“The Culling” crossover event is coming this May – but what is The Culling? What is N.O.W.H.E.R.E., and how will it threaten the heroes and would-be heroes of DC COMICS-THE NEW 52? You’ll find out in next month’s crossover, but in the meantime – stay tuned to THE SOURCE all this week for Culling insights from the creators.

Today, SUPERBOY and TEEN TITANS writer Scott Lobdell offers an enthusiastic glimpse into what’s to come:

"Imagine you are a comic book writer who is bound by 20 pages a month in which to tell a story. Then you get a call... and you're told that suddenly you get to work on a 60 page story (that is, your book is going to cross over with SUPERBOY and LEGION LOST)! Suddenly more story possibilities open up as your telling a larger story with more characters and conflicts involved. Suddenly you have the opportunity to deal with Kid Flash learning the first hints of his origin by talking with Superboy, a 16 year old without any past at all.  

“Then you have Timber Wolf confronting Kid Flash for an explanation as to why Bart Allen is in the here-and-now instead of his place of origin in the 31st Century... and you wonder why at least one of the Legion Losters seems to be covering for Kid Flash?

“Okay, so here you are, working on a larger canvas than you get to work on from month to month, and you're working with other writers and Editorial now and you're starting to wonder how even 60 pages is going to be enough... when the clouds part and Editorial delivers another edict: You get an additional 32 pages in the form of a Teen Titans annual!

"That's a 92-page story you get to tell! Yowza! Just think of the possibilities! It'd be like taking an episode of your favorite television show and suddenly being given a 100 million dollar feature film budget where you can do all the things you want when you are no longer bound by episodic restraints!

"I admit to being a little frightened when Brett was assigned to do the art on the TEEN TITANS Annual – because we haven't been split up since we re-launched TEEN TITANS last year. But as soon as he started turning in the pages, creating the Colony out of thin air, introducing the kids that N.O.W.H.E.R.E. has held captive for so long, bludgeoning us with his high octane action sequences as the Teen Titans battled the Legion Lost and then slamming on the brakes for moments of quiet poignancy, I understood why editorial knew it was so important for Brett to be the guy that established the world and the tone for the crossover. Every time I open up my email box I am stunned by the level of detail and excitement and passion that Brett brings to the work.

"Everyone who knows R.B. Silva's work from his Jimmy Olsen run last year as well as the first issues of SUPERBOY knows that he is without peer when it comes to those character-centric moments in any story – he is one of these guys who can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. Well, let me say that you should go out and buy a hat because you are going to want to have something to hold onto when you see him draw the epic action in SUPERBOY when Kon El goes toe-to-toe with Warblade! When you see this issue you're going to know that R.B. is destined for greatness. His Timber Wolf and Dawnstar are just... gorgeous. There's no other word that comes to mind!

"And Ig Guara on TEEN TITANS? After months of reading, green with envy, his work on BLUE BEETLE, I was so excited to learn that he'd be filling in for Brett on two issues (8 and the crossover itself in issue 9). I had high hopes for him... and then he went and exceeded every one of them!  There have been so many pages where I didn't even want to write dialogue and captions because it felt superfluous -- everything was there on their faces and body language. Truly, Ig is one of tomorrow's superstars and I can't wait to work with him again!

"Is there a sales element to all of it? Sure, because comics is a business. But Tom and Howard and I aren't in sales, we're writers who have been given the opportunity to create an epic comic book story over the course of one month – using some of the greatest characters in the medium. Who wouldn't be happy about that?!"

(Art by Brett Booth for TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1)

Featuring a story too big for the regular monthly series, TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1 launches the first set of giant-sized annuals from DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. The story is written by Scott Lobdell (TEEN TITANS, SUPERBOY, RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS) and Tom Defalco (LEGION LOST), with art by TEEN TITANS’ regular illustrator, Brett Booth.

Coming this May, the expansive crossover story weaves through several ongoing series – including TEEN TITANS, SUPERBOY and LEGION LOST – and pits the heroes against one another in a chamber of horrors far beneath the surface of Antarctica.

"You know how comics used to have cover copy that read 'This issue has it all!'... then you'd read the issue and, well, it had some but not all? Well this Annual really does have it all!” promises Lobdell. “We finally get to see the oft-mentioned Colony – where the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. leader named Harvest has been keeping the hundred or so teenagers (did I say hundred?!) for who-knows-how-long. We get to see the Teen Titans in pitched battle against the Legion Lost (You can understand why Red Robin is skeptical about a team of teenagers claiming to come from the 30th Century, and why Tyroc is scratching his head over the existence of a team that – according to the history progs – is still some eight years away from being formed!). Then there's the introduction of half the roster of the new RAVAGERS series! It has been eight issues since Red Robin threw down the gauntlet to Harvest, and now we're going to see if the Teen Titans have what it takes to shut down N.O.W.H.E.R.E. once and for all! Yes, there's a reason why this story could only take place in an annual – because there is just too much story to be contained in one of the monthly books!

"Do I sound excited?! It's only because I am! And if you think the story is fun – wait until you get a load of the artwork! Brett and Norm and Andrew are firing on all cylinders – and if this isn't the hottest looking Annual on sale this year, then I will eat my hat! (Of course, I'll have to buy one first. Who wears hats any more?!)

"And finally, I'd have to say we couldn't have gotten this Annual going – or the subsequent crossover – without the hard work and always insightful insights of Tom DeFalco, the writer of LEGION LOST. The man has more talent in his little finger than he has in, well, his whole thumb!

"We're both honored that we're being entrusted with the first chapter of a story that is going to give birth to the new RAVAGERS series by Howard Mackie and Ian Churchill, and not only because it is bound to be the most talked about new series of 2012! Its also because this is the best part of the DCNu, creators and characters coming together on myriad titles to create some really awesome comic stories!"

Check out TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1, and follow the story through SUPERBOY #9, LEGION LOST #9, TEEN TITANS #9 and THE RAVAGERS #1. It all starts this May, but in the meantime – check out the cover by Booth right here on THE SOURCE.

And so we come to Week Four–marking the end of September, the month that ushered in the debut of DC Comics-The New 52 and the unprecedented transformation of the entire DC Universe. It’s hard to believe we’re finally here because for us September started a long time ago. Let me explain:

It’s been quite a ride since the writers conference that initiated this evolution. It’s been a year of pitch meetings, story conferences and design sessions that often went far into the night. It’s been a year of hard work on everyone’s part and truth be told – it’s been a lot of fun.

One of my favorite aspects of this period was our weekly New 52 editorial meeting. Every Friday, all of us in DC Editorial—me, our Executive Editor Eddie Berganza, VP Art Direction & Design Mark Chiarello, Coordinating Editor Liz Gehrlein, Group Editors Matt Idelson and Mike Marts, Senior Editors Bobbie Chase and Joey Cavalieri, Editors Pat McCallum, Brian Cunningham and Rachel Gluckstern, Associate Editors Janelle Asselin, Harvey Richards, Rex Ogle, Wil Moss, Chris Conroy and Assistant Editors Sean Mackiewicz, Katie Kubert, Kate Stewart, Darren Shan and Rickey Purdin—would assemble in our conference room for a two-hour gathering (complete with pizza—any cholesterol concerns temporarily forgotten) not to discuss schedules, or production concerns (these we saved for other meetings)—but to share. Everyone came to that meeting with whatever new material had excited them: whether it was a new script, new art from one of the titles, new designs or new logo concepts. It allowed everybody to see what was being used to build The New 52. Pages would be passed around, discussions would ensue—but most of all, excitement would build.

As that excitement built I was constantly reminded that comics are unique. Unlike movies, or TV, or even video games, comics have no budgetary restraints. A writer and an artist working together as a team can move you from the banality of an office in a major American metropolis to the heart of a dying planet from one page to the next. They can bring characters you care passionately about to places that cannot possibly exist except in the realm of imagination…or in comics.

It is that blend of story and art—that sense of wonder—that you will see in such titles as AQUAMAN by Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis, or TEEN TITANS by Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth or THE FLASH by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato. These are only three examples of the excitement we can finally share with you as part of the New 52.

September may be ending (longest September ever)—but for The New 52 and for DC Comics, trust me, things are only getting started…

See you in October,

Bob Harras – Editor in Chief