The new Bat-book from Smith and Flanagan will be titled “The Widening Gyre” and run a nice 12 issues. The series will be revealed in two 6-book volumes, and the first volume, with writing by Smith and art by Flanagan, is ALREADY DONE! Issue one is due in August. No word on an artist on the back 6 yet. An extra bit of coolness: Kevin once created a new villain for DC, and in this one, he’s creating a new HERO.

But nope, that’s not all. Dynamite Entertainment has also locked up the rights to Green Hornet, allowing Kevin to take his feature film script, as penned, and adapt it into a book. It’s an amazingly cool chance to see exactly what Kevin’s movie would have played like, in comic form. No number of issues or street date is given, though Kevin thinks we’ll see the book on shelves before the Gondry/Rogen feature film.

Here’s a more detailed reveal as it appeared on the Entertainment Weekly PopWatch website:

EW Exclusive: Kevin Smith takes on Batman and the Green Hornet

Comic fans have a love-hate relationship with Kevin Smith. They love it when he bends his attention to writing comics, as he knows them as well as anyone, has a genuine love for them, and turns out damned interesting reads. They hate it because, on occasion, Smith has been known to let a deadline slip…sometimes for years.

But after his recent Batman miniseries, Cacophony, shipped on time — much to the delight of both DC Comics and Bat-buffs everywhere — Smith is climbing back into the saddle for two more comics projects. One is a new Batman miniseries called The Widening Gyre, in which Smith is also creating a new hero for the DC Universe, and the other is a Green Hornet miniseries for Dynamite Entertainment– based on the screenplay he wrote back in 2004 for a scuttled GH film.

According to Smith, “The Widening Gyre is a 12-issue Batman mini-series split into two volumes, with a half year break between each. Issues one through six (Book I) will ship monthly. Then, the story goes on hold for six months. Then, issues seven through 12 (Book II) will once again ship monthly. Yes, I built in the break to insure we don’t run into my usual problems with lateness. But I’m trying to improve, folks: first six scripts and first issue’s art — by Cacophony artist Walt Flanagan — were already done before we took this public. But here’s the kicker: three weeks after the last issue of The Widening Gyre, we’ll launch a solo series featuring the new character, which I’ll be writing bi-monthly.”

And then there’s Green Hornet. “Dynamite honcho Nick Barrucci hit me with an email, saying he’d locked up the license [for masked crimefighter Brit Reid and his nimble sidekick, Kato], and asking if I wanted to write an arc,” says Smith. “But had to decline because I was in the middle of the Batman scripts. But then I thought ‘I already wrote a Hornet story once…’ It’s the Hornet movie I’d make if I was making it today. And there’s no better time to do that than before Seth Rogen and Michel Gondry’s version defines the character for the mainstream. We haven’t picked an interior artist yet, but we’ve got some stellar cover talent on board already: Alex Ross, John Cassaday, Jae Lee, and David Finch.”

All of this while Smith preps to shoot A Couple of Dicks — a surely-to-be-retitled NYPD detective comedy with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan — this June. “You know me: plates, plates, plates, spin, spin, spin.” The Widening Gyre hits stands in August, with Green Hornet following soon after.

Kevin himself used his blog to say a few words, reveal the plan AFTER the 12-issue mini, and present some new artwork to boot:

“…three weeks after the last issue of “The Widening Gyre”, we’ll launch a solo series featuring the new character, which I’ll be writing bi-monthly! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I wanna go back in time and tell 18 year old me about this. 18 year old me would be slack-jawed shocked, barely able to mutter “Look how fat I get…” Later, after a good lie-down, I’m sure he’d then add something like “At least we work for DC Comics – which means I might still get to kiss a girl looking like that.”

ON HORNET: “So while it’s not a straight-up adaptation of the “Green Hornet” movie script I wrote some years back, it’s definitely gonna take its cues from that script – just as that script took its cues from all the source material available (radio, TV, comics). So this is about as close as I’ll get to making that “Green Hornet” flick I walked away from directing all those years ago, when I was too chicken-shit and gay-in-love with my own characters to try something outside my comfort zone.”

…

What I’m saying is this: if you buy the books, great. But please – all we ask is that you read them. And we want you to read them so badly, I make you this promise: you can come to Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash in Red Bank, NJ and read them for free while standing in the store, and you will not get hassled by the old fuck behind the counter who’s not paying attention to all the shoplifting going on ’cause he’s drawing some overtly homoerotic funny books.

Hit up Kev’s blog for the entire post, what you see above are just a few select words. Alex Ross is doing Green Hornet art with a FEMALE Kato!

And there ya have it, folks. Talk about a busy summer for the man — Directing a major film and TWO new comic projects, with a third featuring a NEW hero on the horizon to boot. Whew! We’re hoping for some sneak peeks and details on the new Batman book in the coming months. And of course we’ll have any breaking news on these projects for ya right here. ‘Til then, be sure to make sure your local comic shop has you on their list for these upcoming series.

For more coverage, check out G4TV’s “Daily Feed” video (about 3 minutes in), as well as a small blurb over at Comic Book Resources.