Posted By Dan Greenfield on Oct 12, 2025 | 2 comments

The Caped Crusader’s on a high right now — but he could go even higher…

Seven years ago, I ran a piece here called YOUR NEXT GREAT BATMAN ARTIST IS JORGE FORNES. My prediction was largely based on the artist’s Twitter feed and, well, yeah I was right.

In the years since, Fornes has established himself both as a superb storyteller and an in-demand cover artist, with a strong noir streak.

2018’s Batman #60, written by Tom King. Colors by Jordie Bellaire.

But, a great talent can do just about anything, so my eyes popped when I saw his variant cover for Oct. 15’s Batman/Superman: World’s Finest #44:

Pretty nifty, eh?

The Superman is solid, to be sure, but it’s Fornes’ Batman that really rocks it — and makes me think what a great choice he’d be for a Bronze Age-style Batman project. Think about that for a second: Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s Batman & Robin: Year One wraps up this week. Wouldn’t you read a 12-issue series where Batman’s now solo, with Robin showing up from Hudson University for the summer issues? Featuring Ra’s al Ghul, Man-Bat, Deadshot, the Joker, and so on? All done in a Bronze Age fashion with modernist flourishes?

And if you want to get really crazy — and this will never happen — get Fornes to bring home Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers’ aborted Dark Detective III.

I like to dream sometimes. And that’s not to say that Batman isn’t rocking right now. He is: Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez’s new flagship series is off to a good start, and Tom Taylor and Mikel Janin’s Detective Comics is compelling. But the heart wants what the heart wants.

Anyway, check out Fornes’ cover sans trade dress:

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MORE

— Your Next Great BATMAN Artist is JORGE FORNES. Click here.

— And Just Like That, JORGE FORNES Joins BATMAN Team. Click here.