Writer Garth Ennis and artist Liam Sharp are teaming for a new Batman series from DC’s Black Label imprint. Batman: Reptilian is a six-issue series that sees the Dark Knight take on a monstrous new foe who’s targeting the Gotham’s criminals. The first issue of the series will feature covers by Sharp and Cully Hamner. No letterer was named in the announcement.

Batman Reptilian #1Here’s how DC describes Batman: Reptilian:

Gotham City is filled with murderous creatures who stalk the shadows–foul villains with murderous impulses who strike fear into the hearts of every man, woman, and child in the city. But what strikes fear into the hearts of those who terrorize the city? It used to be Batman, but something far more frightening than a mere man has begun stalking the shadows—and it’s after Gotham’s villains. How savage must a monster be to haunt the dreams of monsters?

Batman of course already has one reptilian antagonist in the form of Killer “I Threw A Rock At Him” Croc,* but the more’s the merrier in Gotham, I always say. The place is crawling with clowns, so why not more literal cold-blooded killers.

Garth Ennis has written Batman sporadically in issues of Legends of the Dark Knight and as a guest-star in Hitman, but never in a dedicated miniseries for an extended run of issues. For Sharp it’s a return to the Dark Knight, after the The Brave and the Bold: Batman & Wonder Woman miniseries that he both wrote and drew a few years back.

Check out Hamner’s variant cover (which prominently features Killer Croc, it appears), as well as a handful of preview pages by Sharp for Batman: Reptilian below. The first issue of the six-issue series is due in stores and digitally on Tuesday, June 22nd.

*Yes I know that was Batman in disguise, and he was essentially making make fun of Killer Croc, but it’s also the first thing I think of when I think of that character.