Happy Friday DC Nation! I hope that you’re weekend is shaping up to be a good one. I know I’m excited to spend the entirety of Saturday and Sunday watching football with my dog and playing hockey on the PS3. You loyal readers of The Source will notice that I haven’t been home for the weekend in a while so I have a lot of being lazy to get caught up on.

Speaking of my recent travel - a lot of you were wondering about the “Mystery Writer” I was having an iced tea with. I won’t be able to say for a quite a while, but I can give you a new hint. See that picture of my desk? Notice that the message light is lit up on my phone. Having a feeling it might be a call from our friend. We’ll see…

How’s it going DC Nation? Not a ton of time to post today, as I’m about to get on a flight from LA to Baltimore. Make sure to check back on Monday for a full update from the 10th annual Baltimore Comic Con. We’ll be doing DC Nation and Sunday Conversation and I will probably talk about pro football. Just a hunch on that last one. The one good thing about the length of this flight is that I’ll have time to watch the new Superman/Batman animated DVD. See ya back East!

And I thought I took my coffee seriously. I spent part of the afternoon with Philip Tan at his “office” which is a coffee shop. He drives 160miles round trip to work here because it provides him with the right environment to create. At first I thought he was crazy, but the place is comfortable, open ’till midnight and they serve what is easily the strongest coffee I’ve ever had. My hands are shaking while I type this. And as you can see from this Metamorpho sketch, the coffee shop has Mr. Tan in outstanding creative spirits as he gears up for his run on Outsiders with Dan DiDio. Coffee!

Hello from…well I’m actually not sure where I am right now. Somewhere deep in the Valley in LA at a coffee shop. I’ve driven so much in the last 24 hours that I can’t believe that it’s all been in only one state. Everything is crusing along though and it’s great to hear how into the DCU everybody is right now. That includes the person I’m sitting with as I type this. They are a writer that has never done anything for the DCU, but that is gonna change in 2010. Wanna try and guess? Well here is a hint: This is a picture of their iced tea. Pretty amazing hint, huh? Ok gotta run, but talk to you tomorrow!

- Ian Sattler, Senior Story Editor DCU

Way to go Long Beach! I just got back up to LA from the first Long Beach Comic Con and I had a blast. The show was great, the fans were great, the guest list was great and the weather was great.

Of course you’ve heard the big news out of the show was Dan DiDio and Philip Tan on Outsiders and Geoff Johns and Scott Kollins on the Wally West cofeature in The Flash. The DC Nation panel was full of all kinds of awesome as I was joined by Geoff, Philip, Pete Tomasi, JT Krul, Sterling Gates and Mr. Bob Wayne. We talked about the popularity of Red Lantern cats, our favorite superhero movies and the many ways we could kill Lady Blackhawk. The Long Beach fans were excellent and I look forward to coming back next year.

The only thing that went wrong at the show was that I forgot to take pictures of the panel. This daily blogging thing is new to me and I got distracted when they gave me a cordless microphone to run around the room with. I tried to make up for it with these pictures of Philip and Dustin Nguyen at their tables. I’ll try and do better this week.

See you tomorrow,

Ian Sattler, Senior Story Editor DCU

In addition to the previously mentioned Fallon bit, the San Diego coverage is slowly rolling in, and we’ve got the first bunch of cool links for you here. Because that’s what we do, no?

• Newsarama’s Vaneta Rogers talked to DC President and Publisher Paul Levitz and SVP of Sales and Marketing Steve Rotterdam about DC’s presence on Google.com last week. She also chatted up writer Matt Sturges about the newly-announced JSA ALL STARS series.

• IO9’s Graeme MacMillan covered a lot of ground in this must-read interview with our very own Dan DiDio.

• G4 anchor and star of BOOSTER GOLD #23’s cover, Blair Butler talked to Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler to get the lowdown on all things DCU and also got a very special souvenir from Paul Levitz.

We’ll post more as the hits continue to appear, including Dan on a yacht. Stay tuned.

Yeesh, then what are you waiting for? San Diego is in full swing – the crowds are flowing, the energy is high and I’m sitting down in anticipation of what has become a staple event at comic conventions across the country: Dan’s DC NATION panels.

If you’re at the con – hop to Room 6DE. A DC NATION panel is not to be missed. Part circus, part press conference and all energy and fun, these panels are a highlight for fans and talent alike.

In addition to Dan, we’ve got Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler, writers James Robinson, Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka and a few surprises on the panel, prepared to talk about anything and everything of note in the DCU — ::cough:: BLACKEST NIGHT ::cough:: WEDNESDAY COMICS ::cough:: BATMAN ::cough – and take fan questions, of course.

If you couldn’t make it out this year, be sure to visit our convention hub to download photos and audio from the panel, which should give you some idea of what all the fuss is about. Then book your ticket for next year. Might as well be ahead of the game, no?

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:

Did you know there are two comic conventions happening this weekend? No? For shame.

Not only are there two shows — Wizard World Philadelphia and Charlotte’s Heroes Con –but DC will have a presence at both. Our very own Dan DiDio will be holding the fort down at Philly, while Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler and Editor Brian Cunningham will be trekking to Charlotte. So, if you have a burning question about anything DCU or just want to talk about comics with some of your favorite creators, then swing on by. You can visit the Wizard and Heroes Con sites for more ticket, talent and event info. Don’t miss it.

Hi everybody - check out this image which is only part of the cover to August’s BOOSTER GOLD #23.  That’s right, it’s only PART of the cover.  So what’s the rest going to look like?  Well I can’t tell you that, but I can say that we’re about to find out who Booster Gold’s #1 Fan is.  Watch this space over the next few weeks for more info.