DC

DC has released am image (click for larger) to mark the release of FLASHPOINT #1 today. You need to be a bit more versed in DC lore to know how entirely shocking this image is, but there is a monkey, and that's always good. There are also different versions of Batman, Wonder Woman, and so on. Alternate universe, ho! What we do know: FLASHPOINT, written by Geoff Johns and drawn by Andy Kubert, kicks off tomorrow, featuring the Flash and ushers in a slightly ..."Different" world for DC. Which we've seen before but you know...it always works for a new generation. Retailer Larry Doherty of Larry's Comics in Lowell, Mass, himself no stranger to attention, went on yesterday's "#comicmarket" retailing discussion to say that FLASHPOINT will be the book of the summer. Selected tweets:

Well, now we can't say we don't know what this movie is about!

We all know Green Lantern is HOT. The comic, the movie, Ryan Reynolds. Blackest Night set the DCU on a whole new course, and the GL family of books under the guidance of Geoff Johns, has continued to lead the sales charts. But in Green Lantern hot enough to start a small electrical fire? Yes.

Via The Source word that THE RISE OR ARSENAL by J.T. Krul, Geraldo Borges and Marlo Alquiza and GREEK STREET's Ajax storyline by Peter Milligan and Werther Dell’Edera, have won PRISM awards which recogonize the "accurate depiction of substance abuse and mental illness: prevention, treatment and recovery in film, television, interactive, music, DVD, and comic book entertainment."

ACTION COMICS #900 is a momentous occasion for many reasons -- both numerically and thematically. The issue includes stories by an all-star line-up of folks including Paul Cornell, Damon Lindelof, Richard Donner, David S. Goyerm and Geoff Johns. It also includes a mild little tale by Goyer wherein Superman decides to help out some Iranian protesters and gets chided by the US government for getting involved in "policy." Prompting Superman to proclaim that he's not a US citizen but a citizen of...the universe! Or, as Fox News succinctly puts it:

Superman is no longer an American.

What is the greatest convention moment of all time? It might just be described in this post!

So this is...whoa. It's very SF. Very STAR WARS, like everyone has been saying all along.

Unlike Spiderman: Turn Off The Critics, the BATMAN LIVE - World Arena Tour is a stunt-show, albeit probably one with more plot than the old second act of STOTD. The story is devised by Allan Heinberg, Stan Berkowitz and Alan Burnett, and cast photos from the production -- which kicks off in the UK -- have just been released. There's also a piece from the BBC which suggests this show will include tons of aerial stunts:

ICv2 has some hi-res photos of Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern  that we had previously missed. Looks a bit like an action figure, no? More in the link.

by Marc-Oliver Frisch

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Unit and dollar sales of DC Comics' periodical business remained at the lower end of the spectrum in February, despite a slight recovery from January's all-time low in average unit sales. However, the direct market as a whole has seen better days, and so DC still managed to snatch the three top spots of the chart and six out of the Top 10 in February, regardless of the company's lackluster sales.

For the publisher's mainstream DC Universe line, the absence of major titles Batman Incorporated and Batman: The Dark Knight continued to be a problem, while the hangover from the discontinued WildStorm imprint kept dragging down the average. Average comic-book sales of DC's Vertigo imprint were still hovering above the 10k mark, meanwhile.

See below for the details, and please consider the small print at the end of the column. Thanks to Milton Griepp and ICv2.com for the permission to use their figures. An overview of ICv2.com's estimates can be found here.

Over at The Source, DC is releasing more info on Retroactive, a series of retro one-shots by classic teams starting in July. No final art has been released yet -- the image of Superman below is just style guide art.

Out of deference to those who have yet to pick up and slip to the last page of BRIGHTEST DAY #23, we'll put this in the jump.

DO NOT CLICK UNLESS YOU WANT SPOILERS.

NOT KIDDING.