Here’s a behind-the-scenes bit of fun for all you Sourcers out there. As one of the most fun editorial tasks yet, I’ve spent the past two days running up and down the hall getting pictures of some of our editors. They all seem to be pretty scared of…something… Can’t be Halloween-related at this point, right? So what’s going on here?

For instance, here’s Mike Carlin and Rachel Gluckstern, looking very unhappy about whatever’s going on over Mike’s desk:

Maybe it’s the same thing that’s about to hit Harvey Richards in the head:

Janelle Siegel is doing a pretty good job keeping it at bay:

While Mike Marts isn’t so lucky – it’s coming right at him!

Sean Ryan and Wil Moss are doing the smart thing and high-tailing it out of here:

Which – oh, man – gives it a clear shot at me. Look out, me!

Welp, looks like it passed me by, considering I’m still here typing. And I think I know where it went – straight for Eddie Berganza and Adam Schlagman:

That’s gonna be trouble. As soon as we can actually see what it is, that is….

Until next time – wish us luck!

Ooh, look! Sun! I’d forgotten what that looks like. Neat. Today is a bit of a mad scramble (what else is new?). We’re wrapping up the lettering on ACTION COMICS #879, which means a lot of emailing back and forth with letterer Rob Leigh. He’s come up with what I think will be a stronger method for the English subtitles to all the crazy Kryptonian speak going on in the book. And if this doesn’t work, we’ll just start throwing sound chips in the book!

Also on the lettering front, Jared Fletcher, the man of many nicknames, has delivered the first round of lettering for SUPERGIRL #43, and man, he’s done a great job. We asked him to do something slightly different here for Kara’s narrative, and he’s knocked it out of the park. The whole issue is somewhat of a departure, and definitely a pallet cleanser after a few months of asking, “Who is Superwoman?” I swear, Sterling and Jamal are getting exponentially better by the issue! One guy who’s not getting better is Jon Sibal, and that’s only ‘cause he couldn’t possibly get any better. The fact that he’s crazy in a good way just adds to the joy of working with him. And Wil tells me that Jon tells him that he’s inking the last page of the issue right now. I love it when a plan comes together.

Just got a couple of new pages in from Javi Pina for the upcoming SUPERMAN ANNUAL (#14 for those of you keeping score at home). Man!!! I’ve worked with Javi before on a few occasions, but this is far and away the best work I’ve ever seen him do. James challenged him with a heck of trippy story, and I’m already dying to see what people think of the finished book. Well, August will be here before I know it.

Spend a few minutes chatting with Wil about a new costume we’re having designed for… well, don’t want to give that away here, in case anyone is actually reading this thing. The main design is coming along nicely, and we’re at the stage of small tweaks in order to put a wrap on the thing. This is going to be very, very cool.

Hmm. It’s 3. I should eat something, but what? Right, what I always eat—oatmeal. 10 minutes and a burnt tongue later, I’m back in action. Associate editor Sean Ryan brings by a couple of rate requests for me to sign. These are the forms by which we set up page rates for artists, writers and so forth. He’s been bringing me an awful lot of these lately. I’m starting to suspect he’s hiring childhood friends or something. I’ll have to talk to him about this.

Engage in a quick conference call with Wil and Greg Rucka about some costume designs going on there—next week is the start of July, and that means beginning work on our covers for the books that come out in December. Yes, we actually do plan ahead that far. Actually, in the case of the Super-books, we’re planned through the end of 2010. In fact, I take this blessed opportunity of basking in Greg’s phone aura to confirm when the Super-writers will engage in our next weekly chat—next week looks iffy. Something about a holiday. We’ve got a lot of work to do before we all meet up in San Diego in the days leading up to the convention, putting a lock on a few dangling items for 2009 publication so we can spend the time in sunny CA (indoors, ‘natch) planning in great detail the first half of 2010 and as much of the 2nd half as we can squeeze in.

Oop. Just missed a message from James Robinson. He’s included an odd comment on one of the profile pieces for August’s SUPERMAN SECRET FILES. My, he’s in a jaunty mood. It seems we’ve missed some important elements in the costuming of a non-superhero character, and he’s absolutely correct. He’s also got an idea for the inclusion of some characters normally outside the realm of Superman for next year’s stuff, and ways to maybe spin them out into something of their own afterwards. No wonder he’s so jaunty.

I mark the 4:00 hour by sending my lettering notes on SUPERGIRL #43 to writer Sterling Gates, and then remember he’s on a plane to Dallas for a convention. –Sigh- my day is empty without some correspondence from Sterling. Oh, well.

I settle instead on talking to Pete Woods, who’s juggling putting together a map of Kandor for the SECRET FILES while drawing the next issue of WONK (World of New Krypton). Man, he just gets better and better, and his design sense is incredible! He’s done an amazing job in less than half the series with really establishing New Krypton as a world, with all sorts of different sets and locales.

The feeling begins to return to my tongue just as a new batch of pages arrives from Gary Frank for SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #2. There really aren’t adjectives that I can apply to Gary—he’s in his own stratosphere, and I feel stupidly lucky to be working with him and Geoff on this project—it’s simply incredible. Geoff seems pretty happy with the pages, too, and I’m glad to have an excuse to give Gary a call, even if most of our conversations steer towards the insanity of Italian politics. (Don’t ask.)

I’m in the middle of typing up some notes on SUPERGIRL ANNUAL #1 for the mysterious colorist who only goes by the name “Blond” when Liz Gehrlein drops off two more jaw-droppingly cool profile pages by Francis Manapul for SECRET FILES. Ab-so-lute-ly stunning! This is going to be one special Secret Files. This reminds me that I need to turn in pages from artist Matt Camp, who’s illustrated a seven-page story that James wrote for the book. So many balls in the air, so few hands…

And then the next thing I know, it’s 6:00, time to close up shop, blow out the candles, and be thankful another day that I didn’t set my office on fire.

Hey folks! As usual, we have our regular “From the Editors” post  coming your way. Being the diligent worker we all know and love, Matt Idelson  managed to give us his entry early, as he made his escape to the distant land  of Barcelona. Enjoy…

Spring has reverted to summer here in New York, which would be a nice thing if I could have class outside. Alas, I have a job to do, and panic’s starting to set in. The offices close early today going into Memorial Day weekend, and of course we’re closed Monday. Which means aside from Tuesday, I’ll be out of the office for a week and a half, attending a convention in Barcelona.

Tops on the priority list is putting a wrap on ACTION #878, the first of a two-part story by Greg Rucka & guest artist Diego Olmos that introduces us to a new pair of Kryptonian sleeper agents. Once I’m done giving the lettering a final pass, it comes down to waiting for the trusty and reliable Rod Reis to keep feeding us pages of color to go over. I know already that assistant editor Wil Moss and I will be reviewing pages over the course of the weekend so Rod can have the final colors ready for us when we come in Tuesday morning.

Not far behind that is keeping things moving on the ACTION ANNUAL, which comes out the week after ACTION #878. Greg’s done a very different story for this one, and it’s coming together beautifully. Pere Pérez, who knocked it out of the park with the GUARDIAN SPECIAL last fall, is doing all 40 pages of this one, and it’s pretty awesome. Right now I have to start reviewing Mazi’s colors for the book—they’re gorgeous, but of course I have to go over them with a fine-tooth comb and make sure everything is as it should be. The guy can color, though, no question!

My focus is broken when Wil, associate editor Sean Ryan and editor Liz Gehrlein pop in for our daily session of updates, problem solving and movie reviews. Today I discover that neither Liz nor Sean had seen “Taxi Driver” before the past weekend. I am appalled. Some of our discussion centers around actual work, in this case some ideas Geoff Johns has had for his contribution to the upcoming SUPERMAN SECRET FILES. Geoff has an alteration in mind that opens up some interesting possibilities …

The gang leaves to do their thing, and I get back to ACTION – but  wait! An excellent colorist who goes by the name “Blond” has accepted our offer to color the upcoming SUPERGIRL ANNUAL since our regular SUPERGIRL colorist, Nei Ruffino, is way too busy. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this means I have to establish a pay rate for him—I’m guessing he won’t do this for free out of love for the medium.

Oh, look – it’s almost 1. Gah! Clearly I’m not getting out of here when the offices close. That’s cool—I have the best job in the world anyway. Leisure and cookouts can wait. Especially when I get an email from David Macho in Spain, with Santiago Arcas’ colors for the first installment of our Captain Atom co-feature, which will debut in ACTION #879. David says in the email that we’ll be stunned by what we see. He wasn’t kidding!!!!!! Man, I can’t wait for that issue to come out. The readers are definitely in for a treat!

The phone rings and Jim Fletcher of DC Direct fame is on the line with some Superman-related questions, mostly of the “will this character be around a year from now?” variety. They do really cool stuff down there, and I’m eagerly awaiting my Mike Carlin action figure.

Cue a discussion over Rocket Reds with SUPERMAN artist Renato Guedes, figuring out what the tomb of Zor-El is going to look like with Pete Woods, going over lettering corrections for SUPERGIRL #42 with Sterling Gates, a new idea from Geoff (him again?!?) about the end of SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #2, annnnnd the end of the day has finally arrived! Well, it’s 1 o’clock somewhere …