Just a gentle reminder that tomorrow -- the same day Brian Azzarello and Rags Morales' FIRST WAVE hits -- you can read the first issue along with comic book superstars Geoff Johns and Jim Lee on Twitter. What better way to meet the neo-noir versions of Doc Savage, The Bat-Man and the Spirit, eh?

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The fun starts Wednesday at 3pm PST, giving you time to run to your shop and join in on the action. And while we’re talking Twitter, don’t forget to follow DC NATION, which’ll keep you up-to-date on all THE SOURCE’s daily news.

And take a minute to say hi while we're all reading together.

Just got off the phone with Brian. He’s gotta make a few simple adjustments on the next FIRST WAVE script.

• Gotta call Rags Morales. Let him know everybody in the office is slapping me on the back for the looks of the first issue, as if I drew it. Might as well ring him up and share the, er, credit.

• Gotta call Nei Ruffino, same reason.

• Pardon my sharing my “to-do” list like this, but it’s the only way I can remember it all.

• Gotta call Howard Porter, make sure we’re getting more DOC SAVAGE pages like the one here.

• Gotta call Paul Malmont, thank him for calling me “legendary” in a recent interview (Is that a nice way of saying I’m history?), and ask after the next DOC rewrite.

• Gotta call Moritat and thank him and Gabriel Bautista for the amazing SPIRIT #1 art job.

• Gotta call Bill Sienkiewicz to see the first phenomenal SPIRIT BLACK AND WHITE story.

• Gotta call Kyle Baker to see if he called Harlan Ellison about the second one. Wait, do I have that backward?

• Gotta make sure that everybody’s still jazzed about seeing “The Bat-Man” in FIRST WAVE and that he’s in it enough.

• Jeez! That means I gotta call Brian again!

In a world without super powers, there are still those men and women who merit the name "hero."

In the long shadow of The War and amidst the rubble of a shattered world, humanity's last hope may be a handful of masked vigilantes with only their fists and wits at their disposal against a shadowy cabal known only as The Golden Tree.

Enter Doc Savage, a veritable super man plagued by the loss of his father and a nagging suspicion that something evil lurks around the corner.

Enter the mysterious Spirit, a man once thought dead now protecting the streets of Central City from the corruption and decay that's already pushed it to the brink of destruction.

And what of the caped crime fighter known as "The Bat-Man"? Needless to say, he isn't what you've come to expect from the Dark Knight: Brash, cocky, inexperienced and daring.

This is the pulp, neo-noir setting of FIRST WAVE, a six-issue mini-series that springs from the mind of acclaimed, Eisner Award-winning writer Brian Azzarello and featuring art by versatile master Rags Morales.

Azzarello brings his knack for realistic dialogue and hard boiled narrative to the forefront from the first panel of the first page, presenting a world very rooted in reality but also evocative of the fantastical tales and adventures that were at the crux of the pulps' popularity years ago. Paired with Morales, who's arguably creating some of the best work of his career and you have an unbeatable formula for adventurous and just plain exciting comics featuring some of the most iconic characters to grace the sequential page, re-energized for today's reader. Who can argue with that?

We managed to catch Azzarello for a quick word. Take it away Brian:

"It's exciting to be part of this. Everybody involved has really worked their tails off building this world, and as it rolls out in the next few months, you can expect more than a few surprises. The most important thing for us as creators is to make readers care about the characters. I think they'll find themselves caring in ways they haven't before. It should be fun."

The proof is on the page, gang. And we've got four colored pages from the first issue along with colored pages from the scene we previewed a few weeks back. Be warned, though: Once you enter the world of FIRST WAVE, it'll be near impossible to escape.

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It's almost here -- an Earth very much like our own, but featuring a collection of pulp and noir heroes that include the Batman, the Spirit, Doc Savage, Black Canary and many more.

In the shadows of the War, the roots of the Golden Tree cabal grew deep into the heart of a fallen world and the leaders at the heart of this secret organization see no place in their utopia for heroism. Doc Savage, struggling with the loss of his father, has been blind to their advance – until now. Central City's mysterious Spirit has caught wind of their plans as well. But whose side have the Blackhawks chosen? What is the Red Right Hand? And where is the Batman? Eisner Award winner Brian Azzarello (100 BULLETS, JOKER) and superstar Rags Morales (IDENTITY CRISIS) craft a DC universe like you've never seen before. It's a world with no supermen, only mortal men. Death can come at any moment, and adventure can still be found at every corner of the map.

Dive right in with a look at some black and white interiors from the first issue. And, as an added bonus, we're including the Morales sketch pages some of you saw in the back of select DCU books and the handful we initially spotlighted here. Enjoy:

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