“For this great mission I will need help. I will need followers who are prepared to follow me into the jaws of death, and worse …” – Atrocitus in RED LANTERNS #1

(The cover to JUSTICE LEAGUE #4 by Jim Lee and Scott Williams)

Earlier today, Diamond Comic Distributors, the world’s largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop culture merchandise, officially announced that JUSTICE LEAGUE issue 1, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Jim Lee and Scott Williams, is the bestselling comic book for the month of August—and to date, all of 2011.

That’s the headline—and it’s a good one—but, for those interested, here’s a further look inside the numbers for DC COMICS-THE NEW 52:

· With a first printing exceeding 200,000 copies, JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 was the highest first printing of any DC Comics’ title since 2006′s JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA # 1 by NEW YORK TIMES bestselling writer Brad Meltzer, Ed Benes and Sandra Hope.

· The 200,000 first printing figure includes the digital combo pack and all variant editions, but not digital sales. The first printing was sold out at Diamond within hours of going on sale. The second printing of JUSTICE LEAGUE also sold out in less than 24 hours and the issue is now in its third printing.

· The DC Comics App peaked at # 4 on iTunes for Top Grossing I-Pad Apps. during the first week of The New 52.

· JUSTICE LEAGUE is one of ten titles so far from DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 with print runs of more than 100,000 (ACTION COMICS, BATGIRL, BATMAN, BATMAN AND ROBIN, BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT, DETECTIVE COMICS, FLASH, GREEN LANTERN, SUPERMAN).

· All 13 of the Week 2 titles from DC Comics: The New 52 have sold out from Diamond and are going back to press—ACTION COMICS, ANIMAL MAN, BATGIRL, BATWING, DETECTIVE COMICS, GREEN ARROW, HAWK & DOVE, JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL, MEN OF WAR, OMAC, STATIC SHOCK, STORMWATCH and SWAMP THING.

· With its second printing, ACTION COMICS, joins JUSTICE LEAGUE as the second title to date from DC Comics-The New 52 with more than 200,000 copies in print.

· All 13 of the Week 3 titles from DC Comics: The New 52 have sold out from Diamond in advance of publication and are going back to press, including BATMAN AND ROBIN, BATWOMAN, DEATHSTROKE, DEMON KNIGHTS, FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E., GREEN LANTERN, GRIFTER, LEGION LOST, MISTER TERRIFIC, RED LANTERNS, RESURRECTION MAN, SUICIDE SQUAD and SUPERBOY.

DC Comics

“What I do, I do for the good of the universe. Something you lost sight of thousands of years ago.”
- Sinestro in GREEN LANTERN #1

Artists and retailers team up to celebrate DC Comics-The New 52

This Fall, retailers across North America will be celebrating DC Comics-The New 52 with the DC Comics-The New 52 Art Tour!

Showcasing the creative process behind such titles as WONDER WOMAN, THE FLASH, ACTION COMICS, GREEN LANTERN, SWAMP THING and BATWOMAN retailers will be hosting events with DC Comics-The New 52 artists. Framed art will be on display to illustrate the artists’ process—from script, to pencils, to inks, to the final colored and lettered page. And in many instances, art from other DC Comics-The New 52 #1s will be on display in a gallery type atmosphere.

The talent will be on hand to discuss their work and sign copies of their DC Comics-The New 52 series.  It’s an exclusive opportunity to meet the artists working on some of the most talked about comic books in ages.

So whether you’re a comic book fan or art aficionado, come out and celebrate art, superheroes and DC Comics-The New 52 at an event near you.

Saturday, September 24
Meet Cliff Chiang, artist on WONDER WOMAN

8:00-11:00pm
Bergen Street Comics
470 Bergen St
Brooklyn, NY 11217

This event will feature all of Cliff’s original art from WONDER WOMAN #1 on display.

Friday, September 30
Meet Francis Manapul, writer/artist on THE FLASH

7:00-11:00pm
Toronto Cartoonist Workshop
587A College Street (at Clinton)
Toronto, ON M6G 1B2

This event will feature all of Francis’ original art from Flash #1 on display.

Saturday, October 8
Meet Rags Morales, artist and Rick Bryant inker, on ACTION COMICS

3:00-5:00pm
Fat Jack’s Comicrypt
2006 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Wednesday, October 12
Meet Doug Mahnke, Artist on GREEN LANTERN

4:00-7:00pm
Source Comics
1601 West Larpentur Ave.
Falcon Heights, MN 55113

Look for November dates soon!

Can’t wait until next Wednesday? Check out some exclusive previews to get you through the weekend:

BLASTR, part of the SyFy online network, has the first look at SUPERBOY #1 written by Scott Lobdell and drawn by RB Silva and Rob Lean. This preview answers the question, “Is SUPERBOY a science experiment gone wrong?”

And SCIENCEFICTION.COM features LEGION LOST #1 written by Fabian Nicieza and drawn by Pete Woods. The legionnaires have traveled from the 31st century to the present, but have they already failed their mission?

Pick them up September 14th!

Don’t miss this weekend’s BATMAN 101 Digital Comics sale featuring 101 issues on sale for only $.99 each.  On September 10-11, you’ll be able to add acclaimed comics starring The Dark Knight to your digital library.  Bestselling storylines spotlighted in the sale include BATMAN: YEAR ONE by Frank Miller and David Mazzuccelli, BATMAN: HUSH by Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee and BATMAN: THE LONG HALLOWEEN by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale . Buy the original BATMAN # 1 from 1940 and DETECTIVE COMICS # 27 (featuring the first appearance of BATMAN) to see where the legend began and to celebrate the release of the all-new BATMAN # 1 and DETECTIVE COMICS # 1 as part of DC COMICS – THE NEW 52 this month. Visit read.dccomics.com to purchase these and other amazing issues.

Batman 101 Digital Sale issues include:

Batman Begins

• Detective Comics (1937-2011) #27-33
• Batman (1940-2011) #1-4

Batman: Year One

• Batman #404-407
• Batman: The Long Halloween #1-13

Dark Times for The Dark Knight

• Batman: The Cult 31
• Batman: Death in the Family – Batman #426-429
• Batman: Hush – Batman #608-619
• Batman: Heart of Hush – Detective Comics #846-850
• Batman: Knightfall V. 1 – Batman #491-497, Detective Comics #659-663
• Batman: No Man’s Land
  • Batman No Man’s Land #1
  • Batman Shadow of the Bat #83-84
  • Batman #563-564
  • Detective Comics #730-731
  • Legends of the Dark Knight #116

The Batman Family

• All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder #1
• Batman: Black and White #1
• Batman/Catwoman: Trail of the Gun #1
• Gotham Central #1
• Batman and Robin (2009-2011) #1-6
• Superman/Batman #1

The Never Ending Battle

• Dark Knight Returns #1
• Batman Beyond (1999) #1
• Batman Beyond (2011) #1

The City He Protects

• Batman: Arkham City #1
• Batman: Gates of Gotham 31
• Batman: Streets of Gotham #1
• Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth #1

You might have read online today about a particularly strong reaction that a comic book retailer has had to ACTION COMICS issue 1 by Grant Morrison and Rags Morales. If not, here’s the scoop: a retailer in North Carolina was concerned that Superman is cursing when he utters “gd” in the series’ first issue.

Before I could even reach out to Grant Morrison for comment, I received an e-mail from Grant, which read in part:

“It should go without saying that the offending panel and caption, a mere ‘GD’, is a sound effect grunt – to suggest Superman’s breath being forced through gritted teeth – much like ‘DHH’, ‘GNUHH’ or the many others used throughout this book and in general in the comics business. It’s not in any way representative of God or a curse.”

I dunno how many of you have sisters, but when mine was a teenager, she was, as they say, hell on wheels. Always getting into trouble, always getting into fights (usually more with her friends than with her enemies), always managing to outthink authority figures (be they cops or parents), always hanging with a questionable crowd, always a new piercing or tattoo – just drama at every turn, and usually of her own making. Nowadays she’s a morally upright citizen. She’s got a dog and a cat, a boyfriend and she even just completed jury duty! But back then? Hell. On. Wheels.

And that’s a lot like the Kara Zor-El you’ll meet in a couple weeks in SUPERGIRL #1. This Supergirl is someone with all the power of Superman, yet all of the drama and lust for life of a real teenager. And whereas I quickly learned to stay out of my sister’s way, Superman hasn’t learned that lesson yet — though if you’ve seen the cover of SUPERGIRL #2, you know he’s about to …

Writers Michael Green & Mike Johnson (responsible for a truly great run on SUPERMAN/BATMAN) have packed SUPERGIRL with enough spectacle to give Michael Bay a run for his money. Yet at the same time, you’ll find yourself empathizing with The Girl of Steel like never before. I mean, if you just crash-landed on Earth, found out your family and your entire freakin’ planet were gone, and you had these strange new powers, wouldn’t you have a pretty tough time adjusting? And trust me, Mike & Michael have some fun surprises in store, both for you readers and Kara — not the least of which is the mystery surrounding her true origin …

And the artist who will really sell both that level of high visual spectacle and emotional nuance is the one and only Mahmud Asrar. Folks, Mahmud has done some fine, fine work over the years — from his recent Star Wars gig to some Marvel work to the great Dynamo 5 series to his ATOM story here at DC with Jeff Lemire (make sure to read ANIMAL MAN #1 and FRANKENSTEIN #1!) – but people will soon look back at SUPERGIRL #1 and cite it as the comic where Mahmud started his transition from comic book artist to superstar comic book artist. Seriously, the guy’s got the grace of Alan Davis, the fluidity of Stuart Immonen, the figurework of José Luis García-López, and an overall look and style that’s 100% Asrar. (And hey, inker Dan Green, colorist Dave McCaig, and letterer John J. “Hollywood” Hill are no slouches either!)

So do not miss this book, OK? SUPERGIRL #1! On sale 9/21!

And speaking of books you should not miss that are on sale 9/21 (FYI, I totally flunked “Subtle Transitions 101”), lemme quickly work in mention of another title I’m editing, DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS – a showcase for some of the best characters and talent DC has to offer.

First up is a five-part Deadman story by Paul “I made the Inhumans cool” Jenkins and Bernard “The Inhumans were always cool” Chang. This one’s got everything you’d ever want in a comic – late night hook-ups, bar brawls, monsters, mobsters, monster mobsters, existential roller coaster rides with the devil, body-hopping (which is different than the late night hook-ups), massive explosions, and of course, evil librarians.

Created by the legendary Arnold Drake and recently brought back to prominence in BRIGHTEST DAY, Deadman is one of the DC Universe’s best, most unusual heroes — come find out why in DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #1. (Or you can go body-hop yourself.)

“I always thought you could change the world, Michael.”
— Karen Starr in MISTER TERRIFIC #1

Coverage for DC COMICS – THE NEW 52 just keeps on coming!

CNN.com looked at the increased – and still increasing – diversity in the comic book industry, highlighting DC Comics – The New 52. According to writer Judd Winick, who was interviewed for the piece because of his work on BATWING, “We want to attack it in kind of a really honest way.” CNN.com also featured Tony S. Daniel’s artwork for DETECTIVE COMICS #1 in their look at the week’s top comic book releases.

The ASSOCIATED PRESS cited the resurgence of MEN OF WAR and BLACKHAWKS as a return to the venerable war genre in comic books – supported by interviews with writers Ivan Brandon and Mike Costa. Brandon (MEN OF WAR) embraced the challenge of creating real-world heroes in a world populated by superhumans. He said, “If you exist in this real army and try to keep all of that real as possible, what, realistically, would the addition of superheroes to that world, what would that mean? How would you react to that?” Added Costa of BLACKHAWKS, “It’s closer to a war book than it is a super hero book. This is a group of people, when there are crises of a certain nature, are scrambled to respond to it. It’s like Seal Team Six in the DC Universe.”

Canada’s top modern rock station, 102.1 THE EDGE spoke with writer/artist Tony S. Daniel about DETECTIVE COMICS #1 and the Dark Knight’s infamous rogues gallery.

And the SUNDAY POST-JOURNAL ran an impressive, layman-friendly feature examining the full scope of DC Comics – The New 52, including a comprehensive breakdown of the first few waves of titles.

Stay tuned for more updates as they roll in!