One of the last panels of the San Diego Comic Con was the second DC Nation panel, One Weekend Later. DC Executive Editor Dan DiDio was promising a big announcement to do with Batman RIP at the end, so we all had to stick around — either at the panel or refreshing our web pages — to find out what it was.

And the big news that has everyone in a mild state of shock is that Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert are teaming up after Batman RIP, in January of next year, to write Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

The book not only is a direct reference to the 1986 Superman story, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, written by Alan Moore and Curt Swann, but will also see the reuniting of the team who wrote Marvel 1602 for Marvel back in 2003.

DiDio told those in attendance that long-time writer and Batman editor Denny O’Neil would be doing some work on the Batman universe post-RIP, dealing with the state of Gotham City in the wake of the RIP storyline. This was when they ran the video which showed Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? and “Neil Gaiman, Andy Kubert, January ’09.”

According to reports, the reaction to Neil Gaiman’s name was immediate and shocked, with applause and gasps upon seeing his name.

Either way, seeing Neil Gaiman on a Batman book is something that, if nothing else, is going to be massively interesting. I haven’t read enough Gaiman comics to know, but those at the Con, and those I speak with who aren’t there, are all of one mind — it’s definitely a good thing!

[Source: DC]