Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, DC Comics | Tagged: Arkham Asylum, christian ward

How Christian Ward Got His Cosmic Horror Arkham Asylum Batman On

On June the 17th, 2022, Christian Ward tweeted the following "One day I’ll do my cosmic horror Batman". And now it has come to pass.

Published Fri, 28 Jul 2023 12:57:07 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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On June the 17th, 2022, comic book writer and artist Christian Ward tweeted the following (it was still called Twitter then (and honestly, it still is)) "One day I'll do my cosmic horror Batman".

And it's now out in October. From fanfic to reality in sixteen months. With Christian Ward tweeting "My new book from @DCOfficial – a dream come true my cosmic horror Batman story – Batman: City of Madness a 3 prestige 48 page issue mini series written and drawn by me – out October"

"City of Madness is my love letter to Batman and a pseudo sequel to Arkham Asylum: Serious House on a Serious Earth and I have absolutely not come to play."

"Thrilled also to be featuring Batman's best modern villains – the Court of Owls – @Ssnyder1835 & @GregCapullo court of owls is one of my favourite bat stories and without them this book wouldn't exist. Excited to be playing in their sandbox – here's the official solicitation… And just look at these variant covers – @Martin_Simmonds and freaking @SienkiewiczArt and a cool foil version of the image that started it all"

BATMAN: CITY OF MADNESS #1
Written by CHRISTIAN WARD Art and cover by CHRISTIAN WARD
Variant cover by BILL SIENKIEWICZ 1:25 variant cover by MARTIN SIMMONDS 1:50 variant cover by CHRISTIAN WARD
$6.99 US | 48 pages | 1 of 3 | Prestige Plus | 8 1/2″ x 10 7/8″ (all covers are card stock) ON SALE 10/10/23
Buried deep beneath Gotham City there exists another Gotham. This Gotham Below is a living nightmare, populated by twisted mirrors of our Gotham's denizens, fueled by the fear and hatred flowing down from above. For decades, the doorway between the cities has been sealed and heavily guarded by the Court of Owls. But now the door swings wide, and the twisted version of the Dark Knight has escaped…to trap and train a Robin of his own. Batman must form an uneasy alliance with the Court and its deadly allies to stop him—and to hold back the wave of twisted super-villains, nightmarish versions of his own nemeses, each one worse than the last, that's spilling into his streets!
Visionary writer-artist Christian Ward unleashes his cosmic-horror take on Batman's world, in a tribute to disturbing Dark Knight classics like Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Gothic! You'll never look at Batman's villains the same way again…you simply won't have the stomach for it!

But it wasn't just 16 months, it was thirty years that Christian has been wanting to tell this story. Here's a piece from when he was a teenager, thirty years ago after reading Arkham Asylum by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean.