John Rozum called me today to tell me that he’s leaving STATIC SHOCK. DC Comics has had a great relationship with John for 15 years, and he and I had a great conversation about new ideas, new concepts and moving forward. We’re all excited to see what comes next.
This has been such a monumental week for DC Comics. What we launched with (the already sold out!) JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 was absolutely amazing. And what’s more exciting still is that it was just a first taste of what’s to come.
Next week marks the release of a slew of incredible series. With ACTION COMICS, writer Grant Morrison and artist Rags Morales’ new interpretation of Superman will seriously blow people away. It really sets the tone for a contemporary Man of Tomorrow. And the dynamic is totally different.
But that’s not all. Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman’s ANIMAL MAN is a remarkable book that I could not be more excited about.
Gail Simone will be reintroducing Barbara Gordon in the role of BATGIRL with her signature dark, twisted, and brilliant storytelling, accompanied by Ardian Syaf’s breathtaking artwork.
Judd Winick and Ben Oliver's debut collaboration, BATWING, will astound you.
Tony Daniel’s art and story in DETECTIVE COMICS will really surprise people.
GREEN ARROW is a fascinating new take on Oliver Queen and his mission to change the world one arrow at a time.
Rob Liefeld could not be more excited to be returning to HAWK AND DOVE – and his enthusiasm really shows in the final product.
In JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL, Dan Jurgens and Aaron Lopresti have created a team of super heroes led by Booster Gold whose adventures will be spanning the globe.
MEN OF WAR is a truly different and fresh take on a war book, especially considering the context of it being set against the backdrop of the DC Universe.
O.M.A.C. is a non-stop action-packed series that I can best describe as big and loud fun.
In STATIC SHOCK, Static comes to Manhattan and his life changes forever in unforeseeable ways.
Paul Cornell’s STORMWATCH is stuffed with surprises and new characters that will take the series into very exciting (and completely unexpected!) places. Not to mention, Miguel Sepulveda’s artwork is beyond stunning.
And in SWAMP THING, the Plant Elemental will finally return to its own series. Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette have created an extraordinary series and have really made Swamp Thing their own. You won’t want to miss it.
And that’s just week one.
With the release of JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee, DC Comics-The New 52 officially kicked off. Coverage has been widespread today. Looking for a comprehensive overview? Look no further.
THE NEW YORK TIMES ran a major feature story on the launch of DC Comics-The New 52 on the front of the Arts section and on their homepage. “We’re not looking for a way of going back to what we did before,” DC Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras told them. “We like to say here, ‘No trap doors.’ This is what we are going to do.”
TODAY.COM interviewed DC Entertainment Co-Publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio. (You might have seen the story on MSNBC, too.) “It’s all about getting comics into the hands of new readers,” Lee said. “We’re trying to introduce these characters to new audiences.”
Last night’s Midnight Madness event with JUSTICE LEAGUE creative team Geoff Johns and Jim Lee at Midtown Comics in New York City had an incredible turnout and was a huge success. MSNBC was on location taking photos of everything from fan costumes to BATMAN and SWAMP THING writer Scott Snyder mingling with fans to Geoff and Jim distributing pizza to those who waited in line for hours to get their hands on JUSTICE LEAGUE #1.
ABC NEWS interviewed Geoff and Jim, who discussed everything from new costumes to their collaborative process. “In the case of JUSTICE LEAGUE, we’re actually completely retelling and re-envisioning how they met and why they met and why they stayed together,” Geoff Johns explained. “The goal is to actually have more personality, more conflict, more tension. Everyone knows them as the super-friends, but we’re showing that they’re not actually friends – not yet.”
WIRED MAGAZINE posted a gallery of various JUSTICE LEAGUE character designs by Jim Lee. Take an exclusive look at Jim’s designs for Superman, The Flash and Aquaman and be sure to check out WIRED’s analysis of these characters’ fresh costumes and looks.
With so much excitement about the 52 titles being released, it’s hard to pick a favorite. “The best part is that for all of the different members of [the DC Comics team] that have read all of the books,” DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Dan DiDio told THE WASHINGTON POST, “I can’t find two people with the same Top-Five list. That’s what’s great for me.”
DiDio also caught up with THE VILLAGE VOICE. “We want to get back down to the core characters and rebuild the fiction around them,” he said of DC Comics-The New 52. “This isn't about rehashing stories, but providing things that new readers can relate to."
EBONY.COM looks at diversity in DC Comics-The New 52, including characters like Voodoo, Static Shock, Cyborg, Mister Terrific and Batwing. “When we go to conventions, we see people of all races and genders,” DiDio told them. “We want a real sense that these characters are participating in the same world that exists outside our window.”
DigiDay ran a piece about same-date digital publication. According to Hank Kanalz, SVP of Digital, “What we heard anecdotally is that people have been coming into comic book stores and buying more titles and asking about digital delivery.”
Io9 and MTV GEEK also shed some light on the heralding in of DC Comics-The New 52 with the release of JUSTICE LEAGUE #1. MTV GEEK also announced a special Twitter competition in which you can win each #1 issue being released as part of DC Comics-The New 52. For information on how to enter the contest, click here.
Much, much more to come as major interviews are being conducted as I load this blog post.
Congratulations are in order to Geoff, Jim, Scott Williams and everyone else behind JUSTICE LEAGUE #1. The issue hasn’t even been out for a full day yet and is already sold out. Here's a first look at the cover of the second printing.
Yesterday, we showed you pages #9-12 of the script for ANIMAL MAN #1. Today, we’ll be walking you through the next steps in the creative process of creating a comic book: adapting script pages into visual mediums.
In the below sequence, see how artist Travel Foreman took Jeff Lemire’s haunting text and amplified the stakes by creating stunning art that visually captures the terror of Buddy Baker’s situation. Notice how Animal Man’s face shifts from seemingly having control of what’s going on to his urgent need for answers.
“Jeff and Travel have created the perfect hybrid of genres with ANIMAL MAN,” said DC Comics Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras. “They’ve blended together elements of super-hero stories and horror stories to create exactly the type of narratives we envisioned when we came up with The Dark. This book is full of mystery and drama and really makes you want to know what happens next. Plus the art is truly amazing. It’s a fantastic book and I can’t wait to see where it goes.”
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If you’ve already been to our main website today, you noticed our new page devoted to The New 52. Starting with the “Superman” family and going all the way through the “Young Justice” group, the page is a quick and easy visual guide to the 52 titles we will be publishing this fall beginning with Geoff Johns and Jim Lee's JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 on August 31st. Be sure to keep checking the page for updates throughout the summer. From here on out, it will serve as your jumping off point for all the latest news about all DC Comics titles going forward.
You’ll also notice a new video featuring Co-Publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio, Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras, and New York Times bestselling writer Grant Morrison. As Bob Harras says, this is “a great opportunity for readers who aren’t familiar with our characters to jump aboard and to come join the party.”
We've spoken a lot about the editorial side of yesterday's historic announcement, with our editors Bob Harras and Eddie Berganza taking lead on things like new stories and finding the perfect writers to handle each of our books. I'd also like to call attention the visual side of this major initiative.
Our Vice President of Art Direction and Design, Mark Chiarello, has been aiding in the hand-selection of artists, working on designing new logos for our books, tweaking characters' looks and costumes with Jim Lee, and creating a fresh, new visual style for our historic renumbering coming this September.
Comics by nature are a visual medium, and we are very lucky - and grateful - to have someone as talented and hard-working as Mark taking that important lead at such a momentous time in DC's history.
–Dan DiDio, Co-Publisher
Hey DC Nation,
My first blog here, coming at you from the 6th floor of 1700 Broadway, home of the DC Comics’ Editorial Team. From my window I look down on the front of David Letterman’s Ed Sullivan Theater, where every afternoon the shouts of fans of a different kind can be heard. And out my door are the offices of my Bat-Group comrades who have made me feel so welcome; Mike Marts, Rachel Gluckstern, Rickey Purdin, Janelle Asselin, Harvey Richards and Katie Kubert. In other words, from where I sit, life looks good!
Some of you know, some of you don’t, I was a member of another comics editorial staff for years. A few people have asked me if it’s hard to go work for the “competition.” Huh? Half the faces I meet in the halls are people I’ve worked with before – half the creators, too! In fact, years ago, I did stints as assistant editor for current DCers Mike Carlin and Bob Harras. Sometimes it’s about the characters you love, but a lot of times it’s about the work. Putting together a fantastic creative team, helping to craft a terrific story line, working with an interesting, talented new writer or artist, messing with the lives of great characters… And with the DC Universe, there are a LOT of great characters to mess with.
I thought, when I started two weeks ago, that I was going to have a few weeks to learn stuff, keep my mouth shut, absorb the ways of the new co., but instead they threw me into the deep end of the pool. What might that pool include? Well … more next time about the projects I’ll be working on. For the moment, they’re a bit hush-hush.
Now back to catching up on a few years’ worth of continuity…
Bobbie Chase
Bob Harras, Editor-in-Chief here. I'm happy to introduce the team that will be working closely with me across our DC Universe, Vertigo and MAD imprints, as we continue to make DC Comics the destination for exciting, thought-provoking and ground-breaking comic entertainment
First up, I'm pleased to announce that Eddie Berganza has been named Executive Editor of our DC Universe line.
A 19-year veteran of DC COMICS, Eddie began his career trafficking the art and scripts going out of DC and worked his way up to Assistant Editor on such titles as GREEN LANTERN, AQUAMAN, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES before moving on to being an Associate Editor dealing with GUY GARDNER: WARRIOR and creating an alternate universe line of books. This led to him becoming the SUPERMAN editor for seven years that included the OUR WORLDS AT WAR crossover and the acclaimed ACTION #775 "What's so funny about truth, justice, and the American way?" But it was as Senior Editor and then Group Editor, that Eddie found his niche as the "Event Editor." Stewarding one crossover after another from INFINITE CRISIS to FINAL CRISIS and the recent BLACKEST NIGHT to now preparing for FLASHPOINT, he has been at ground zero for all DCU's major storylines!
But his true love is still GREEN LANTERN--which he edits today along with the JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA-and cannot wait to see the Emerald Warrior's movie next year!
Before coming to DC, Eddie worked at the science fiction movie magazine Starlog, where he got to learn way too much about Star Trek.
Working alongside Eddie, will be Matt Idelson, Group Editor of the Superman titles and Mike Marts, Batman Group Editor.
Matt Idelson spent the first of his 17 years in the business at Marvel Comics, first as an assistant on Avengers, the Waid/Garney Captain America run, Warren Ellis' Thor and other assorted titles before working his way up to full editor, launching such varied titles as Joe Kelly and Ed McGuinness' Deadpool and Waid and Andy Kubert's Ka-Zar. In 1999, he moved uptown to DC, working on the Batman line with first Denny O'Neill and then Bob Schreck, launching the Greg Rucka/Ed Brubaker/Michael Lark GOTHAM CENTRAL, Brubaker, Darwyn Cooke and Cameron Stewart's CATWOMAN revamp. Along the way from then to now, Dan DiDio promoted Matt, assigning him the SUPERMAN titles, beginning with the Geoff Johns/Kurt Busiek collaboration, "Up, Up and Away!" Presently, Matt still oversees the Superman group of titles and resides about three minutes south of Canada with his wife and a couple of cats.
Mike Marts got his start in the comic industry as an assistant editor for Marvel Comics in 1993. After working on such titles as Iron Man and Fantastic Four, Mike went on to a brief stint in Wizard Magazine's promotions department and eventually became an editor for Acclaim Comics in 1997. In 1999, Mike received the call from me in my prior existence as editor in chief of Marvel Comics to return to Marvel Comics, where he spent seven years working on the X-Men family of comics, including Uncanny X-Men, Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, Grant Morrison's New X-Men, Wolverine and Origin. Then in September of 2006, Mike "switched sides" and went to work for DC Comics as a senior editor. Two years later, he was promoted Group Editor and was charged with helming the Batman group of titles. Mike lives in New Jersey with his wife, daughter and dog.
I'm also pleased to announce the promotion of Ian Sattler, Director--Editorial, Special Projects & Archival Editions. Born and raised in Washington, DC Ian has been the Senior Story Editor for the DCU for the last three years. Prior to that he acquired over a decade of experience in the comics industry in areas as diverse as editing, marketing and retail. His background also includes forays into other areas of publishing including authoring several non-fiction books and serving as a founding member of influential pop culture magazines SWINDLE and LEMON.
Ian is familiar to many comics fans from his work hosting DC panels at numerous conventions and his fine collection of footwear.
I'm also very happy to say that I will be working closely with Karen Berger, Senior Vice President, Executive Editor of the Vertigo line.
Vertigo has always been known for publishing edgy, innovative stories that push the boundaries of comics storytelling. There's always something disturbing or psychologically intense about a Vertigo book, and a refreshing sense of reading something new and different and somewhat dangerous.
Karen joined the DC editorial staff in 1979 and, within a few years, became known as an editor who sought to push mainstream comics into new territories. Her early series of note includes AMETHYST, PRINCESS OF GEMWORLD, WONDER WOMAN and the now legendary SWAMP THING. Wishing to push comics further, she created the acclaimed and award winning Vertigo imprint in 1993, publishing groundbreaking series such as SANDMAN, PREACHER, THE INVISIBLES, TRANSMETROPOLITAN, FABLES, Y THE LAST MAN and 100 BULLETS. Additionally, she moved Vertigo into further recognition, with a strong line of original graphic novels and best-selling collected editions.
The line honors its roots of horror and the supernatural by publishing such best-selling series as AMERICAN VAMPIRE and FABLES even as it explores other genres as it expands the concept of what a comic book can be.
And last-but by no means least-comes John Ficarra, Vice President, Executive Editor of MAD Magazine.
John started his career as a freelance comedy writer for radio and for such standup comedians as Rodney Dangerfield, Soupy Sales, and Joan Rivers among others. He began his association with MAD as a freelance writer and was hired as Associate Editor in 1980, becoming the first person hired by MAD in 24 years.
In 1985, John became co-editor with Nick Meglin when long-time MAD Editor Al Feldstein retired and became the magazine's sole editor in 2005.
John has written humor pieces for many publications including the New York Times Op-Ed, New York Daily News, TV Guide and more. He is also the author of the MAD Book of Fears & Phobias.
And he wants us all to know he owns a car.
If you’ve been following us on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve probably noticed that there’s been a huge outpouring of press in reaction to the shocking conclusion of BATMAN AND ROBIN #16. It all started early yesterday, as THE ASSOCIATED PRESS broke the news that (stop reading now if you haven’t picked up the issue) Bruce Wayne had been secretly funding Batman for years, and would expand his funding and launch BATMAN INCORPORATED in an interview with the man behind it all, writer Grant Morrison.
With that, we were off to the races. DC Comics Editor in Chief Bob Harras did a number of interviews, including chats with USA TODAY, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, CNN’s MARQUEE BLOG, TIME TECHLAND, AOL COMICS ALLIANCE, THE L.A. TIMES' HERO COMPLEX, COMIC BOOK RESOURCES, NEWSARAMA and IO9.
And in case you missed it, WIRED’s Scott Thill had an epic, engaging and all-around interesting interview with Morrison, which is a must-read for fans of the man’s work. Also, the issue's been getting raves -- with glowing reviews at POP MATTERS and IGN to kick things off.
Have you picked up your copy of BATMAN AND ROBIN v2: BATMAN VS. ROBIN yet?
Day 1 of NYCC is winding down – but not so fast, Source readers. Right now, I’m sitting in Room 1A08-12 as DC Comics Co-Publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio hold court with an all star collection of talent, including Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, VP-Sales Bob Wayne and Editor in Chief Bob Harras. If you’re nearby, sit back, relax and prepare for another exciting panel experience. If you’re not, stay tuned to The Source.
