America Online And DC Comics Join Forces To Launch Daily Batman Comic Strip

Sin Tzu is Unleashed as the Newest Villain in the Batman Comic Series

New Series Starring the Dark Knight Detective to be Featured on KOL, AOL's New Service for Kids Launching This Fall

DULLES, VA - The Dark Knight Detective, the citizens of Gotham City and AOL members will soon have a new nemesis > -> Sin Tzu > -> who will make his cyberspace debut this Fall in the brand new original online Batman comic strip created for America Online by DC Comics. Through a special agreement between AOL and DC Comics, "Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu" will appear online exclusively on AOL five days a week. This new Batman ongoing storyline was developed especially for the online environment and for KOL, AOL's new experience for kids, which will be available to consumers this fall.

In the upcoming daily strip written by Mark Schultz and with art by Rick Burchett, two of comics' finest talents, Gotham's most notorious villains have banded together under mysterious circumstances. Batman must discover who is behind this diabolical conspiracy before an all-out war descends on the city. Could it be Two-Face, Mr. Freeze, Catwoman, the Joker, or perhaps Sin Tzu > -> the latest criminal mastermind and shadowy eastern mystic created by comic book superstar Jim Lee and Flint Dille? As the mystery unfolds, kids can go online each weekday and get a new episode in this exciting year-long serial.

"Kids love comics and Batman is one of the coolest, most beloved super-heroes of all time," said Malcolm Bird, Senior Vice President and General Manager Kids and Teens, America Online. "We are thrilled to give kids online access to this original online comic series that they can follow online all year. This offering from DC Comics is a great example of AOL's commitment to offering kids cool original programming they can't get anywhere else."

"'Batman: Shadow of Sin Tzu' is the first-ever strip exclusively developed by DC for the online environment, and we are thrilled to give AOL members access to this special online edition of such an exciting comic," said Richard Bruning, Senior VP & Creative Director at DC Comics. "By bringing this world-class super-hero to the Internet, we are literally bridging the generational gap between parents who grew up reading Batman stories in comic books and watching him on television and their kids who will now be able to check out Batman's daily adventures online."

AOL and DC Comics have also joined forces to offer a host of additional special content and features for AOL's new experiences for its kids and teens audiences. Kids can check out special Batman and Superman comics online at KOL as well as access other features related to the world's most famous superheroes. In addition, each weekday, kids and teens can get new Spy vs. Spy comics and wacky excerpts from the classic MAD Magazine.

America Online will introduce KOL, the first version of AOL designed entirely for kids, this Fall. Combining exclusive content from industry leading kids brands and all-new original programming, this new service will offer kids a fun and entertaining online experience just for them that is fully integrated with AOL's Parental Controls.

About American Online, Inc.
America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.