Posted in: Comics | Tagged: 5g, 5g remains, james tynion iv, substack

When Bleeding Cool Found Out About 5G, It Was Still News To Creators

Published Wed, 18 Aug 2021 12:57:10 -0500

Last updated Thu, 12 Jan 2023 16:59:51 -0600

It's 5G time! In his Tiny Onion newsletter for Substack, James Tynion IV looked at his entire approach to Batman and the history of the characters, dividing it into five generations. And about his pitch to take over the Batman book from Tom King. for a year-and-a-bit as it was then planned.

When I first started getting wind in the summer of 2019 that I might be able to pitch to take over the Batman title, I had some idea that something was coming called 5G (though I didn't know what it was – most of us figured it was a New 52 style relaunch of the line), that would put a new Batman under the cowl (though at that time I didn't know who that would be or what it would mean – I did understand that Bruce would still be around after this turn, but didn't know how). But it seemed clear the job of taking the main Batman book would effectively be the writing of the last Bruce Wayne Batman story in core continuity. Which seemed like a tremendous challenge and a HUGE opportunity… What I needed to pitch was a story that worked as not only the conclusion of the fifth era of Batman that had started with Grant Morrison's run, but a story that worked as the conclusion of all five eras of Batman that lived in my head. And then I needed to convince DC Comics that I was the right man to write that story. And that's where I'll leave it today… Next week I'll get into what I was looking to pitch to DC, and what their initial reception was!

Intriguingly Bleeding Cool first reported 5G back in June 2019 and we didn't know what it was then either. It's just surprising to discover that the DC Comics creators didn't know either. It took until October 2019 that we had a clue, and learned more about the plans for Batman. And soon we may learn more. If you want to subscribe to James Tynion IV's Substack, here's where you do it.

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