DC Comics Co-Publisher and La Jollan Jim Lee Introduces New Characters at Comic-Con

Before Hollywood took over Hall H at Comic-Con, the annual convention started out as a showcase for comics; those colorful books that many cartoons, animated features, movies and television series like Batman and Superman are based on.

The comic-book industry is alive and well, and this tradition is carried on by one of La Jolla's illustrious (pardon the pun) residents: Jim Lee. In fact, this year's Comic-Con International Souvenir Book cover was penciled by Lee himself. The 192-page book is handed out free to each attendee at Comic-Con.

This comic book artist has illustrated many favorites such X-Men #1, which remains the best-selling comic book of all time. Lee is currently the co-publisher of DC Comics and is behind many of the illustrations for Batman, Superman, and WildC.A.T.S.

On Sunday, the last day of Comic-Con, The New 52 was presented by Lee and two fellow illustrators, Cully Hamner and Mark Chiarello. They introduced a variety of drawings that are slated to become the new generation of DC Comics Superheroes, or as Hamner told the audience, "It's time to young the characters up."

The slide show presentation included stunning images of Lee's younger version of characters like Batgirl and Superboy, as well as a brand new character, a vampire, in keeping with the latest bloodsucker trend.

The DC Comics co-publisher also explained that these characters will be more forward looking than the current ones. He also described what went into creating the elements of each costume for the new slew of super powered beings in painstaking detail, noting that, "looks should extend to the future, and their costumes should reflect this move."

Listening to the DC Comics illustrator is one of the highlights at the Con for faithful comic-book readers, and Lee is no stranger to the throngs of fans who line up for each panel he participates in; this year he spoke at four over the four-day convention.

Take a peek at a that attended Comic-Con this year and .

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