It’s hard to believe that we’re already almost one full year into DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. To celebrate this monumental anniversary, each day this week on THE SOURCE we’ll be spotlighting a different paperback collected edition being released this month. With the launch storylines of these critically acclaimed series collected for the first time in their entirety, it’s a great way for new readers to join the growing DC Universe. Today, we shed a spotlight on RESURRECTION MAN VOL. 1: DEAD AGAIN.

“Being invited by DC to bring back our character Resurrection Man as part of DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 was a big thrill for me and Andy,” co-writer Dan Abnett told THE SOURCE. “We were very, very fond of the character from our run in the late nineties, especially as it was a character we'd created especially for the DC Universe. In his new incarnation, we got to explore the DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 playground, and join in the huge fun of relaunching all these classic characters. Plus we got to tweak and redefine our original idea for a new generation, adding certain elements that were more supernatural, and a much deeper ongoing quest to reveal Resurrection Man's origin. On top of all that, it was great to see how terrific artists like Fernando Dagnino would handle the character and the book. This new collected edition is a perfect way into the wild, scary and unpredictable world of Resurrection Man ... a character always destined to come back.”

“Dan and I have always had a soft spot for Mitch Shelly,” continued co-writer Andy Lanning. “Ever since we created him back in the 90s, he’s held a special place for us. So we didn’t hesitate when our editor Eddie Berganza asked if we’d be interested in reintroducing Mitch to DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. Apart from anything else, it gave us the opportunity to use the line, ‘he’s back!’ We’ve been sitting on that one for over a decade.”

“It also gave us the chance to retell Mitch’s story from a new stand point, making the new series a bit more supernatural in nature than the original run. It also gave us the rewarding opportunity to work with a really fantastic artist and Fernando was able to channel the spirit of Butch Guice, the artist on the original series as well as bringing his own dark and twisted vision to the book. He ran with a lot of really weird stuff that we threw at him and gave the book a unique and compelling look. This collection, along with the collected editions of the original series, will take pride of place on my bookshelf. I’m very proud of all the stories we got to tell about Mitch Shelly, and who knows, maybe in another decade we can get to use the line ‘he’s back, AGAIN!’ Never say never.”

“I grew up reading lots of comics illustrated by Butch Guice such as SWORDS OF THE SWASHBUCKLERS, THE FLASH, MICRONAUTS and X FACTOR. I consider them all to be masterworks, so you can imagine how huge a challenge it was to resurrect one of his creations,” added artist Fernando Dagnino. “I tried to be true to the spirit of the original series (which I am still a fan of). It was the first time I ever worked with Dan and Andy and you know, I guess it’s not easy to write stories about a character that never dies. But the two of them have amazingly brought new life to this ever resurrecting character and have nourished his world with a whole set of thrilling and distressing secondary characters that complement the main storyline. RESURRECTION MAN features an exciting world where magic meets science and the search for one’s identity reaches out far beyond the boundaries of existence.”

“Before DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 came up, I had worked on a little book called RESURRECTION MAN along with writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning and the incomparable artist Butch Guice — it was a great time for us, and the book held a special place in my heart,” concluded Berganza. “Cut to us figuring what would be in DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 and Dan DiDio looking at me and saying, ‘hey, why don’t we bring back Mitch Shelley?’ And I was stunned and excited, but thought, why not? He is the RESURRECTION MAN, he has to come back with a new life.”

“I immediately called Dan and Andy and told them the good news. Unfortunately, Butch was busy elsewhere, but we tapped Fernando Dagnino who had been doing work for us and I liked his style a lot and was in keeping with what we had done before. As it turned out, Fernando was a big fan of the original and was really happy to be asked to be part of this second life or first life for many of you discovering it now—either way lots of shocks and surprises for all of including Mr. Mitch Shelley.”

RESURRECTION MAN VOL. 1: DEAD AGAIN will be available in comic book stores on August 29th and in bookstores everywhere on September 4th.