The villains of Gotham – Batman’s rogues’ gallery – are coming together in new variant covers for their 80th anniversary. Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant #1 will feature several iconic villains engaged in plots to celebrate this major milestone. Like other 80th anniversary specials, this one will be 100-pages long with plenty for fans to love!
This year has marked the anniversary of numerous DC characters, including Aquaman, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman. Each of these heroes has received 100-page anthology specials. Now, several major Gotham villains will be doing the same in this giant milestone issue. Batman’s rogues’ gallery is one of the most iconic and recognizable, making it no surprise that they would warrant an entire special for themselves.
Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow, Ra’s al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, Red Hood, the Mad Hatter, Killer Moth, Catwoman, and the Penguin will all be part of this special issue. It’s worth noting that this Red Hood isn’t the one fans have come to be accustomed to. This anthology features a story about the original Red Hood, which will be written by Stephanie Phillips with art by Max Fiumara. This issue will also have several collectible variant covers, which have been shared by GamesRadar. The evil residents of Gotham can be seen here:
The Penguin variant is illustrated by Frank Quitely. The Scarecrow variant was done by the team of Wes Craig and Jason Wordie. Poison Ivy’s cover is illustrated by Marguerite Sauvage. Talia and Ra’s al Ghul are featured by Riccardo Federici. The conglomerate cover featuring Killer Moth, Red Hood, and Mad Hatter is illustrated by Dan Mora. Francesco Mattina has created a 1:25 ratio variant of Batman with his villains, while a 1:50 Batman/Penguin variant has been done by Chris Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn. The main cover was created by Lee Bermejo.
The teams of each story have also been revealed. The Scarecrow story comes from Wes Craig and Poison Ivy’s is done by G. Willow Wilson and Emma Rios. Ra’s al Ghul has his story separate from his daughter, coming from Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Riccardo Federici. Talia’s story has the team of Nadia Shammas, Joshua Williamson, and Max Raynor. The Mad Hatter will be the focus of a story from Dan Watters and Skylar Patridge. Killer Moth also has an independent story by Mairghread Scott and Ariela Kristantina. Finally, fans will be super excited to know that Danny DeVito, the Penguin himself, will pen a story with artist Dan Mora about the character he played in Batman Returns (1992).
80-years of villainy is nothing to laugh at and these covers are incredible. A couple have terrifying tones, while Poison Ivy’s is absolutely gorgeous. Each has its own distinct style and villainous portrayal, giving fans plenty of options to choose from. Batman‘s villains may occasionally be seen as silly, but they’re not characters to take lightly, as each has proven to be incredibly dangerous. There’s a reason that several of them have lasted eight decades – with the potential to continue on for many more decades to come. Fans can get their hands on this impressive gathering of villainy when Gotham City Villains Anniversary Giant #1 hits shelves on November 30.
