2019 marks the 80th birthday of DC’s Bruce Wayne/Batman. The iconic character is DC’s premium product, across the world he is recognised and known as one of the best pop culture characters of all time. I have expressed before that Batman is my favourite character and with the news in 2018 that DC was planning a big celebration to mark the event, I wanted to express how I think we should be celebrating the Dark Knight.
The celebration should come in various forms and spread over the entire year, throughout the next 12 months DC could have a theme that takes us back through the ages and recognises the key milestones over the years. Going back to covering off an 80th year anniversary special, there is so much that can be done with the iconic stories, merchandise, and even new books specially formulated for 2019, I will come back to this further down the article.
Over the course of the past 80 years, Batman has stood the test of time with his persona evolving and moulding to each decade through story, TV, merchandise, film, and much more. Some of the biggest stages this year that the pop culture industry celebrates should be used as the platter to serve a level of ‘Dark Knight Justice’ that we haven’t seen before. San Diego Comic Con is the perfect event to raise our glasses to the Dark Knight. With DC forming one of the best booths on the floor, I would like to see a Dark Knight themed booth with coverage over the evolution of Batman in both cinema, live action film, and iconic stories such as Hush, The Dark Knight Returns, The Long Halloween, KnightFall, All Star Batman and Robin, A death in the Family, and the Killing Joke. I’m sure you have your own favourites that you would like covered.
As an avid Batman collector an 80th year special edition line of action figures would be a great way to pay tribute to the vigilante, either a new design we haven’t seen before or a collection of various personas that can be put on display. A collection of eight, one representing each decade would be great.
Throughout 2019, I would expect DC to release a range of books or highlight specific books to mark the 80th anniversary in some form. Either new books that celebrate Batman throughout the ages, or specific stories such as the ones mentioned above. Hint – Make sure you keep your eye on the Detective Comics series.
Warner Bros. could release a a box set, or a digital package of all the Batman live-action films as a specific bundle or even a collection of the animated films with a collector piece to go with them. We still have a large amount of fans that collect DVD’s and Blu-rays, a new 80th Batman collection would be a great addition to the theatre room.
DC Universe as an online streaming service doesn’t just produce it’s own shows but also offers previous DC films and documentaries. A multi-piece documentary on the Dark Knight over several weeks or months would a great reason for fans to subscribe to the DC streaming service. I love an in-depth documentary, and with so many actors who have voiced the character in the animated universe, to the actors who have donned the cape and cowl in live action, to artists like Jim Lee, there is plenty of content that can be produced to celebrate 80 brilliant years.
DC will be releasing 80 Years of Batman as a deluxe edition book, a great collectable to kick off the year. Make sure you purchase your copy.
Batman means something different and unique to a wide range of fans around the world, let us know what you hope to see in 2019 and how you will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Dark Knight!
