There have been various versions and reiterations of the Caped Crusader since the character made its debut over 80 years ago. And in a new graphic novel by Mellisa de la Cruz and Thomas Pitilli, Bruce Wayne is reimagined as a popular teen.
Titled Gotham High, it reimagines a teenage Bruce Wayne along with teen versions of Selina Kyle and Jack Napier. A trailer for the graphic novel was released, teasing a love triangle between Batman, the queen bee Catwoman, and the class clown Joker.
Though it is quite centered in romance, the novel will also follow the story of Bruce investigating a string of kidnappings. You can check out the trailer below:
In a recent interview with EW, de la Cruz talked about how this version of Batman came to be. "Bruce Wayne is the billionaire. He's the richest man alive. So I thought, wouldn't it be fun if his family was Chinese and from Hong Kong? That made it feel real," she said. The writer wanted Bruce to be "a little bit more representative" of her background and giving Bruce an "authentic family. "It gives it this fabulous Crazy Rich Asians sheen to it."
Pitilli says it "breathes a new life into the character" given that we're living in the "most diverse world" so it's a "representative of Batman in 2020." "And since he's a teenager, I tried my best to put a little bit of myself into the character as well," he said. "Channeling those feelings of being an adolescent and feeling like an outsider."
This version of the characters or Gotham High isn't obviously for everyone. However, the graphic novel has quite an intriguing premise coupled with cool art so it'll surely find its audience.
Gotham High is set for release on April 1st and Penguin Random House will be distributing the novel on April 7th.
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