ST ALBANS comics shop Chaos City held a special midnight opening to celebrate the launch of the new DC Universe.

The DC Universe – home to superheroes including Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern – has been relaunched with 52 new number one issues, including such long-running titles as Action Comics and Detective Comics, with stories starting from the beginning to encourage new readers.

To mark this auspicious occasion, Chaos City in Heritage Close held a midnight launch event last week, offering fans the first chance to get their hands on the initial wave of new titles as soon as they were published.

Comics writer-artist Dave Gibbons, the man behind such acclaimed series as Watchmen, Rogue Trooper and Martha Washington, was on hand to sign books and chat about DC’s new direction, and fans dressed up as their favourite DC characters including Harley Quinn, Batman, Green Lantern and a new-look Superman, who walked away with the top prize for fancy dress on the night.

Owner Derek Watson said: “Much to our surprise and delight, around 50 people attended Chaos City’s midnight launch party for DC Comics’ “New 52” event on a very chilly Tuesday evening.

“Everyone had a great time, as you can see, mingling with other comic book fans and checking out the new books – which were (almost literally) flying off the shelves!

“We ran a fancy dress competition, and comic book legend Dave Gibbons was on hand to chat about DC in general and to hand out the bottle of Bollinger Champagne to the wearer of the best DC-related costume.”

DC Comics took the bold decision to relaunch their entire range of books in order to make them more representative of modern society, and lure in readers who might have been put off by decades of established continuity.

This week sees a further 13 number ones published, with the final batch of 26 over the next fortnight. For further information visit www.chaoscitycomics.com