Have you checked out the great work writer Greg Rucka and artist Cully Hamner are doing monthly in the pages of the QUESTION co-feature in DETECTIVE COMICS? If not, you’re missing out. But here at The Source, we’re all about spotlighting all the fun stuff coming out of these offices, and THE QUESTION is no exception. In DETECTIVE COMICS #857, the Question’s search for a missing girl leads Renee to a human trafficking ring, and the Question suddenly finds herself in way over her head.

DETECTIVE COMICS #857 hits 9/23. Check back later today for a preview of the main feature, from Rucka and the super-talented J.H. Williams III.

What better way to lift your spirits on a Monday morning than by having some holiday cheer? What? It’s September, you say? Well, yes, but it’s never too early to roll out our holiday plans, no?

This December, we’re proud to unveil the DC HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2009 #1, featuring some of your favorite creators writing tales featuring the top characters of the DCU. Let’s name a few, shall we? Scott Kolins, Sterling Gates, Amy Wolfram, Fred Van Lente, Jay Faerber, Beau Smith, David Tischman, Jay Torres and many more will bring their talents together to spread some holiday cheer around the DC Universe.

And, to continue my efforts toward celebrating the spirit of the season a few months early, here’s a sneak peek at Dustin Nguyen’s beautiful cover to the special? Enjoy.

DC HOLIDAY SPECIAL 2009 #1 hits 12/9.

Much of today has been devoted to wrapping up WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #8, which is a pretty crazy issue. James Robinson, Greg Rucka and Pete Woods are introducing the Thanagarians to the series, and where the Thanagarians go, can bloody skirmishes be far to follow? One thing that’s complicated matters on this issue is Pete’s shoulder injury (I know, I know, I’m not supposed to give the opposing team info on our players’ injuries!). Happily, the always-joyous Ron Randall has swung in to save the day, with some beautiful, dynamic pages that’ll leave you saying “Pete who?” Since Ron is still working on his pages while I’m writing this, I’ll just have to leave you to be wowed later, and share a Pete/Nei Ruffino-produced peek instead.

Since one eye (of my three) is always looking ahead, that means steadily working on ACTION #882, which gets sent to the printer next week. #881 just came out a couple days ago, launching the four-part “Hunt for Reactron” crossover with SUPERGIRL #45 and #46, and I think it turned out pretty darn stellar. Usually when you tell a multi-part story, the buildup is almost inevitably more fun than the payoff, but not in this case (-whew!-). Sterling Gates and Greg have really done some amazing work here together, and between them and Pére Perez (ACTION) and Jamal “Shorts” Igle (SUPERGIRL), this arc is something I’m really proud of. ACTION #882 is pretty intense in places, but the finale in SG #46 is nothing short of majestic. Can you tell I’m pumped? Here, I’ve even included a sneak peak or two!

I end up having to pull away from ACTION to deal with two important developments. First, my manservant, Wil Moss has noticed that our main Thanagarian player in WONK #8 has a costume inconsistency. Nothing, and I mean nothing gets by this guy! Happily, he’s since contacted Pete, Ron and Nei, and a solution has been agreed upon. Then James comes through with a large portion of WONK #9, a story that stars a very peeved Jemm, Son of Saturn (remember him?). Man, this is good stuff.

At last, I return to proofing the lettering for ACTION, even as a question comes in from Fernando Dagnino, our fabulous penciller of SUPERMAN #693. Seems Fernando needs clarification for one scene involving the Parasite, and where he should be positioned on the page. Easily answered (and believe me, few things in this job are!). Sorry, ACTION. I’ll pay attention to you now.

Bing! Editor Liz “Don’t Give Me A Nickname, I Don’t Do Nicknames” Gehrlein has just sent over Geoff Johns’ latest script, for ADVENTURE #3. Hmmm. It looks thick. I’ll save this for the train, so I don’t repeat last night’s mistake, where I tried to balloon pages of Geoff and Gary Frank’s third issue of SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN. Here, I’ll let you judge for yourself:

Pretty messy, huh? Stupid train. Well, at least the art’s gorgeous. Anyway, by this point I’ve gotten through the proofing for the lead story, but I have to put off going over the Captain Atom co-feature (part 4, for those of you keeping score) for our weekly Superman writers’ conference call. Poor ACTION…

Without going into any details, today’s call focuses on the happenings in the books come next summer, and how best to get there in the books that come out in the spring. Yesterday, we resolved a major point of concern that Dan DiDio had, and man, the ideas have really been flowing freely today as a result. Sometimes it really is fun knowing things before everyone else does.

Finally, after more work on WONK, some back and forth with the amazingly talented LaDronn (who’s doing the variant cover for WONK #12 as a bookend of sorts to his variant on the first issue), and a typically bizarre conversation with James about a special book that’s coming out in January, I turn to see that the sun has gone down. Guess I’ll be reading Capt. Atom over the weekend… but to end on a cheerful note, here’s a page from the story, by the ridiculously gifted team of CAFU and Bit. Have a nice weekend!

Writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray and amazingly talented artist Amanda Conner continue to bring the fun with the second part of their “Space Girls Gone Wild!” arc, which finds the trio of sexy alien marauders continuing their rampage across Earth. Power Girl tries to figure out how to stop them, but with aliens this pretty, readers might not want them to leave. But don’t take my word for it. Check out some pages below.

POWER GIRL #5 hits 9/23.

Jumping from the pages of ACTION COMICS #881, writers Sterling Gates and Greg Rucka continue “The Hunt for Reactron” in the pages of SUPERGIRL. Can Supergirl rely on her seemingly unhinged childhood buddy to help her track down her father’s killer? Or will she get burned by the person she once trusted most? Who knows? But we can tease a few lovely Jamal Igle pages right here. And don’t go anywhere, as later today we’ll have some more Superman inside info, right from Superman Group Editor Matt Idelson’s desk.

SUPERGIRL #45 hits 9/23.

Last week, we showed off some of the pages from the first issue of THE SHIELD, and now we have a look at THE WEB #1, featuring the main WEB feature, written by Angela Robinson with art by Roger Robinson and Hilary Barta. The issue also has a HANGMAN co-feature, from writer John Rozum and the REIGN IN HELL art team of Tom Derenick and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Spinning out of August’s “Red Circle” one-shots from writer J. Michael Stracynski comes this new ongoing series starring selfish rich-boy hero the Web, a man who has only recently come to understand the burden of true heroism. He’s fighting crime on his own terms, and for his first mission he’s hunting down the men responsible for killing his own brother. Talk about kicking things off on a personal note.

Plus, the Hangman stars in his own co-feature with a touch of urban noir, as the hooded vigilante haunts the streets of San Francisco and struggles to discover the true meaning of his supernatural powers. What? Words aren’t enough? Well, we have some pictures below. Surely that’ll entice you, no?

THE WEB #1 hits 9/23.

It’s almost Friday. Half the week is over. But we’ve still got two more days before the weekend is upon us. And we’ve got a few heavy hitters. Specifically, BATMAN #694 from writer/artist Tony Daniel, a lovely J.H. Williams DETECTIVE COMICS #860 cover and last, but certainly not least, Andy Kubert’s magnificent cover to the minty-fresh BATMAN 80-PAGE GIANT. Feast your eyes, folks. All three hit in December.

Continuing writer Kevin Smith and artist Walt Flanagan’s latest Batman story. Pretty snazzy Sienkiewicz cover, no?

Huh? What’s the Weekly Wonder Woman Tally, you say? Well, glad you asked.

Not long ago, Dan DiDio mentioned the fan debate regarding Wonder Woman’s upcoming “600th” issue. Lots of people have asked Dan to revert the book to it’s original numbering to commemorate the event. Far from being a pushover, Dan said that if fan response — in the form of postcards — was strong enough, he’d consider it. And by strong, we mean “600 postcards” strong. Get it?

Well, we here at The Source are all about keeping you informed on not only the stuff coming out of our offices, but the stuff going on in our offices. And, suffice to say, Dan’s been getting a lot of mail of late. But we’re nowhere close to reaching the point of consideration. As the headline points out, the total postcard tally is hovering at 175. How badly do you want this to happen, dear readers?

As the mail continues to pour in, we’ll continue to keep you posted here. Well, for as long as we can reach our keyboard amidst the flood of letters. Stay tuned.

The cover to BATGIRL #5, by Mr. Phil Noto.