After extensive market research and using that fancy "Google" thing, the DC brain trust has determined that the kids like Doctor Who. Also popular are kittens, that guy from the Dos Equis ads, and something called the "troll-face". Will hold creative summit to research further.

I actually think that Batgirl is easily the best thing to come out of the New 52 so far, no surprise as the excellent Gail Simone is writing one of her signature characters. But DC Comics is taking a lot of heat today because, like Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark before them, they have gone from shouting down any who question their wisdom to asking fans to do the job of the Editor-in-Chief, CCO and Publisher who are taking both credit and pay for their bold new creative directions.

Does the Warner board know that their budget is being used to crowdsource top-level Editorial jobs?

Lastly, Warners gets very little love for the way in which they've chosen to preview Batgirl #2 on EW.com - namely, teeny-tiny pictures and a hideous Flash-based magnifying glass thing. It's really not much fun, which is a shame since the issue looks great.

However, that is is a pretty glaring Karen Gillan swipe on the cover, amirite?

Teen Titans artist Brett Booth has confirmed, via a Twitter exchange with writer Gail Simone, that the relaunched Titans have a gay member, a new character named Bunker.

We’re trying to make being gay a part of who he is, your gaydar should be pinged right off the bat:)

Pinged? My gaydar doesn't have that much RAM. It crashed, and I can't reboot the damn thing!

Seriously though, I'm thrilled to see comics embracing diversity, particularly DC who have been comparatively slow in this regard. And Booth is clearly not the one who made the call for the violet-on-violet, set against a violet skyline (!) look.

Bunker is gay (the purple guy, I know, not my first color choice!)

Teen Titans #1, written by Scott Lobdell, with art by Booth and Norm Rapmund, hits stores on September 28.

Check out this super-sweet Adam Hughes cover art for Batgirl #4. Written by Gail Simone, with interior art by Adrian Syf and Vicente Cifuentes, it hits stores in December.

Babs is back! One of the most controversial books of DC's 'New 52' is being handled by one of the best talents in the industry. Batgirl - Barbara Gordon, is back on her feet and being written by the scribe who has defined her for a generation, Gail Simone.

In an interview with the New York Post, Simone had this to say:

It’s tremendously exciting to see her smiling on the cover of her own hit book finally, ready to kick ass against Gotham City’s worst monsters.

She had a lot more to say, but then they ran these awesome preview pages and there may or may not have been some male squee-ing. Accounts differ on that last part.

BATGIRL #1

Written by GAIL SIMONE; Art by ARDIAN SYAF and VICENTE CIFUENTES; Cover by ADAM HUGHES

Yes, it's really happening!

Barbara Gordon is back as Batgirl – and she's going to have to face the city's most horrifying new villains as well as the dark secrets from her past. You won't want to miss this stunning debut issue from fan-favorite BIRDS OF PREY writer Gail Simone!

As controversial as DC's many reboot announcements have been, this one has hit closest to home for me.

Harley Quinn! Deadshot! King Shark! They’re a team of death-row super villains recruited by the government to take on missions so dangerous – they’re sheer suicide! Who will be the first to crack under the pressure? Find out in SUICIDE SQUAD #1, written by Adam Glass (FLASHPOINT: LEGION OF DOOM) with art by Marco Rudy (THE SHIELD).

Many of my friends are despondent at the changes this brings to Harley Quinn, a character that resonates more strongly with her hardcore fans than I think DC is aware of. I have rarely seen more passionate devotion to a fictional character in my 30+ years of fandom.

Me, I'm a Suicide Squad guy. Big-time. John Ostrander's post-Crisis take on the book is one of my all-time favorite comic series, and it still stands as one of the most important and influential titles of the modern age of comics. And it has a worthy successor in Gail Simone's Secret Six, a wonderful title that has been at the top of my reading list every month since it's debut as the Infinite Crisis tie-in Villains United. With a mix of characters from the Squad, a couple of obscure villains and characters of her own creation, Simone took the moral grey area that made the Squad such a riveting read to new heights, and more importantly the book just consistently kicked ass without fail for years, getting better with each passing issue to this day. I honestly can't name another series in comics that comes close.

I've been a champion of this whole reboot thing in theory. Comics as a business is in big trouble, and since each of the big two publishers is a subsidiary of a major entertainment conglomerate, no way does that not have to change. But the particulars, stuff like this, well I feel as if they're throwing the baby out with the bathwater and missing out on an opportunity to maintain their greatest books and even expose them to new audiences. Throw out DiDio's Outsiders? ABSOLUTELY.

But DC already has a Suicide Squad for the new generation of readers, it's perfect just the way it is, and I'm truly sad to see it go. While I'm withholding judgement on most of DC's changes, I don't mind going on the record as calling this a mistake.

Two of the best things in comics today - Gail Simone, one of the greatest creators in comics today, Birds of Prey in particular being a comic whose characters she's displayed a remarkable affinity for - and Angry Birds, the biggest thing in gaming addiction since World of Warcraft.

I would buy the hell out of this. I would even go so far as to buy the inevitable Black Lantern pig variant.

Another brilliant idea from the comic geniuses at The Gutters. DC, make this happen!

File under "yay!", "about effin' time!", and "cannot recommend highly enough." One of the greatest titles of DC's Post-Crisis period, John Ostrander's Suicide Squad, is finally being released in trade paperbacks, beginning with Volume 1: Trial By Fire.

This iteration of the Squad made its DC debut in the pages of the Legends miniseries, which also fully integrated Captain Marvel into the mainstream DCU and elevated Wally West from "Kid" to full-on "Flash" status. Yeah, it was a pretty eventful book.

The Suicide Squad, comprised primarily of villains and the occasional grey-area hero, were tasked with unspeakably dangerous missions in the Cold War '80s, and they did it, for the most part, because it was either do what you're told or go to prison. Or, maybe lose a limb.

Welcome to life under Amanda Waller, the boss from Hell who isn't afraid to tell off BATMAN.

The Suicide Squad made a huge impact on the DC Universe. and its legacy is everywhere, from Smallville to Justice League: Generation Lost. It's spirit is perhaps best represented in Gail Simone's wonderful Secret Six, consistently one of the best books on the stand ever since its debut as Villains United.

Full disclosure: this is one of my all-time favorite series ever, in my long-ass comic reading life.

A less objective summary would go something like this: Suicide Squad featured a cast of fan-favorites, lead characters with little to no scruples working in very grey areas, under the auspices of a morally questionable U.S. government that was often fragmented and at war with itself. This is commonplace in comics these days, but it was unprecedented and a huge deal at the time.

While breaking down barriers, introducing entire new concepts in storytelling, and pushing the genre of comics forward, Suicide Squad also consistently delivered balls-to-the-wall action and was never not a fun read.

And that, after all, is what comics are all about. This belongs on every fan's bookshelf.