Shipping This Week: February 10, 2010

The following products are expected to ship to comic book specialty stores this week. Note that this list is tentative and subject to change. Please check with your retailer for availability.

Click on the magnifying glass icon () next to a comic's title to view a sneak peek at the pages within.

ACTION COMICS #886

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN VOL. 2

Neal Bailey and Douglas Trumble have written their reviews for this same episode in the Smallville: Episode Reviews.

Check them out!

Since we all know the hot-selling Superman/Batman: Public Enemies was a hit on sales. It seems DC will make sequels out of that series instead of the other line of stories they could have used.

So the German site for WB products shows that September would be releasing Superman/Batman - Journey to the Dark Side.

Now there is no storyline like that in the comics, but will they take inspiration from the Loeb stories like they did in the first movie? Is the second one going to be the Michael Turner penciled "The Supergirl From Krypton" with some of the most iconic villains out there? From Darkseid to Female Furies!

Or will they make their own story or adapt plenty of stories from Superman/Batman book?

Thanks to Eli Gutierrez for the lead on this info.

By Adam Dechanel.

Yesterday you saw me eat my words... If you missed it one of the series artists; Stewart McKenny gave us a little insight into the world of the Super Friends. Today, he's kindly allowed us into his sketchbook and given us a slew of images to feast over - some of which have never been seen before!

You can get your daily cards for your collection from JLCrisis.com to complete sets and unlock exclusive content from the movie and downloads.

Warner Home Video will distribute the full-length animated Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths on February 23 as a Special Edition 2-disc version on DVD and , Blu-Ray^TM Hi-Def, as well as single disc DVD, and On Demand and Download.

In the scene where Clark, Courtney, and Carter are talking about teams, Courtney asks Clark "So what do you call your team, anyway?" and Clark smiles saying, "A work in progress." The scene cuts to the Watchtower, directly above of what looks like a touch screen table where you can see a logo of some sort in all blue.

Superman Homepage member Terry McGinnis noticed that if you rotate the image you see a few letters that look very much like a stylized JLA (Justice League of America) logo.

Clark Kent is one of Smallville's finest athletes, and, if you win, you'll be able to cheer him and his fellow Crows on to victory with this authentic sign of school spirit.

METROPOLIS HOSTS A COMIC BOOK CONVENTION - DC COMICS' CHARACTER ZATANNA RETURNS - Clark (Tom Welling) meets Zatanna (guest star Serinda Swan) at a comic book convention, where she tells him her father charmed a copy of the comic book "Warrior Angel" and it holds magical powers. A young man named Stephen (guest star Carlo Marks) steals the comic book and develops super powers, transforming himself into Warrior Angel and saving Chloe (Allison Mack) from a horrible accident. Meanwhile, Lois (Erica Durance) becomes jealous of Clark's relationship with Zatanna.

Allison Mack directed the episode written by Bryan Q. Miller.

Meanwhile, TV Guide has the following description for this same episode...

Clark runs into the magician Zatanna (Serinda Swan) at a comic-book convention, where a magical comic book is stolen by a young man (Carlo Marks) who develops special powers. Calling himself the Warrior Angel, he rescues Chloe from an accident. Meanwhile, Lois grows envious of Clark and Zatanna's connection.

By Adam Dechanel.

So with everything going on in comics the last few years, you'll perhaps have noticed that comics aren't as safe and wholesome as they used to be... sex crimes, dismemberment, manslaughter, murder... it's all there and there isn't one mainstream DCU book that hasn't featured things perhaps you would want to see. Then amongst the more adult world came a book that decided it wanted to entertain children, specifically there were a few that launched at the end of the DCUA (DC Universe Animation) demise. Billy Batson, Supergirl Cosmic Adventures, Tiny Titans and for our focus: DC Super Friends.

Many moons ago there was a cartoon show of the same name that is fondly remembered by its now adult viewers... Mattel & DC had decided to resurrect that idealism with this new version. I know, I know - its based on a toy line... that would have many a parent's alarm bells ringing and I'm no different. To begin with I hated this book, one because it heralded the end of the much adored DCUA and two because it was, as He-Man and many other were in years past, perceived as a commercial to sell toys.

Month after month I reviewed the books, ranting and raving at the preaching and adverts and the super deformed Super Friends. Somewhere along the line though my viewpoint changed... was it when Wonder Woman assassinated a man? When Superboy-Prime ripped Risk's arms off? When Supergirl almost murdered Batgirl? When Batman ripped out a villain's intestines? When Flash was beaten to death? When Superman decided to abandon us? Perhaps it was when zombies laid waste to the DCU... No, it was none of them.

A little girl asked me why I liked comics so much and what was going on in them... I explained - obviously editing out some of the above, and she looked a little disgusted... I was saddened - how can a child despise the very heroes many of us grew up with? So I fished out the latest issue of Super Friends and well... she loved it! We did the activities, we read the comics and we played with the Super Friends code.

I was more than a little disappointing in myself for my judgment of the book, but in a bizarre twist of fate, the series' artists, J. Bone & Stewart McKenny contacted me and through their insight I began to realize what a gem this book really is...

And so this 'behind the scenes' was born... Click "Read More" below to view "Part one: Stewart McKenny".

Mild Mannered Reviews - Superman: World of New Krypton #12

Cover date: April 2010

"World of New Krypton" - Finale

Writer: James Robinson and Greg Rucka
Artists: Pete Woods and Ron Randall

Reviewed by: Ralph Silver

Smallville's two-hour movie "Absolute Justice" brought in the series' absolute best ratings all season, grabbing 2.8 million viewers Friday. The ratings were not only Smallville's best all season; it was also the CW's best Friday showing since September 2008. "Absolute Justice" also brought in the series' highest numbers in the adults 18-to-49 demo, with a 1.2 rating.