I just wanted to send a letter of clarification regarding the CrossGen Tour that WIZARD announced in PREVIEWS and that was slated to appear in the latest issue. I didn't know anything about my conducting any such tour until someone brought it to my attention after seeing the PREVIEW solicitations. What's even more bizarre is that, when I called Ian Feller and Tony Panacchio at CrossGen, they had absolutely no knowledge of such a stunt. I never received any calls from WIZARD about such a tour either. My gut feeling is that, considering the timing, this may be one of WIZARD's April Fool's Day stunts. I have no concrete evidence regarding that, but considering the circumstances, I wouldn't be surprised. So it wasn't because I was too busy to conduct the tour; it's that I was never doing one in the first place.

On another matter, I also want to clarify that JLA/AVENGERS, despite erroneous statements to the contrary, is not scheduled for a 2002 release. According to my original agreement, the book isn't to be solicited until the fourth issue is well into its inking stages, which means that this project will not premiere until early to mid 2003. In addition to the intense, deliberate and time-consuming nature of the project, I've also had to deal with some family issues, including my father-in-law's recent diagnosis of terminal kidney cancer. I am starting to pick up some speed now and hope to have at least one month of uninterrupted productivity. For the record, as of March 27, 2002, I have penciled 75 pages and have inked 28. I'm very proud of my work on this mini-series and certainly hope that you all deem it worth the wait.