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San Diego Comic-Con Panel Round Up - Local Hero - 07-25-2004 DC: Superman Panel At Friday’s Superman panel at SDCC, titles were discussed, and an announcement made: Jeph Loeb will be wrapping his run on Superman/Batman with issue #25. The panel, co-hosted by Will Dennis and Eddie Berganza, began with the creators running through their titles, and what makes them stand apart from one another. Jim Lee and Brian Azarello were particularly tight lipped, not wanting to spoil surprises from the current 12-issue arc telling the story of how the disappearance of Lois, and one million people from around the world has affected the hero. Speaking to Adventures of Superman, Greg Rucka said that he’d recently realized where his stories had been leading him, and therefore, what his entire run will be about. He didn’t want to tell attendees, homing that they will find out for themselves, noting that writing Superman is far from easy – “It’s the most challenging writing gig I’ve ever had.” Rucka noted that the trick with writing Superman stories isn’t “will he win the fight,” but rather what’s the emotion behind the fight – what’s the fallout of the fight, and how does it affect Superman. As for Mr. Mxyztlplk’s appearance in the current issue, Rucka said that readers can expect to see him again in 90 days. “He’s got a regular gig now.” Talking of his Action Comics, writer Chuck Austen said that his book is the one where Superman gets into a fight, finishes it and starts another one in the next issue, and then does it all over again. Austen noted that his scripts, featuring multiple guest stars and heavy details have had an effect on series artist Ivan Reis as well – “I get death threats from Ivan,” Austen joked of his Brazilian artist. “But they’re all in Portuguese, so I can’t understand them.” When asked about how he felt working with Austen, Reis joked (through a translator), “I kill Chuck,” saying that the writer sends scripts that ask for so many details. Reis said that he stops wanting to kill Austen when he thinks about his inker, Marc Ramos, who has to ink all of Reis’ detailed pencils. Together, according to Reis, the two of them are planning to send Austen’s script back the next time he asks for a double-page spread, and tell him to draw it himself. When talking about Superman/Batman, writer Jeph Loeb said of the arc following the Supergirl one that oncoming artist Carlos Pacheco’s desire is to draw every character in the DCU, “So we’re going to do it,” Loeb said. Citing a past storyline in Marvel’s The Pulse where writer Brian Bendis brought in a character from “a major metropolitan newspaper” only to have her brutally beaten and killed by the Green Goblin, Loeb said that his final arc of Superman/Batman, which will end with issue #25, will answer that storyline in kind, poking fun at Marvel while showing readers why Superman and Batman are still the coolest in the world. Loeb’s final arc will be drawn by Ed McGuiness. In the Q&A after the panel, the creators were somewhat taken aback by a man who professed to being a 20 year reader of the Superman titles, but was “totally confused” by the books now, despite the fact that he reads them all, monthly. The questioner said that he felt like he’d missed a part of the storyline somewhere, given the discrepancies between the three core titles. Superman Group Editor Eddie Berganza said that when the books were connected by the shield on the cover, the overwhelming sentiment was to separate the titles, and let them tell their own stories. With the changes in creative teams, the titles are now completely separate, but Berganza feels that people are trying to find some connection between them again, which may result in the confusion. It was pointed out to the man that Superman is set roughly a year ahead of Adventures and Action. As the creators continued to try to clear up the fan’s confusion, Loeb compared comics to episodic television, citing that most people don’t start watching new series with the first episodes, but come in when they come in, and if they like it, they continue to watch, and perhaps try to find out what happened before they started viewing. This helped the fan, as did ,Superman writer Brian Azarello’s comment that by writing the story he’s writing, set when its set and without all the answers, he’s putting readers into Superman’s shoes. “He’s confused too. He’s lost.” Asked about the movie, Loeb said that he was baffled at how long it’s taken the Superman movie to get made. Commenting on Smallville when asked, Loeb said that Clark will graduate from high school at the end of the coming season, but the show will go on. When asked about the increased presence of Wonder Woman in the titles, Rucka (who also writes Wonder Woman) said that Superman and Wonder Woman have a deep ideological difference, and that’s being slowly brought to light. Rucka’s answer to if anything will be done about it, “what for it.” Marvel: Avenger's Panel While thousands of fans lined up for a special "Lord Of The Rings" panel, the devoted Marvel fans at Comic-Con International in San Diego hit the Avengers/Marvel Heroes panel where the publisher laid out plans for the Avengers, seemingly ignored in the past, but this year they'll truly be "Earth's Mightiest." In attendance were Publisher Dan Buckley; Joe Quesada, EIC; Tom Breevort, group editor; "Fantastic Four" writer Mark Waid; "Invaders" writer Allan Jacobsen; Brian Bendis, who arrived late to the panel; "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" writer Joe Casey; Scott Kolins, who pencils the series; Adi Granov, cover artist for many series; Ed Brubaker, writer; C.B Cebulski, talent agent; Allan Heinberg, a writer for tv's "O.C" and writer Robert Kirkman. With an ominous "It All Blows Up" slide to begin the show, Marvel presented pages from the anticipated "Avengers #500" and hyped up the issue shipping this Wednesday. "I didn't realize Tom Breevort had a grown up illegitimate son," said Quesada as Kirkman entered the room. Marvel then talked about "Earth' Mightiest Heroes," the "Year One" series for Avengers that CBR News brought you word on months ago. When Quesada told Casey the series sounded great, Casey agreed and Kolins expressed enthusiasm over the package and urged fans not to miss the series. The next announcement was of "Young Avengers," the second Avengers series and it drew a collective "huh" from the audience. Written by Heinberg and illustrated by newly exclusive Jimmy Cheung, Quesada urged "It's not what you think. It's nothing like you're thinking, it's one of the most inventive series we've come along in a long time and Al has such an incredible take on the characters you'll be excited." Expect the project in early 2005. "It can be whatever I want it to be," said Heinberg. The characters will be all new and he joked about the creative process, when he first said, "Why am I doing this book? I hate this book!" The audience laughed and Heinberg said Geoff Johns' "Teen Titans" inspired the book, with young versions of Hulk, Captain America, Iron Man and thor showing up in the wake of "Avengers Disassembled." When the "Fantastic Four" slides were shown, their was a huge applause and Quesada did an imitation of Waid, saying, "Yay, I still have a job" in reference to Waid's initial firing from the series. Waid mentioned that Galactus comes to Earth to pick one of the 4 to be his next herald. When guesses were made, someone picked one of the four and Breevort said, "You're all wrong but it's one of the Four." "Invaders" was the next topic of discussion and Jacobsen said, "The idea was to take unfamiliar characters to everyone, an unknown writer, an unknown artist and blow you away- hopefully we can succeed in that. We're very excited to be updating Golden Age heroes, sort of like a legacy book." Though "Iron Man" was initially shown as by writer Mark Ricketts and artist Tony Harris, the audience was unstoppable when Warren Ellis was announced as the new writer and Adi Granov as new regular artist. "Adi's stuff is fantastic and one of few times someone's taken CGI look and made it work," said Quesada, though their may be fill in digital artists to let Granov do his best work. "I hope it's gonna be good," laughed Granov. "I mean, I know it's gonna be good, but I hope people are gonna like it." There was a brief spotlight on "She-Hulk" and Quesada said, "I love this book and think you all do." He said the series wasn't near cancellation, but more readers were needed. A lot of laughs were elicited by the cover to issue #8, featuring all the lawyers of the Marvel Universe in a crowded elevator. In spotlighting "Warlock," Quesada said Greg Pak is, "The best writer you've never heard of." Check out CBR's interview with Pak for more information. Another exciting announcement was Ed Brubaker as regular writer of "Captain America" and Steve Epting as regular artist. Check out CBR's exclusive Brubaker interview where he talks about Captain America and more later tonight. Not much was said about "Thor," but Quesada had a laugh about the titular character, saying, "No one's on 'Thor' because Ragnarok killed him." A new "Thunderbolts" series comes out in November with Fabian Niceaza and Kurt Busiek as writers, while Tom Grummet will be doing pencils. Kirkman is also premiering a new "Marvel Team Up" series and the first two issues feature, as he says, "it features Spider-Man and that guy with the claws." Coming up in February is the "Avengers Finale" special written by Brian Bendis and "it'll be like the last episode of 'Mash,' with special moments for every characters." It'll feature some of the top artists in the series, including a cover by Neal Adams and a final chapter by George Perez. Images: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://images.comicbookresources.com/previews/marvelcci2004/small/earthsmightiestheroes.jpg">http://images.comicbookresources.com/pr ... heroes.jpg</a><!-- m --> <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://images.comicbookresources.com/previews/marvelcci2004/small/ironman_a.jpg">http://images.comicbookresources.com/pr ... nman_a.jpg</a><!-- m --> <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://images.comicbookresources.com/previews/marvelcci2004/small/ironman_b.jpg">http://images.comicbookresources.com/pr ... nman_b.jpg</a><!-- m --> Marvel: Universes Panel A few announcements were made, storylines teased, and futures hinted at the Marvel Universes panel Friday at San Diego. Starting with the Ultimate Universe, Editor in Chief Joe Quesada ran through the Ultimate titles, praising each for its strengths. Upon reaching the slide for Ultimate Nightmare, Quesada revealed that the miniseries by Warren Ellis and Trevor Hairsine is the first part of a trilogy. Quesada teased that when readers reach the second to last page of the last issue, they’ll say, “Oooooo….insert your favorite Bendis expletive here.” Speaking of Ultimate Spider-Man, Bendis said that after the Ultimate Carnage storyline, Ultimate Wolverine would show up “for the most embarrassing thing I have ever written publicly.” The wolverine storyline will be followed by the Ultimate Fantastic Four in a storyline starting Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate Human Torch’s friendship. That story will be followed by an Ultimate Dr. Strange appearance, and the start of the Ultimate Hobgoblin arc. Speaking of Amazing Fantasy and the girl with spider-like powers (Quesada said he didn’t want to call her “Spider-Girl” to avoid the angry e-mails) will name herself in the series soon. Quesada showed the further covers to Spectacular Spider-Man arc, which begins with Spider-Man in a web showing four, rather insect-like eyes…and moving to the extreme. Quesada gave props to both Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus and Mary Jane, calling them two of Marvel’s best reads currently on the stands. Marvel Knights editor Axel Alonso spoke about Steve Dillon’s participation in the upcoming Bullseye miniseries, stating that he was able to lure the artist out of his semi-retirement by just asking him to read Zeb Wells’ script. Alonso said that the miniseries features loads of cameos, such as issue #3, where Bullseye going to a banana republic and installs a druglord as its leader solely to lure the Punisher to the country for a showdown. Speaking of the Daredevil Anniversary Special, Bendis said that the idea was to bring in artists who had never drawn Daredevil before – such as P. Craig Russell, Michael Golden, Chris Bachalo, Jae Lee and David Finch. Bendis said the fell of the story would be along the lines of the Ultimate Marvel Team-Up Special. Daredevil #66 begins the “Golden Age” arc in the series, which will be, according to Bendis, simultaneously set in Marvel’s Golden, Silver, and present ages. “It’s along the lines of Once Upon a Time in America,” Bendis added, noting that the storyline will show the Kingpin and Matt Murdock, as well as their connection, before they became the men readers know today. While showing the cover for issue #66, Quesada asked Bendis, “Just what is Daredevil swinging off of in that picture?” noting the height at which Daredevil is swinging. Though Bendis joked that he’d talked to artist Alex Maleev about the image as well, Quesada continued teasing Bendis, asking if, perhaps, Daredevil fell off of the Silver Surfer’s surfboard. Quesada next showed a slide for Daredevil: Father #2, with the text, “Coming summer 2008!” On the serious side, issue #2 will run 31 pages, and will be in stores in (hopefully) two weeks. Quesada said that Peter David is doing great work on Madrox, and he’s very happy to see him back working on the former X-Factor characters. Continuing through the slides, Quesada urged everyone to pick up Powerless, which he called “a wonderful tale with the coolest surprise ending of any book we’ve done in a long time.” “It really asks the question of whether powers make the man or are they heroes at their core from the start,” Alonso added. In speaking of Secret War, Bendis said that the “talking heads” are over, and the miniseries is going to turn into the “most gorgeous fights you’ve ever seen and learn the secret behind the ‘secret war.’” Bendis said that the upcoming The Pulse storyline with the Green Goblin will dovetail into Marvel KnightsSpider-Man in order to smooth out the continuity differences of Norman Osborne. For oncoming artist Brent Anderson’s first arc, the series will explore Jessica Jones’ rough patch as she suffers anxiety during the Secret War, described by Bendis as “a large, world changing event that she can’t control.” Quesada named Robert Rodi and Essad Ribic’s Loki as one of his favorite books. “We gave Loki what he’s always wanted,” Rodi said. “He’s got Asgard. But – as the saying goes, be careful what you wish for, as things go bad – really bad and really creepy really fast.” Quesada added that Rodi’s story was the first time he’d read a Loki story and understood the character more than just an annoyance for Thor, thanks to the shift in point of view Rodi is employing Moving on to the Icon line, Bendis said that he and Michael Avon Oeming have “issues and issues” of Powers in the can, so there will be no skipped months for the rest of 2004. “We do stuff that mainstream Marvel and DC can’t do – we kill the hero first and tell the story from there.” Bendis added that while he thanks people for picking up Powers they should do themselves a favor and pick up David Mack’s Kabuki as well, calling it a fantastic illustrated poem, unlike anything on the market. Quesada said that more Icon announcements will be coming for projects to be released in 2005. In the question and answer period, Bendis said that Echo won’t be returning to his Daredevil stories, adding that it’s a personal character for Mack. When he wants to bring her back, Bendis said, he will. When asked what changed at Marvel given that the company is now doing more crossovers and events such as “Avengers Disassemble,” when, for years, they were eschewed as something from the company’s past they weren’t ready to get back to, Quesada said that after a few years of working on reestablishing and redefining the characters, they felt it was time to start moving towards more continuity-based storylines, such as team-ups and crossovers. In that vein, Bendis said that every writer working on an Ultimate title has some big event cooking. “Wait and see,” was Quesada’s answer to what readers could expect after the upcoming Hulk/Thing miniseries. Likewise, Quesada was not willing to discuss what Neil Gaiman’s project for Marvel would be, only noting that it would be well into, if not after 2005. Bendis said that Mia, Matt Murdock’s estranged wife would be returning to Daredevil soon. Though it would also be confirmed later in the afternoon, at the Avengers panel, Quesada confirmed that Warren Ellis would be writing Iron Man. In the “Stump the T-Voort” portion of the panel, when fans tried to stump editor Tom Brevoort in trivia, the editor made Spider-Man fans cry (some questions were answered by Brevoort even before the fan had finished asking the question) as they asked questions which he easily answered. Though he wasn’t able to stump Brevoort, a young boy who knew minutiae of Stan Lee’s Spider-Man stories, won the grand prize of the panel. - Local Hero - 07-25-2004 DC: Universe Panel Friday’s DCU panel got off to a quick start, with Bob Wayne presenting slides with a host of DCU creators at the front table with him. The presentation began with Identity Crisis, with Wayne referring to some of the topics discussed at the day’s earlier panel devoted to the miniseries. Wayne said that people were earlier asking when certain characters would show up and/or react to the heroes actions in issue #2. His response to the questions was to show the cover to issue #4 by Michael Turner, featuring a very pissed off Wonder Woman, holding her lasso. “I think they learn about what’s been going on around issue #4,” Wayne said. Speaking briefly to what was coming up in JSA, Geoff Johns said that Extant returns for a battle with Hourman, and in November, the JSA teams up with the JSA, when the current team travels back in time to the ‘50s to team with the original team in a six part storyline. Alex Ross will provide covers for the arc. Showing the slide for Outsiders #17, Wayne turned the mic over to Judd Winick, who told the audience that the man pictured was in fact, John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted. As the writer explained it, Walsh approached DC about doing a comic book, and Dan Didio suggested Outsiders. As Winick explained it, “I didn’t think he wanted to be in a comic. Well…I was wrong.” The plan and Walsh’s involvement was finalized in a three way call between Didio, Winick and Walsh. “This guy’s the living embodiment of Batman – he’s take the personal tragedy from his own past, and turned himself into a really crime fighter,” Winick said, referring to the abduction and murder of Walsh’s son Adam, which caused Walsh to create the show America’s Most Wanted. The writer said that Walsh isn’t concerned about looking silly in the comic – he told Winick that he’s been parodied on The Simpsons and been poked fun at on South Park, so he knows what comes with the territory. The storyline will follow the Outsiders as they attempt to track down the head of a child slavery ring with no luck. Nightwing decides that they should go public, and suggests the team contact Walsh. The rest of the team thinks he’s nuts, but goes along with him anyway. “This isn’t going to be like Spider-Man going on Saturday Night Live or the Avengers going on Letterman - both of which issues I have and love,” Winick said. A few more were revealed about September’s Teen Titans/Legion Special by Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, and Ivan Reis. “This will answer once and for all whether Superboy is a Titan or a Legionnaire,” Waid said. Johns on who the teams have to fight: “It’s the Fatal Five…hundred.” Both writers had nothing but praise for Reis’ art, with Waid telling of a note they received from the artist wherein he apologized for only being able to fit in 383 characters, rather than 500 on a double-page spread. Waid added that the special leads into the new Legion of Super Heroes in December, saying that the idea behind the new series will be to create a Legion where everyone can be onboard from the start, both new readers and long-time fans. Didio added, “We’ve made a point to go after and fix all of our major franchises and teams, and Legion is one of the last ones.” According to Waid, one of the conditions he put into place was that they would have to get the blessing of Paul Levitz, DC Publisher and former Legion of Super-Heroes writer. “We didn’t want his blessing as publisher, but as the guy who’d written more Legion stories than just about anyone.” As Didio reported, Levitz loves the new approach and story. When the slide of “Johnny DC” was shown, Didio said that DC will be doing a couple of Duck Dogers specials, mainly because internally, DC had been dying to do them. September will see Identity Crisis cross over into the pages of Flash with the three-part “Sins of the Father” arc. “Geoff is going to redefine what an crossover story should be,” IC writer Brad Meltzer said. “He took the scripts for the story, and wove his story within the panels of Identity Crisis” Hawkman co-writer Jimmy Palmiotti said that following appearances by the Atom and Monolith, classic Hawkman villains will appear in the series, starting with issue #34. In regards to Wonder Woman, writer Greg Rucka said, “If you’ve been reading it, and being patient, I am grateful – now comes the roller coaster.” Rucka hinted that from issues #210-#218, action will move to the forefront of the story, with battles on earth, Olympus, and Hades. “People will die, but not who you think,” Rucka said. “People will be redeemed, but not who you think.” Back to his usual self, Johns declined to talk about Green Lantern: Rebirth, saying only that it’s a beautiful book, thanks to Ethan Van Sciver’s pencils. Manhunter will show ties to Identity Crisis, but not in the way people think, according to Didio, who added that the idea behind the series was to start adding new, strong female superheroes in the DCU, “and I think we’ve got it.” The series begins in August. Firestorm writer Dna Jolley admitted that currently, it looks like there are tow Firestorms flying around the DCU, and hints as to what’s going on will be seen in issue #4, and soon everything will make sense. “The question that I’ve been asked the most since this series started will be answered in issue #6,” Jolley said. “The story won’t be over, but question will have been answered.” The new art team of Jamal Igle & Rob Stull is set to make its debut in December’s issue #8. Speaking of his other DCU title, Bloodhound, Jolley said that so far, some people don’t know what to make of it, given that it stars a character who doesn’t wear a costume, but has powers, who hunts other characters with super powers who don’t wear costumes. Breach, a new monthly will debut in January, written by Bob Harras with art by Marcos Martin and Alvaro Lopez. According to Wayne, the series lead, Major Tim Porter, gains the powers of other-dimensional beings that he’s studied for twenty years. Now calling himself Breach, Porter instantly becomes the subject of concern of both the heroes and villains of the DCU. “Batman: War Games” architect Bill Willingham didn’t offer too many details on the upcoming crossover, saying only that unlike other crossovers, War Games various parts will all play an important role in the overall story. As announced in DC’s Batman panel, Judd Winick will be the new ongoing writer of Batman, starting with issue #634 in November, with his first arc featuring the return of the Red Hood. Winick was quick to point out that the returning Hood, who’s had many identities over the years in Batman comics, including the Joker, will this time be someone of note, someone whose identity will deeply affect Batman. November will also see the debut of new regular Batgirl artist Ale Garza, along with new regular writer, Andersen Gabrych. Starting in 2005, DC will begin its own ambitious reprint project, Batman Chronicles, a trade paperback collection which will reprint every Batman story ever printed in chronological order, starting with Detective Comics #27, and including stories from Batman, World’s Finest Comics and everywhere else that Batman appeared. During he question and answer period, Wayne said that the idea behind the Chronicles is to keep them as a line of relatively inexpensive softcovers. Steve Niles tries the DCU on for size with Batman: Gotham County Line, a three issue prestige format miniseries illustrated by Scott Hampton, which pits Batman against a rash of home-invasion murderers. Toe Tags, the new horror series featuring stories and situations from the imagination of George Romero will begin in October, with the six part arc entitled, “The Death of Death.” In speaking about the upcoming Space Ghost miniseries by Joe Kelly and Ariel Olivetti (with covers by Alex Ross), Didio said that they finally were able to get permission to tell Space Ghost’s origin. “This isn’t Coast to Coast,” Didio said. The six issue miniseries begins in November. Jack Kirby’s Kamandi gets the Archive treatment from DC next year. The publisher revisits the “Bizarro” concept in 2005 with Bizarro World, featuring…unique takes on DC’s icons by the likes of Harvey Pekar, Chip Kidd, Tony Millionaire, Craig Thompson, Peter Bagge, Gilbert Hernandez, Evan Dorkin, Andi Watson and many others. When asked about what’s coming up in Superman, writer Brian Azarello opted to go in the opposite direction from other creators who remained relatively tight-lipped about their series, and read the script from the first seven pages of issue #207. As anyone at the panel can tell you, spoken word comic script read in deadpan by Azarello makes for a very, very funny time. Running down the question and answer session which followed the presentation: Rags Morales’ next project after Identity Crisis isn’t yet solidified, although the artist said he has a few that he’s looking at. The new take on Legion will be a re-imagining, rather than a reboot. Asked about the Teen Titans: Games GN by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, Didio said that Perez is just about ready to start drawing it again, reminding attendees that roughly 80 pages are already in some stage of being finished. The GN is being targeted for October of 2005, according to Didio. Greg Rucka said that Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark and he will not stop doing Gotham Central unless DC physically takes away the writers’ keyboards, and pries the pencil out of Lark’s hand. The team has the coming months planned, with a Flash Rogue showing up in issue #28. The series will tangentially tie in to “War Games,” but from the police perspective, as they realize that Batman is, apparently, just letting this war happen, and bodies drop all over the city. Wayne said that the litigation with Carmine Infantino will not affect the release of future Archive editions of Flash, or any other DC character. Lex Luthor: Man of Steel will hit next spring, just as Azarello and Jim Lee’s Superman run is winding down, according to the writer. Jeff Smith is getting ready to start his Shazam project for DC. Didio reported that the first three scripts and breakdowns are in. “It’s not something we’re going to rush,” Didio said. “We want it to be the best that it can be.” Asked if they were going to talk about Grant Morrison’s DCU project, Wayne said no. “And we’re not going to talk about Dave Gibbons’ upcoming DCU project, nor are we going to talk about Frank Miller’s next DCU project,” Wayne added. Winick said that the current “New Blood” arc in Green Lantern is the most important piece he’s written in five years, and will change Green Arrow forever. Addressing the issue of writing for trades, Didio, rather forcefully answered with, “We’re not writing stories for trades, we’re building stories for periodical sales. It’s out job to bring you back into the stores each month for the next part.” Asked if more Chronicles would be coming, along the lines of what DC is doing with Batman, Wayne said that DC needs to wait and see how many people are buying the Batman Chronicles first, but the format is open for other characters. In regards to confirming or denying a Green Lantern movie starring Jack Black, Wayne said, “I live in no fear of going to see that movie.” The sequel to Formerly Known as the Justice League is coming out. No other details were given. Metal Men? Didio: “We’re trying.” Changes in Aquaman will be announced shortly. Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family will be coming soon to the DCU. Asked if anything special was being planned for JSA #75, Johns responded with “Hell yes.” The writer also said that he and Winick are working on finding a home for Tempest, the former Aqualad. A second Gotham Central trade, collecting the “Half a Life” storyline is planned. No new HERO trades are forthcoming. In discussing his goals for the company, Didio said that he had three steps he wanted to implement, the first was to secure the best talent, the second to make the books the best that they can be, and the third (which is forthcoming) is to bring continuity back, and bring back the big stories, spanning the universe. Nothing is planned for Lobo at this time, but something is planned for the Demon. Asked if anything would be done with Donna Troy, Rucka said, “That would be kind of silly, because she’s dead,” which was followed up quickly by “Read Teen Titans #15,” from Johns. Martin Stein returning in Firestorm? “No.” – Dan Jolley. More Images: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newsarama.com/SDCC04/DC/DCU/SPG_Cv1.jpg">http://www.newsarama.com/SDCC04/DC/DCU/SPG_Cv1.jpg</a><!-- m --> <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.newsarama.com/SDCC04/DC/DCU/BMGCL.jpg">http://www.newsarama.com/SDCC04/DC/DCU/BMGCL.jpg</a><!-- m --> - Local Hero - 07-25-2004 Marvel: Cup O' Joe Friday’s Cup ‘O Joe panel finally confirmed many rumors that had been buzzing around the floor fort he duration of the con, including new exclusives, new projects, and more. The Editor in Chief did his customary quick run through the slides for the presentation, adding a few comments as needed, such as: If Strange is successful, more Dr. Strange is coming. X-23 will get her own miniseries in January, after making an appearance in Uncanny X-Men. The character was originally created by Craig Kyle for the animated X-Men series, and appeared in two issues of NYX. Kyle will write the miniseries, which will tell the origin of the character and explain her ties with Wolverine, while Billy Tan will provide the art. By issue #6, according to editor CB Cebulski, it will be clear why X-23 doesn’t have a name. Marvel Knights 4 writer Roberto Sacassa has signed an exclusive contract with Marvel, and will be seen soon on more mainstream Marvel work, including the upcoming Nightcrawler series with Darick Robertson on art. Marvel has signed an agreement with Dreamwave, the first fruits of which will be a Fantastic Four/X-Men limited series by Pat Lee which will begin in December. As reported in the Avengers panel, Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting take over Captain America in November, while Warren Ellis and Adi Granov claim Iron Man that same month. Quesada also confirmed that Ellis is exclusive to Marvel for two years for work for hire material. November will also see the debut of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes by Joe Casey and Scott Kolins. Speaking about the forthcoming Young Avengers by Allan Heinberg and Jimmy Cheung, Quesada said that it was the best new pitch for a series that he’s ever read. The new series will debut in January. In regards to the series, Quesada said that it’s not going to be Marvel’s version of the Teen Titans, especially given that Heinberg is a huge fan of Geoff Johns, and wouldn’t want to just do a rip off of the team. “It’s completely and wholly unique,” Quesada said. “The only similarity between it and the Titans is that the characters are young.” Peter David’s Hulk miniseries will begin following the conclusion of Bruce Jones and Jae Lee’s six issue Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks miniseries. Runaways will return in January for “Season Two,” starting with a new issue #1. In regards to Thor, Quesada said that plans have changed, and asked the audience to be patient. There are currently no pitches in for a New Warriors project, but that may change, Quesada said. More Masterworks volumes for the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man are coming. Quesada said that he’s thrilled that fences were mended with Warren Ellis, allowing him to be comfortable enough to sign an exclusive contract with Marvel. Still, Quesada said, he doesn’t like to see so many creators signed to exclusive contracts, but feels that, since DC began the practice wholesale, Marvel had to answer in kind with exclusives of their own. “I compare it to the Cold War,” Quesada said. “A year and a half ago, the opposition decided that the only way to stop the Marvel steamroller was to start locking up talent, so we had to as well. They built a nuclear bomb, so we built a nuclear bomb.” The exclusive contract with Marvel will not affect Ellis’ work on Planetary, according to Marvel publisher Dan Buckley, who was also in attendance at the panel. In his “Bad Signal” e-mailer, Ellis wrote of the announcement: “This is a work-for-hire-only exclusive: it means that if I do company-owned work, I do it only for Marvel. It requires me to produce something like two scripts a month from Marvel, which is actually a little less than I'm doing right now. ”As Joe Quesada himself reportedly hinted, it also introduces Icon, Marvel's boutique creator-owned line, into the frame as an opportunity. ”PLANETARY is exempt from the deal, as are two other small WFH jobs I'd begun at DC. And, to reiterate, it affects my creator-owned work not at all -- I'm free to continue generating new work in that field and placing it anywhere I like. ”All power to Dan Buckley for being really very flexible in putting this deal together with me. People like Dan Buckley and DC's Dan Didio (who I ran this by when this first came up, and was totally understanding and very cool) are making comics a much easier place to work in.” It was also announced that Robert Kirkman has signed an exclusive contract with Marvel. No further details were offered. She-Hulk is safe through issue #12. Asked if anything was in the works for Longshot, Quesada said, “I’ve heard his name.” Silver Surfer will end with issue #14, and be reevaluated for a possible return next year, according to Buckley. Despite lower sales, the publisher is pleased with the performance of titles such as Sentinel and Runaways, and plans to continue creating books of that general style and approach. Quesada said that he’s yet to read a pitch for Cloak and Dagger that’s made him say, “Ah!” Thinking aloud, the EIC tossed the idea out that perhaps C&D were maybe a product of their time, given that they were homeless runaways, a white girl and a black guy, characteristics which, perhaps, aren’t as edgy or unique now. “Maybe someone out there has [a good pitch for the characters],” Quesada said. “But I haven’t seen it.” Origin 2 is in the works, and may see release in 2005. In the waning moments of the panel, Quesada asked where it would be and who would win if Marvel and their Distinguished Competition were in a knife fight. “It would have to be in the streets of New York,” Quesada said. “And as for who would win, I’ve always said that DC books are so dull you can’t even get a paper cut off of them.” Buckley quickly added, “The views expressed by Joe Quesada are not necessarily the same views held by Marvel Enterprises,” ending the panel on laughs from the audience. - Local Hero - 07-25-2004 DC: JLA/JSA Panel Grant Morrison is returning to the Justice League, writing the first arc of a new title, JLA: Classified, it was announced by editor Mike Carlin Thursday at the JLA/JSA panel at Comic-Con International. While JLA will have a new regular team of Kurt Busiek and Ron Garney, JLA: Classified with feature the rotating teams that JLA has had for the past two years. "This will be set in any era the writer wants," Carlin said. "This is the place where you can do your JLA Satellite era story. We'll be covering all the bases and hopefully we'll be picking top guys." The new book is also where Gail Simone's JLA story will probably wind up. The story is penciled by Jose Garcia-Lopez and inked by Klaus Janson. "Oddly enough, they haven't worked together in 30 years," Carlin said of the art team. Also targeted for the book is a Dan Slott/Dan Jurgens story, featuring a new character and an old character. And the I Can't Believe It's Not the Justice League story, by J.M. DeMatteis, Keith Giffen and Kevin Maguire, might also end up in JLA: Classified. According to Carlin, Maguire has penciled three issues so far. "Kevin is not an artist you can rush," Carlin said. In other notes from the panel: * Geoff Johns said a JLA/JSA crossover wouldn't happen until next year, but December will see JSA/JSA as the team of today is paired with the team of yesterday. Alex Ross is providing covers. * Johns also noted he's seen the first episode of Cartoon Network's Justice League Unlimited and was pleased with number of JSA characters appear in at least cameos. "They had Mr. Terrific? And his costume looks the same? That's wild," Johns said. (Look for more from Johns in The Continuum's coverage of his panel). Justice League Elite writer Joe Kelly said the new maxi-series allows him to explore darker themes and underground elements he couldn't in the regular JLA book. The Crime Syndicate appears in Busiek's first arc, which spins out of JLA/Avengers. Carlin called JLA #107 a "breath-catching" issue. Kelly said his Space Ghost project will launch in November. - Local Hero - 07-25-2004 DC: Vertigo Panel A new writer on Swamp Thing, a new series written by Bruce Jones and a new series drawn by John Watkiss were announced at the first of two Vertigo panels on Friday at Comic-Con International. Here's a rundown of highlights from the panel: Joshua Dysart is the new writer on Swamp Thing, beginning with #9. He is joined by artist Enrique Breccia. "Generally speaking, I like to create things for myself," Dysart said. "But with Swamp Thing, I've never been so empassioned with a character that's not mine." Jones will be writing a new Deadman series. Asked to describe it, he said: "Airplanes, romance and the dead in a way you're probably not familiar with." "Deadman was most obviously a spot for Vertigo, and we finally got ahold of that," editor Will Dennis said. Jason Hall is teaming with Watkiss on the creator-owned Trigger. Watkiss described the book as a mix of 1984, a Roman Polanski film and Gattaca. he displayed several pieces of art from the series and noted that he had done storyboards for Sky Captain and the World of Tommorrow. Dennis said Trigger was set in a world where Ethicrop is the major corporation, with the "We get the bad out." The lead character is an assassin for Ethicorp by night, but he doesn¹t know this and is tired and confused during the daylight. Seaguy artist Cameron Stewart said he would like to do more with the character and that Grant Morrison originally envisioned it as a nine-part story. - Local Hero - 07-25-2004 Independent: Dusten Nguyen Panel Dustin Nguyen, who is moving from his run on Batman to teaming with Ed Brubaker on The Authority: Revolution, said the new book is "really the same characters, but going in a different direction." "We're going to explore a lot of their past," Nguyen said in a panel devoted to him -- and hosted by Jim Lee -- at Comic-Con International on Thursday. "We're going to have the origin of the Carrier, which is one thing I was really interested in. We're going to explore its origin and the people that created it. "It will be a pre-Authority story in some sense, but we'll balance that out. There will be back-and-forth with flashbacks and the future." The book, written by Ed Brubaker, starts with "Come the Revolution," the first part of a 12-issue arc. Here's how WildStorm describes the first issue, which hits stands on Oct. 27: "Following the dramatic events of Coup D'Etat, the Authority has settled into its role as governing body of the United States. The other major world powers have adjusted to the regime change and are slowly coming to terms with the meaning it has for the future. But many Americans are unhappy to lose their inalienable rights. Can a second American Revolution be far behind?" This is Nguyen's second crack at The Authority, following a fill-in run with Tom Peyer, where he said he trying to maintain the widescreen approach of Bryan Hitch and the characterizations of Frank Quitely. And now? "I don't know how to compare," he said. "This time I'll certainly get to draw The Authority. And I've grown as an artist. Hopefully, it will be better." Nguyen said his work on Authority will be more "mainstream super-hero" than his work on Batman. It definitely won't be so dark and gloomy as Batman," he said. "And I'm always trying to better myself, and I hope that comes through." Nguyen said during his Batman run he enjoyed drawing Robin so much that he's doing the covers for Robin #129-131 (#129 is shown here). He also said that enjoyed working with Joe Casey on the recently discontinued Wildcats 3.0 and hopes to work with both the writer and the characters again. He said that he and Casey had 16 more Wildcats issues plotted -- "It's the first time I've had a hand in the plot," he said -- and that he would have like to have done with more with Zealot and that Grifter would have recovered and gotten out of the wheelchair. - GlennWalker - 07-25-2004 Thank you so much, Local, for having all this cool info in one place. Excellent, man. :-) Glenn - Local Hero - 07-25-2004 no probs glenn.. i'm a hoarder in all things.. heh.. even news