Black Manta gets his own DC series from creators of Bitter Root & Bitch Planet

Aquaman's most vicious enemy, Black Manta, will be getting his own limited series this fall.

This September, writer Chuck Brown (Bitter Root) will be working with artist Valentine De Landro (Bitch Planet) on a six-issue Black Manta series for DC. DC has not provided any details on the story of the limited series, or art as of yet.

This will be Black Manta's first solo series of any length, unless you count his spotlight issue back in 2021, Aquaman #23.1, for DC Villains Month.

This new Black Manta series was announced by DC in passing as part of the news of its DC Connect catalog returning in the month of September. In addition to Black Manta, the press release was the first official word from the publisher on Deathstroke Inc. and Are you Afraid of Darkseid? - two series Newsarama broke news about last week.

September is a good month for the Hyde family, as Black Manta's son Jackson Hyde (AKA Aqualad) will be stepping up as DC's new Aquaman in his own six-issue series, Aquaman: The Becoming, written by Brandon Thomas and drawn by Diego Olortegui.

Black Manta will be only Brown's second work for DC, after a short in the recent Superman: Red & Blue #2 anthology. He is best known as co-writer of the hit Image Comics series Bitter Root.

For De Landro, this will be his first lead for DC after having Mister Miracle back-up stories in the recent Future State: Superman of Metropolis and Future State: Superman - Worlds at War limited series. Like Brown, De Landro is best known for creator-owned work at Image - in his case, the hit series Bitch Planet.

Originally created back in 1967 by Bob Haney and Nick Cardy for Aquaman #35, Black Manta has almost always been considered Aquaman's chief arch-rival - despite having no metahuman powers of his own. In his last major appearance, he worked with other villains to steal Aquaman's powers - those given to him in connection with the Life Force. 

However, by the end of the story, Aquaman had reacquired those powers but Black Manta was able to escape without punishment. 

Black Manta #1 (of 6) goes on sale this September. Look for DC's full September 2021 schedule later today at Newsarama.

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