DC

A while ago, a few very select comics press outlets were invited to the NY and Burbank offices of DC Comics to look at the pages of the BEFORE WATCHMEN prequels. Of course, only the tip top of the comics media were allowed in: MTV Geek, IGN, CBR, , Comicvine, and 670 The Score Chicago Sports Radio. We call shenanigans! Anyway, caveats were entered, impressions gleaned. Writers were not allowed to actually discuss plot points but rather give overall thoughts and gestaltic reactions.

You never know where the next round of cuts is going to come from. DC appears to have been cutting titles from their subscription program, not based on overall sales, but based on how many subscriptions they're getting. Which is to say, while Aquaman, which has caused much head scratching over it's omission from the subscription list while being a top 10 Diamond seller, may be more of a Direct Market title than a mainstream title.

After a lot of misfires, the WB finally hit the target* with a pilot pick up in the form of ARROW, what they are now calling Green Arrow. We don't know why the Green part was redacted because as you can see from the cast shot, they do wear green. Guess "**** Lantern is not a phrase that is remembered fondly beneath the water tower.

Or: how did we get here anyway? Chris Eckert does something we're surprised more anal retentive fans internet researchers haven't done, and collates Five Years Later: The Oral History of Countdown to Final Crisis using the plethora of internet interviews that flooded the comics internets in the innocent days of 2007. Although, as Eckert points out, a lot of material from that era has been removed, including most of Newsarama and The Pulse, to name but two. So what was Countdown?

Yes, it is PRODUCT DAY here on The Beat! And this one is pretty darned cool. Converse has long had a design-your-own Chuck Taylor's program on their website. And they've just added a DC Comics themed range to the site. The designs feature the Joker, the Riddler, Catwoman, and, of course, Batman himself.

We'd like to think that even Alan Moore could smile about this one at some point: Dynamic Forces has partnered with Warner Bros. for a a line of licensed toasters. Properties include The Wizard of Oz, A Christmas Story, Where the Wild Things Are, The Goonies, Gremlins, Little Shop of Horrors, Watchmen, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Mad Magazine, Friends, and so on. And yes, these toasters will burn Gizmo or Freddie Krueger right on to your toast for breakfast thrills!

The Freedom Fighters don't appear to have formed in the "New 52" DC universe yet, but darned if Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray aren't hovering over the characters. Palmiotti & Gray wrote the pre-relaunch Freedom Fighters comics, the post-relaunch The Ray and now will be writing Phantom Lady. Not just Phantom Lady, either. Freedom Fighter alumni Dollman will also be part of what appears to be a fairly major reworking of the characters.

Oops, these events came in the emailbox a bit late but still deserve some attention. Wonder if anyone will show up to that Midtown signing?

I read (almost) every Free Comic Book Day title, and let you know what's the best!

After one of the most obtuse PR campaigns in recent history, Earth-2 has finally come out. So has its companion book Worlds' Finest. How were they? Let's have a look.

Oh damn, they are blowing up New York again. How many times...

As a lagniappe to the current "All Things Alan Moore" wiki currently going on in our comments, here's Pádraig Ó Méalóid with a little-remembered crossover between the Watchmen and the Question...that took place all the way back in THE QUESTION #17, June 1988. Think of it as "The Five Doctors" of this particular timeline.