a Batman story that is probably very different from anything they have read before. The ambition, the scope, the worldbuilding, the character design, the story itself and what we are looking to say about not only Batman, but the Immortal Legend, is all at the forefront of this book. I just can’t wait for the first issue to hit stands so people can see what we have been working on for so many years now.
 

Immortal Legend Batman #1 by Kyle Higgins, Mat Groom, Erica D’Urso, Dan Mora, Igor Monti and Tamra Bonvillain is available this week in print and as a digital comic book.