‘Watchmen’ Is Back In POG Form As Batman And Flash Investigate ‘The Button’ In April
In the DC Universe: Rebirth special that hit shelves last May, Geoff Johns, Gary Frank, Phil Jimenez, and Ethan Van Sciver finally did something that readers have been expecting, dreading, and in some cases hoping they'd do for years: they planted the seeds for a crossover between the DC Universe and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen.
In the months since, though, as DC's Rebirth-era titles have focused on rebuilding the relationships and connections into the DC Universe itself, the Watchmen stuff seemed to fade into the background, to the point where it was easy to forget about if you weren't focusing on it.
Now, though, it seems that we have reached the next phase of the crossover. In April, Batman and Flash will be crossing over for a four-part adventure called "The Button," where the Dark Knight and the Fastest Man Alive dive into the mystery of how the Comedian's bloodstained button wound up embedded in the stone walls of the Batcave.
It's worth mentioning that "The Button" will be handled by the regular creative teams of both comics, with Tom King and Jason Fabok telling the story in Batman #21-22 and Joshua Williamson and Howard Porter on Flash #21-22.
Here's the official press release from DC Comics:
If you’ve been wondering about how the mystery behind Geoff Johns’ DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH #1 continues, you’ll find out more beginning this April in “The Button,” a four part story arc in issues #21 and #22 of BATMAN and THE FLASH.
Courtesy of the Batman team of writer Tom King and artist Jason Fabok, along with The Flash writer Joshua Williamson and artist Howard Porter, the two greatest detectives in the DC Universe unite to unravel the mystery behind a certain blood stained smiley face button stuck in the Batcave wall. However, what begins as a simple investigation soon turns deadly when the secrets of the button prove irresistible to an unwelcome third party – and it’s not who anyone suspects! This is a mystery woven throughout time, and the countdown starts here!
In addition to the standard $2.99 covers on Batman and The Flash in late April and early May, each of the four issues will feature a special $3.99 lenticular cover, all drawn by Jason Fabok. Don’t miss the chance to find out more about the mysteries behind DC REBIRTH when these issues hit your local comics retailer beginning April 19!
While it's far too early to speculate on what this crossover might entail, I'm getting the feeling that it probably won't have Batman just shrugging and saying, "It's from some weird old comic that came out before I was born, I think the Question said he read it once" and then handing things off to canonical comics nerd Barry Allen to deal with. But we'll see.