Well, we’re one week in and response to the first issue of WEDNESDAY COMICS has been amazingly positive. We even got some photos out of it.

So, we’re back for another installment of TUESDAY TUNE-UP, our weekly WC feature, where the basic question is: What’d you think? What strip did you like best? What surprised you? What left you curious and excited for more? Let us know here in the comments.

And, as promised, we’ll be cycling through all the WEDNESDAY COMICS strips to show you a page each week before the issue hits. This week, we’ve got DEADMAN, by Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck (with colours by Dave Stewart), which looks quite lovely, if I do say so myself.

Make with the click. Hopefully this’ll tide you over until WEDNESDAY COMICS #2 hits tomorrow.

Last week, we announced that Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and artist Sam Kieth would be pairing up for LOBO: HIGHWAY TO HELL, a two-issue mini-series kicking off in November. But did you think we’d stop there? We caught up with Ian to get the lowdown on what fans should expect from the series, which should be just what Lobo fans have been craving. Take it away, Scott:

“When DC approached me about writing a book for them I couldn’t get the words, ‘How about a black metal reboot of everyone’s favorite 1960′s rock band comic The Maniaks?’  out of my mouth fast enough. As security was escorting me from the building I was able to get the guards hand off of my mouth long enough to yell ‘How about a hilariously horrifying all-out brutal tale of murder, mayhem and destruction unlike you have ever seen about the main man himself, Lobo?’ — Sold!
“And thus my lifelong dream as a comic book fan to be able to write a comic book has come true. And what a FRAGGIN’ BOOK IT IS MY FRIENDS.
Lobo goes to Hell. Not soon enough.”

And because we know you love pretty pictures, here are two more Sam Kieth images from the project.

Hm, maybe we should make this a regular feature here on The Source?

Last week, we put out a call for photos, asking you, the fans, to chime in with pictures of you and your friends reading copies of the first issue of WEDNESDAY COMICS. We got such a great response, we had to post two batches, with the second right here. Thanks to all that participated.

Jordan Stewart

David Roberts’ pets

Steve Higgins

Tomy Torres

Jason Horn

My buddy, CRIMESPREE MAGAZINE’s Jon Jordan

Yeah, yeah. Back to the grind. What could make starting the working week again a bit better? How about a STREETS OF GOTHAM cover by Dustin Nguyen? Sure, it won’t teleport you back home to bed, but it sure is pretty to look at.

We’ve covered the RED CIRCLE characters from pretty much every angle here on The Source, and we’ve got a few things to toss your way on this lovely Friday afternoon. Below, you’ll see the cover to THE SHIELD #2, by Francis Manapul and the cover to THE WEB #2, by FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH: DANCE cover artist Stanley Lau. Nice, eh?

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…

M.

You’ve heard rumblings and seen reports here and there, but, as always, The Source is here for the official word on things. So, here goes:

Starting in November, Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian will be writing a two-issue, Prestige Format series titled LOBO: HIGHWAY TO HELL, featuring the stunning artwork of industry legend Sam Kieth. The series, obviously, stars everyone’s favorite Czarnian, Lobo, and I’m not putting on the hyperbole hat when I say the artwork is Sam Keith at his very best. But don’t take my word for it. We cornered DCU Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler to give us the lowdown. Take it away, Ian:

“This is everything you know and love about Lobo – extreme violence, cursing, drinking, extremer violence…Scott was born to write this series!  And Sam has blown our minds every step of the way.  I honestly think this is some of the coolest work he’s ever done.  He manages to pull off a surprise on every page.  It totally rules.”

And now, the main event. Some jaw-dropping art to kick off your weekend:

Up-and-coming artist Rafael Albuquerque joins the ongoing writing team of Michael Green and Mike Johnson for a tale of the World’s Finest duo — Robin and Supergirl. When the inmates take over at Arkham, can anyone but the Boy Wonder and the Maid of Might put things right? Check out a few pages below to see.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #62 hits 7/15.

So, yesterday we posted our “call for photos.” Basically, we wanted to bring the WEDNESDAY COMICS reading experience to life here on The Source, and asked you, the fans, to send us pictures of you and your friends reading the first issue. And, you did. So, here’s the first batch of photos. We’ll have more tomorrow afternoon, so keep sending them over. Remember, make sure the images are web-ready jpgs (save a blogger some time, will ya?), include a line allowing DC Comics to re-use these photos and make sure you have permissions from anyone else in the photo to send this along. And, because we like giving our fans credit, include the names of all the fine folks photographed.

Rene Torres, from the University of Texas

Ryan Higgins, from Comics Conspiracy in Sunnyvale,CA

Andrew Wales and his son, Nathan

Bethany “A Go-Go”

Mark Wilkin’s son, Sam, after purchasing the issue at Comix Connection in Mechanicsburg, PA

Greg McElhatton

Jessica Cline

Joey Gantner

Joshua Shaw

Andrew Falkenhainer

Jeff McGuire

Robert Patton’s son Alex (good name, kid!)

Sebastian Piccione’s daughters Isabella and Lily

Jerrod Porter

David Monteith, from the UK

My buddy, Dean Trippe!

We promised you more Bat-news on Monday, so here we go. And, yes, it does have something to do with the lovely Frazer Irving cover you see above.

ARKHAM REBORN #1 (of 3), written by David Hine with interior art by Jeremy Haun, picks up after the events of BATTLE FOR THE COWL. After the Black Mask’s destruction of Arkham Asylum, Dr. Jeremiah Arkham has rebuilt the Asylum following the design of his mad uncle Amadeus. Intended as a model for enlightened treatment of mental illness, the building soon mutates into a torture house, and the inmates find themselves trapped in a living hell. And when Jeremiah starts hearing a voice from beyond the grave, it becomes painfully clear that you can’t really get rid of the crazy when it comes to Arkham Asylum.

This new mini, which reunites the creative team behind BATTLE FOR THE COWL: ARKHAM ASYLUM, hits 10/28.