Today, DC Entertainment and Diamond Book Distributors revealed a special commemorative Free Comic Book Day t-shirt illustrated by "Justice League" artist and DC Co-Publisher Jim Lee. Featuring the current line-up of Lee and Geoff Johns' Justice League, the shirt is the third in a line of FCBD special designs -- with Sergio Aragones illustrating a shirt in 2010 and Darwyn Cooke in 2011 -- and will be available to preorder January 18, arriving at comic shops on April 11, well in time for the May 5 event.

The FCBD shirt is a brand new design from Lee and according to the press release is an homage to Jose Luis García-López's classic group shot of the JLA. The design features Cyborg, Flash, Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and Green Lantern in their New 52 incarnations standing over an open issue of "Justice League." This shirt differs from another Jim Lee-designed Justice League tee, the official 2011 Comic-Con International at San Diego t-shirt, which was offered earlier this year at CCI in anticipation of DC's New 52. The CCI design featured the cover image to "Justice League" #1 on a blue background.

"It's an honor to have Jim Lee design 2012's FCBD Commemorative T-shirt," said Free Comic Book Day spokesperson Leslie Bowser. "Jim's artwork featuring the Justice League from DC Comics: The New 52 will certainly entice a lot of current fans. And it's all for a good cause, as all proceeds go to our marketing efforts to spread the word about FCBD to new customers."

Check out the press release below and stay tuned to CBR News for more details on Free Comic Book Day.

Official Press Release

DC Entertainment and Diamond Book Distributors unveiled today a custom design for 2012's Free Comic Book Day t-shirt, illustrated by legendary artist and DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Jim Lee. The image features the Justice League, as seen in the bestselling comic book series written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Lee.

The shirt will be on sale in comic shops on April 11, in advance of Free Comic Book Day on May 5. It will be solicited in January 2012's Diamond PREVIEWS catalog, and customers are encouraged to preorder with their local comic shop by January 18.

The illustration by Lee is an homage to a classic piece of Justice League art by Jose Luis García-López.

"It's an honor to have Jim Lee design 2012's FCBD Commemorative T-shirt," said Free Comic Book Day spokesperson Leslie Bowser. "Jim's artwork featuring the Justice League from DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 will certainly entice a lot of current fans. And it's all for a good cause, as all proceeds go to our marketing efforts to spread the word about FCBD to new customers."

The FCBD Commemorative Artist T-Shirt is a growing tradition, with a new artist providing artwork for the special design each year. This year's shirt is a follow-up to the first two commemorative T-shirts, which featured artwork from Darwyn Cooke and Sergio Aragones in 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Look for more FCBD news and updates on the FCBD website, www.freecomicbookday.com.; become a fan at Facebook, www.facebook.com/freecomicbook; and follow us on Twitter: www.Twitter.com/freecomicbook.

###

ABOUT FREE COMIC BOOK DAY- Celebrating its eleventh anniversary, Free Comic Book Day is an annual event where participating comic book specialty shops across North America and around the world give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their shops. The event is held the first Saturday in May and is the perfect opportunity to introduce friends and family to the many worlds of wonder available at local comic book shops. From super-heroes to slice-of-life to action/adventure and beyond, Free Comic Book Day has a comic book for everyone!

ABOUT DC ENTERTAINMENT-DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash, etc.), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables, etc.) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating across Warner Bros. and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment, and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is the largest English-language publisher of comics in the world.

© 2011 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. and Free Comic Book Day, inc. All rights reserved. Diamond, the Diamond logo, and PREVIEWS are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Diamond Comic Distributors in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective copyright owners.