According to IGN.com there are some big changes in store for the Batman titles post-Battle for the Cowl. In June we will see some new series premiere and the traditional Bat-titles get new creative teams. Here is the list: “Detective Comics,” “Batman,” “Batman and Robin,” “Red Robin,” “Gotham City Sirens,” “Batman: Streets of Gotham,” and the “Outsiders.” I also saw on a message board over at CBR that Batgirl will be getting her own series again. The CBR message board also posts who are the creative teams behind each book.

The good news for me is that Grant Morrison is off “Batman”. The bad news is that he’s being replaced by Judd Winick. I’ve enjoyed stuff that Judd has written in the past. His work on “Exiles” and “The Outsiders” was good - particularly the “Exiles” that book rocked and hasn’t been good since he left. However, I was not all impressed with his previous work on Batman. Why DC didn’t just give the “Batman” title completely to Tony Daniel as he’s staying as artist I don’t know. Maybe it would be too much to handle? I love what Daniel is doing on “Battle for the Cowl”. “Detective Comics” will be written by Greg Rucka and will feature Batwoman - I’ll check out the first issue, but I’m not a big fan of Greg Rucka so I may end up dropping it. I also could care less about Batwoman.

Although Grant Morrison will be leaving the “Batman” title, he will be staying in the Bat-universe and will be launching a new monthly series entitled “Batman and Robin” along with his usual artist collaborator Frank Quitley. According to IGN, this title will be the “flagship” of the Batman titles. I’m not happy with that statement as I feel the original title of any group of comic books should be the flagship title. The flagship title for Batman should be and always be “Detective Comics”.

Two new titles will be written by Paul Dini. They are “Batman: Streets of Gotham” and “Gotham City Sirens”. With all due respect to Paul Dini, neither of these titles seem interesting to me and I would have to hear some serious buzz on these books in order for me to pick them up. 

There will also be a new title called “Red Robin”. Who will be Red Robin? My guess is it’s Tim Drake. I like that. He gets to stay as Robin in a way, but will DC keep Damien Wayne (who I think will be the new regular Robin) as Robin when Bruce Wayne returns as Batman?

The new Batgirl series will feature Cassandra Cain, Barbara Gordon, or a new person as Batgirl. I hope it’s Cassie and Babs stays as Oracle. That’s what I think most people want. Also, why introduce another Batgirl? There are already too many Bat-people running around in the DC Universe.

We round out the Bat-titles with the “Outsiders” Peter Tomasi is still writing the book with Dustin Nguyen providing the artwork. No real interest there for me although I like that Alfred will be taking on a role as a leader or member of the team.

So what will I buy come June? I will pick up “Batman and Robin” simply because it’s the first issue. I doubt I’ll go any further than that as I just don’t like the stuff Morrison writes on Batman. I could care less about Batwoman over in “Detective,” but again I’ll get the first issue. Same goes for Judd’s “Batman”. If I like it, I’ll stick with it. Chris Yost will be writing “Red Robin”. He writes some good stuff and if it’s Tim as Red Robin then that will give me some incentive to stick around.

Unfortunately the one Bat-book that I’ve enjoyed over the past few months, won’t make the cut: “Batman Confidential”. I understand why DC is dropping it, but it was just starting to get good. If anything, it’s given a new talent like Andrew Kreisberg a time to showcase his abilities. I hope that DC will keep him in mind if any of the new Batman writers don’t get off to a good start and they want to replace one of them.

There was no mention of “All-Star Batman and Robin.” I’m assuming it’s still going on. I wish DC would give up on Frank Miller and Jim Lee and just relaunch this book. I know there are people out there who love this book, but either way it’s ridiculous that it comes out 2-3 times a year. Give it to someone else or just cancel it.

In conclusion, something tells me I’m not going to be happy with the state of the world of Batman come June and I’ll probably end up dropping everything. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. Batman is my favorite character of all time and I look forward to reading Batman stories every month. That’s why I was so excited by “Battle for the Cowl” and “Batman: Confidential”. These are the type of Batman stories I enjoy. I hope in the coming year there will be some good Batman stories for me to read.