…But a thousand words ain’t too shabby, either!

Don’t get me wrong… words AND pictures are where it’s at fer me… but reading ANYTHING these days puts us all in a very, very elite club. But if you find yourself liking the work of the writers– nay, AUTHORS– who pen DC Comics these days, there is a veritable library of OTHER material available to you these days written by the very same people.

Used ta be that a comic book writer “escaped” the four-color and “pulp” ghetto and went on to become Mickey Spillane or Mario Puzo… and never looked back (except maybe to write a SUPERMAN movie or two, I guess… ).

Nowadays we have novelists (and television and screen writers, for that matter—but that’s another blog) coming to comics to DO comics. Because they LOVE comics!

Brad Meltzer’s one fellow who’s had plenty of success BEFORE he wrote some GREEN ARROW comics and JLA comics and IDENTITY CRISIS for us! Check out his “Book of Lies” for a nice literary world meets comic book history mash-up!

You’ve also probably read Greg Rucka’s work for DC and Oni Press on series like 52, GOTHAM CENTRAL and DETECTIVE COMICS and White Out… but you really should get a look at one of Greg’s coolest creations– Atticus Kodiak– in one of the seven novels Greg’s written that chronicle the adventures of this hard-as-nails BG (body guard). Start with “Keeper” and don’t stop!

Jodi Picoult, author of “Nineteen Minutes”, “Change of Heart” and thirteen other novels did a nice run on WONDER WOMAN (collected in WONDER WOMAN: LOVE & MURDER thank you very much). Hope she’ll do more someday.

And we’ve even got people doing both comics and prose at the same time! Working with Matthew Sturges and Bill Willingham on JSA titles currently sets me up for reading their recent novels. Matt’s started a series for Pyr titled “Midwinter” and it’s an excellent fantasy set in an intriguing world that’s ripe for sequels for sure. And Bill W.’s just seen “Peter & Max: A Fables Novel” published—this is an all new all original story set in Vertigo’s FABLES Universe… not a novelization (though we’ve seen our share of those over the years and Marvel’s still working with Stephen King on his “Dark Tower” series)!

And willya look at THIS?! Bill’s novel was published BY Vertigo! Way to go “funny” book publisher!

And outside of our universe, writers like “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” author Michael Chabon have seen their characters come to new life in comic books for Dark Horse even… Peter David still works in both media… and scores of other examples of the back and forth between words & pictures and just words are out there… as I run out of room here.

Anyone you’d like to see us hunt down? I know I’d love to see the Batman villain “Fight Club”’s Chuck Palahniuk has in him.

Great time to be reading… anything!

Hi everyone! Brian Cunningham, here—editor of such titles as TITANS, R.E.B.E.L.S., POWER GIRL and more.

When I’m not editing or shirking responsibility, I like to put stuff I like in my office. Some of the stuff is kinda neat, and some of it is admittedly kinda weird. But I like it, and since I gotta look at it all day, that’s most important. I like having stuff around me that inspires me or even relaxes me during those stressful days of deadline doom.

Take my stash of gum, for instance. Anyone who knows me understands that I always have a pack of gum at the ready. It can be at a convention, in the office, anywhere. You need gum, I got gum. Much like wielding a Green Lantern power ring, one can never underestimate the might of minty fresh breath. So I put out a pack of gum on my desk to help out my fellow editors should they feel they need it.

Now if only my generosity would inspire Matt Idelson to share some of his unlimited quantities of oatmeal…

In an earlier blog post a couple months ago, I waxed poetic about my 1976 DC Comics calendar I have hanging up. But what I held back—since I can be cagey like that—was that I also have a vintage 1986 DC COMICS CALENDAR POSTER. I got one’a these suckers for Christmas in 1985 and I don’t think I took it off my bedroom wall until well in 1988, that’s how much I loved it. I mean, c’mon—Pérez Titans! Rogers and Giordano Batman! Giffen Ambush Bug! How could I ever get tired of seeing this?

And, needless to say, 1986 was a HUGE year for DC—what with DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and WATCHMEN, among many other classics—so I like to have “1986” in the back of my head when I edit. I’ll never stop reaching for those lofty heights.

The thing that gets me the most comments in my office—aside from “Uhh…why don’t you have some of your own gum…?”—is my collection of DC Direct BATMAN: BLACK and WHITE statues. I don’t have all of them, mind you, just the ones that I happen to really dig. They range from the Bob Kane version to Brian Bolland’s to my favorite, the Mike Mignola one (which captures Mike’s art so perfectly in a three-dimensional form). What’s really sick and twisted is that I’ve placed them all in chronological order—an off-hand suggestion by Alex Segura, who has quite a B:B/W statue collection of his own! Alex had no idea how brilliant that idea was, and how tailored it was to my O.C.D. mind. Makes me wish I knew exactly where the multi-era George Pérez one should go…

And that’s just a taste of the assorted stuff I have around me. Perhaps next time, if I’m feeling up to it, I may even show you my growing collection of various body parts that my boss Dan DiDio helped me acquire. We’ll see.

It’s here. We’ve talked and teased and talked some more about not only the special, but the upcoming THE FIRST WAVE around these parts pretty often, but nothing beats real pages to look at. So, here we go. A first look at the BATMAN/DOC SAVAGE SPECIAL, from writer Brian Azzarello and artist Phil Noto:

Guest writer Chris Yost and regular artist Dustin Nguyen kick off the two-part “Leviathan” story as the Huntress finds herself in an unusual position – the responsible one. Because when Huntress hunts down a violent new criminal, she finds herself stuck with a violent, loose cannon of a partner on the case – the Man-Bat. Odd couple? That’s an understatement. Check out a few pages below.

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #5 hits today.

Continuing from ACTION COMICS #882, “The Hunt for Reactron” concludes with the final showdown between Flamebird, Supergirl and the man who killed their father. And for the Daughters of Zor-El, that means it’s payback time. Will Reactron make it out alive? Or is Nightwing the only one who can save them all? Writers Sterling Gates and Greg Rucka team with Jamal Igle to bring the story to a close. Check out a few pages below before you swing by your shop and pick up the full issue, which hits today.

Not long ago, we gave you a quick look at the first issue of writer James Robinson and artist Mark Bagley’s upcoming JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA run. But why stop there? With the issue hitting stands tomorrow, we thought a few more pages were worth checking out. Prepare to be surprised.

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #38 hits tomorrow.

Writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Ramon Bachs kick off a new era for Azrael, Death’s Dark Knight — starting here. Michael Lane is a man in search of redemption, but doe serving the Order of Purity as God’s Angel of Justice bring him closer to his goal, or send him further down a road paved with good intentions? When a hired killer comes to Gotham City seeking revenge for crimes committed decades ago, Azrael faces an impossible conflict: What if God’s justice forces the hero to claim one of his servants? Need more? Check out a few pages from the first issue below.

AZRAEL #1 hits 10/21.

The trio of sexy alien marauders continues their rampage across Earth, and Power Girl makes her last stand against these seemingly unstoppable foes. But even Power Girl has her limits…from the team of writers Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and artist Amanda Conner.

POWER GIRL #6 hits 10/21.

A week ago, we unveiled the details about THE FIRST WAVE, writer Brian Azzarello and artist Rags Morales’ gritty pulp romp, featuring Doc Savage, Batman, the Spirit and more. But did you think we’d stop there?

As we noted, superstar artist J.G. Jones will be handling variant covers for the mini-series, and we snagged an in-progress look at the cover to THE FIRST WAVE #1. We even pulled the very busy Jones away from his desk for a second to give us his thoughts on the story spinning out of November’s BATMAN/DOC SAVAGE SPECIAL. Take it away, J.G.:

“I’m just happy to be aboard the First Wave bus along with the serious talents doing the heavy lifting. I love the world that Brian has inhabited with these iconic pulp characters, and the artwork by Rags is spot on perfect. Catch the wave; it should be a wild ride!”

Well said. And now, the cover…

In January, ACTION COMICS #885 and SUPERMAN #696 will cross over as Nightwing and Flamebird’s hunt for Zod’s sleeper agents leads them right to Science Police Headquarters in Metropolis, home of the Guardian and Mon-El. James Robinson, Greg Rucka and Eric Trautmann packed these two issues with so many twists and turns, we needed the covers to be as equally dynamic – and since the amazing CAFU regularly draws both covers, why not have the covers cross over as well? We cornered Superman Editor Matt Idelson’s able assistant Wil Moss for more info. Take it away, Wil:

Once the joint cover idea was hatched and we thought up a concept, CAFU sent in his first round of sketches. We all liked option A the best, and then with one piece of sage advice from Dan DiDio (“Wouldn’t it be nice if readers could see the heroes’ faces?”), CAFU came back with another version of option A. We all quickly approved the new sketch, then came CAFU’s inks, and finally the sublime colors by Santiago Arcas.

ACTION COMICS #885, featuring interior art by Pere Pérez (with CAFU handling the CAPTAIN ATOM co-feature), is on sale January 13. And SUPERMAN #696, with interior art by Bernard Chang, is on sale January 27. Make sure and check out the last page of #696 – that one’s gonna knock over quite a few dominoes …