Comic Book Discussion

[Happenstance]

I dont think it looks that bad at all

[Daft]

Looks fucking awesome. What is it? I want to read it.

[Dante]

DC’s Superman Panel

 

Grant Morrison, J. Michael Straczynski, Scott Lobdell, Matt Idleson, and Mike Johnson were on hand at the Superman panel to discuss the future of Superman and related titles. Rich is currently sprinting like a madman back and forth across the convention center, so with thanks to newsarama and twitter, here are some bullet points:

Morrison on the costume: A 17 year old wouldn’t want to wear a suit his mother knitted.

The idea that this is a younger, edgier Superman was touched on by Idleson and Morrison

Art for the Superman: Earth One sequel was unveiled

From newsarama: “Another image depicts Superman with his neighbor Lisa, who is attracted to him, and they’re discussing how he’s not sure if he can have normal sexual relations. After a fight with Parasite, Superman temporarily loses his powers, and then at the end of that finds out that he missed his chance to have sex.”

Lois Lane is running the new media side of the Daily Planet, which is now a media conglomerate.

Scott Lobdell says that a familiar character with red hair will be in the Superboy book.

Mike Johnson says Supergirl is largely about the character figuring out her own origin. She first meets Superman in issue 2.

In response to audience questions, Morrison says that Steel is in the first four issues of Action Comics, and that there is a Legion reference in Action Comics 1.

Superboy is being reverse-engineered by a group called N.O.W.H.E.R.E.

Young Justice and the current Teen Titans no longer happened.

Superboy has all his continuity up until right before Young Justice

Lobdell says that Superboy will be a villain for awhile in Teen Titans.

From newsarama: “Fan asked if JMS leaving Superman and Wonder Woman had anything to do with the DC relaunch. JMS said no, and it had everything to do with the success of Superman: Earth One.”

Action Comics #1 takes Superman’s flying ability back to the early golden age development between leaping and flying at first.

Morrison: You can’t pierce Superman’s skin, but you can pierce his heart.

Edited July 22, 2011 by Dante

[Daft]

Can someone clarify for me what Superboy's continuity up to YJL is exactly?

 

Also, this is rad as fuck.

 

Edited July 23, 2011 by Daft

[Happenstance]

 

So do we think this means Spidey will get his spider sense back soon or is this just a mistake? (Unless he has already got it back, I havent been reading ASM

 

[Dante]

The next question was about a statement earlier in the day that Karen Starr would appear in "Mr. Terrific." Confirming the fan's suspicions, Wallace said, "Power Girl may or may not exist in this universe, but Karen Starr does."

 

WTF DC! They spent the past couple years building up Power Girl then dropping Power Girl from the new DCu.

 

[Happenstance]

DC Universe Tackles Dark Knight Returns

 

During the panel following tonight's premiere screening of DC Universe's animated original feature Batman: Year One, there was some exciting news to share in the world of DC animation.

 

Just after the movie ended, executive producer Bruce Timm announced the lineup of upcoming animated titles. Next up will be the previously announced Justice League: Doom, followed by an adaptation of the one-shot Superman story Superman vs. The Elite. After that, the studio will return to the work of Frank Miller with its first ever two-part movie based on Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. "It's going to be very, very faithful to the comic," Timm reassured the audience.

 

No casting has been announced yet, but in answer to a question from the audience, voice director Andrea Romano said that they would consider using fan favorites Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill for the voices of Batman and the Joker.

 

There were more questions during the panel about future projects, including Alan Moore's The Killing Joke and Alex Ross' Kingdom Come. According to Timm, The Killing Joke has been discussed. It's not currently on the production schedule, but it hasn't been ruled out. The same couldn't be said for Kingdom Come, which Timm doesn't think will ever be produced as an animated feature. "It's just not made for 2D animation," he said. "It's not a good fit."

 

Look for the three announced titles to come out sometime in 2012.

 

http://uk.bluray.ign.com/articles/118/1183821p1.html

[bryanee]

A two part animated Dark Knight Returns movie? Hells yeah baby.

 

I also cant wait for the Tower of babel Justice League adaptation.

[Dante]

'Justice League' Panel

 

DC Comics' Justice League presentation at Comic-Con International in San Diego featured a panel deep with DC talent and spirited debate with attending fans. Major topics included Batman's presence in both Justice League and Justice League International, the future of Power Girl in the DC Universe after the September relaunch, Geoff Johns's excitement for Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato's Flash run, Johns claiming to have made a mistake, the importance of diversity (and a very strong hint that Ryan Choi will be the new DCU Atom) and a particularly heated exchange regarding the alleged lack of female characters in central positions on books in the New 52, especially the titles that fall under the Justice League line.

 

Click after the jump for highlights and loads of new DC Comics artwork.

 

Panelists included SVP Sales Bob Wayne, Co-Publisher and Justice League artist Jim Lee, Justice League, Aquaman and Green Lantern writer (as well as DC Entertainment's Chief Creative Officer0 Geoff Johns, Executive Editor Eddie Berganza, Justice League International writer and Green Arrow artist Dan Jurgens, Green Arrow and Captain Atom writer J.T. Krul, Savage Hawkman artist Philip Tan, Flash co-writers and co-artists Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato and Mister Terrific writer Eric Wallace.

 

The panel began with the panelists describing their respective titles in what DC has been calling The New 52.

 

On the Tone of Justice League: Jim Lee said Geoff Johns brought out the "humanity and humor" in the Justice League members, which include all the major DC heroes and Cyborg, and that much of the book focuses on their relationships.

 

On Justice League International: Dan Jurgens said the JLI will be a United Nations-sanctioned team created as a response to the main Justice League, with a somewhat rotating membership. Some of the characters will wish they were on the Justice League proper, Jurgens remarked. Johns added that the vice versa will also be true.

 

On Aquaman: "If you think Aquaman sucks, read Aquaman #1," said Johns. The much maligned hero's reputation as a guy who just talks to fish will be addressed, and Johns said he wants to bring a lot of humor into the book, as well as all of his books.

 

 

 

On Sinestro as Green Lantern: As readers have been seeing in War of the Green Lanterns, Sinestro, the greatest Green Lantern villain, is now a Green Lantern himself. Neither he nor any other Lantern wants him to be, but the ring chose him and he won't be able to get it off. In initial arcs, Sinestro will be facing off against his own yellow-lantern Sinestro Corps. Johns later added that the Guardians will think that there might be a reason the ring chose Sinestro, and Sinestro will gain a now-unknown ally who will help him realize this is as well.

 

On The Flash: Outgoing Flash writer Johns spoke about Manapul and Buccellato's incoming run with them right there, giving it effusive praise and mentioning his adoration for a storytelling technique they will employ: mid-page there will be a bunch of little inset panels representing possible choices in Barry Allen's mind. One of the panels will become "realized" on the next page, as a way to demonstrate how fast The Flash's mind works.

 

 

 

On Captain Atom: Writer J.T. Krul reiterated his statement from yesterday that artist Freddie Williams II is inkwashing Captain Atom but not the backgrounds so as to make him look separate from his surroundings. The writer also added that it was a very different book from what he's written for DC so far.

 

On Green Arrow: Krul stated that Oliver Queen will have a new company called QCore that supplies him with technology to facilitate his superhero activities. Krul said that GA will be a fun action-adventure book with a James Bond feel, with artist Jurgens adding that it has a lot of wide-open visuals and action featuring a younger Ollie.

 

On Mister Terrific: Writer Eric Wallace commented that it's a difficult book to write since unlike Michael Holt, he isn't the third-smartest man in the world, and Mister Terrific will never implement simple solutions to problems. He also commented that it was the most fun he's ever had telling stories in his life, and that Terrific will go to outer space fairly quickly. There will also be a focus on building Mister Terrific a strong rogues' gallery.

 

 

 

On Savage Hawkman: Philip Tan commented that DC wanted to update Hawkman's armor to be more of a carapace. Tan said his is not a Hawkman readers have seen for a very long time, and the character will live up to the title's new name.

 

 

 

After those rundowns of new DC Comics titles, the floor was opened to fan Q&A.

 

On Batman being in both JL and JLI: Jurgens said that since the JLI is formed by the United Nations, the regular Justice League will send Batman to be their "voice" on the official team.

 

On Life Starting on Earth in Green Lantern when there were older civilizations on other planets: Johns stated that those civilizations evolved into humanoids while Earth was still primitive; after being grilled further, he just said "I made a mistake, how about that?"

 

On the Martian Manhunter, Formerly a founding JLA member who's no longer on the team: Johns said the Martian Manhunter, aka J'onn J'onnz, will be in the first arc of Justice League and that readers will "see where he's at," but he doesn't look to be a founding member. Johns said he wanted to do something different and felt since Superman is an alien he didn't want any redundancies, hence Cyborg seemingly taking J'onn's place in the founding lineup.

 

On the makeup of the new JLI: Asked why Nightwing wasn't on a team, Jurgens pointed out that Batman is the only character in the new JLI that wears a mask because the paradigm in the new DC Universe ithat nvolves distrust of aliens and superheroes, so these are more open superheroes that the public can trust. As such, the masked Nightwing finds himself teamless.

 

On diversity in the DCnÜ: Wallace stated that it was very important to him to reflect the real world in his book, Mister Terrific, and that his run will feature a sporting cast with black, hispanic, asian and, he joked, "even white" characters because "I had to stick them in there." Going back to a serious note, he stated that he wants the world of Mister Terrific to reflect the real world. Jim Lee added that there was a "very small" asian character in the Justice League whose name rhymes with "blatom," all but saying that the Atom in the new DC Universe is Ryan Choi rather than Ray Palmer.

 

On female characters in the Justice League line: A female fan in a Batgirl costume, with daughter dressed as Spoiler, was very upset by what she said was a lack of female characters being featured centrally on the covers in the Justice League line of books. The panelists said they are trying very hard to take diversity seriously in terms of both gender and race. The fan said no such characters were featured prominently on the covers, leading to a somewhat heated and awkward back-and-forth ending with her promising to go count them. The mood of the room was definitely against her, with Lee joking and asking if she wanted the female characters to be "dead center or off-center" on covers.

 

On Power Girl: As to whether she's still in the New DC Universe, Geoff Johns stated that Power Girl will still be around and is a fantastic character; Eric Wallace added that while Power Girl may or may not be around, Karen Starr (her alter-ego) definitely will be, presumably in his book Mister Terrific.

 

On Hawkgirl: When asked if Hawkman's wife Hawkgirl/woman would appear in Savage Hawkman, artist Philip Tan stated that he couldn't answer that. Hawkwoman seemingly died recently in the last issue of Brightest Day.

 

On Secret Six: When asked if Secret Six could return, Berganza responded "never say never."

[Happenstance]

Just been watching Superman II on tv. I dont know why but my ability to ignore all the holes in that movie has vanished and I was moaning about everything. As a Superman movie its just stupid and has some very lazy writing in it.

[Dante]

Dark And Edge Panel

 

During today’s panel for The Dark and The Edge at SDCC, we premiered art from ANIMAL MAN, BLACKHAWKS, DEATHSTROKE, FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF S.H.A.D.E., JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, MEN OF WAR, OMAC, RESURRECTION MAN, SUICIDE SQUAD, SWAMP THING, I, VAMPIRE, and VOODOO. Click through the gallery to see all this new art.

 

 

 

The New 52 Panel Part 2

 

The New 52 panel at SDCC saw the debut of even more interior art. Couldn’t make it? Worry not. Check out what you missed in the gallery below, including art from BLUE BEETLE, DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS, HAWK AND DOVE, LEGION LOST, STATIC SHOCK and TEEN TITANS.

 

 

 

 

First look at Aquaman:

 

SDCC Marvel TV News

 

At Comic-Con International in San Diego, Marvel Head of Television Jeph Loeb hosted a panel on Marvel's current and upcoming features, with new footage from "Ultimate Spider-Man" on display and the world premiere of "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" season 2, episode 1. Loeb announced live-action shows in development including "aka Jessica Jones," "Hulk," "Cloak and Dagger," and "Mockingbird," as well as an animated "Hulk: Agents of SMASH" headed up by Paul Dini and the complete run of "Astonishing X-Men" done in Marvel Knights Animation style.

 

"Marvel TV was a brand new idea a year ago," Loeb began, recounting how he was asked to move from publishing into creating television projects that have "Marvel DNA in them."

 

"Really, at the end of the day, the peanut butter side of my head and the chocolate side of my head get to play together, making TV shows based on comics," he said.

 

He then introduced the topic of Marvel Live Action. Loeb provided the caveat that any projects shown are "in development," and may or may not make it to the screen.

 

The first show concept is "aka Jessica Jones" at ABC, based on Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos' "Alias," which Loeb described as a story about "a failed superhero." "We obviously can't call it 'Alias,' thank you JJ Abrams." Loeb said the show would feature Carol Danvers and Luke Cage.

 

"Hulk" was the next project announced, "a brand new take on the character" set in his early years, "before everyone knew his secret," and focused on the love story between Banner and Betty Ross.

 

"Cloak and Dagger" for ABC Family was announced next, a story about "two teenagers who discover each other and find their powers both complement and complicate their lives." The series will be set in post-Katrina New Orleans, prompting a fan near the front to gasp, "Holy Shit!" "You can come to every panel," Loeb said.

 

"Mockingbird" is also in development for ABC Family, depicting Bobby Morse as "a Peter Parker Nerd" who is recruited to a secret organization.

 

Loeb then moved on to animation, thanking fans for their support of "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" and "Super Hero Squad." He then introduced "Ultimate Spider-Man," which will premiere next year on Disney XD. He showed sketches of Spider-Man and Spider-Ham. Fans cheered when Loeb mentioned that Paul Dini will be writing for the show. He also said "Ben10" creators Man of Action Studios will also contribute, the studio of Joe Casey, Steven T. Seagle, Duncan Rouleau, and others. Bendis will serve as Creative Consultant.

Loeb then played a sizzle for "USM," with behind-the-scenes footage featuring some of the show's talent. Stan Lee came up first, grinning "Spider-Man!" The first bit of animation was a split screen of MJ splitting carrots while Spidey fights off bad guys, talking on the phone. Following some action, Peter is shown sewing his costume, looking to the camera and saying, "What?" Spidey fights Venom, and there were several comic-esque visual effects

 

Drake Bell spoke about playing Spider-Man, "It's great playing a super-hero who's so iconic."

 

Stan Lee plays Stan the Janitor and will have a recurring role.

 

Nick Fury is played by Chi McBride and will mentor him into the "Ultimate Spider-Man."

 

Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson. Coulson will also be the principle.

 

JK SImmons = JJJ, as he is on film, and Stephen Webber is Norman Osborn, "a powerful industrial who a grudge with Spider-Man."

 

As the footage ended, Loeb said "everyone who was involved in the casting process chose one person." Drake Bell then joined Loeb on stage. Bell said he was seeing the sizzle reel for the first time and was overjoyed to see his voice with the character. Loeb then premiered the trailer for the show, as well.

 

J. Jonah Jameson began with a voice over condemning Spidey, as the web-slinger himself fights Elektro, then Venom, followed by Doctor Doom. He also teams up with Avengers and is chased through the NYC subway by an octopus-like robot.

 

"Our hope is that it looks different from any Spider-Man show you've seen before," Loeb said once the trailer concluded.

 

"Being a fan of the comics and something we've never had in animation before is Spider-Ham," Bell said, adding that the snorts were a lot of fun.

 

Artists contributing the look of the show included Stuart Immonen, Humberto Ramos, and Joe Quesada, who provided drawings of the characters to the animation team. Loeb acknowledged the late Spider-Ham creator Mike Wieringo.

 

Loeb then moved on to Marvel Knights Animation, which recently produced "Thor & Loki: Blood Brothers." The complete run Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's "Astonishing X-Men" will be translated to animation, with Cassaday as a consultant on the animation.

 

Paul Dini then joined Loeb on stage. Asked whether there's anything he'd like to work on, Dini said, "I've always loved the Hulk." A slide showed "Hulk: Agents of SMASH," with multi-colored Hulks, as Loeb and Dini bantered about how he'd "come up with this idea just right now." The series is in development for Disney XD.

 

Moving on to "Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes," Loeb invited writer Chris Yost to the stage, though he admitted he was unsure if Yost was in the room. Yost, however, is apparently not in attendance. Loeb then played the first episode of Season 2.

 

The episode began with a mysterious figure assessing the threat levels of each Avenger, with Hulk garnering an "extreme" rating. The villain is revealed as Doctor Doom.

 

Johnny Storm and The Thing show up at Avengers mansion to play poker, but when Hulk sees them, he growls "Grimm!" and tackles him out the door.

 

Janet Van Dyne hangs out with Sue Storm, while Tony Stark chats with Reed Richards. The differences between the pairs are a lot of fun.

 

Doom's simultaneous attacks on the Avengers and FF HQs take the heroes from zero to 60 in about three seconds.

 

The action continues relentlessly, with some very fun moments of humor, but the recap will now conclude to avoid ruining surprises.

Edited July 23, 2011 by Dante
Automerged Doublepost

[Paj!]

X-Men Mafia II has started .

[Daft]

I'd find Aquaman much more tolerable if he could actually control water. Otherwise they should call him Fishman. Having said that, I have warmed to him during Flashpoint. He's still dumb, though.

 

Also, the more I see Supe's new getup, the more rad I think it is.

 

 

Although, weird sleeves.

[Paj!]

I liked Aquaman when he had a missing hand. The hook was so great. Always so handy. And then when he got the missing hand replaced by mystical water that he could use to heal or turn into blades of water and stuff. That was cool.

[ReZourceman]

I hate liking Aquaman now, all thanks to Brightest Day. That comic looks badass.

 

Ultimate Spider-man sounds so fucking sweet.

 

Brian K Vaughn at Image! Yes!

 

Right, lots of reading to do this morning.

[Happenstance]

 

Im quite suprised actually, I figured Cable would stay dead for much longer than he has.

 

[ReZourceman]

"Golden Age" by Jonathan Ross sounds awesome.

[Daft]

 

Im quite suprised actually, I figured Cable would stay dead for much longer than he has.

 

Do we know how he comes back to life? I like Cable.

[Paj!]

That's such a shit poster. Loeb is dubious (but from what I hear he had a major hand in defining Cable as more than just 'big guy with guns' in the mid-90's) and McGuinness is good I guess but when I see stuff like that I want to die.

 

I do like Cable too - but him being reborn kindof defeats the purpose of his death.

[ReZourceman]

I won't hear a bad word against McGuinness. Even if its true.

 

Guys, watch this Rob Liefeld video interview.

 

He pretty much blames Image United on Whilce Portacio which I think a few others have hinted at (or that you can piece together by process of ellimination)

 

Lol.

 

It also makes me like him as a person.

 

http://video.comicbookresources.com/cbrtv/2011/cbr-tv-cci-rob-liefeld-on-image-united-the-infinite-hawk-dove-more/

 

 

Also Todd McFarlane. Don't ....massively agree. See where he is coming from but yeah. Meh. Still an okay/interesting video I guess.

 

http://video.comicbookresources.com/cbrtv/2011/cbr-tv-cci-todd-mcfarlane-on-dc-comics-relaunch-spawn-robert-kirkman-more/

[Dan_Dare]

[ReZourceman]

Post Fear Itself - Battle Scars banner.

 

Defenders!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Why exclamation marks?) By Fraction and Dodson!

 

And stuff.

[Dante]

The New 52 Panel Round Up!

 

“Is everybody feeling a little bit better?” Didio asked, and the audience cheered in response.

 

Buccellato and Manapul then spoke about “Flash” #1, the title they are co-writing, saying that they will show fans what goes through Flash’s head and will emphasize his speed in both the artwork and story.

 

“It’s a very personal story,” said Manapul, adding that the tone they set is exactly how they felt when first starting out on the book: excited and fresh.

 

“We are putting ourselves in Barry Allen, we are not trying to reinvent him,” said Buccellato.

 

Didio then allowed the two “Flash” co-writers to give away the new rogues gallery, starting with a new villain called Mob Rule. Manapul said they will reveal the rogues gallery slowly, explaining that they will be tied into Central and Keystone City. Manapul also revealed the Rogues have broken up, and only Captain Cold is trying to keep the group together.

 

Asking about "Flash" continuity, the next fan asked if Iris is dead.

 

“Iris is alive,” confirmed Manapul, saying that in the comic Barry Allen and Iris went out in the past but it never progressed and he is currently single. Director Sing, Captain Fry, and Forrest will be involved in the comic added Manapul, as well as Gorilla Grodd and there are plans to bring back the Pied Piper.

 

What is with comics writers about not liking married people and wont this mess up Wally and Bart?

 

A female fan told Didio that she counted and out of the twenty-eight solo character titles only six were women and only two were not’t connected to older male superheroes. “How do you justify calling that diversity?” the fan asked as the audience cheered. Didio told her it was an industry problem and then dodged the question, calling on the next fan.

 

However, Simone went back to the female fan and told her that making Barbara Gordon Batgirl does not diminish her power as Oracle, nor her power as a female superhero, as the fan had worried it would.

 

The next audience member to the microphone self-identified as a Barbara Gordon Batgirl fan and asked Simone for details about Barbara's job and the comic.

 

“She’s out of college, she has a degree several years ahead of a normal person,” said Simone, adding that Barbara's intelligence intimidates people. Simone also said she will delve into how Barbara deals with being someone who used to be disabled, but is now able-bodied again.

 

This makes Barbara Gordon sound alot younger than she normally was.

[Happenstance]

I dont think she'll be that much younger than she is now, it just means she got her degree earlier than most.

 

Also we already know Bart is Kid Flash and since he is from the future it doesnt matter if Barry and Iris arent married as long as they have a kid at some point. Wally could still have become Kid Flash/Flash the exact same way as before, them not being married doesnt have to have changed that.

[gmac]

woot, the next issue of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is out this week

 

The first part of the third volume coming out was what got me into this thread (over 2 years ago) and started me down the long and winding road of single issue buying.

 

Thanks Alan Moore!