graphic novel Filthy Rich, one of the two titles that launched the Vertigo Crime line in 2009. In 2003, Azzarello was assigned to write arcs for DC Comics' Batman and Superman, commenting to Chicago Tribune, "DC is giving me the keys to both cars in the garage, the Maserati and the Ferrari... Somebody told me, 'Don't drive drunk.'" The results were the 6-issue Batman: Broken City and the 12-issue "Superman: For Tomorrow", which was supposed to be the centerpiece of a larger storyline consisting of several interconnected mini-series, including one written by Azzarello, Lex Luthor: Man of Steel. The initiative, unofficially dubbed "Superstorm" due to the fact that the mini-series were edited by the team of DC's Wildstorm imprint, experienced production problems and delays, causing Luthor to become a standalone work only loosely connected to "For Tomorrow". In the following years, Azzarello continued to write more Batman-related stories such as the 2008 graphic novel Joker, a serial for Wednesday Comics in 2009 and Flashpoint: Batman — Knight of Vengeance. In April 2015, Azzarello was announced as the co-writer of an eight-issue sequel to The Dark Knight Returns, titled The Dark Knight III: The Master Race, with Frank Miller and artist Andy Kubert. The series, released bi-monthly, was launched in late 2015. Azzarello's most recent Batman work was the Batman: Damned three-issue series for the DC Black Label imprint with artist Lee Bermejo. Azzarello was one of the architects of First Wave, a new publishing line for pulp characters then-recently acquired by DC Comics, set outside the main DC continuity. He wrote the opening one-shot for the line, Batman/Doc Savage, continuing with the First Wave limited series. In 2011, Azzarello spearheaded The New 52 relaunch of the Wonder Woman series with artist Cliff Chiang. The pair stayed on the title until issue #35 (Dec. 2014). In 2012, Azzarello wrote two limited series for the Before Watchmen project, focusing on Comedian and Rorschach. In 2014, Azzarello became the co-writer of the weekly series The New 52: Futures End along with Jeff Lemire, Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens. In 2016, Azzarello launched the 12-issue maxi-series Moonshine with frequent collaborator Eduardo Risso at Image. In 2019, the series resumed publication with issue #13 as an ongoing title. Awards Azzarello and Risso won the 2001 Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story in 100 Bullets #15–18: "Hang Up on the Hang Low". Influences Azzarello cites Jim