You might have heard: it’s the weekend after NYCC. So the DC Entertainment PR team will be heading our separate ways for two days of rest and relaxation, which translates roughly to attending a wedding, watching scary movies, picking out pumpkins and laundry. Oh, there will be laundry. Fret not. Before we sign off for the weekend, we have a guide to the latest and greatest coverage:

LIBRARY JOURNAL interviewed DC Entertainment Editor-in-Chief Bob Harras about DC COMICS-THE NEW 52. “Comics can be about Superman battling aliens in a big, blazing cosmic adventure, or they can equally be about Swamp Thing learning about his inner humanity in a quiet story about loss,” said Harras. “Comics are about characters so compelling that readers come back month after month, year after year, to see what happens next.”

COMICVINE has a look at changes to JUSTICE LEAGUE in DC COMICS: THE NEW 52.

NEWSARAMA has an interview with the bestselling creative team of THE FLASH.

AMAZON’s OMNIVORACIOUS blogger is excited about BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN, the original graphic novel by Chip Kidd and Dave Taylor that will be hitting stores next year.

Meanwhile, IGN chronicled the evolution of Batman’s looks over the past 70 years.

To be continued …

Need a quick break from playing BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY? Then check out these exclusive previews of two of next week’s most eagerly awaited issues from DC COMICS-THE NEW 52.

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES’ HERO COMPLEX previewed AQUAMAN #2, alongside Geoff Boucher’s celebration of the character’s birthday.

Meanwhile, CRAVE ONLINE has your first look at JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #2.

To be continued…

Who attempted to assassinate R.J. Brande?
What threat brought together the United Planets?
What led to the creation of the Legion of Super Heroes?

In the new 6-issue miniseries, LEGION: SECRET ORIGIN, industry legend and LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES writer Paul Levitz and artists Chris Batista and Marc Deering answer these questions–and more.

The series, in stores next week, brings new insight into the world of the DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 in the 31st Century. Here’s the very first look at the series.

Unless you’ve been under a rock you’ve heard by now that BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY has hit store shelves and is available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.  What you may not realize is that the game’s reviews are outstanding and it has been recognized by many press outlets as one of the best games of the year.  Take a look:

MSNBC – Score: 10 out of 10 – “Batman: Arkham City has great combat, beautiful graphics and an excellent story that takes ownership of the Batman lore just as much as any of the comic books or the movies have.”

Associated Press – Score: 3.5 out of 4 – “Everything about the much-hyped ‘Batman: Arkham City’ is bigger, bolder and crazier than its critically acclaimed predecessor.”

Wired – Score: 9 out of 10 – “one of the year’s finest games”

IGN – Score: 9.5 out of 10 – “…Batman: Arkham City is a brilliant game.”

GameSpot – Score: 9 out of 10 – “thrilling and unforgettable”

GameTrailers – Score: 9.3 out of 10 – “Simply put, if you admire painstakingly-realized worlds rich with secrets and game mechanics that never cease to surprise you, then you owe it to yourself to experience Arkham City.”

GamesRadar – Score: 10 out of 10 – “Batman: Arkham Asylum was the greatest superhero game of all time. The sequel, Batman: Arkham City, is five times bigger and about a billion times better. You do the math.”

G4TV.com – Score: 5 out of 5 – “Batman: Arkham City is one of the greatest games ever made. Period.”

Game Informer – Score: 10 out of 10 – “The best licensed video game ever made.”

GamePro – Score: 5 out of 5 – “the game that Gotham City deserves, and a must own for Bat-fans.”

Joystiq – Score: 4.5 out of 5 – “the game that Gotham City deserves, and a must own for Bat-fans.”

1UP – Score: A – “an experience rivaled by few others.”

Destructoid – Score: 8.5 out of 10 – “It is just too damn fun to be The Bat.”

GiantBomb – Score: 5 out of 5 – “Getting another chance to use Batman’s considerable combat talents as you engage in one of the best fighting systems going today is a joy.”

And here are a few notable quotables on the game:

• “Arkham City is the finest comic book video game ever to slip into spandex.” – New York Times
• “The range of activities makes it one of the best games of the year.” – ABC TechBytes
• “Arkham City build[s] a richer and more satisfying experience on the sturdy foundation of 2009’s Arkham Asylum. – TIME.com
• “Addictive, curiously thoughtful, vividly realized and darkly funny, it’s a feast for comic book fans, and an expansively mythmaking new addition in the Caped Crusader canon. – EW.com, A-
• “There are more gadgets, villains, enemies and challenges for players to enjoy, but it’s Rocksteady Games’ unwavering faithfulness to Batman and his portrayal that makes Arkham City one of this year’s best games.” – USA Today Game Hunters, 4/4
• “Plot, combat and the design of the world all come together to make this our early pick for game of the year.” – Maxim.com, 10/10
• “Batman: Arkham City is as close to perfect as games get.” – The Daily, 10/10
• “Arkham City isn’t just a great sequel, or a great superhero game; it’s also one of the best action games on Xbox 360. – OXM.com, 10/10

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and kick some Arkham City butt with this outstanding new game from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

(DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Jim Lee, Rocksteady Studios Game Director Sefton Hill and Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman in BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY at the game’s Times Square launch event.)

Today, everybody–and I mean everybody–is talking about BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY. We’ll have more on that later. Til then, here’s the latest and greatest coverage for DC COMICS-THE NEW 52.

For the fifth time, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY has featured an exclusive preview from DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 on their homepage. This time around? BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT #2, which hits stores next week. And IFANBOY has your first exclusive look at a chilling sequence from I, VAMPIRE #2.

In the mood for another look into The Dark? NEWSARAMA recently caught up with SWAMP THING and BATMAN writer Scott Snyder about the upcoming SWAMP THING/ANIMAL MAN crossover, which involves the clashing of the Red and the Green. “These elements are not peaceful,” Snyder revealed. “The Red isn’t peaceful, and neither is the Green. I think people want to assume it’s calm and soothing. But it’s not at all. It’s a force of nature. It’s violent and volatile. It’s hungry and it wants to be the dominant force.”

COMIC BOOK RESOURCES has the exclusive coverage of the DC Entertainment NYCC party. Head over to COMIC BOOK RESOURCES to see photos from the event and to read what various writers and artists had to say about New York Comic Con, DC COMICS-THE NEW 52, and more. I’ve never seen more DC Entertainment writers and artists gathered together. This one is definitely worth a look.

To be continued …

When you’re smack dab in the middle of something, you sometimes don’t realize how special or meaningful it is. But hearing the growing anticipation from readers and freelancers alike and then seeing the huge success our first month of the New 52 was, I can’t help but step back and feel a certain level of awe at all that’s been accomplished. And we’re only getting started!

You’ve seen and heard plenty about some of the more familiar titles I work on, like ACTION COMICS, SUPERMAN and WONDER WOMAN, and truth be told, these aren’t books that need any help – they’ve turned out amazingly well (as I hope you know by now)! But working on the New 52 has given me the chance to diversify a little, and thanks to the well-deserved promotions of Chris Conroy and Wil Moss to Associate Editor, I’ve been able to give up SUPERBOY and SUPERGIRL and work on some more offbeat titles like I, VAMPIRE, SWAMP THING, and DEMON KNIGHTS. Since I’ve written about VAMPY (as we like to call it) recently on the DCU blog, and you’d have to be hiding under a rock not to have heard the buzz about SWAMPY (see a trend?), I wanted to wax a little bit about DEMON KNIGHTS (no clever title shortening here—any suggestions?)

Paul Cornell, the madman behind Lex Luthor’s “Black Ring” saga in ACTION COMICS, was invited write a new Demon series. Our only request: that it be set in the dark ages of the DCU. What Paul came back with was a whole team around the Demon, with Etrigan and his reluctant host Jason Blood in the unlikely role of leader. With two issues in your hands, I think you can see he’s not only brought a whole new take to the team dynamic, but he’s built a living, breathing world where events from the dark ages will/have/did have an important impact on the goings-on of today’s new DCU (unless you thought their cameo in STORMWATCH #1 was an oversight). Of course, all he’s written would be just words if not for Diogenes Neves, Oclair Albert and Marcelo Maiolo, who’ve brought this world to life in a way I didn’t dare to hope. I love this book, I hope you do, too.

– Matt Idelson

Legendary artist/writer Neal Adams returns to BATMAN: ODYSSEY with a brand new 7-issue miniseries.

In the premiere issue, Talia al Ghul is kidnapped by The Sensei. In order to save her, Batman must travel to the Underworld, a land deep in the core of the earth underneath Gotham City that few even know exists. Not to mention, it’s inhabited by dinosaurs that not only survived, but have been continuously evolving. Can Batman survive amongst these ravenous creatures in time to save Talia?

BATMAN: ODYSSEY, VOL. 2 #1 goes on sale today.

Over the past few days, we’ve been linking to all of the exclusive previews of the second issues from DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 that are going on sale tomorrow.

Below, take a look at all the previews that ran (sorted alphabetically and separated by cover), compiled here in one easy location for your convenience.

We’ve got some fun afternoon bites for you!

Head on over to the official Green Lantern fan page on Facebook for an exclusive preview of GREEN LANTERN CORPS #2, in stores tomorrow.

UGO profiled Batman, giving a crash course in the history of the Dark Knight’s evolving looks. Displaying interpretations of him across various mediums including comic books, film, television and video games, UGO’s run down of Batman is a true testament to the character’s prolific status in pop culture.

And speaking of Batman, COMIC BOOK RESOURCES gave BATMAN #2 a 5-star review. “More comics need to be just like this,” they wrote of the book by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion.

Meanwhile, THE UPTOWNER interviewed co-writer and artist Scott McDaniel about setting STATIC SHOCK in Harlem. “Harlem provides his base of operations, his home and his school,” McDaniel said of protagonist Virgil Hawkins’ neighborhood. “For now, Harlem represents home, safety, security, normalcy. But for the superhero, those precious things never last.”

To be continued …

(Greg Capullo’s variant cover for JUSTICE LEAGUE #3)

New York Comic Con has been over for two days, but, well, everyone’s still talkin’ about it. Here are some recommended reads:

UGO caught up with Geoff Johns about AQUAMAN. “They are a glimpse of the horrific world at the bottom of the ocean and beyond that Aquaman has never faced, that we have never really encountered,” Johns said of The Trench, the villains in the series’ first arc. “They are still learning and meeting new species every day, so I wanted to go as horrific and bizarre as I could. And you haven’t even really seen how bizarre these creatures can get. They are pretty nasty.”

Following the announcement of THE CURSE OF SHAZAM, NEWSARAMA chatted with artist Gary Frank. “Both Geoff and I were keen that our costume should look different to the rest of the Justice League’s costumes since it comes from a different place,” Frank revealed of how fans can expect Shazam to look. “We’re still ironing it out but, whereas the other costumes feel very modern and cool, ours needs to feel timeless and, hopefully, cool. We are dealing with magic rather than tailoring, so this has to be in there somehow.”

COMIC BOOK RESOURCES spoke with Scott Snyder, writer of BATMAN, SWAMP THING and AMERICAN VAMPIRE, about all of his respective series. “To me, he takes on a Robin because he needs a human connection,” Snyder said of Batman. “He needs to be a father because of what happened with his parents. He needs an ally because he is lonely – even though he won’t admit it. So he takes on a Robin but then at the same time, as much as he cares for that character, he has tremendous issues about getting too close to anyone and having it be his mission.”

And speaking of Gotham City, AIN’T IT COOL NEWS chatted with Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti about ALL-STAR WESTERN and their upcoming series, THE RAY. “All great cities have their own history and Gotham is no different,” said Palmiotti about the setting of ALL-STAR WESTERN. “Some of the main landmarks in the city will be and are featured in some of the new 52 books coming out and we are working closely with the crew to make sure we create an environment that reflects both ways the time period and the life of the city.”

(The cover of BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN)

COMIC BOOK RESOURCES has the first exclusive interview with Chip Kidd about his upcoming original graphic novel, BATMAN: DEATH BY DESIGN. “What I’ve always liked very much is that there are certain things Batman can do that Bruce Wayne cannot. But there’s very much a flipside to that because there are things Bruce Wayne can do that Batman cannot,” Kidd said. “You need both of those things — or at least I do — to make things interesting. A good part of the story and the plot goes into the building and design trade of Gotham City — how that works or doesn’t work and how it’s corrupted. There is a good bit of history with Bruce Wayne’s father. It’s not any kind of twisted, huge revelation. It’s about the design legacy of the Wayne’s in Gotham City.”

To be continued …

(Ivan Reis and Joe Prado’s variant cover for BATMAN #3)