Kicking off a new 5-issue storyline, writer James Robinson sets the stage for the monumental SUPERMAN #700, with some help from artist Javier Pina. Mon-El makes his triumphant return to Metropolis with a new look and a determined manner just in time to combat the unstoppable fury of Bizarro. But with his powers phasing in and out, will the new Mon-El be able to save his city even with the help of the Guardian and Metropolis’s Science Police?

SUPERMAN #694 hits 11/25.

Since “Codename: Patriot,” Earth’s hatred for Kryptonians has only escalated – which is what makes it so odd that Nightwing and Flamebird pick now to go public as super heroes. Meanwhile, Lois Lane finally meets with the man she thought long dead – her father, General Lane. But he has a message to deliver to his journalist daughter: “You’re either with us or against us.”

And in part 5 of the new co-feature, Captain Atom, now back on Earth and knowing the truth about his mission, must face an old foe: Major Force. All courtesy of the team of Greg Rucka, Eric Trautmann, James Robinson, Pere Pérez and CAFU.

ACTION COMICS #883 hits 11/11.

Think humans and Kryptonians are the only two races in our solar system? Wrong. Jemm, Son of Saturn, ruler of the super-powered Saturnian race, arrives in Kandor demanding answers to New Krypton’s recent actions – answers he intends to get even if he has to fight his way through Commander Kal-El and the entire Kryptonian army. Not the recipe for a friendly sitdown, eh? All this and a Mark Buckingham variant cover, courtesy of writers James Robinson and Greg Rucka, along with artists Pete Woods and Ron Randall.

SUPERMAN: WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON #9 hits 11/4.

Hola, folks!

I wish I could be like my ultra-trendy pal Michael Siglain, and give you a nice Halloween theme here, but let’s face it: on New Krypton, everyone wears a costume 24/7, and they don’t have candy there. (Notice none of the Kryptonians are overweight—well, except for Kal’s lawyer, but that’s genetic.) You’d think having been trapped in a bottle for decades they’d all be out of shape—or at least have invented Malomars. Whatever.

In celebration of not celebrating Halloween in space this year, here’s a shot from WORLD OF NEW KRYPTON (WONK to you insiders) #9, featuring Kal-El, some bodiless heads that are really big, and a couple of people I really wish were just dressing up, courtesy of James Robinson, Greg Rucka, Pete Woods and Nei Ruffino.

You can get the full horrific scoop of what’s going on here next Wednesday, the 4th, which is not just the first Wednesday of November, but about the time I’ll be trying to figure out a “What Superman’s Thankful for This Year” theme for the next column. Continuing our non-scary tour of the DC books, check out this upcoming page from ACTION #883, which comes out November 11th.

Wow, who knew Flamebird’s super-power was a knockout kiss? And hey, that Brimstone dude’s kinda Halloween-like, right? At least Rucka, Eric Trautmann, Pere Pérez and Javier Mena think so.

Check out this page from November 18th’s SUPERGIRL #47. Guess we know what Alura Zor-El thinks of Halloween, huh?

And if you want to see something that’s really scary, just imagine this day which Alura has been both eagerly anticipating and dreading simultaneously, as she at last comes face-to-face with the man who murdered her husband—Reactron!

Bet you wish you knew what they were saying, huh? My thanks to Sterling Gates, Matt Camp and the aforementioned Nei Ruffino for these glimpses into Supergirl’s future—well, her book’s future, anyway. Which brings us to November 25th, Thanksgiving eve, and SUPERMAN #694. Anyone remember Javi Pina? He teamed up with James Robinson to bring you this past summer’s SUPERMAN ANNUAL. Well, the scream team is at it again, this time for SUPERMAN #694, a.k.a. “Man of Valor” part 1, the arc which will bring Mon-El back in time to the very day Halloween was conceived, and… okay, it has nothing to do with Candy Day, but Bizarro is pretty scary, right? Huh? Please?

Wow, that’s some heady stuff, particularly with Blond’s coloring in place! Why, I—er, what? Oh, okay. That was Alex Segura on the phone, telling me I have failed utterly in my Halloween themage. Maybe I’d better get an early start on the Thanksgiving column. Anyone have a good suggestion for words that rhyme with “Turkey”?

It’s been a long week, Source gang, so we’ll try to keep this simple. The DCU titles make a regular habit of having some cool and different variant covers, so why not show off a few here from time to time. Makes sense, no? Here goes.

DETECTIVE COMICS #859 variant by JOCK.

And a lovely variant by SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN artist Gary Frank, for the third issue of the series.

Want more? Sure, we all do. How about the variant cover to WORLD’S FINEST #2? That’s doable. All you need to do is sign up for DC MOBILE NATION by texting ‘DC NATION’ to 62407. And, voila, pictures.

Source-rers!

At long last, the day has finally arrived: All Hallow’s Eve…eve’s eve. (All right, so it’s not the big day, but it’s in my own best interest to write this tomb today, and not tomorrow, during DC’s Halloween festivities, as there is a very good chance that I will be covered in blood tomorrow. I may also be in costume, but that’s another story.)

So are all of you boils and ghouls ready for the frightening festivities? Do you have your horror movies all picked out? Are your bags of candy ready to be opened and devoured? And what about your comics? Wanna read something that’ll make you go bump and Bwah-ha-ha in the night? In that case, check out this all-new preview page from BOOSTER GOLD #26:

Spooky. Next up is another interior page, this one from the upcoming BATMAN 80-PAGE GIANT (due out this December), in which a blizzard of unimaginable proportions blankets fair Gotham in a bed of icy white death. This frigid little tale comes courtesy of artist extraordinaire Rafa Garres and writer Kevin Shinick (of “Robot Chicken” fame…check out his “The Arkham Redemption” bit—it’s fantastic). Their tragic tale focuses on Commissioner Gordon and is called, “What Falls Below.” Take a peek:

But what’s Halloween without Doug Moench & Kelley Jones, and their moody, atmospheric, pointy-eared Batman? Here’s a page from issue four of their current BATMAN: UNSEEN mini-series, which hits in a couple weeks:

Want more gratifying gruesomeness to tide you over? Well, might I then suggest SUPERMAN/BATMAN #65, which was our horrifying Halloween issue, or the jam-packed extravaganza and sure-to-be instant classic known as the DCU HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 2009.

Rumor has it that the nefarious HOUSE OF MYSTERY character I…VAMPIRE makes an appearance in this little ditty, and I, for one, would like to commend the obviously brilliant and undoubtedly handsome writer who resurrected this classic creature of the night. Well done, sir!

Of course, for those of you who are looking for something you can really sink your teeth into (you know, just the other day I said I’d stop using that gag, but old habits die hard), there’s the trade paperback of SUPERMAN & BATMAN VS. VAMPIRES & WEREWOLVES from the Kevin VanHook and Tom Mandrake, each of whom is a master of horror in their own right. And speaking of MASTERS OF HORROR, this trade comes with a hauntingly good introduction from film director John Landis, whose AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON can’t be shown enough at this time of year. Enjoy!

All right, gang. That’s it for now. Gotta get some books to the printer (BATGIRL #4, I’m looking at you!), gotta talk to a few writers (have to speak with Peter Tomasi about his final issue of OUTSIDERS), and gotta start planning my Halloween costume (it’s gonna be very last-minute this year, and not nearly as intricate as some of my other years…sorry, folks).

So until next time, gang, have a Happy Halloween and try to enjoy the daylight…

Writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank’s exploration of the origin of the greatest Super Hero of all time continues, as readers witness young Clark Kent’s initial journey into the late 30th century as Superboy, and also see how meeting the Legion of Super-Heroes shapes the Man of Steel he will one day become. Plus, a dash of young Lex.

SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN #2 hits 10/28. Enjoy some pages below.

Sterling Gates is far from a newcomer to the DCU — but he’s certainly one that’s on the rise. With his work — alongside artist Jamal Igle — redefining and stabilizing SUPERGIRL, Gates has made a name for himself for his tight plotting and knack for strong and precise characterization. All of which can be seen month-in and month-out in the pages of the Girl of Steel’s ongoing series. Not-so-coincidentally, you can get a good sense of what we’re talking about here by picking up the newly-released SUPERGIRL: WHO IS SUPERWOMAN? collection, which shows Gates and Igle slowly unraveling the mystery behind the new, villainous Superwoman.

But why stop there? In addition to his work on SUPERGIRL, Gates has expanded his reach in Metropolis and Krypton, firstly by co-writing the recently-concluded “Hunt for Reactron” arc with writer Greg Rucka in the pages of SUPERGIRL and ACTION COMICS and now with WORLD’S FINEST, a mini-series slated to spotlight members of the Batman and Superman families of characters as they team-up to face off against common threats.

The first issue kicks off with Gates and artist Julian Lopez bringing Red Robin and Christopher Kent/Nightwing together to help track down a missing Flamebird — but as readers have come to expect from Gates, things are rarely that linear, so fans should be in for a treat. But don’t take my word for it — check out some pages from the first issue below.

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 …

Nothing, you say? Well, you’d be surprised.

Even worse is what scares the deadliest foes of The World’s Finest, the Joker and Lex Luthor. Horror comes alive in SUPERMAN/BATMAN #65, a very special Halloween tale from Peter Johnson and Matt Cherniss, with a stellar list of artistic contributors, including Brian Stelfreeze, Brian Haberlin, Kelley Jones, Joe Quinones and Federico Dallocchio. We’ve got a few pages from the issue, to give you a dose of the spookey.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #65 hits 10/21.