Tuesday, June 24, 2008

After Action Report: Heroescon, Part 2: DC Nation


After Action Report: Heroescon 2008, Part 2: DC Nation Panel

So, we're back with another installment of the After Action report for Heroescon 2008. Yesterday we covered the creators and cosutmers I spotted during the Con, this insallment will cover the DC Nation Panel, which I attended on Saturday.

Luke, Joe and I hit the floor pretty hard on Saturday morning, snatching up $1 issues, signatures, and original art (to be covered later this week). At about 11:30, we headed upstairs to get good seats for the DC Nation panel at noon.
Attendees, pictured from left to right, were Matt Sturges, writer on Blue Beetle and House of Mystery, Ethan van Sciver, artist for Green Lantern and related books, Jimmy Palmiotti, writer for Jonah Hex and inker for just about everything, and Jann Jones, who heads up DC's all ages line. Dan Didio was also present (but not pictured) behind the podium. Also present was a box of Moon Pies, which got thrown at/to people who asked ridiculous questions.

Things got started really quickly, with Mr. Didio moving through the various happenings in the DC Universe, and then asking the crowd what they liked. Luke got in on the game by announcing his love for Outsiders loud and proud, telling Didio that he really appreciated that pacing and the action.

He also took a question from a Spoiler fan who was apparently not satisfied that her favorite character was undeadified and given a one shot earlier this year. This really got my goat, as one of my favorite characters is dead (Aquaman), another just got stabbed to death (Martian Manhunter), another hasn't had his own ongoing in over a decade (Doctor Strange) and my main man needs his wife to support his series (GA). Oh well.

A few more highlights:

Aquaman (young version) will be seen in Final Crisis, while the classic version may be making an appearance as well
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In answer to "will a Flash die in Final Crisis"

"Quite the opposite, actually"
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The suggestion that Rip Hunter may be an older version of Booster Gold was met with stunned silence from everyone in the room, including the panel. Didio quickly (and understandably) changed the subject.
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Catwoman will be moving over to Detective now that her ongoing has been canceled
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Luke asked if DC planned more odd books like The War That Time Forgot, Tor, and House of Mystery. Didio assured him that while there won't be a ton, there will be books to feed that market as long as it exists.
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A question about Bart Allen's return to the DCU was quickly diverted
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Ethan van Sciver heavily implied that he will be working on a Flash book soon
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The deaths of the New Gods in Countdown represents the last hurrah of Jack Kirby's Fourth World, with Final Crisis ushering in the Fifth.
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Tiny Titans and the rest of the kids line are doing really well, which is good to hear.
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Mr. Didio refused comment on whether he could take Chuck Dixon in a fight.
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Unfortunately, I did not get to ask my question about the possibility of anthology books for characters who can't support a book on there own. Luke and I thought that Hawkman and the Atom, and Aquaman and Martian Manhunter would be a good start.


As a final note, as a preface to answering the question about Catwoman, Didio reminded the audience that if a book doesn't sell, they have to cancel it. I took that as a zing to the crazy people who rant about their favorite book that no one reads getting canceled, and not against the woman asking the question, especially since she started off acknowledging the cancellation with aplomb, and was only asking if her favorite character still had a place in the DCU. Apparently certain other comic blogging personalities took it differently, so I thought I would put in my two cents.

4 comments:

Rick L. Phillips said...

In answer to "will a Flash die in Final Crisis"

"Quite the opposite, actually"

At first I thought this meant that Barry Allen was returning. Reading farther I believe that it means that Bart Allen is returning.
When will DC permantly bring back Barry Allen??!!!

Ricardo Victoria said...

While there are things in general that I don't like at the moment in the DCU, I have found the GA/BC book highly amusing and entertaining. Maybe is just me, but the marriage and a shared book between them was the next logical step. As much as I liked BoP I prefer Dinah working with Ollie.

rob! said...

>>>Aquaman (young version) will be seen in Final Crisis, while the classic version may be making an appearance as well<<<

i think Arthur Joseph is gonna take a dirt nap, and Classic Aquaman will return...

Adama said...

@wingedlion: I actually like the addition of Black Canary to the GA book, I was just upset and ranting. The fact that she was all pissy because her minor character didn't get her own book after being resurrected and given a one shot just irked me.