Posted in: Batman, Comics | Tagged: 5g, Batman, dc comics, dc infinite frontier, future state, infinite frontier, john ridley, next batman, omniverse, tim fox

DC Comics Confirms That Tim Fox Is The Next Batman

Back in September, Bleeding Cool was the first place to state that the upcoming Batman series by John Ridley could feature Tim Fox as the new Batman – though this was after a year of stating it would be Luke Fox. Not great for Batwing #19 speculation, but excellent for Batman #313 speculation, as first appearances go.

Now DC Comics has confirmed that Tim Fox, the forgotten son of Lucius Fox until very recently, will be the Batman of the Next Batman mini-series. Originally, this means he would have been the ongoing Batman, replacing Bruce Wayne as part of the 5G relaunch, but that was abandoned after DC Comics publisher Dan DiDio was fired. Instead, his run as Batman will be restricted to the two months of Future State in January and February. Of course, he could return as part of the DC Omniverse. DC Comics has stated that;

Today, the speculation finally ends with the reveal of this surprise variant cover to issue #2 of the four-issue January/February miniseries. Featuring striking art by Doug Braithwaite and Diego Rodriguez, Gotham's defender in this dystopian future is revealed as Tim (Jace) Fox, estranged son of Lucius Fox and brother to the former Batwing Luke Fox.

Tim Fox's first comic book appearance was in Batman #313, April 10, 1979. The character has since been teased in the current Batman line, first as a mention in "Family Ties," the John Ridley/Olivier Coipel story from September's Batman: The Joker War Zone anthology. In October's Batman #101, he also shows up in a conversation between Batman and Lucius Fox, who has since acquired the Wayne fortune and technology as a result of The Joker War.

On February 23, 2021. Ridley and Coipel reunite to tell another story of The Next Batman and give him a sidekick as part of DC's Batman: Black & White anthology series.

In the Batman comic books, Lucius Fox and Tanya Fox have a number of children, but continuity has confused them over the years,  Fox's youngest daughter, Tiffany, was first shown in Batman #308 in 1979, but was not substantially explored until  The New 52 reboot of DC's continuity, which reintroduced her along with her siblings in Batwing #22. That series saw his son Luke Fox take the role of Batwing. Fox's daughter Tam was also introduced in the New 52 series Red Robin.  The alternative future story shown in Batgirl: Futures End in 2014 showed Tiffany grow up to be a protege of Barbara Gordon, one of several women to use the Batgirl moniker. But one of the Fox siblings seemed to have been missed out.

Prior to The New 52, Lucius had a son named Timothy whose occasional delinquency embarrassed his father, and who first appeared in Batman #313 in 1979. Luke Fox seemed to replace him in the Batman comics after the New 52 reboot.

We saw the return of Tim Fox in Batman: The Joker War Zone also written by John Ridley. hat we may be seeing a return of Tim Fox, courtesy of writer John Ridley, who is writing the upcoming Batman comic book focused on the Lucius Fox family. We had always heard that it would see Luke Fox, son of Lucius Fox, take on the role of Batman. Originally that would have been for the line as a whole as part of the 5G relaunch, now its for an Ultimate-style mini-imprint of continuity all to itself.

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