There’s still one week left until the “Night of the Owls” crossover event officially kicks off in BATMAN #8 (in stores 04/18). To help hold you over until then, take an exclusive first look at Dale Keown’s variant cover for next month’s issue #9, which sets Batman against an army of Talons hell-bent on destroying Gotham City from the inside out. 

“What's not to love about drawing the coolest character in comics?” t artist Dale Keown told THE SOURCE. “I wasn't given any back story so I went with the action shot that would fit into just about any storyline. One of my go-to poses is to draw the character leaping out towards the reader. I hope I get to draw Batman again soon.”

“What a great opportunity to have comics superstar Dale Keown chip in and provide us with this amazing Batman image,” said BATMAN editor Mike Marts. “Dale’s variant cover for BATMAN #9 coincides with our exciting NIGHT OF THE OWLS event, which spans across all of the Bat-titles for the month of May.”