Last week we showed you pages from Cliff Chiang and JMS's touching issue of THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD and earlier this week we showed off some pencils and inks from the story. But did you also know Cliff was handling variant cover duties on the first issue of BIRDS OF PREY? And, coincidentally, we've got the cover right here.

With BLACKEST NIGHT #8 out and in the world and WonderCon upon us, why not remove some of those pesky shadows from the first cover of BIRDS OF PREY #1? Enjoy.

We’ve shown only covers so far from the upcoming BIRDS OF PREY series, coming your way in May from writer Gail Simone and artist Ed Benes. It’s high time to remedy that. Click below for a few black and white pages from the first issue.

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The headline's true. After a lengthy and impressive run on WONDER WOMAN, writer Gail Simone is moving on to other projects.

Gail's work on WONDER WOMAN has become a staple of the DC Universe, and her take on Princess Diana has resonated with readers from the get-go, and will continue to connect with newer fans as they discover her work. But let's not get overly maudlin here, gang. Gail's not disappearing. Quite the opposite. Her work on SECRET SIX, which has garnered stellar reviews, will continue and it's hard not to get excited about her upcoming BIRDS OF PREY relaunch. We even managed to wrangle a new piece of BIRDS art from artist Ed Benes to serve as a gentle reminder that big things are indeed on the horizon:

We'll have lots more news and info on Gail's upcoming work, but let's take a moment to give her a well-deserved round of applause and hear her thoughts on an epic run on WONDER WOMAN. Take it away, Gail:

"Working on Wonder Woman has been one of the most thrilling things in my career. There aren't many jobs in comics as cool as writing dialogue for Hippolyta as she's riding a flying horse and stabbing giant sea monsters. I had a blast and as always when I leave a book, I'm going to miss the cast terribly.

When you write this book, you meet these remarkable, amazing Wonder Woman fans and it's quite unlike anything I've ever experienced, just this wave of love and kindness.  Diana means something to these people in a way that few other superhero characters really ever seem to do, and I can't thank the readers enough for their undying affection for the character. I've met people whose stories about what

Wonder Woman meant to them are going to stay with me forever. It's a pretty rare gift.

I have to also thank, once again, the writers and creators who came before me on the book. I've said it many times, but the club of Wonder Woman writers seems to be a group of people bonded forever. Whenever I needed help or advice or answers, they were always, always there.  The endless support and generosity of these people is astounding and I am grateful forever to Phil, Greg (both of whom were endlessly patient and helpful as I asked a thousand questions about their runs), Trina, Kurt, Dan Mishkin, Allan, Jodi, J. Torres, Bill Messner-Loebs, Mindy Newell, and of course, the great George Perez. When you have those people in your corner, you feel like you can do anything.

And above all I want to thank some of the most amazing artists in the business, people who somehow managed not to kill me when I would write panel descriptions like, "Then a thousand warriors attack..."  These people were supremely dedicated and professional and any applause you might have for the book should be squarely aimed at them.  Thank you so much, Chris Batista, Nicola Scott, Matt Ryan, Brad Anderson, Fernando Dagnino, Terry and Rachel Dodson, and above all, the amazing Bernard Chang and Aaron Lopresti. They did Diana proud and I also appreciate them not killing me for asking for pages and pages of Themysciran architecture.

I'm sad to leave but very, very proud of the work we did together and delighted to have been a small part of Diana's ongoing epic saga.  It's really been a joy.  And I have to say in complete honestly, I am genuinely thrilled by who is taking over the book.  It's someone who is going to rock this book like there's no tomorrow, and I could not be happier with this choice. They got this one 100% right. I think it's going to be a new era of greatness for our princess.  People are going to freak and that makes me smile a lot.

My schedule is packed full, as well...and I'm doing books that make me happy every day, like the incredibly fun and horrid SECRET SIX, which has some really shocking surprises coming, and then of course  a book very dear to my heart, the return of BIRDS OF PREY in May, with artist Ed Benes doing the finest work of his career.  And I can announce for the first time officially, a really exciting WELCOME TO TRANQUILITY mini-series starts in July!  Add to that a little treat that is a life-long dream of mine coming true in WONDER WOMAN #600 and it's turning out to be a great, great year.  Aside all that, a huge surprise with one of my all-time favorite artists is coming, but we can't even hint at that now, so pretend you didn't read that last bit.

Thank you again, everyone. Be sure to check out Birds of Prey number one...it is CRAZY fun. You can't see it, but I'm giving the Amazon salute. Thanks, everyone!"