outsiders | DC Comics

Editor Michael Siglain talks up the scary side of the DCU

Greetings, Source-rers,

Editor Michael Siglain here, back to tempt and tease you with the latest tantalizing tombs from my little corner of the DC Universe.

Labor Day has come and gone, there's a crisp chill in the air, and the kiddies are all finally back in school. September is upon us, and that means that Halloween is on its way. Yes, it's true, I'm rushing the season, but Halloween is more than just one day out of the year. For me, All Hallow's Eve is a state of mind, so let's not waste time, let's make with the creepy!

First up is a glimpse of the cover to Booster Gold #27, which is part II of our Blackest Night tie-in. Here, Booster Gold and Blue Beetle must team-up to stop Black Lantern Blue Beetle from eating their hearts. And as you can see by our cover, courtesy of series' artists Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund, Booster's just hanging around, and Ted, well, Ted's dead, baby.

Want even more Blackest Night tie-in related goodness? Well, how 'bout the cover to Outsiders 25 from Tom Mandrake? If anyone knows the mysterious and spooky, it's the Addams Family. And Tom Mandrake. Here, we get a cover in the vein of the old 1970s Hammer Horror posters. Check it out:

But you've all seen the Black Lanterns by now. What about that which is unseen? More specifically, what have you seen on Batman: Unseen? Well, the aforementioned is the title of a new 5-part miniseries—due out this October—that reunites the celebrated Bat-team of writer Doug Moench and artist Kelley Jones. These fearsome folks have once again joined forces to pit the Dark Knight Detective against his strangest foe yet: The Invisible Man! But this isn't your typical Invisible Man story. You see (no pun intended), that in this twisted tale, our Invisible Man doesn't start out all that invisible. At first, just his skin disappears, leaving a weird, red musculature to roam and ravage the mean streets of Gotham. Feast your eyes on the following:

Weird, no? But wait, there's more! What's Halloween--or our never-ending Halloween season--without werewolves? (Incidentally, the answer is a boring and dull Halloween, but I digress.) Another book that you may have heard about—and not just from me—is Detective Comics, written and drawn by the super-scary team of Greg Rucka and JH Williams III. Why are they so scary, you ask? Well, it's because they're so damn good at what they do! And in one of our upcoming issues, specifically Detective Comics #859, which is out in November, we get one of—if not THE—greatest werewolf transformations to ever grace the printed page. Howl in excitement at the following:

Beautiful, isn't it? Well, my time is almost up here, so let's end on another truly creepy image: the cover to the all-new hardcover by writer/artist Sam Kieth. Sinister Sam is inviting all of you to join him as he spends the night in the most infamous insane asylum in all of DC Comics. Welcome to Arkham Asylum: Madness. As they said in the remake of The Fly, "Be afraid. Be very afraid."

So that's it, gang. A heaping helping of the terrifying and horrifying that Assistant Editor Harvey Richards and I have in store for you in the upcoming few weeks. There's also a DCU Halloween Special coming your way, in which I have a very personal interest, but I'll leave those details to Editors Eddie Berganza & Adam Schlagman. In the meantime, be sure to check back soon for more scary stories from me (anyone sense a theme yet?), as well as information on Batman of the Future!?!

Thanks for reading, gang. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight...

Tags:

arkham asylum, Batman, batman: unseen, booster gold, michael siglain, outsiders

Siglain on DETECTIVE COMICS, OUTSIDERS

Greetings, Source-erers,

Michael Siglain here. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m one of the editors here at DC. More specifically, I’m one of the Bat-editors, and am currently responsible for Detective Comics, Outsiders, Batgirl, Vigilante and Booster Gold, among other comic book greatness. I’m here today to give you a peek behind the editorial iron curtain, so get ready to feast your eyes...

First up, I’d like to take a moment to congratulate the crew of Detective Comics. The lead story—by the brilliant team of Greg Rucka, J.H. Williams III, and Dave Stewart—tells the tale of Batwoman, while in the co-feature, Mr. Rucka teams up with artist extraordinaire Cully Hamner to answer The Question. As you may have heard, we’ve just sold out of Detective Comics #854 and are going back to press with a brand new cover.

But you might not have seen the uncolored version of our groovy second printing cover, so take a gander…

Pretty, ain’t it? If any of you haven’t read this issue yet, run—don’t walk—to your local comic shop and reserve your copy now. And just wait until you read Detective Comics #855, which is in stores at the end of this month. Things go from bad to worse for our heroines, but the writing and the art only gets better and better. Trust me, you definitely don’t want to miss this one.

And speaking of cool bat-related books, here’s a page from Outsiders #21, which features an all-new story arc written by Wizard Top Ten Writer Peter Tomasi—seriously, he’s number seven with a bullet—of Nightwing and Green Lantern Corps fame, with art by the amazingly talented Fernando Pasarin—of Justice Society of America fame (he’s not on the Wizard list yet, but he’s number one on the list of Top Ten Artists Who Live in Spain and Currently Work for Mike Siglain). These fine folks have crafted a tale of terror that pits the Outsiders against some of Batman’s most dangerous and vile villains. In “The Hunting” Part I, Black Lightning and Owlman head north in an attempt to track down the murderous Mr. Freeze. Again, take a look:

That’s all for now, gang. But check back soon for another update featuring the all-new Batgirl, the same ol’ Booster, the return of Doug Moench and Kelley Jones, and a top secret, unbelievably creepy Sam Kieth project.

Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight…

A cover’s worth a thousand words

So, everyone knows that DC has the BEST comic book covers in the business and it’s been that way for a long, long time. I mean, with a crew like Jim Lee, Adam Hughes, Lee Bermejo, Frank Quietly, Andy Kubert and ALL of our other great artists, how could we possibly make things better? I’ll tell ya, by sending out a challenge to all of our monthly cover artists to go wild on their covers for the month of August. WOW! Just check out some of the results. I’d say these guys kicked butt (again!).

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Tags:

escape, final crisis aftermath, Flash: Rebirth, gotham city sirens, jsa vs kobra, justice league: cry for justice, mark chiarello, outsiders, power girl