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As was announced at WonderCon in February, writer J. Michael Straczynski is now making his comic book home at DC Comics, writing two projects for the publisher. The first, Newsarama has learned, is The Brave and the Bold with artist Jesus Saiz, beginning in November.

While the acclaimed creator of Babylon 5 and writer for both screen and television was most recently exclusive to Marvel - staying six years on Amazing Spider-Man and working on other titles, including Thor and The Twelve, which he will continue writing – this will be his first major work in the DC Universe (not counting his Teen Titans Spotlight issue in 1987 or Babylon 5 comic projects at the publisher). Straczynski’s run on DC’s team-up series will begin following an arc written by Marv Wolfman.

“We wanted to give him free reign to really touch on as many characters as possible,” says DCU Executive Editor Dan DiDio when asked what went into the decision. “The way we’ve been playing The Brave and the Bold is the same way we’ve been playing Superman/Batman – that is, it fits into DCU continuity somewhere, but it doesn’t run with the current continuity. That way, we can tell the best stories possible with the characters.”

Case in point, Straczynski’s first issue, according to DiDio, features Batman teaming with the Jim Corrigan Spectre. But that’s not to say that Batman will be in every issue.

“We have a lot of plans that I can’t get ahead of, but as I said, Joe’s first story will be Batman, and then he’ll be examining different pairings of the characters in the near future,” DiDio says. “Batman will be prominent, but that’s not to say that he’ll be the sole star of the series.”

And what other characters will be seen?

“Joe gave us a full checklist that ran the gamut from the most recognizable to the most obscure characters that we have in the DCU,” DiDio says. “But what we’re really trying to do is to create an overall plan and theme and arc for the series, and while the first issue or two might be standalone and fun in their own right, there is a bigger story that will be rolling out in the series.”

Look for an interview with Straczynski soon on Newsarama about The Brave and the Bold