Leans to the Right: Batman's Full Frontal Debut Gets Censored

DC comics is launching a new, more "mature" series of titles that bring high-flying fantasy heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman into the world the rest of us live in. Though the comic line has already enjoyed success with the more adult-oriented "Vertigo" imprint, the new Black Label line of comics promises to get darker, grittier, and - yes - more naked.

But these are early days and, as Vox reports, the first issue in the new imprint - which featured a barely-visible glimpse of Bruce Waynes Bat-manhood - there's a little nervousness about just here the limits should be. No sooner had news broken about the iconic superhero's package being open to public view (albeit murkily) than DC swooped in with some extra ink to blot out the image.

Though it's uncertain how many readers would actually have taken issue with the panel in question - which appears in issue one of the new Batman comic "Damned" - comedian Stephen Colbert was quick to make light. Screen Rant reports that a tweet from Colbert hearked in back to the laughable nipples that were added to Batman's costume in the 1997 movie "Batman & Robin," the George Clooney-starring final installment in the series of four films featuring the caped crusader that began in 1989. (Christopher Nolan's trilogy of Batman films commenced years later, in 2005.)

I'm old enough to remember when it was a big deal to see Batman's nipples. pic.twitter.com/C3r9AB65wF– Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) September 21, 2018

Interested comic collectors, you'll need to rush out and grab a paper copy of issue #1 of "Damned." DC has scrubbed the glimpse of Batman's junk from the digital version and will do the same for future reprints of the hard copy version.