Hey folks! As usual, we have our regular “From the Editors” post  coming your way. Being the diligent worker we all know and love, Matt Idelson  managed to give us his entry early, as he made his escape to the distant land  of Barcelona. Enjoy…

Spring has reverted to summer here in New York, which would be a nice thing if I could have class outside. Alas, I have a job to do, and panic’s starting to set in. The offices close early today going into Memorial Day weekend, and of course we’re closed Monday. Which means aside from Tuesday, I’ll be out of the office for a week and a half, attending a convention in Barcelona.

Tops on the priority list is putting a wrap on ACTION #878, the first of a two-part story by Greg Rucka & guest artist Diego Olmos that introduces us to a new pair of Kryptonian sleeper agents. Once I’m done giving the lettering a final pass, it comes down to waiting for the trusty and reliable Rod Reis to keep feeding us pages of color to go over. I know already that assistant editor Wil Moss and I will be reviewing pages over the course of the weekend so Rod can have the final colors ready for us when we come in Tuesday morning.

Not far behind that is keeping things moving on the ACTION ANNUAL, which comes out the week after ACTION #878. Greg’s done a very different story for this one, and it’s coming together beautifully. Pere Pérez, who knocked it out of the park with the GUARDIAN SPECIAL last fall, is doing all 40 pages of this one, and it’s pretty awesome. Right now I have to start reviewing Mazi’s colors for the book—they’re gorgeous, but of course I have to go over them with a fine-tooth comb and make sure everything is as it should be. The guy can color, though, no question!

My focus is broken when Wil, associate editor Sean Ryan and editor Liz Gehrlein pop in for our daily session of updates, problem solving and movie reviews. Today I discover that neither Liz nor Sean had seen “Taxi Driver” before the past weekend. I am appalled. Some of our discussion centers around actual work, in this case some ideas Geoff Johns has had for his contribution to the upcoming SUPERMAN SECRET FILES. Geoff has an alteration in mind that opens up some interesting possibilities …

The gang leaves to do their thing, and I get back to ACTION – but  wait! An excellent colorist who goes by the name “Blond” has accepted our offer to color the upcoming SUPERGIRL ANNUAL since our regular SUPERGIRL colorist, Nei Ruffino, is way too busy. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this means I have to establish a pay rate for him—I’m guessing he won’t do this for free out of love for the medium.

Oh, look – it’s almost 1. Gah! Clearly I’m not getting out of here when the offices close. That’s cool—I have the best job in the world anyway. Leisure and cookouts can wait. Especially when I get an email from David Macho in Spain, with Santiago Arcas’ colors for the first installment of our Captain Atom co-feature, which will debut in ACTION #879. David says in the email that we’ll be stunned by what we see. He wasn’t kidding!!!!!! Man, I can’t wait for that issue to come out. The readers are definitely in for a treat!

The phone rings and Jim Fletcher of DC Direct fame is on the line with some Superman-related questions, mostly of the “will this character be around a year from now?” variety. They do really cool stuff down there, and I’m eagerly awaiting my Mike Carlin action figure.

Cue a discussion over Rocket Reds with SUPERMAN artist Renato Guedes, figuring out what the tomb of Zor-El is going to look like with Pete Woods, going over lettering corrections for SUPERGIRL #42 with Sterling Gates, a new idea from Geoff (him again?!?) about the end of SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #2, annnnnd the end of the day has finally arrived! Well, it’s 1 o’clock somewhere …

The Warlord and his companions have made it to the Shadow Lands, but the evil power that has seized those lands isn’t planning a warm welcome — of course. Does their only hope lie with a surface-worlder? Writer Mike Grell and artist Chad Hardin have the answers, and we have a sneak peek below. Nice way to head into the weekend, no?

WARLORD #3 hits on 6/3.

In the fourth issue of writer/artist Scott Kolins SOLOMON GRUNDY mini-series, we find the lumbering force of nature facing off against Green Lantern Alan Scott as Cyrus Gold is finally confronted with his murder weapon, forcing truths about Cyrus’ death to come to light. Can he find his killer and shrug off that pesky curse? Well, maybe. Check out these pages for a clue or two.

SOLOMON GRUNDY #4 hits on 6/3.

And you thought we were done with RED CIRCLE news…

And more art, of course.

This morning, we unveiled an interesting piece of art, featuring your pal and mine, Magog. Some of you may have seen the image in the back of your weekly haul of DC books. And, because we believe in instant gratification, here’s the scoop:

Starting in September, writer Keith Giffen will pair with artists Howard Porter and John Dell (reuniting the JLA art team) for MAGOG #1. We’ll have more plot details in the coming weeks, but since you’ve all been so patient, here’s another piece of Porter art to get you a bit closer to the weekend.

This gloomy weather has us here at The Source feeling a tad under the weather, so apologies for using the “blogging will be light” cliché today. But, we do have a slew of places for you to visit as you wait for a full recovery.

• Geoff Johns spoke to Andrew Smith, from the SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE about FLASH: REBIRTH:

Why do it? Why bring back Barry Allen, after a heroic death and successful replacement?

Johns: I think that’s what the series is all about. The answers are all in there. But whenever I get on these characters, my goal has always been to kind of rebuild their world, their mythology, like with Green Lantern and JSA.

Barry Allen is, like Hal Jordan (in “Green Lantern”), sort of a centerpiece to the Flash. With Barry Allen, there’s something clear I want to do and I want him to do it. For me, he’s the character that’s going to facilitate the stories I want to tell.

Johns also spoke to IGN’s Dan Phillips about a wide array of topics, including BLACKEST NIGHT, FLASH: REBIRTH and the return of Superboy in the pages of ADVENTURE COMICS.

• IGN also has a few preview pages from the BATTLE FOR THE COWL coda, GOTHAM GAZETTE: BATMAN ALIVE #1.

• Speaking of the Red Circle characters, COMIC BOOK RESOURCES’ Jeff Renaud spoke to writer J. Michael Straczynski about the four one-shots and his upcoming stint on THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD.

• Had a chance to check out pages from THE LAST DAYS OF ANIMAL MAN #1? Well, MYSPACE COMIC BOOKS has a lengthy preview.

Back when we chatted with RED CIRCLE editor Joey Cavalieri, we showed off new art from three of the four RED CIRCLE one-shots. In our continued efforts to show off as much cool art as we can, we snagged four SHIELD pages by artist Scott McDaniel, who, along with inker Andy Owens, will be handling art chores on the one-shot. SHIELD looks pretty angry, huh?

All four RED CIRCLE one-shots are hitting in August.

Not reading SECRET SIX? Shame on you. Not only did AIN’T IT COOL NEWS just give the latest issue a sterling review, but writer Gail Simone and artist Nicola Scott are really pulling out all the stops on the series. #10 features the Six being blackmailed by someone claiming to be their old boss, Mockingbird, into a brand-new mission, which takes them into the heart of the metahuman slave trade. Check out some pages below.

SECRET SIX #10 hits 6/3.

Well, it’s not actually Wednesday, but that’s never stopped us from posting cool images from WEDNESDAY COMICS, has it? The new weekly series, slated to launch in July, is the brainchild of DC Art Director Mark Chiarello, who has collected an impressive array of creators for the book.

This time around, we have a look at writer Eddie Berganza and artist Sean Galloway’s TEEN TITANS strip, which, as you can see, is really a delight. Enjoy.