[SDCC] DC Nation Panel

[David]

The DC Nation panel Friday at Comic-Con International in San Diego found Executive Editor Dan DiDidio and a panel of DC's top talent including Story Editor Ian Sattler, Shane Davis, James Robinson, Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, and VP-Sales Bob Wayne answering fan questions and discussing favorite moments from Batman, Superman, and Blackest Night.

. . .

DiDio looked for Red Lanterns full of Rage. "What's raging you, sir?" "Those long lines!" the fan shouted. Other answers included homework, my mom, and Twilight. DiDio gave the first respondant the Red Lantern shirt off his back. For his next Orange Lantern shirt, a fan immediately shouted "I want that shirt!" for the win. The next was a yellow shirt, which a fan won by shouting "I'm afraid you don't have another shirt on underneath!" DiDio continued to strip off through the series of Lantern tees.

. . .

Next was applause for the Superman books. Fans said they liked the realistic characterization and ties to the Legion. Robinson spoke about the August-beginning arc, "Mon-el, Man of Valor," which will see major changes for the character, including a new look.

. . .

"Anybody reading Batman?" DiDio asked next. "Damian being an ass" was the first shout-out for best bits. "I have the story plotted where he gets curb-stomped," Rucka joked.

. . .

Young Justice-type series? DiDio said that they are focusing more on new ideas like the multi-colored Lanterns, and the twenty-something characters that represent the next generation are more of focus than Young Justice-age characters, which DiDio referred to as "pre-Teen Titans."

. . .

After a fan complained about Batman RIP, Robinson said "I think that's one of the greatest Batman series that's ever been done."

The same fan also disliked "Final Crisis," which led DiDio to say that he had heard and understands complaints, but didn't understand why fans were focused on what was done three or four years ago. "We see where things might've gone better, and we see things we can build upon."

. . .

The next question was about Ambush Bug #6, which had fallen off the schedule. "It's my fault, I let it fall through the cracks," DiDio said, after explaining that a few small changes were needed and DC had given Giffen a full schedule. DiDio said it should be in stores in a couple months.

. . .

Is Batman trapped in cave times real or metaphorical? "It's entirely real."

. . .

With Trigon removed, what is Raven good for? "Raven is going to be very important in Teen Titans soon," DiDio said.

. . .

A fan wanted DC to stop leaving issues out of its trade paperbacks and hardcovers. Bob Wayne asked for applause to see who would prefer this and who would prefer issues left out "if it makes a stronger book with a beginning, middle, and end." The former won out. "I will take that information and use it in whatever way I want," Wayne said.

CBR's coverage can be found here.

[David]

DC Universe Panel:

"I've got a whole bunch of people with me today," DC Executive Editor crowed at the start of the panel adding, "I don't want to do this one alone." He was soon joined by VP of Sales Bob Wayne, Andrew Kreisberg, Senior Story Editor Ian Sattler, Eric Trautmann, Eric Wallace, Nicola Scott, Gail Simone, James Robinson who he introduced saying, "Whatever you want to write, it's yours." The final member of the panel was incoming "Lobo" writer and Anthrax singer Scott Ian.

. . .

J Michael Straczynski has laryngitis and couldn't make it to the show, but Didio previewed some art from his first "Brave & The Bold" issue featuring Batman and Robby Reed from "Dial H for HERO." "This is a great time to have Joe working for us," the executive editor said. "To have him write Batman for us is a good thing."

Didio then showed art from Doom Patrol which he joked was "Third time's the charm" for his run at DC thanks to writer Keither Giffen.

Johns promised a new speedster coming out of "Flash: Rebirth" and running right into the "Blackest Night: Flash" series he's doing with Scott Kollins. And once "Blackest Night" ends, Johns will be writing a Flash monthly book. Johns later said that he wanted to do the same thing with the Flash franchise he did with Green Lantern. It's his favorite character, and to build the franchise Sterling Gates will come on to write "Kid Flash."

Art was shown for Robinson's upcoming run on "Justice League America" with artist Mark Bagley. A new lineup was teased of which Robinson said, "At the moment, I don't think the team is everything it should be. I want to make the team great again." With "Cry For Justice" taking place just before "Blackest Night," Robinson's run starts proper with "Justice League of America" #38 including two issues tying into "Blackest Night." "You're going to see a character I believe can be great...female Dr. Light against Black Lantern evil Dr. Light," the writer teased, adding that the new team will feature Mon-El in a new Superman-inspired costume, Dick Grayson as Batman and Donna Troy who "I'm going to make her kick ass in this book."

. . .

DC has finally acquired the rights to "T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents" and will incorporate the characters into the DC Universe much like the publisher has recently done with the Red Circle characters and the Milestone heroes. "I absolutely love the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents," said Robinson. "The great art, the great stories, the fact that one of them was a traitor...this stuff was ahead of it's time." He added that he "couldn't wait to be a part" of bringing them into the DCU proper. Didio later said that since the papers were signed "last week" there hadn't been time to put together a full creative team, but the characters would first appear in other DC books.

. . .

Ian spoke briefly on "Lobo" saying that as a longtime comics fan, he was looking to put everything anyone's ever wanted to see in a comic into his series, adding later that he also wanted to write Batman at some point, "I had a bunch of ideas that maybe will fly after the Lobo book comes out...of course it would be my dream to work on a Batman book at some point. We're moving forward and talking about a couple of things." Jason Blood is a possibility, and Ian said that he would only write something that he had something to add in terms of his personal voice, noting that he wrote Lobo as himself in most scenes. Sattler confirmed the singer would writer more books for DC.

. . .

"Green Arrow/Black Canary" had a moment in the spotlight, with Kreisberg saying of the cover where the husband/wife team squared off "we'll get more conflict, a lot more him firing arrows at her and her screaming at him." Didio also said, "We keep building around key franchises" citing Batman and Superman of late and now with the JSA. "Green Arrow and Black Canary should feel like people who are important to what's happening in the Justice League."

Wonder Woman crosses into "Secret Six" soon. "Coming up in this next year we'll have possible a Black Alice appearance with maybe a Secret Seven" planned, said Simone. And on the Wonder Woman front, next up is a single issue centering on a cage fighting before the arc "War Killer" which follows up on the questions seeded for a while in the series. Simone said Ares will take over Paradise Island while Wonder Woman declares herself not an Amazon in defiance of the gods. "We're going to see her more as a superhero than she's ever been," the writer said.

"[Ambush Bug #6] is never coming out," joked Dan Didio before saying honestly that it should ship in a few months.

. . .

When a fan asked for Johns to come back onto "Teen Titans" and work to "fix" the franchise, the writer said that Superboy, Kid Flash, Tim Drake and Wonder Girl will all appear in the first arc of "Adventure Comics" and that he had spoken with the new writers taking over both that series and "Titans" saying, "They're going to be really, really good books." Deathstroke will become the leader of the Titans team when Wallace writes "Titans" later this year.

The Batman franchise and "Blackest Night" will be connecting over the coming months, with Johns promising that he'd spoken on story plans with Grant Morrison.

CBR's recap can be found here.