ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY continued their weekly homepage placement of previews from DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. This time around? Next week’s SUPERBOY #3 by Scott Lobdell, R.B. Silva and Rob Lean.

Fans who picked up this week’s ANIMAL MAN #3 already know that the issue revealed a new twist to Buddy Baker’s origin story. NEWSARAMA interviewed writer Jeff Lemire about this revelation and what other surprises are coming up in the series. “The book's a horror book. It really is,” Lemire told them. “And the scariest thing — and you know this as a parent — the scariest thing you can possibly think of is something terrible happening to your child. If I can tap into that, I think I've created a really terrifying book and a book with a lot of emotional stakes.”

Yesterday, we told you about IGN’s Holiday Gift Guide. Well, it looks like it really is that time of year because UGO just published their Holiday Gift Guide as well. Head on over to their specific DC-themed gift guide for their recommendations of both new and classic titles like BATMAN: NOEL and SUPERMAN: THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN.

Still looking for more gift ideas? Released last week in comic book stores and this week in bookstores everywhere, FLASHPOINT is a hardcover collection of all five issues of this summer’s bestselling series by Geoff Johns, Andy Kubert and Sandra Hope that paved the way to DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. “Flashpoint is a necessary read, one that will have to be devoured and studied by anyone who wants to be in-the-know about anything that follows,” wrote AMAZON’s OMNIVORACIOUS BLOG of the collection.

To be continued …

I swear, working with Scott Lobdell is just like working with a kid sometimes.

He’s probably saying the same thing about me, mind you. There’s nothing quite so satisfying about my job as needling poor Scott about our age difference, and about how much I loved his comics when I was a kid. But ironically, not only has Scott been responsible for putting a couple more gray hairs on my head since I got the job of editing the new SUPERBOY, it turns out he’s the one with all the boundless enthusiasm of a teenager – the kind of guy who’s constantly challenging you, asking “why” when you tell him “no,” and more often than not, being obnoxiously, insufferably right about how your grown-up ideas of what you can and can’t do are just wrong, wrong, wrong.

That’s the spirit he brings to his new takes on TEEN TITANS and SUPERBOY. These are headstrong teenagers, who may not know a lot – and in Superboy’s case, fresh from the cloning tank, he knows nothing at all – but they know wrong when they see it, and they’re not going to stand for it. We went right back to the basics for Superboy’s story, and like the scientists that cloned him from Kryptonian and human DNA, we’ve rebuilt him from the bones up. Like all teenagers, he’s struggling with the facts of who he is, of the choices that were made for him and the burdens placed on him before he was even born. But unlike most teenagers, he’s got the kind of power that can reshape the face of the world. When someone tells Superboy “no,” he doesn’t have to listen.

But without a family to raise him, without anyone in this world that he can trust, how is he going to keep himself from succumbing to the worst aspects of his newborn personality? It’s a big scary world out there, and none of us are quite ready for it when we’re thrust into it under the best of circumstances. It’s safe to say that when Superboy meets the wider world, it’s under just about the worst circumstances possible. That’s bad news for poor Superboy, and it’s even worse news for the people in his way… even if they’re the Teen Titans, the only other kids on the face of the planet who might be able to understand him.

This is heartbreaking stuff, really it is. And as drawn by the masterful young Brazilian artist R.B. Silva, penciller of the mind-bogglingly great JIMMY OLSEN feature recently seen in ACTION COMICS, you will feel every blow – emotional and physical. Things get broken, including teenage hearts. All the people who surround Superboy are not who they seem – including some faces that may be familiar to a few of you, and who you never expected to meet in a place like this. And every issue, the plot takes another zig where you’d expect it to zag – away from your expectations for what Superboy’s powers are, or the true nature of his origin, or who his enemies and friends might be.

Life never turns out quite the way you plan for it. I never would’ve believed I’d be working with one of my childhood idols, for one. And poor Scott never believed he’d have to put up with the likes of a greenhorn like me. But some of us are just meant to do certain things and Scott Lobdell was meant to write SUPERBOY, the story of the boy who couldn’t be stopped. Superboy is loose in the DC universe now, and he’s got a few ideas on how things should be…

Over the course of last week, we provided you with a first look at the solicits for the October titles in DC Comics-The New 52. In case you missed it, earlier today THE NEW YORK POST exclusively revealed the cover to ACTION COMICS #1. Below, check out the solicits for the second issues in the Superman group books in DC Comics-The New 52:

ACTION COMICS #2

Written by GRANT MORRISON

Art by RAGS MORALES and RICK BRYANT

Cover by RAGS MORALES

Variant cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER

1:200 B&W variant cover by RAGS MORALES

On sale OCTOBER 5 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US • RATED T

In his weakest moment, Superman is taken down – but by whom? And if the world wasn’t ready for a man with super powers, they’re utterly unprepared for the rage of a Superman cornered! The cornerstone character of the new DCU continues his debut adventure!

SUPERMAN #2

Written by GEORGE PEREZ

Breakdowns and cover by GEORGE PEREZ

Art by JESUS MERINO

On sale OCTOBER 26 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

The all-new adventures of Superman continue! Everyone can see the new villain who’s attacking Superman – except The Man of Steel! How can he stop a threat that none of his super-senses can detect? Meanwhile, a Daily Planet reporter starts digging up some dirt on Superman, including a secret that could ruin him forever!

SUPERBOY #2

Written by SCOTT LOBDELL

Art by RB SILVA and ROB LEAN

Cover by ERIC CANETE

On sale OCTOBER 12 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Project N.O.W.H.E.R.E. has put a lot of effort into creating their Superboy, and they intend to make sure he performs to their standards. And what better opportunity for him to demonstrate his raw power than to throw him into an alien prison riot? Good luck, Superboy… you’re going to need it!

SUPERGIRL #2

Written by MICHAEL GREEN and MIKE JOHNSON

Art by MAHMUD ASRAR and DAN GREEN

Cover by MAHMUD ASRAR

On sale OCTOBER 19 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Get ready for a super-smackdown as Supergirl fights her cousin, The Man of Steel! What could cause these two to come to blows? Can the teenage Supergirl hold her own against the adult Superman? Well, let’s just say she’s got a trick or two up those fancy new sleeves of hers...

A new era of DC Comics begins as the longest-running monthly comic of all time releases its first issue #1 since 1938.

This September, New York Times bestselling writer Grant Morrison (ALL-STAR SUPERMAN) joins with sensational artist Rags Morales to bring you tales of The Man of Tomorrow unlike any you’ve ever read before in ACTION COMICS #1. This momentous first issue will set in motion the history of the DC Universe as Superman defends a world that doesn't trust their first Super Hero.

The first Action Comics #1 is now the most sought-after comic book of all time. This September, one of comics’ most imaginative storytellers will make history again in Grant Morrison and Rags Morales’ ACTION COMICS #1.

Superman #1: The Man of Tomorrow, Today

What is Superman’s startling new status quo? How does it affect his friends, loved ones and his job at The Daily Planet? Find out in SUPERMAN #1, written by legendary comics creator George Perez (CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS, NEW TEEN TITANS and WONDER WOMAN) and illustrated by Jesus Merino.

Supergirl #1 and Superboy #1: The New Superman Family

Supergirl’s got the unpredictable behavior of a teenager, the same powers as Superman and none of his affection for the people of Earth. Writers Michael Green and Mike Johnson (Smallville, SUPERMAN/BATMAN) will team up with artist Mahmud Asrar to give a new take on the teenager from Krypton in SUPERGIRL #1.

They thought he was just a failed experiment, grown from a combination of Kryptonian and human DNA. But when the scope of his stunning powers was revealed, he became a deadly weapon. SUPERBOY #1 will be written by Scott Lobdell with art by R.B. Silva and Rob Lean.