‘Lil’ Gotham’ characters to invade Batman and Detective annuals

As a big fan of Dustin Nguyen’s chibi-esque renditions of Batman’s friends and foes  — they pop up regularly on the artist’s DeviantArt account — I’m thrilled to see this morning’s announcement that the “Lil’ Gotham” characters will appear in October’s Batman Annual #27 and Detective Comics Annual #11.

The two-page backup stories, titled “Off Rogue Racing” and “Question & Answer,” are written by Derek Fridolfs and Nguyen with art, of course, by Nguyen.

On DeviantArt, the artist writes that the characters began as a hobby when, “for the hell of it,” he’d “draw a character every few days on my lunch break, after work, end of the night before I turn in and see how many I can fill up on this big paper.”

That turned in to something more, though, as he sent posters — this one, presumably — “to almost everyone at the DC office. Taking my chances, walking the line of it to see how far I could push it. Doing the inside attack — right?”

It seems to have paid off, though, as Nguyen hints the “Lil’ Gotham” characters could see life beyond the two annuals.

“Baby steps,” he writes. “And if it gets enough of a positive reaction from readers, fans, viewers, and internally — we will be doing more. … We already have bigger plans ready at the gate should they give us the okay. Now, it’s all up to you guys, if you love it — show your love. Pick up this year’s Detective and Batman annuals for our two short stories in each. Raise hell and please let them know you want more.”