Batman Comes to Prague for the First Time

Batman is one of the most iconic fictional characters in the world. So it makes perfect sense why we’re getting a project that reflects his status as a global icon.

Spanning 184 pages, Batman: The World will boast stories by creatives from fourteen different countries, including North America, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia, Poland, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, China, Korea and Japan.

Each international version of the book will feature its own individual cover art designed by the country’s local artistic team.

For the Czech Republic, DC Comics selected artist Michal Suchánek and writer Štěpán Kopřiva to come up with a 10-page-long story. The latter says he ended up choosing Prague during the 1980s as the stage.

“The story takes place during the Cold War. As a prologue, I wanted to put an episode featuring the court of Emperor Rudolph II [Bohemia’s sixteenth-century ruler known for his affinity for alchemy and mysticism]. However, we had to cut that out because we just didn’t have the space.

“We chose the 1980s because we thought that the villains that Batman could encounter would be particularly interesting. We actually based our villains on a real project where, under the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, an institute focused on paranormal activities tried to develop psychokinetic weapons.”

Batman: The World will begin with “Global City,” a story from writer Brian Azzarello and artist Lee Bermejo (Batman: Damned, Joker, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, Batman/Deathblow).

The story will follow the Caped Crusader as he “reflects on his time in Gotham, protecting his city and its inhabitants from all manner of threats. But when he looks beyond the bridges, alleys, and skyscrapers, the Dark Knight realizes that the call for justice knows no borders, as there are wrongs to be righted everywhere.”

Over the next few days at DCComics.com, they will provide a companion guide to the different countries you’ll see represented in this anthology: their history with comics, their contributions to DC in particular, and a little bit of background on the creators you’ll see showcased in this new graphic novel.