DC FanDome: The Legacy Of The Bat Focuses More On Family Than Expected

Upon looking at the Hall of Heroes panel schedule for DC FanDome, I knew I had to tune in for The Legacy of The Bat panel. After all, as a lifelong Batman fan, why the heck wouldn’t I? Plus, my expectations have been exceeded today in the FanDome, so I figured I was in for a real treat. Perhaps an entertaining history of The Caped Crusader? Or, the experiences of fellow Bat-fans with some promotion sprinkled in?
Alas, the title for this panel is a bit misleading, at least to my expectations. In actuality, Legacy of the Bat is all about promoting upcoming projects that focus on the Bat-Family as opposed to Batman. On the upside though, this panel, moderated by actor/producer Nyambi Nyambi (Mike & Molly) is packed with a myriad panelists including artist and chief creative publisher of DC Comics chief Jim Lee; Batwoman TV series creator and executive producer Caroline Dries, as well as actress Javicia Leslie; Patrick Redding of WB Interactive Montreal; writer John Ridley; and Titans actor Brenton Thwaits. While I’m admittedly not much of a fan of the concept of the Bat-family, this panel has some definite highlights:

• When asked, Jim Lee estimates that he’s drawn Batman around 10,000 times during his time at DC Comics.
• A decent amount of time is devoted to Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries and actress Javicia Leslie. The duo discusses Leslie’s character Ryan Wilder taking center stage in the upcoming second season of the series. Frankly, I’ve never done more than dip my toe into the DC/CW Berlantiverse of it all, so this portion of the panel did not initially ping on my radar. However, after hearing Leslie speak with such passion about being the first superhero of color in the Batman universe, I might have to tune in! Why such casting took so long is beyond me, so I’ll support it.

• Patrick Redding discusses designing the upcoming Gotham Knights. Even as an exceptionally casual gamer, I’m excited about this title. If for nothing else because it’s gutsy enough to kill-off Bruce Wayne right of the Bat and incorporate the Court of Owls! However, Redding’s information was redundant, considering Gotham Knights had a dedicated panel earlier in the day. Wherein, we were treated to a trailer and actual gameplay footage/ Therefore, I recommend skipping to this next portion of the panel…

• The most exciting information is that writer John Ridley will be joining DC in January for a yet to be titled Bat-family book that will focus heavily on The Foxes. Ridley also implies that he may incorporate a Batman of color. To me, this is an interesting prospect as I’m all for freshening up a Bat book!