BATMAN #8 will feature the first of a series of back-up stories exploring the dark history of the Court of Owls, the mysterious and malevolent secret society wreaking havoc upon Gotham City in the ongoing series.

The back-ups will bring together the fan-favorite writer/artist pairing of Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque, whose ongoing collaboration on AMERICAN VAMPIRE has made the critically acclaimed title one of the iconic series of the Vertigo line. James Tynion IV will co-write with Snyder.

These back-up stories will continue to reveal more about the Court’s sinister agenda as we move toward “The Night of The Owls” – a massive crossover event coming in May, which will span the Bat-books and reveal the full breadth of their master plan. With their claws sunk into Gotham history, the Owls represent a threat unlike anything Batman’s faced before, threatening to tip the city’s balance of power once and for all.

"The first backup, in issue eight will give a sense of the terrifying scope of the Court of Owls' attack on Gotham. This really will be the first shot in a war for the soul of Gotham City,” said Snyder. “And then, starting in issue nine, we'll begin a three part story called ‘The Fall of the House of Wayne’ that will investigate the secret history of the Court of Owls and its relationship to the Wayne family - particularly to Thomas and Martha Wayne, Bruce's parents. The story will be told from the point of view of Jarvis Pennyworth, Alfred's father, and offer some big surprises and shocks about the forces that shaped the bat-mythology as we know it. Can't wait for you all to see these stories!

“I'm also excited to be co-writing with my friend, James Tynion IV, a young writer I'm extremely excited about. Especially in the spirit of the New 52, it's a real thrill to get to give someone new and talented a chance to get his foot in the door, and James is a writer to watch and expect great things from!"

"And of course, I'm over the moon about getting to work with my good friend and AMERICAN VAMPIRE co-creator Rafael Albuquerque on the some of the very first ones!"

Check out the cover for BATMAN #8 (by Greg Capullo) - along with some of Albuquerque's character sketches for the back-ups - right here on THE SOURCE.

[gallery order="DESC" columns="2"]

The winners of The 2011 Harvey Awards were announced this weekend at the Baltimore Comic-Con. DC Entertainment took home awards for the following DC Comics and Vertigo titles.

Best New Series: AMERICAN VAMPIRE by Scott Snyder, Stephen King and Rafael Albuquerque

Best Single Issue or Story: DAYTRIPPER by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon

Best Colorist: Jose Villarrubia for CUBA: MY REVOLUTION by Inverna Lockpez and Dean Haspiel

Best Original Graphic Publication for Young Readers:TINY TITANS by Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani.

Congratulations to all the winners! The full list of nominees can be found on the Harvey Awards website.

The Harvey Awards, named in honor of the late Harvey Kurtzman, were announced yesterday. Check out DC Comics’ illustrious list of nominees below.

BEST COLORIST

Jose Villarrubia, CUBA : MY REVOLUTION, Vertigo/DC Comics

BEST NEW SERIES

AMERICAN VAMPIRE, Scott Snyder, Stephen King and Rafael Albuquerque, Vertigo/DC Comics

MOST PROMISING NEW TALENT

Scott Snyder, AMERICAN VAMPIRE, Vertigo/DC Comics

BEST ORIGINAL GRAPHIC PUBLICATION FOR YOUNGER READERS

TINY TITANS, Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani, DC Comics

BEST DOMESTIC REPRINT PROJECT

SUPERMAN VS. MUHAMMAD ALI, Neal Adams and Dennis O’Neil, DC Comics

BEST COVER ARTIST

Frank Quitely, BATMAN AND ROBIN, DC Comics

BEST BIOGRAPHICAL, HISTORICAL OR JOURNALISTIC PRESENTATION

75 YEARS OF DC COMICS: THE ART OF MODERN MYTH-MAKING, Paul Levitz, Taschen Books

SPECIAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN PRESENTATION

WEDNESDAY COMICS HARDCOVER EDITION, edited by Mark Chiarello, DC Comics

BEST CONTINUING OR LIMITED SERIES

DAYTRIPPER, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba, Vertigo/DC Comics

BEST ARTIST

Dean Haspiel, CUBA : MY REVOLUTION, Vertigo/DC Comics

BEST CARTOONIST

Jeff Lemire, SWEET TOOTH, Vertigo/DC Comics

BEST SINGLE ISSUE or STORY

DAYTRIPPER, Fabio Moon and Gabiel Ba, Vertigo/DC Comics

Click here for the full list of nominees. The winners will be announced in a ceremony on August 20th in Baltimore, MD in conjunction with the Baltimore Comic-Con.

Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees!

So here I am. Superboy #1 is out today! It feels like a long time coming. Pier Gallo and I have already been working on the book for the better part of 2010. So let me tell you a bit about what I have planned for Conner Kent and Smallville...

As of typing this I have six full scripts done with a seventh in the outline stage. And, I have the first fifteen issues plotted out. So, this will be a BIG story. A Big story made up of a lot of smaller stories. Most of the run will be only 1 or 2 part arcs that add up to a bigger, badder story I'm weaving in that will culminate around Issue 12 or 13. I don't want to say too much about it yet, but the first issue has some pretty good clues and teases. It also has THE PHANTOM STRANGER! one of my favorite comic book characters. Seems like an odd fit? Well Smallville really is the ideal American small town. But all small towns have a dark side. And Smallville's dark side will be slowly creeping to the surface, making Kon-el's attempts at a "normal life" harder and harder to achieve. What you see in the first two issues will only be the tip of the iceberg. (If you're interested I suggest picking up THE PHANTOM STRANGER showcase editions...they too will hold clues to coming events!)

Astute readers of my past work will also notice an "homage' of sorts to Essex County in the first issues opening sequence. It pretty much mirrors the opening pages of Tales From The Farm, with the young character of Lester dreaming of flying away and leaving his troubles behind.

(PS...One more thing. Just a side note...my past work is obviously very Canadian. I'm a proud Canuck, what can I say. But it's kind of interesting how Canadians have played a big part in Superboy's life so far. Tom Grummet a fellow Canuck was the Superboy artist through the 90's. maybe we'll have to team up for an all Canadian issue?)

One thing I love to do in all my comics is use visual motifs. Re-occurring imagery that slowly reveals a metaphor or draws attention to certain aspects of the plot. I did it a lot in Essex and I do it a lot in Sweet Tooth. But It's also fun to use these motifs as a way of drawing links, thematic or otherwise between some of my different books. It's why I made Jepperd a hockey player in Sweet Tooth and had him being followed by crows as he trekked across the post-apocalyptic world. And it's why I used this opening sequence to Superboy. Kon-el and Lester have a lot in common, and at the same time, they're very different. Lester used his imagination to escape the small town he was stuck in and the hard realities f his life. He dreamed of being a superhero and flying away to great adventure. Conner is trying to use the normalcy of small town life to escape being a superhero. But he can't. Like Lester he is who he is, and he'll have to accept it sooner or later.

Now all this talk about my past work and hoe Essex County led to Superboy is probably a bit misleading. Any of my readers expecting to pick up Superboy and read "Essex County with Capes" will be disappointed. EC was a indie book through and through, both aesthetically and in its pacing and execution. Superboy is not Essex County. It can never be that kind of book. It's a superhero comic. A DC superhero comic, and it celebrates it. It's big and fun and full of action. But if I do my job right, all of that action a will mean something. And it will be balanced with real characters...real people living in small town America trying to figure themselves, and their lives out. And finding the answers within each other.

What else can I tell you about the book? Let's see...There is a great first issue cover by Rafael Albequerque (American Vampire) and great covers to issues 2-5 by the awesome Phil Noto. There are a few new characters like Psionic Lad and The Spawn of Smallville. And of course there's always KRYPTO! So that's about it for now. That's all I got. I hope you like the first issue. If you do, stick around and come back for more. If not, that's cool too. Thanks for trying it out.

I can't wait for #2 and #3 and beyond to come out, to share the stories I've been cooking up with Pier Gallo and the rest of Superman team up at DC! Thanks for reading.