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News and Notables from ScottBeatty.com!

[Art by GRAHAM NOLAN. Batman ™ and Superman ™ © DC Comics. All rights reserved.]

ARCHIVED - February 7, 2004

I resolve to report the latest news, so in the spirit of keeping New Year's resolutions…

SITE UPDATES Hey, the comicography has been updated with new covers and creative info! Peruse! Lurk! Have a sandwich!

ALAS, POOR SIMON… As readers of RUSE are now painfully aware, CrossGen Comics pulled the plug on the popular title following the departure of my friend and collaborator, Butch Guice, who has returned to freelancing full-time. Butch has some awesome stuff on the way from DC Comics and Humanoids Publishing, just to name a few. RUSE #26 was the final issue of the mystery and suspense series, which was consistently one of the top-selling titles in CrossGen's stable of properties. So why did RUSE end? Well, you'd have to ask the Powers-That-Be at CrossGen for the lowdown. Wanna see it return? It's not out of the realm of possibility. Just write to CG or post your thoughts on the company's message boards and let 'em know that curtailing the adventures of intrepid detectives Simon Archard and Emma Bishop prematurely is folly to be sure!

BOOK 'EM! I've just finished up my latest book offering from Dorling Kindersley and DC Comics, and I'm currently hard at work on several more. First up is CATWOMAN: THE VISUAL GUIDE TO THE FELINE FATALE, set for release later in 2004. Like the jacket? Selina looks even better under the cover. It's only slightly smaller than a DK Ultimate Guide. Next up is the mammoth DC ENCYCLOPEDIA that I'm co-writing beside fellow superhero archivists Bob Greenberger, Phil Jimenez, and Dan Wallace. This one's gonna be HUGE! It'll generate its own gravity! Start working out! After that, I'm tapped to write BATMAN BEYOND: THE ANIMATED SERIES GUIDE, also from DK, which will chronicle all the pertinent info on Batman-to-Come Terry McGinnis, his friends, his foes, and everything you need to know about Gotham City, circa 2039. And if THAT wasn't enough, I'm working on a Dark Knight-related tome for another book publisher sure to please everyone from the casual Bat-Reader to the die-hard Bat-ophile. What's it about? Can't say. But anybody who's ever had a hankering to BE Batman will find it to be required reading.

COMIC TIMING In addition to the aforementioned mass-market books, I'm also prepping for several new comics projects and finishing off one close to my heart. My tenure on BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS concluded just a few weeks ago. If you haven't already, check out BATMAN: GK #49, the end of Bane! No, really! He is Bane and he will be hunted no more! And while it's too early to talk about what I've got in the works, as soon as the word is given, I'll likely spill the beans on this website's Discussion Board.

BEST OF THE BEST My most profound thanks go out to WIZARD magazine for naming BATGIRL YEAR ONE as "Best Mini-Series of 2003" in one of the publication's recent issues. Readers of WIZARD may know that Wizard Fan Awards ballots are currently being tabulated to honor the top comic books of 2003. Unfortunately, BATGIRL YEAR ONE was listed as one of the nominees on the ballot, despite receiving such high critical praise in the magazine. So… BATGIRL YEAR ONE co-writer Chuck Dixon and I have been sponsoring a little grass-roots campaign to inspire supportive readers and fans of BYO to make the title a "write-in" entry on the Wizard Fan Awards ballot, available for download by just clicking the link. Bat the Vote!

IN THE NEXT UPDATE: Friends! Romans! Countrymen!

Batman, Batgirl, Superman, Wonder Woman, and all related characters ® TM and © 2004 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

RUSE and all related characters ® TM and © 2004 CrossGen Comics. All rights reserved.