The recently-released Batman: Damned #1 has been the talk of the comic book world over the last few days for a multitude of reasons. Thus far, the book has received mountains of praise for its stylized and detailed art, its fresh take on the Batman mythos, the sense of mystery it establishes, everyone’s favorite British supernatural detective John Constantine being featured in a key role and that overall, the book has kicked off DC’s Black Label imprint on a rather strong note.
However, Batman: Damned has also received a massive amount of attention for one thing in particular: certain panels of the book, which is explicitly stated as being for mature audiences, feature shadowy drawings of Bruce Wayne’s naughty bits.
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Some have been supportive, or at least unbothered by this move, due to the context of the panels making Bruce Wayne feel more human and how at the end of the day, they’re just drawings. Others, however, haven’t been quite as quick to accept there is now an official DC comic book featuring Batman’s penis.
Discourse and jokes related to the panels have been prevalent since the book’s release (with even late-night television host and comedian Seth Meyers joining in.) It’s become such a big talking point that DC writer Scott Snyder (Dark Nights: Metal, Justice League) has decided to express his thoughts on the matter, saying, “Folks who work with my wife at the hospital asking about this comic book that shows Batman’s junk. Had no idea it was this big a deal. Still don’t get it, but hey.”
Lol. Folks who work with my wife at the hospital asking about this comic book that shows Batman’s junk. Had no idea it was this big a deal. Still don’t get it, but hey
— Scott Snyder (@Ssnyder1835) September 22, 2018
Judging by his tweet, Snyder is firmly in the “why should it matter?” camp and isn’t sure why the controversy has gained as much traction as it has. That being said, it has been announced by the higher-ups at DC that the censored versions of the nude panels featured in Batman: Damned #1’s digital release will be used in future reprints of the physical book.
Snyder himself is set to pen his own DC Black Label book in the form of Batman: Last Knight on Earth with his longtime DC collaborator, Greg Capullo.
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Written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Lee Bermejo, Batman: Damned #1 is available in stores now.