**********DC DIRECT GALLERY INTRODUCES ARTIST SIGNATURE SERIES

HIGH-END ACTION FIGURE SET SPOTLIGHTS BATMAN: HUSH BY JIM LEE

Fans of Batman and Jim Lee will have a chance to go behind-the-scenes and
see an action figure’s development in August with the ARTIST SIGNATURE
SERIES: ACTION FIGURE EXCLUSIVE EDITION BATMAN: HUSH BY JIM LEE!

This high-end series from the DC Direct Gallery debuts with a set that
features a dramatic new paint variant of the BATMAN: HUSH ACTION FIGURE
designed by Jim Lee and sculpted by Tim Bruckner, plus a resin replica of
the original sculpture created from Lee’s designs and an unpainted PVC
pre-production “test-shot” used to approve production molds. In addition,
all three figures will be numbered.

This deluxe signature series set is packaged in a gold foil-stamped
gift-display box with a double-panel lid. A signed replica of Jim Lee’s
original concept art, suitable for framing, is displayed on one of the
inside cover panels. The opposite panel features both a 4-color
Certificate of Authenticity autographed by DC Direct premier sculptor Tim
Bruckner and a mini-booklet that tells the story of how an action figure
is made.

“I think it’s one of the coolest things we’ve ever done,” says Georg
Brewer, DC’s VP - Design & Retail Product Development. “For the first
time, we’re inviting fans to step inside the creative process and see how
we work. It represents everyone’s creative contributions to the
development of an action figure, including Jim Lee, Tim Bruckner, Ed
Bolkus and Shawn Knapp who first came up with the idea.”

“We have really high hopes for the Artist Signature Series as it is a
truly unique concept,” says

Syndee Barwick, DC’s Director - Product
Management, DC Direct. “Naturally, we’re hopeful that building this
initial set around Jim Lee’s Batman work will be so popular that we’ll be
able to move into production on more sets in the series!”"It’s an honor to be the first in this prestigious new line,” says Jim
Lee. “Tim did some of the best work of his career on the BATMAN: HUSH
ACTION FIGURE and the fans responded. This set is something that hardcore
toy collectors would kill to have in their collections - I know I’ll be
calling DC every day to make sure they send mine to the right address!”

“One of the cool things about this item is that it gives both
knowledgeable and novice fans a look at the process, and gives them a
sense of why it takes a year from the time someone says ‘Let’s do this,’
to when an action figure arrives in stores,” says sculptor Tim Bruckner.
“The more a fan knows, the more he or she will appreciate the tremendous
amount of time and effort that goes into the DC Direct action figures.”

ARTIST SIGNATURE SERIES: ACTION FIGURE EXCLUSIVE EDITION BATMAN: HUSH BY
JIM LEE is advance-solicited in the February issue of Previews (Volume XIV
#2) and is scheduled to arrive in stores on August 18.