(Original concept art by Jim Lee)

Deep inside the DC offices is a wall that played a very important part in the launch of DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. Actually it’s in Coordinating Editor Liz Gehrlein’s office, conveniently located right next to mine.

On that wall, Liz has collected a page from each of the first issues that debuted in September. Although those fifty-two pages are all very different, showcasing the fantastic range of characters and styles in the DCU, they all have one thing in common: the appearance of a lone, mysterious hooded figure. That’s right – if you look carefully through each title from last month, you will spot her … sometimes hovering in the background … other times lurking close by.

One of the coolest things for me about The New 52 was that it gave us the ability to work very far in advance. We knew exactly what we wanted to do in terms of connecting FLASHPOINT to our new universe. Geoff Johns had an amazing backstory for the mysterious woman who appears at the end of FLASHPOINT #5. We had a plan for where we thought she’d go next, but since we had enough time to really think, Jim Lee, Geoff and I figured out that it was possible to expand this character’s next appearance into ALL of the #1 issues – a daunting task to be sure, but a one-time opportunity to do something like this and really drive home how important this character is. To keep track of this plan, we created the wall in Liz’s office and put up each page as it was completed.

You’ll soon see the next step in this character’s evolution in the pages of JUSTICE LEAGUE, and in the months to come you will see more events ripple across titles as we continue to weave the DC Universe together and tell even more amazing stories.

In other words, Liz is going to need another wall.

-- Bob Harras, Editor-in-Chief