BATMAN UNIVERSE collection by Bendis and Derington cancelled, will be resolicited later

Earlier this week, DC cancelled retailer orders for Batman Universe: The Deluxe Edition, an upcoming hardcover collection featuring the work of writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Nick Derington. It didn’t take long for rumors to take root, connecting the move to rumors that Bendis might return to Marvel sooner than later. That makes for a good story, but The Beat has learned that the cancellation is due to something much more mundane.

According to a source who spoke on background, the book is simply not ready for its (now cancelled) February release date. We hear that some of the bonus content planned as backmatter for the book is not yet ready, and that the collection will be resolicited at a later date, when it is complete.

When will that be? Well, nobody knows, which is presumably why orders were cancelled. That generally happens when publishers do not yet know when they will be able to resolicit and fill the orders.

Batman Universe is a cosmic mystery that could only happen in the DC Universe, with the Dark Knight chasing Vandal Savage through space and time. As a writer who cut his teeth on some of Marvel’s best street-level comics of his generation, Bendis taking on Batman was a no-brainer, and fans consider Batman Universe some of the best work he did at DC.

The series started its life as one of DC’s Walmart-exclusive comics. The move, which was intended to expand DC’s audience by making comics more easily available to new readers, was largely unsuccessful — in part because the books almost immediately got bought up by hardcore comic fans and retailers, and scalped on eBay.

The Walmart DC stories, originally published in 80-page giants that also included reprints of fan-favorite stories from the past, were eventually published for the direct market. One of the most successful, Superman: Up in the Sky by Tom King and Andy Kubert, already has a fancy hardcover edition on the stands.

Here’s how DC described the hardcover in its solicitation text:

“The world’s greatest detective takes on his wildest case–across the multiverse. When a priceless Fabergé egg goes missing, it kicks off a cosmic case only Batman can solve. From Gotham to Dinosaur Island to the depths of space, the Dark Knight’s pursuit of Vandal Savage takes him to every corner of the DC Universe–and even inside a White Lantern ring. As the Riddler, Green Lantern, Jonah Hex, and others cross his path, Batman must navigate ancient secrets and cosmic threats to keep the universe from unraveling. Collects Batman: Universe #1-6.”