Its that time again were Dan Didio answers fan questions over at Newsarama... here are the Batman related ones:

2. Speaking about upcoming and writers coming in – designer Chip Kidd is working on a Batman story. Anything you can say about that?

DD: God bless Twitter? (laughs) It’s funny – Chip was actually doing a panel discussion with Neil Gaiman several months back. He’s been so involved in designing the looks of our high-end projects over the last few years and as we were sitting there talking, just through casual conversation, I brought up the idea that it would be fun if he had a chance to write something with us, particularly with Batman. He said he’s love to do it, but I never really thought he’d have the time because he’s in such high demand, but he was excited about it and got right into it, so it’s a lot of fun for us. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

NRAMA: Any ballpark on when it might come out?

DD: I would say more towards next year. Mark Chiarello will be editing it, and he’s been buried alive under Wednesday Comics right now, so I’m sure once he starts to come out of that, we’ll be able to see how Chip’s project is moving.

3. A question about Batman and Robin, now that they have made their debut – a question came up of when they will be making their way around ht rest of the DC Universe? Will it be soon, or do you feel that they need time to establish themselves in terms of Gotham City and the surroundings?

DD: I think they need time to establish themselves, and their story, and their own relationship. We have a lot of new characters and new villains entering those stories as well. There are a lot of things going on right now that require Batman and Robin’s attention in their own series, but that being said, we did announce the World’s Finest book where you’ll see the new direction of the Batman Family meeting the new direction of the Superman Family. So I’m sure Batman and Robin will get in the mix there and meet some of the folks from Metropolis.

Past that, based upon what’s happening in the DC Universe next year, there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing Batman interacting with some very familiar faces.

4. While we’re still talking about Batman and his world – the first issue of Detective Comics is coming up next week. Is there a...well, concern or effort to mute the fact that Batwoman is a lesbian this time out? After all, with her introduction, that became the element that defined her to the mainstream media and to many fans...

DD: We’re not trying to mute anything. We’re trying to establish all aspects of who Batwoman is in terms of her character and in her story – that is a part of her personality and a part of her drive.

NRAMA: Sure, but still, at the time she was outed – literally and figuratively, Greg Rucka expressed his frustration that her being a lesbian overtook all other elements of the character – that was the hook and seemingly, that was what was important about her.

DD: That’s one of the reasons why we went to great lengths to use her as a strong supporting character in 52 and other projects, because we wanted to establish her as a hero first – to establish who she was and her place within the DC Universe as a costumed character. Now, what we’ll see in her first solo adventure, we’ll delve into more of her personal side and her past.

So, from my standpoint, there’s no hesitation with anything of the character – it’s just a simple roll out of a character that we hope makes people want to keep coming back and learn more about them because they’re excited about who they are and learn more about what her story is. You don’t want to go and put every aspect of the character on the table right from the start – we are in the business of telling periodical stories. So you want to roll things out slowly, and build adventure from that, and that’s what we think we did with Batwoman in that we built her up slowly, and now, it’s time to get into her past and her personal story.

The bottom line is that there is no hesitation to portray the character, nor are we looking to mute any aspects of Batwoman. My only hesitation was to make sure that Greg and J.H. Williams were ready to go so that we could put out a consistent body of work on a monthly basis, because once that first issue hits, we know how excited people are going to be, and we want to make sure that book is there month-in and month-out. I wanted ot make sure that we were there, and we are.

17. We’ll touch on this one again...but to continue with some reader’s questions, there were comments from folks about the tone of Batman and Robin #1, that it was wide-eyed wonder at the world of superheroes, that it was a “fun” book...which left some wondering why there can’t be more like it – books like Power Girl and Booster Gold rather than the darker feel that many books seem to have?

DD: We put out a lot of product, and we can balance it in many ways and many voices. One size does not fit all in the DC Universe. The thing that Grant really latched on in the Batman franchise is that if you take Dick Grayson and put him in the Batman suit, it doesn’t change who Dick Grayson is. So with that, the lighter, more flippant Dick Grayson is being played against the much grittier, angrier little Damian Wayne. There’s a lot of potential for fun in those stores. Power Girl’s story has a great sense of fun, as does Booster Gold’s. That does not mean that those are light books – it means that these characters find humor in their situations, but every situation that they’re in is dire and dangerous. That’s the fun of the story that they’re in.

And besides that – did everyone miss the horrible mutilation at the end of Batman and Robin #1 of the man in front of his daughter? And also – if anyone things we’re softening up...Blackest Night #1 is coming. That should clear up any concerns people may have about us being happy and fun. (laughs)

For the full run of question click here...

(Source - Newsarama)