San Diego Comic-Con Panel Round Up

[Local Hero]

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.

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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.