Bruce Timm Steps Down As WB Animation Supervising Producer
DC’s ‘Batman Beyond,’ ‘Justice League Beyond’ get new creators
Cartoonist Bruce Timm, who shepherded a majority of the DC animated universe titles over the past two decades, has stepped down as supervising producer at Warner Bros. Animation to develop his own projects. He's been replaced by James Tucker, a veteran of "Batman: The Animated Series," "Justice League" and, more recently, "Batman: The Brave and the Bold."
“Bruce had done a lot since 'Justice League Unlimited' ended, so it’s been quite a haul," Tucker told the fan site Voices From Krypton. "I can’t speak for him, but I think going out on 'Dark Knight Returns' was a special thing for him. If he was going to make the break, that seemed like a good time.”
The 52-year-old Timm joined Warner Bros. in 1989 and worked on "Tiny Toon Adventures" before partnering with producer Eric Radmoski to create "Batman: The Animated Series," giving birth to the DC animated universe. Airing from 1992 to 1995, "Batman" gave way to "Superman: The Animated Series" and "Batman: The New Adventures," both of which Timm developed with Alan Burnett and Paul Dini. Timm also co-created "Batman Beyond," "Justice League" and "Justice League Unlimited," the final series in the DC animated universe. His most recent television work was as executive producer of the recently canceled "Green Lantern: The Animated Series."
Timm's reach also extended to Warner Bros. Animation's direct-to-video features, ranging from 2000's "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" to 2008's "The New Frontier" to his final DC animated project "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns."
DC’s ‘Batman Beyond,’ ‘Justice League Beyond’ get new creators
DC Comics’ digital-first series Batman Beyond and Justice League Beyond will get new creative teams this summer, which will also see the official debut of the Batgirl of the future.
IGN.com reports Nightwing writer Kyle Higgins and Venom artist Thony Silas will take the reins of Batman Beyond, with Sean Murphy and Jordie Bellaire providing covers, while Avengers Academy writer Christos Gage and Superboy artist Iban Coello will take over Justice League Beyond. JT Krul and Howard Porter will remain on Superman Beyond.
However, before Higgins and Silas make their debut, writer Scott Peterson and artist Annie Wu will introduce the future Batgirl, who’s said to have a good working relationship with Commissioner Barbara Gordon, in her own story arc in July.
“… My take for the book is designed around exploring the next stage of Terry’s life, and the lives of everyone else we’ve come to know and love,” Higgins tells IGN. “Our first issue opens after a bit of time has gone by and a number of things have changed. I don’t want to give away too much, but I can say that Terry’s in college now, he and Dana are no longer speaking, the relationship between Terry and Barbara (Commissioner Gordon) is different … there’s definitely a ‘what happened?’ mystery that weaves in and out of the book. And when you see what did happen … yeah, I’ve probably already said too much! Oh, and our way into the story is through the lens of a big murder in Neo-Gotham. So, there’s that, too.”
Regarding his first Justice League Beyond arc, Gage teased, “The same kind of large-scale storylines they’re used to in a Justice League book, hopefully without ever forgetting that it’s the characters who make it all matter. For our first arc, Superman faces a situation he’s encountered before — his powers going out of control — but he chooses to deal with it in a way that is unique to the Superman of the Beyond Universe. The solution will come to involve all his teammates, and hopefully lead to some interesting character moments … and there’ll prove to be an old and deadly member of Superman’s rogues’ gallery behind it all. The storyline will also introduce a brand new character with a familiar name.”