There are a lot of unanswered questions about FLASHPOINT and, starting today, we're going to start laying out some of the answers. Many of the key creators working on the FLASHPOINT mini-series will be joining us, as we pull back the curtain on this summer's superhero event.

FLASHPOINT is a huge, huge undertaking. What got you to sign onto the series?

Peter Milligan (Writer, FLASHPOINT: SECRET SEVEN): I first heard about it when Dan DiDio and Jim Lee were in London last year. I thought then that it sounded like a really interesting concept—I particularly liked the opportunity to put a spin on some characters that have lain dormant for a while.

J.T. Krul (Writer, FLASHPOINT: DEADMAN & THE FLYING GRAYSONS): Being part of the big DC events is always fun. Just look at BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS. Well, it was fun for me, even if it wasn't fun for the Titans. As for FLASHPOINT, it's such a wild west feel that it allowed the opportunity to write characters in a completely new way. Plus, signing on to write Deadman and the Flying Graysons gave me the best excuse in the world to swing on an actual trapeze as "research."

Dan Jurgens (Writer, BOOSTER GOLD #45): Dan DiDio first started talking about it when we were putting together the TIME MASTERS: VANISHING POINT project. He was quite clear when he said, "Let's start with a search for Bruce Wayne and transition to a teaser for FLASHPOINT. Between that and THE FLASH, we wanted to give the readers a taste of what was to come.

Mike Carlin (Writer, FLASHPOINT: THE CANTERBURY CRICKET): Having been in on the story since Geoff (Johns) pitched it to us ... I knew it would be one of the coolest, universe-spanning epics in a while. And then when asked to play in a teeny tiny corner of that universe ... it was easy to wanna play along!

Adam Schlagman (Writer, FLASHPOINT:ABIN SUR; FLASHPOINT: HAL JORDAN): I was signed on from day one. Coming out of BLACKEST NIGHT, Geoff was already hard at work developing the next universe spanning epic event…. FLASHPOINT. The massive project centers around an emotional tale featuring The Flash and Batman. But surrounding it is what happens to the DC Universe when everything changes in a flash. I’ve crafted a tale in which FLASHPOINT: ABIN SUR and FLASHPOINT: HAL JORDAN interact but can also be enjoyed separately. These two are destined to meet and when they do, they’ll leave a lasting impact on each others' lives.

Lowell Francis (Co-Writer, FLASHPOINT: PROJECT SUPERMAN): A call from Gene Ha telling me about the chance to work with Scott Snyder.

Scott Snyder (Plot, FLASHPOINT: PROJECT SUPERMAN): The story and subsequent world Geoff came up with. Period. As soon as he told us the story, I was in.

Rex Ogle (Writer, FLASHPOINT: THE WORLD OF FLASHPOINT): When Geoff Johns and Eddie Berganza asked if I’d like to take part in DC’s biggest summer crossover, it wasn’t even a question—the answer was yes.

Jeff Lemire (Writer, FLASHPOINT: FRANKENSTEIN AND THE CREATURES OF THE UNKNOWN): Geoff's enthusiasm for the project and the world he was creating was infectious. Plus I've been an avid fan of DC and DC crossover series since I was a kid, so a chance to be part of one with such a strong core concept was something I couldn't pass up.

Gene Ha (Artist, FLASHPOINT: PROJECT SUPERMAN): Eddie Berganza. He was my first assistant editor, and he's still the most exciting comic geek I know. "This is gonna be COOL!"

The world of FLASHPOINT has been cloaked in secrecy. What's the hardest part of not spilling the beans?

Dan Jurgens: Whenever you know something cool, you want to be able to talk about it. Same thing with FLASHPOINT-- there's so much cool stuff being put together that you want to be able to let people in on the scoop!

Scott Kolins (Writer/Artist, FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD; Writer, FLASHPOINT: REVERSE FLASH): I haven’t been out in public since I signed on, so it’s been quiet for me.

Scott Snyder: The hardest part is honestly the coolness of the shared world. Every corner has something fun and wild going on. Every character is re-imagined in surprising ways - but ways that make sense given who they are. You want to share it with people.

Dan Abnett (Writer, FLASHPOINT: WONDER WOMAN AND THE FURIES): I keep having to shout at my cats to vent my excess excitement, so I’m probably looking at serious vet bills right now.

Jeff Lemire: I'm so excited about the amazing ideas and characters in the FLASHPOINT world that its really hard not to talk about them at cons when fans ask me questions.

Lowell Francis: I only have a few beans, so it’s been pretty easy keeping the lid on.

Mike Carlin: The story is so big I don’t even HAVE all the beans! I have the beans I was given and I’m holding on tight! They’re MY beans!

Tony Bedard (Writer, FLASHPOINT: EMPEROR AQUAMAN): Having worked on the editorial side, I'm not having much trouble keeping a lid on my project. They're called "spoilers" for a reason, and I'm not going to spoil anyone's enjoyment of this event.

Jimmy Palmiotti (Writer, FLASHPOINT: DEATHSTROKE AND THE CURSE OF THE RAVAGER): When taking on a project like this it's hard not to get excited and talk about it at the conventions or to other pros, but I knew going in secrecy is key to the project and in the end, there is nothing I hate more than having a story ruined for me, so in the end, it all world out. There is this one scene where death stroke puts a gun up to...wait, I can't talk about that, can I? Ah...didn't think so.

Adam Schlagman: Knowing how exciting and awesome all the ideas the writers and editors are generating as they bring this one cohesive world to life. There are so many shocking moments across the books that incite chills. It’s not easy keeping my lips sealed and holding in the enthusiasm. Fortunately all the creators have each other to talk to, yet that just amps us up more with utter excitement.

Javi Fernandez (Artist, FLASHPOINT: THE OUTSIDER): What I´m more pleased with is that people are wrong with the suppositions, so that will make for a lot of surprises.

We're going to ask the impossible. Can you sum up the series you are working on in five words--or less?

Tony Bedard: Will Aquaman drown the world?

Peter Milligan: Shade summons Secret Seven, disastrously.

Jeff Lemire: Classic monsters fighting giant robots.

Lowell Francis: Laboratory superheroes and uncontrolled variables.

Mike Carlin: Demons and Amazons and Crickets!

Scott Kolins: Cold love and burning hate!

Dan Abnett: Peppermint aardvark plethora corduroy-- no, it appears I can’t.

Pornsak Pichetshote (Writer, FLASHPOINT: GREEN ARROW INDUSTRIES): Big business always = bad guy?

Javi Fernandez: Amazing.

Jimmy Palmiotti: A celebration of wrong.

J.T. Krul: Abandonment; despair - and Ruthless Amazons!

Sean Ryan (Writer, FLASHPOINT: GRODD OF WAR): Grodd suffers from extreme Anhedonia.

Dan Jurgens: For BOOSTER GOLD it'd be... Intrigue. Challenging. Chaos. Doom. Death.

If you haven’t read your copy of BRIGHTEST DAY #23 yet, then whatever you do, do not click on the jump (major spoiler alert!).

With the reveal of Swamp Thing as the Dark Avatar, BRIGHTEST DAY gears up full-force to its epic finale. A plant/human hybrid, Swamp Thing first appeared in 1971 in the early-20th-century-based HOUSE OF SECRETS #92, written by Len Wein, fan-favorite for his super hero adventures, and legendary horror artist Berni Wrightson.  A year later, he returned as the star of his own series set in the contemporary DC Universe.

In this series, it was revealed that Swamp Thing was once completely human, in the form of scientist Alec Holland. When a bomb went off in his lab, Holland retreated to a nearby swamp and materialized as the plant elemental, Swamp Thing.

Throughout the years, there have been many different takes on Swamp Thing’s origins. In Alan Moore's historic run, it is revealed that he was not in fact a reincarnation of Alec Holland, but rather a member of an ancient group of plants called the Parliament of Trees, and had only absorbed all of Holland’s memories and personality. It is this same Parliament of Trees that The Elementals must now protect in BRIGHTEST DAY.

The star of four of his own series (1972, 1982, 2001, and 2004), Swamp Thing has had his stories intertwine with other supernatural characters in the DC Universe, including Phantom Stranger, Demon, Deadman, and on occasion, the Justice League of America. He has also repeatedly crossed paths with Batman, has lived alongside Pamela Isley (a.k.a Poison Ivy), and has taken on Lex Luthor (in issues 52-53 of SWAMP THING VOL. 2) in the mid-80’s – around the same time he visited the abandoned Cambridge mansion in Crisis on Infinite Earths. His “American Gothic” storyline was just re-published in the hardcover, Saga of the Swamp Thing: Volume 4.

With the ability to regenerate by turning any matter into his own body mass, Swamp Thing is a creature of monumental power and is quintessential to the DC Universe. After having been absent for so many years, what does his return signify?

Have you heard? WonderCon’s been about all things GREEN LANTERN this weekend.

And now there’s new GREEN LANTERN movie footage to be seen! Watch it here.

Designing a new costume and look for Wonder Woman or Aquaman is one thing, but an entirely new character like the Canterbury Cricket requires a few extra steps, even for a superstar artist like Andy Kubert.

"I had no idea who or what this was...but he's in the story. Geoff described him as a humanoid insect along the lines of...a cricket. I researched crickets, bugs and arachnids which are all cut-throat nasty little creatures but crickets in general are really not that menacing looking. They have big, round eyes that are soulful (to me, anyway). I tried to give him a bit of an attitude with some heavy, pointed brows along with some rigid body armor. A couple of spiky things off of his long, skinny arms and elbows, legs and anywhere else I thought worked. All this stuff brings out the fighter in him. Also an ultra thin thorax type of waist and I thought always being in a crouched position would be a good character niche. Canterbury is also pretty short...maybe about 4 feet tall. Lots of spots on him as I picture his color scheme to being like a just pulled from the ocean lobster."