The pages on the calendar are ever so slowly peeling away as we get closer and closer to the release of this year’s most anticipated movie, The Dark Knight. Naturally, DC Comics is scheduling much of its calendar to match, and derive the maximum amount of financial benefit.

Set to debut on July 18th in the United States, DC has scheduled comic genius Grant Morrison’s Batman R.I.P. to run through spring and summer. It’s likely to be the biggest period of time for Batman since the 1989 release of Tim Burton’s (the last good Batman movie) Batman.

One of those releases that DC is hoping will cash in on the release of The Dark Knight is the five-issue mini-series, Joker’s Asylum, which will be running through July. The five standalone issues will each spotlight some of Gotham City’s greatest villains, being hosted by the Joker.

To celebrate, CBR has published their first interview with the creators of these five books. Asked about why the Joker is such a challenge to Batman, Arvid Nelson — writer for The Joker’s Asylum: The Joker — notes that “…the challenge for me is that everyone has beaten The Joker to death figuratively. And The Joker has beaten everyone to death literally.”

Make sure you stay tuned to Geeks of Doom though, because once we get to the other side of our Hellboy II “Week of the Geek” we’ll be doing one for Batman The Dark Knight. So stay tuned for all the news, reviews, and gossip from this year’s biggest flick.

Release Schedule

• THE JOKER’S ASYLUM: THE JOKER (July 2)
  Written by Arvid Nelson; Art by Alex Sanchez; Cover by Andy Kubert
• THE JOKER’S ASYLUM: PENGUIN (July 9)
  Written by Jason Aaron; Art and cover by Jason Pearson
• THE JOKER’S ASYLUM: POISON IVY (July 16)
  Written by J.T. Krul; Art and cover by Guillem March
• THE JOKER’S ASYLUM: SCARECROW (July 23)
  Written by Joe Harris; Art and cover by Juan Doe
• THE JOKER’S ASYLUM: TWO-FACE (July 30)
  Written by David Hine; Art and cover by Andy Clarke