the culling | DC Comics

The Culling Aftermath: THE RAVAGERS

Currently spanning the pages of TEEN TITANS ANNUAL, SUPERBOY, LEGION LOST and TEEN TITANS, “The Culling” crossover event will soon be spinning off into its own series, THE RAVAGERS.

But what does the aftermath of this event mean for this new series?

“The Culling was just the beginning for THE RAVAGERS,” series editor Eddie Berganza told THE SOURCE. “Caitlin and crew are in for a hell of a ride, where their survival will be in question each issue—as they try to fight their killer instincts to Ravage!”

Below, take an exclusive first look at THE RAVAGERS #1, in stores on May 30th.

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The Ravagers, the culling, teen titans, Teen Titans Annual, superboy, Legion Lost, eddie berganza

The Culling Aftermath: LEGION LOST

Currently spanning the pages of TEEN TITANS ANNUAL, SUPERBOY, LEGION LOST and TEEN TITANS, “The Culling” crossover event will soon be spinning off into its own series, THE RAVAGERS (issue #1 on sale on 5/30).

But what does the aftermath of this event mean for the other respective titles involved in it? Today, take a sneak peek at what’s to come next in LEGION LOST.

“The Lost Legionnaires find their way home to the 31st century! And what they find is the worst thing that could ever happen! If you don’t believe me, check out this exclusive art from the next issue!” series editor Brian Cunningham told THE SOURCE.

Below, take an exclusive first look at LEGION LOST #10, in stores on June 13th.

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Legion Lost, the culling, Teen Titans Annual, teen titans, superboy, brian cunningham

The Culling Aftermath: TEEN TITANS

But what does the aftermath of this event mean for the other respective titles involved in it? Today, take a sneak peek at what’s to come next in TEEN TITANS.

“The teens find themselves thrust into a very unlikely (and awesome and mysterious) locale in issue #10 with no visible means of getting home, which will give them some time to reflect on what they’ve done. Red Robin, especially, will examine his own culpability in the Culling Affair, and what effect it will have on the continuation of the team as it currently stands,” Editorial Director Bobbie Chase revealed to THE SOURCE. “Kid Flash discovered something unusual – a mystery about his past, in the hands of someone from the 31st Century who seemed to know him! How does Timber Wolf know more about Bart than Bart knows about himself?”

Below, take an exclusive first look at TEEN TITANS #10, in stores on June 27th.

Tags:

teen titans, the culling, Teen Titans Annual, superboy, Legion Lost, The Ravagers, bobbie chase

The Culling Aftermath: SUPERBOY

But what does the aftermath of this event mean for the other respective titles involved in it? Today, take a sneak peek at what’s to come next in SUPERBOY.

“After the Culling, literally everything’s changed for Superboy,” series editor Chris Conroy told THE SOURCE. “He’s spent his whole short life in the clutches of N.O.W.H.E.R.E., and now he’s ‘free’ -- but where will he live? Who can he trust? And speaking of trust, who’s even willing to trust him after the things he’s done as N.O.W.H.E.R.E.’s living weapon? Wonder Girl sure isn’t, as you’ll see when the two of them wind up stranded on a mysterious island after making their escape from the Crucible!”

Below, take an exclusive first look at SUPERBOY #10, which features guest art by Sebastian Fiumara and will be in stores on June 13th.

Tags:

superboy, the culling, Teen Titans Annual, teen titans, Legion Lost, The Ravagers, chris conroy

Kid Flash To Star in Solo Adventure in DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS One-Shot

You know him as part of TEEN TITANS. Now, Kid Flash will be starring in his first solo adventure!

In a special one-shot issue of the fan-favorite anthology series, DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS, Kid Flash will race against time as he deals with the prehistoric trouble the Teen Titans brought back from Mystery Island.

“The Teen Titans survived the Culling and are in for some Prehistoric adventures in both SUPERBOY and TEEN TITANS number tens on the aptly named Mystery Island. And when all is said and done, they will be taking home some souvenirs,” editor Eddie Berganza revealed to THE SOURCE. “Helping Kid Flash have a yabba-doo time with the visiting Dino teens (in back-ups in both TEEN TITANS #11 and #12 with a prologue and epilogue that connects to DC PRESENTS #12) are writer Fabian Niceza and artist Jorge Jimenez. As this story unfolds, we will see which species is really set for extinction!”

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #12 will be written by Fabian Nicieza and illustrated by Jorge Jimenez. Look for the issue in stores on August 15th, but in the meantime, check out the below promotional art from the issue’s cover artist, Ryan Sook.

Tags:

DC Universe Presents, kid flash, teen titans, superboy, the culling, eddie berganza, fabian nicieza, Jorge Jimenez, ryan sook

ARTIST IAN CHURCHILL ON "THE CULLING" CROSSOVER

“The Culling” crossover event is coming this May – but what is The Culling? What are Ravagers? What is N.O.W.H.E.R.E., and how will it threaten the heroes and would-be heroes of DC COMICS_THE NEW 52? You’ll find out soon enough, but in the meantime THE RAVAGERS artist Ian Churchill discusses what to expect from the new series born of the events of “The Culling.”

“RAVAGERS spills out of the 'Culling' event and hits the ground running – quite literally! These characters aren't quite superheroes and they're not quite supervillians either. In fact, they're very difficult to pigeonhole. If you crossed LOGAN’S RUN with THE TERMINATOR, you may have an idea of the tone and vibe of the book. [Writer] Howard Mackie has lots of twists and turns planned for the fugitives that'll keep everyone guessing, and might well take your breath away! Norm Rapmund has altered his inking style somewhat too, so the look of the book is different to what you've seen from us before. If you want high octane, non-stop action then THE RAVAGERS #1 is where it's at!”

(Art by Ian Churchill for THE RAVAGERS #1)

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the culling, The Ravagers, ian churchill

WRITER HOWARD MACKIE ON "THE CULLING" CROSSOVER

“The Culling” crossover event is coming this May – but what is The Culling? What are Ravagers? What is N.O.W.H.E.R.E., and how will it threaten the heroes and would-be heroes of DC COMICS_THE NEW 52? You’ll find out soon enough, but in the meantime THE RAVAGERS writer Howard Mackie discusses how the DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 “Second Wave” series was born from the game-changing events of the crossover.

Nine o’clock on a Monday morning. The phone rings. I answer.

A voice on the other end of the line says,“Hey, Howard, how would feel about a group of teens that are snatched from their real lives, tortured and experimented on, forced to fight every day for food, water, and shelter—“

“Er…I…who IS this?” I ask, while pouring myself a second cup of coffee.

“Wait! It gets better! Periodically the kids are all thrown into this huge pit, and have to use their Metahuman powers to fight to the death… to thin the heard… it’s called THE CULLING.”

“You know… I just woke up… and yeah my refrigerator is running, and I will let Prince Albert out of the can. I’m going to get back to my cereal, so…”, I said while assuming that someone was trying to punk me.

“It’ll be part of the SECOND WAVE of the NEW 52. You’ll have to coordinate things with Scott Lobdell and Tom DeFalco. We’re thinking Ian Churchill is going to be the artist, and—“

“I’ll do it!” I screamed into the phone, and hung up.

Which turned out to a small mistake, because I was never sure who called me—maybe I was punked, but I am getting the last word, because I got to work with two of the top creative minds in comic books today-- well, actually Scott Lobdell has two of the top creative minds in comic books today, but Tom DeFalco was involved too—in fine tuning the CULLING from which THE RAVAGERS springs.

Ian Churchill was the icing on the cake. The energy, and excitement his artwork(and story insight) bring to this book is extremely motivating to me as a writer. We, and the kids in the group, hit the ground running… and THEY are going to have keep running N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is on their tails, and they have NOWHERE to turn.

The nightmare scenarios that sprung out of the creative back and forth between Scott, Tom and myself is the foundation of all that Ian and Churchill and I will be exploring in the pages of THE RAVAGERS. Things done to the kids to prepare them to survive the Culling will have long term ramifications in the pages of our book and far beyond. That’s right, Beast Boy, I am looking at YOU!

Tags:

the culling, howard mackie, The Ravagers

EDITOR BRIAN CUNNINGHAM ON "THE CULLING" CROSSOVER

“The Culling” crossover event is coming this May – but what is The Culling? What is N.O.W.H.E.R.E., and how will it threaten the heroes and would-be heroes of DC COMICS-THE NEW 52? You’ll find out in next month’s crossover, but in the meantime – stay tuned to THE SOURCE all this week for Culling insights from the creators.

Today, LEGION LOST editor Brian Cunningham gives his TOP 5 REASONS TO READ ‘THE CULLING’:

Everyone knows the month of May gives us springtime and flowers aplenty. But, hey, if you dig plenty of “pushing up daisies,” then you’ll LOVE May’s “The Culling,” a crossover running through TEEN TITANS, SUPERBOY and LEGION LOST. If you want your fix of carnage and death miles below the Earth’s surface, then that’s where you’ll find it!

In addition to that, here are my Top 5 reasons to read it:

5. IT’S EPIC!
“The Culling” introduces the comic book epic to DC’s New 52, plain and simple. The all-star cast of characters is ginormous, the stakes are even higher and the caliber of talent working on it is tremendous. The story single-handedly ties together most of all three series’ plots so far, and also propels them into their collective futures. The theme of “The Culling” makes a statement on where all these super-teens are going.

These writers — Scott Lobdell, Tom DeFalco and Howard Mackie — have tons of experience in crafting epics. You’ve probably read most of them. The pedigree is gold standard.

4. TEEN TITANS & LEGION…FRENEMIES?
Friends or enemies, the Titans and Legion learn quickly they need to unite in order to survive. But that doesn’t mean they gotta like it!

In “The Culling,” the Titans and the Lost Legionnaires learn that they each have something in common, and that something is a new heavyweight villain named Harvest. Harvest has invested considerable time and effort into corralling both the Titans and these Legionnaires together. Turns out, Harvest somehow knew these Legionnaires would be coming back in time to 2012 and factored them into his über-plan in a huge way.

“How’s that possible?” you ask? To say any more would be telling!

3. THE CONSEQUENCES CHANGE THE GAME
Coming out of the climax of “The Culling,” LEGION LOST #10 will make fans either extremely happy or extremely sad, depending on how they look at it. Either way, it will spark debate with such zeal that it may result in some fist fights! But I urge our passionate audience to use non-violent methods to air out their disagreements.

2. YOU ONLY THINK YOU KNOW TOM DEFALCO
For my part in “The Culling,” I have the joy of working with Tom DeFalco, which has been one of the most fun experiences in my entire career. And I say that with no hyperbole. Tom’s a pro’s pro — I’m continually amazed at how versatile he is at contemporizing his work for today’s audience. If you think you’ve seen all Tom is capable of, you’d be very wrong, and his work on LEGION LOST has been proof of it.

1. JUST BUY IT ALREADY!!
If you like exciting, electric storytelling in your comics, then you’ll get hooked on “The Culling.” And I guarantee that you’ll be picking up TEEN TITANS, SUPERBOY, LEGION LOST and — coming out of it — THE RAVAGERS every month following it.

The story delivers. I hope you’ll pick it up and let us know that you agree!

Tags:

brian cunningham, the culling, Legion Lost

WRITER TOM DEFALCO ON "THE CULLING" CROSSOVER

“The Culling” crossover event is coming this May – but what is The Culling? What is N.O.W.H.E.R.E., and how will it threaten the heroes and would-be heroes of DC COMICS-THE NEW 52? You’ll find out in next month’s crossover, but in the meantime – stay tuned to THE SOURCE all this week for Culling insights from the creators.

Today, LEGION LOST writer Tom DeFalco discusses the collaborative creative process, and the challenges and joys of creating a new villain:

“When Scott Lobdell, Howard Mackie and I first began to discuss the crossover that ultimately became ‘The Culling,’ we had one goal—we wanted to tell an exciting story that actually meant something to TEEN TITANS, RAVAGERS, SUPERBOY and LEGION LOST,” said Tom DeFalco, writer of LEGION LOST. “Since every great story needs a great villain, we set about constructing one that would be powerful enough to take on all three teams. We wanted this villain to be a major player. An A-list villain who could proudly join the likes of Darkseid, Luthor, the Joker and so many great DC villains. A living powerhouse who could eventually challenge Superman and the Justice League! The more we worked on him, the more we also saw how we could intimately connect him to the origins of our three, wildly diverse teams. Yes, our journey discovered hidden links between the TEEN TITANS, RAVAGERS, SUPERBOY and LEGION LOST! We writers learned things about our characters and their relationships that surprised us and will, hopefully, thrill our readers. ‘The Culling’ is going to be one wild ride!”

(Art by Pete Woods for LEGION LOST #9)

Tags:

Legion Lost, the culling, pete woods, tom defalco

WRITER SCOTT LOBDELL ON "THE CULLING" CROSSOVER

Today, SUPERBOY and TEEN TITANS writer Scott Lobdell offers an enthusiastic glimpse into what’s to come:

"Imagine you are a comic book writer who is bound by 20 pages a month in which to tell a story. Then you get a call... and you're told that suddenly you get to work on a 60 page story (that is, your book is going to cross over with SUPERBOY and LEGION LOST)! Suddenly more story possibilities open up as your telling a larger story with more characters and conflicts involved. Suddenly you have the opportunity to deal with Kid Flash learning the first hints of his origin by talking with Superboy, a 16 year old without any past at all.

“Then you have Timber Wolf confronting Kid Flash for an explanation as to why Bart Allen is in the here-and-now instead of his place of origin in the 31st Century... and you wonder why at least one of the Legion Losters seems to be covering for Kid Flash?

“Okay, so here you are, working on a larger canvas than you get to work on from month to month, and you're working with other writers and Editorial now and you're starting to wonder how even 60 pages is going to be enough... when the clouds part and Editorial delivers another edict: You get an additional 32 pages in the form of a Teen Titans annual!

"That's a 92-page story you get to tell! Yowza! Just think of the possibilities! It'd be like taking an episode of your favorite television show and suddenly being given a 100 million dollar feature film budget where you can do all the things you want when you are no longer bound by episodic restraints!

"I admit to being a little frightened when Brett was assigned to do the art on the TEEN TITANS Annual – because we haven't been split up since we re-launched TEEN TITANS last year. But as soon as he started turning in the pages, creating the Colony out of thin air, introducing the kids that N.O.W.H.E.R.E. has held captive for so long, bludgeoning us with his high octane action sequences as the Teen Titans battled the Legion Lost and then slamming on the brakes for moments of quiet poignancy, I understood why editorial knew it was so important for Brett to be the guy that established the world and the tone for the crossover. Every time I open up my email box I am stunned by the level of detail and excitement and passion that Brett brings to the work.

"Everyone who knows R.B. Silva's work from his Jimmy Olsen run last year as well as the first issues of SUPERBOY knows that he is without peer when it comes to those character-centric moments in any story – he is one of these guys who can take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. Well, let me say that you should go out and buy a hat because you are going to want to have something to hold onto when you see him draw the epic action in SUPERBOY when Kon El goes toe-to-toe with Warblade! When you see this issue you're going to know that R.B. is destined for greatness. His Timber Wolf and Dawnstar are just... gorgeous. There's no other word that comes to mind!

"And Ig Guara on TEEN TITANS? After months of reading, green with envy, his work on BLUE BEETLE, I was so excited to learn that he'd be filling in for Brett on two issues (8 and the crossover itself in issue 9). I had high hopes for him... and then he went and exceeded every one of them! There have been so many pages where I didn't even want to write dialogue and captions because it felt superfluous -- everything was there on their faces and body language. Truly, Ig is one of tomorrow's superstars and I can't wait to work with him again!

"Is there a sales element to all of it? Sure, because comics is a business. But Tom and Howard and I aren't in sales, we're writers who have been given the opportunity to create an epic comic book story over the course of one month – using some of the greatest characters in the medium. Who wouldn't be happy about that?!"

TEEN TITANS ANNUAL #1