Yesterday DC kicked off their portion of the New York Comic Con by announcing a return to weekly comics in the form of Batman: Eternal.

The publisher is no stranger to weekly serials, having attempted quite a few ambitious projects of this ilk in various formats with differing creative make-up, and this round will be no different. Although many details remain vague, DC has been proud to mention that they have their current Batman writer Scott Snyder on board as a showrunner alongside frequent collaborator James Tynion IV. The set up mirrors a bit of what DC put together for a weekly series called Countdown, which they had Paul Dini showrun with other writers and artists taking point along the way. Countdown was an interesting experiment that failed largely because of it’s reactionary nature. As the story goes, Dan Didio and a few other higher ups at DC were unhappy with their first big weekly mini-series 52, partly due to the demanding nature of its collaborative storytelling. With 52, DC had four of their biggest writers (Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Mark Waid and Greg Rucka) all working on a single story that was eating up far too much of their time, on a story that didn’t even tie in with current DC continuity. The set-up of Countdown was a direct response to an unhealthy degree, having the story so engrained into current continuity that it shuddered with fits and starts as plot points had to wait or accelerate to match whatever big event was occurring within the line. Again, a noble experiment, but one that didn’t thrive so much as identify ways in which such a project could be done better in the future.

With the announcement of Batman: Eternal, it appears as though some of these kinks have been worked out. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Scott Snyder said that part of the project’s appeal had to do with the freedom DC was affording him with putting this book together. Snyder and Tynion would be responsible for putting together much of the plot while handpicking a team of writers they felt quite comfortable working with to help flesh out story and write the series. In a way, it’s a marriage of the best structure ideas from 52 and Countdown, with general plot being handled with a more singular vision with room for collaborative plotting and storytelling. I’m fairly eager to see how this turns out, and I’m eagerly awaiting more details on the exact format and execution. My secret hope is for them to run a comic like the British do 2000 AD, and I think that Batman is the perfect character to try such a series with. But more on that some other time.