CBLDF/GORDON LEE VICTORY PRESS RELEASE

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Press Release

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund scored a victory last Friday when prosecutors dismissed all charges against Rome, GA retailer Gordon Lee. Neil Gaiman announced that Judge Larry Salmon signed off on the dismissal on Friday evening at New York Comic Con.

“This is a victory for Gordon, and a victory for comics,” says CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein. “For more than three years, the comics world has stood behind Gordon’s innocence and now we are vindicated.”
The dismissal comes after more than three years and $100,000 of CBLDF resources were spent to prove Lee’s innocence. The battle was waged against a prosecutor’s office that grossly overcharged Lee at the start of the case, and proceeded to cause multiple delays, including throwing out and refiling charges a year and a half into the case, and creating a mistrial when the case finally went before a jury last November.
Following the mistrial, Rome District Attorney Leigh Patterson vowed to bring the case back for trial on the next misdemeanor calendar. Last winter, CBLDF counsel filed a motion to dismiss on grounds of prosecutorial misconduct. That filing detailed the history of the prosecutor’s errors up to and including the mistrial. Last February, the next trial calendar came and went without Gordon’s case being called and without that motion being heard. Shortly afterwards, Patterson’s office contacted Lee’s counsel, and said they would be willing to drop the case if Gordon wrote a letter of apology. Lee had always been willing to write such a letter, and promptly delivered one to Patterson’s office, where it sat for several weeks. After multiple attempts to bring the matter to a close, CBLDF counsel finally succeeded in moving Patterson’s office to live up to their end of the agreement and drop the case last Friday.

Lead counsel Alan Begner says, “But for the Comic Book Legal Defense F und, and their willingness and ability to go to war on this case, the results might have been much different. There certainly would have been a trial without our specialized experts, and it would have likely been a felony trial. It was a worthy fight for them, and a worthy fight for us.”

Begner adds, “The defense of comic books on obscenity charges is a highly specialized area of expertise where even really good criminal lawyers who fight these things without that expertise are at a great disadvantage. The CBLDF found me — I’m a lawyer who has tried the most obscenity cases of any lawyer in Georgia since the mid 80s, and their knowledge of the field coupled with our specialized knowledge of obscenity law made the difference. We were also able to network with the First Amendment Lawyers Association, which includes CBLDF’s Burt Joseph and Media Coalition’s Mike Bamberger, two of the great experts in the field, to maximize our strategy. We believe strongly that if we had gone to trial we’d have won. But I learned long ago that a win is win, and if they offer to dismiss it, I know not to turn it down.”

Charles Brownstein adds, “This is a great victory for comics. Because of the support from all levels of the industry, the CBLDF was able to successfully fight back against a prosecutor who seemed determined to run a small retailer out of business. We were fortunate to engage the best legal team in Georgia, and the best experts in the region. We’re grateful to Alan & Cory Begner, our lead counsel, and Paul Cadle, our local counsel, for working so aggressively to make this case a win. And most of all, we’re grateful to all of our supporters for sticking with Gordon through all the ups and downs this case has had. Thanks to them, we were able to see this through to victory.”

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NYCC ‘08: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES PANEL

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by Chris Mautner
Lest anyone doubt the popularity of DC’s flagship team book The Legion of Super-Heroes, let him or her discuss the matter with the devoted throng that attended the 50th anniversary panel at the New York Comic-Con this Saturday afternoon.
Though far from packed, a sizable crowd nevertheless showed up to hear artist Keith Giffen, writer (and DC comics publisher) Paul Levitz and current Legion editor Mike Marts talk about their experiences working on the book.
Asked by moderator and historian Peter Sanderson what was the defining element that made the Legion such a revolutionary book, Levitz cited the title’s willingness to let the characters age, change their relationships and even, in the seminal case of Lightning Lad, die. Giffen pointed out that of all superhero teams, the Legion was the first to recognize the price of heroism.
“Up until then comics had come out of classic comic strip tradition of freeze frame. Everyone is going to be same age forever,” Levitz said. “The Legion, four issues into own series said ‘Screw this stuff, we’re going to kill people and change relationships.’”
Marts cited the book’s clubhouse atmosphere, which gave younger readers a strong opportunity for identification. “A lot of kids knew you couldn’t be Superman or Batman but hanging out in clubhouse with friends is something you did all the time,” he said. “You could relate to them almost immediately.
Giffen, meanwhile, stressed the book offering a counterpoint to the dystopian, post-apocalyptic future type of stories that have become so popular these days. The Legion, he said, gave you a “future you wanted to live in. … That’s when it made its mark.”
Asked about past contributors to the lengthy series, Levitz discussed how writers like Jerry Siegel and Ed Hamilton brought, respectively a levity and an epic sense of scale to the work early on, while Jim Shooter (who was supposed to attend but had to cancel his appearance at the convention) brought a humanity to characters who had previously been somewhat cardboard – something that, to this day still amazes Levitz, given that Shooter was showing that sense of humanity while he was 13 years old. All three cited the work of the late artist Dave Cockrum as seminal. The contributions of Curt Swan and Jim Sherman were also highly praised.
Asked about the specific challenges of working on the Legion, the immense number of characters (“30 damned characters” as Giffen put it) and their histories, costumes, and other miscellany were cited as a strong hurdle.
“I thought I was somewhat familiar with the Legion when I came on board, but I was in for a little bit of a surprise,” Marts said. “Knowing what color Batman’s costume is pretty simple,” versus the multitude of legion kids. “It’s tricky to keep the look consistent.”
Levitz stressed the need to be willing, especially for artists, to delve into the challenge that is the group’s immense history while being willing to build new worlds. “For Legion you either get the crazy artist who’s willing to put everything in it or it really shows,” he said.
The Legion’s past reboots were discussed, with Giffen saying that his “5 Years Later” shift in the Legion (which has a love/hate relationship with fans) came about due to his not knowing what else to do when he landed the writing chores on the title after Levitz.
Asked about Legion’s future, Marts said Shooter has an intricate plot laid out and that readers would see more romance and perhaps even a wedding in the book’s future. He also said a legion-related project would be coming out at the end of the year, adding that Shooter is “on for the long haul.”
“There’s nobody lining up to draw or write the Legion,” Giffen added, talking about all the worlds and space aliens an artist would have to invent for such a comic. “There’s no point of reference you have to make it up as you go along.”
The high point of the panel had to be when, in response to a fan question, Giffen voiced his ire for the character Karate Kid.
“I hate that character,” he said good-naturedly. “I agreed to come on Countdown only if I could kill him. If I come on Legion again, he’s dead.”
Why does he hate him so much? “Two words put together. Super-Karate.”
“Everyone in this field has characters they hate,” Giffen said. “I just have the bad taste to say it out loud.”

NYCC ‘08: THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES PANEL - NEWSARAMA

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NYCC ‘08: DC’s [Final] FINAL CRISIS PANEL

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Report by Albert Ching
With the third installment of the New York Comic Con drawing to a close Sunday, DC’s final panel of the convention focused on, appropriately enough, Final Crisis. DC Universe Executive Editor Dan DiDio was joined by Final Crisis artist JG Jones, editor Eddie Berganza, assistant editor Adam Schlagman and, arriving about 15 minutes into the panel, Grant Morrison, writer of the mini-series
DiDio began the panel by explaining the basic concept behind Final Crisis - that it’s the third part of both “official” and “unofficial” trilogies in the DC Universe. Officially, it’s the third “Crisis” after Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis, with the former representing the “death of the multiverse,” the latter representing the ‘rebuilding of the multiverse,” and Final Crisis being the “final saga of the multiverse.”
Unofficially, it’s part of a trilogy of recent events that DiDio calls “an exploration of our heroes.” Identity Crisis, the first part, was in DiDio’s words, a “personal threat” to the protagonists of the DC Universe. Follow-up Infinite Crisis was “putting the greatest odds against the heroes,” and Final Crisis is ‘the day that evil won.”
“This is the one time evil wins,” said DiDio. “What does that mean for our heroes?”

 

DiDio then discussed the Final Crisis tie-in titles, hinting that “a tragic event that occurs in the very first issue” will lead into Final Crisis: Requiem (a truncated title - presumably the full one would spoil that tragic event) by Peter Tomasi and Doug Mahnke.
“It involves one of the cornerstones of the DC Universe, and how his life has changed as a result of Final Crisis #1,” said DiDio
DiDio then ran through the rest of the side books, Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge, Final Crisis: Revelations, Superman Beyond, Submit, Resist and Rage of the Red Lanterns.
After that, a Q&A session began, with Morrison being asked what characters might do something surprising in Final Crisis - Morrison answered by giving a surprising character involved in the series, Fourth World ally Sonny Sumo, specifically praising the way Jones draws him. Morrison continued by saying that iconic characters like Batman will have “big, big roles” in the series.
Morrison said that everything he’s been doing since he started working for DC culminates in Final Crisis, especially JLA, specifically mentioning the “World War III” and “Rock of Ages” stories.
A fan asked about Morrison’s predilection towards obscure characters from DC’s past, and Morrison pointed towards Len Wein’s ‘70s Justice League of America run as a major influence, with mostly forgotten villain Libra playing a role in Final Crisis the latest example. Morrison shared an anecdote of recently talking to Wein, who joked “You owe me about 20% of your earnings.” Morrison said that Libra “seemed to fit the story,” and that the character has a big secret and we’ll see under his mask.
A Kamandi the Last Boy fan was pleased to hear from Morrison that the character is in the very first issue.
“If you don’t kill the Martian Manhunter, could you write an ongoing with him,” a fan asked. “Oops,” Morrison replied, perhaps in jest, or perhaps ominously
When a reader expressed concern over Final Crisis having too many tie-ins, Berganza reminded that it’s not tying into any ongoing comics. Morrison spoke frankly about event comics, saying, “there’s always something essential, you don’t have to buy all these books, because some of them are crap. Buy what you like by the guys you like.
Berganza quickly stepped in to clarify that Morrison wasn’t calling the Final Crisis tie-ins crap.
“Oh, no those guys are great,” said Morrison of Final Crisis tie-in writers like his 52 co-writers) Geoff Johns and Greg Rucka. “I was talking about other crossovers.”
A fan asked Jones how drawing a sequential series differs from his weekly covers on 52. “I was trying to distill the story to one moment,” said Jones. “This is more like being a cinematographer for a film.”
Concern was expressed over having a street-level character like Batman in a cosmic event like Final Crisis - “You can’t throw a Batarang at Darkseid,” the fan said. “Well, you can, but don’t expect to get away with it,” quipped Morrison, before clarifying that the series starts from the ground-up, with the first six pages featuring Anthro the Cave Boy.
A Green Lantern Corps fan was reassured when Morrison said the Corps will appear early in the series, conducting a police-type investigation.
Morrison was asked about the themes behind Final Crisis, and he said that first, he was interesting in doing something with the New Gods characters. But as far as more real world inspirations, he said, “I wanted to talk about how comics have developed since 9/11, kind of the darkness, the ‘soldier super-hero comics.’”
“The western world feels kind of under threat a little bit,” the writer said, adding that he has “pretty high ambitions” for the story, thematically. “Everyone’s feeling a little bit creepy and overwhelmed by events.”
“Are you, Grant Morrison, going to be in Final Crisis,” asked a fan, referencing Morrison’s appearance in his last issue of Animal Man. “Not yet, maybe we can fit me in,” Morrison said. “I’d like to be abused by Desaad.
Does “Batman R.I.P.” tie-in to Final Crisis? Morrison said that after “R.I.P.” there will be a two-part story that “fits in” to Final Crisis, and is “kind of the last Batman story in a way.”
A fan that dug Morrison’s portrayal of Zatanna in Seven Soldiers asked if she was going to be in Final Crisis. “I really loved doing that character,” said Morrison, “but I believe Paul Dini is possibly doing something. I won’t be doing anything else with her.” He did add that she’d be in the Reign in Hell mini-series and that she might pop up in a small role in Final Crisis.
Black Adam? “Black Adam hasn’t come up yet,” said Morrison. “He might be in it.”
A question about Morrison possibly working with DC’s animation department resulted in the writer revealing that “they were interested in doing an adaptation of All-Star Superman,” which delighted the crowd, but Morrison quickly added that it was “just talk and vague ideas at this point.”
When asked if Final Crisis would have a similar death toll as Infinite Crisis, which felled Superboy, Star Sapphire, and Psycho Pirate, among others, Morrison said “I don’t like killing a character. I much prefer to mess with them; death is too easy for these guys.” Berganza added that the DC Universe will soon “see some light,” and “you’ll know what that means in a couple months you’ll be very happy.”
Morrison talked about how much he enjoyed writing Supergirl in Final Crisis, saying he took a cue from Jessica Abel and Dylan Horrocks’ version of the character in DC’s first Bizarro anthology. “It was the best Supergirl story I ever read,” Morrison said. “Greatest Supergirl ever. I kind of took my cue from that. she’s just really nice. A shining example of young women.”
Morrison reminded the crowd that he’s only going to be writing Batman after Final Crisis, saying “I want to take a couple years off and just rethink the whole superhero thing and come back with new ideas.” He also spoke about the New Gods, saying “they exist on a much higher plane, a symbolic plane. The war has been won by evil, and when the gods fall, they start to manifest through Earth,”
A question for Jones ended the panel, asking the artist if there’s a character he’s itching to work on that he hasn’t yet. “I don’t really think of it that way,” said Jones. “I’m more interested in good stories, it doesn’t matter who the characters are so much as long as it’s germane to the story.”

NYCC ‘08: DC’s [Final] FINAL CRISIS PANEL - NEWSARAMA

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NYCC ‘08: MONDO MARVEL PANEL

Report by Albert Ching

Mondo Marvel, a convention circuit staple focusing on Marvel Comics product as a whole, kicked off that company’s programming at the third annual New York Comic Con. In attendance Friday afternoon was senior editors Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort, writers Greg Pak, Dan Slott, Brian Reed, Marc Guggenheim, Fred Van Lente, Cable writer and incoming Immortal Iron Fist writer Duane Swierczynski, C.B. Cebulski, Marvel marketing’s Jim McCann and, hosting the panel, Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada. Spider-editor Steve Wacker and writer Jason Aaron were said to be arriving shortly.

Quesada started the panel by announcing September as “Terry Moore month,” celebrating the Strangers in Paradise creator taking over Runaways with artist Humberto Ramos as well as Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane with Craig Rousseau.

Original Invincible creative team Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker’s Destroyer was briefly discussed, along with the return of NYX by writer Marjorie Liu and artist Kalman Andrasofszky.

Quesada then announced writer (and BOOM! E-i-C) Mark Waid joining the Amazing Spider-Man writing team.

Getting right into the Q&A, a fan asked about Marvel’s Digital Comics Unlimited service, and the lack of titles newer than six months. When asked if there were any plans for simultaneous “physical and digital release,” McCann answered that there are no immediate plans for that, as the brick and mortar stores are still where Marvel wants their fans to pick up comics.

The next question was directed towards Slott. The fan said his favorite new character was The Gauntlet, and asked if he would be seen “wearing the costume he wore in She-Hulk #3.”Maybe,” answered Slott. The same fan asked about the possibility of Avengers: The Initiative one-shots, and Slott answered that Chris Gage is writing one about Hardball and Komodo coming out soon.

The next question concerned Marvel’s “smoking ban” in comics, asking how Quesada could reconcile Freak’s meth use in Bob Gale’s recent Amazing Spider-Man issues. Quesada answered that Freak’s meth use was not shown in a positive light, and if a writer wants to show the negative consequences of smoking, he’s all for it - just no smoking seen in a positive light.

This led to a discussion of the “bleeped out” profanity in Marvel Comics, with Quesada saying that he feels there’s been too much of it in Marvel titles lately. Brevoort added that there’s usually “three times more” bleeped out curse words in Brian Michael Bendis scripts than ends up in the finished product.

A fan asked about Spider-Man’s identity no longer being public post “One More Day,” with Slott interjecting that Avengers: The Initiative #7 was still “tremendously important.”

Quesada added that “you haven’t seen the payoff yet” of “One More Day,” and reiterated that 20 years of continuity “has not been wiped out.” He continued by saying that between Mary Jane and Peter Parker’s last kiss in the final part of “One More Day” and Peter Parker waking up in Aunt May’s house in Queens in the epilogue, the interim time between those scenes could have been a split second or, perhaps, months.

One of the loyal “Clone Saga” devotees asked about Ben Reilly, with Brevoort saying, succinctly, “Ben Reilly. Still dead.”

The Clone Saga fan also asked about the role of Taskmaster in Avengers: The Initiative, with Slott teasing that the character will be featured a lot more in the title coming soon.

The next question concerned a previously announced Dakota North mini-series, with Cebulski (its writer) saying that it’s still in the works, but there is no new news at this point.

A fan - that came armed with sales statistics - noted the drop between previous volumes of The Ultimates, and the current Ultimates Vol. 3 #1. McCann discussed that the actual sales numbers and the estimates reported online often differ by “as many as 10,000.”

Quesada also added the importance of second printings, subscriptions, and accounting for what titles do “in the trade paperback world.” Quesada asked the fan to guess what the top subscription title is - he guessed Amazing Spider-Man, but Quesada informed him it was Marvel Adventures Spider-Man. Sometime before this, Avengers: The Initiative co-writer and incoming Thunderbolts writer Christos Gage quietly joined the panel.

Q: “Are there any chances of Squirrel Girl and Deadpool joining the Initiative?” Brevoort: “No, there’s not.”

Another question aimed at Dan Slott asked “Are we ever going to see any more Great Lakes Initiative specials?” Brevoort: “He has to write Spider-Man!”

Slott joked that he pitches ideas like “Great Lakes Skrulls,” “Great Lakes Zombies” and “Great Lakes Ultimates” at every creative retreat.

A con-goer complimented Quesada on Marvel’s “big events” flowing naturally into another. He asked about the creative process of such long-term planning. “It’s a lot of planning, and a little ‘Hey, remember that idea? Let’s fit that in,’” answered Quesada. “Usually we’re planned out, really solid, about 12 months,” he continued.

Talking about the recently wrapped creative summit, Quesada said they’re “locked and loaded” into 2010.

The same fan wrapped up by taking a shot at DC, saying that Marvel’s events have a payoff and aren’t “counting down” to the next thing. “You said it, not me,” quipped Quesada.

The next fan complimented Marvel for Dwyane McDuffie’s recent Fantastic Four run, and Stefano Casselli’s art. But after sweetening up the panel, the fan then asked “why are so many of my favorite books late?” and saying that sometimes he doesn’t even feel like buying them because they’re so late.

McCann said that only two or three books are usually “that late” and “we’re very aware of our problem children.” “We make a very concerted effort to not solicit things before they’re ready,” McCann continued. “Late books are not a new thing, but we’re definitely trying new techniques to avoid them.”

Current Wolverine and Ghost Rider writer Jason Aaron silently joined the panel.

A common convention question - “When are we getting more Young Avengers?” - was next. Brevoort responded that “you’re going to see the characters around the Marvel Universe quite a bit,” such as in Secret Invasion #2 and #3, and Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways. Brevoort said he recently talked to Allan Heinberg about doing more with the characters, but they’re going to do it “deliberately.”

A question was asked about how Marvel approached characters “crossing the line.” “The fun part is dancing on that line, but not going over it,” said Quesada. “There’s things that Daredevil can do that Spider-Man can’t do. There’s things that Punisher can do that Daredevil certainly can’t do,” he continued, adding that such diversity is part of the “beauty” of the Marvel Universe.

Duane Swierczynski was asked about delving into the “worst case scenario” for the mutant baby that Cable is carrying around post-”Messiah CompleX”. “If you love the baby, sorry,” the writer answered. “If you hate the baby, keep reading.”

The same fan identified himself as “pro-registration,” saying that he wasn’t happy when Invincible Iron Man was described as Tony Stark’s “redemption” comic, because the fan apparently doesn’t see Stark as needing to be redeemed. Reed then added that he knows what Matt Fraction has planned for the comic, and that he’s jealous he didn’t think of the ideas first.

Quesada digressed that he’s very pleased that “no matter how you fall on the registration issue,” Iron Man is a definite “buzz character.”

“Everybody wants to write him because he’s so interesting right now,” added Quesada.

The fan added concern that new readers might be confused about the sometimes radical difference between cover art and interior art in comics and also multiple titles for the same character. “We try to make our covers as outstanding as possible,” says Quesada, adding that he doesn’t think casual fans will be too confused if the covers are different than the interior art. He then addressed the second concern, saying, that he sees it as a possible confusion, but 99% of retailers do a great job in guiding new and potential readers to the right titles.

Plans for Man-Thing? Quesada: Not at the moment. http://www.newsarama.com/nycomiccon2008/Marvel/images/nycc_secret_invasion_2_f.jpg

Did the brief, fatherly relationship between Tony Stark and Peter Parker still happen post-”One More Day”? Brevoort: “Yes.” Does Tony Stark know who Peter Parker is? Brevoort: “No.”

A question was asked about the status of Smokin’ Aces director Joe Carnahan’s Taskmaster mini-series, with Alonso saying that it’s still in the works and that they’re coordinating things between that series and Taskmaster’s appearances in Avengers: The Initiative.

The same fan asked which states will have their 50-state initiative teams revealed next. Slott said we’ll see Hawaii’s team in Avengers: The Initiative and McCann added that the new Hellcat mini-series will take place in Alaska. “You only need one person for Alaska,” joked Slott.

Any plans for Apocalypse? Alonso said they’re discussing new ideas for the character, but haven’t nailed down how to use him at this point yet.

“Can you tell me about the second Civil War?” asked a fan. “What do you know that I don’t,” joked Quesada. Brevoort quipped “Mark Millar said it’s going to sell twice as much as the original!”

Status of Jeph Loeb and J. Scott Campbell’s Spider-Man project? Quesada says it’s still being worked on and we’ll hear more about it when the time is right.

The fan’s next question concerned when John Romita Jr. will return to Amazing Spider-Man, with Slott reminding that it’ll be in August and for six issues.

“Is Aunt May ever going to come to the realization she hooked up with a Skrull,” a fan asked, referencing to the revelation of Jarvis being a Skrull in Secret Invasion #1. “After the pregnancy,” joked Slott.

“Any chance of a collected edition of The Truth being pack in print?” McCann: “There’s always a chance.”

A question for Greg Pak - “Your run on Hulk was probably my favorite other than Peter David’s. Any other projects coming up you can talk about?” Pak pointed to Skaar: Son of Hulk, debuting in June and penciled by Ron Garney. He also talked about The Incredible Hercules, and turned over the mic to his co-writer Fred Van Lente, who said the title will soon see “Hulk vs. Hercules” and that Bob Layton will be drawing part of the story.

Any chance of the new Scorpion showing up in Incredible Hercules, or somewhere else? Van Lente: “Yes, but not that I can say.”

“Jason Aaron - why do you rock so hard?” asked an excited fan. “Thank you,” Aaron said, demurely. The same person asked “Will we see Vengeance in Ghost Rider?” Aaron said “Maybe we’ll see a vestige of Vengeance.”

A fan called Ms. Marvel #25 “one of the best comics he’s read in years,” and asked Reed if price changes (Ms. Marvel #25 was $3.99) affect sales. “That’s above my pay grade,” answered Reed. McCann said that #25 had extra story pages, and still sold better than a normal issue.

The same fan asked if Ms. Marvel would continue to have flashbacks, as it did in #25, and Reed said that it will as the story necessitates it, but “we won’t be like “Lost” and shoehorn it into every episode.”

With that, Quesada called for a “two to three minute break” - as Marvel’s next panel, focusing on Secret Invasion, was scheduled immediately afterwards in the same room.

Return to the New York Comic Con Mini-Site…

NEWSARAMA.COM: NYCC ‘08 - MONDO MARVEL PANEL

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NYCC ‘08: DC’s DC NATION PANEL

Report by Albert Ching

With many Marvel staffers still filing out of the panel room, Dan DiDio quickly began the first DC Universe panel of New York Comic Con Friday evening, “DC Nation”. He introduced the panel - Bob Wayne, Jann Jones, Keith Giffen, Gail Simone, Jimmy Palmiotti, Sean McKeever, Geoff Johns, Peter Tomasi and Ian Sattler - and then said this DC Nation panel will “do thing a little differently” (“Thank God,” someone behind this reporter said).

DiDio then polled the audience, asking if they “loved Sinestro Corps War - it got an overwhelmingly positive response. DiDio asked about Countdown, which got noticeably less applause. Giffen joked “103 weeks into these weekly books, I didn’t care.”

DiDio then mentioned DC Universe #0. Sattler discussed the basic concept, and DiDio said it’s “just a taste” of what’s coming.

This led to Final Crisis, with DiDio asking the fans if they knew what was going to happen in the book. Plot points were mentioned, like Libra reforming the Injustice Gang. A fan joked “You killing Nightwing,” which DiDio rolled with. Another fan said “Skrulls!” to which DiDio replied “Come on, we’re more original than that.”

DiDio then said they’ve decided to do something “just for this group” in the panel room. He then asked the crowd who read 52 and was familiar with Rip Hunter and the Time Lords, leading him to say he’s going to debut the “DC Nation Time Lords.” A board, like Rip Hunter’s in 52, came on the screen for 15 seconds with several cryptic sayings like “I am Batman?”

DiDio then turned for Q&A, with the first fan saying “I still don’t know what the hell Final Crisis is.” The panel then gave a series of joking responses to what Final Crisis is, like Simone saying “Wonder Woman will take over the DC Universe.”

“Is the Batman in Final Crisis going to be Bruce Wayne?” DiDio answered the question by talking about the promotional pins to be given away at the panels this year, “which hopefully will answer some of your questions.”

DiDio talked about the structuring of Final Crisis - the main series, the Legion of 3 Worlds series, Final Crisis: Revelations, and one-shots like Final Crisis: Requiem for a…character, with DiDio declining to give more details on who the requiem is exactly for.

He also talked about one-shots like Final Crisis: Submit (”Submit” being one of the words shown on the board earlier in the panel). Johns also mentioned Final Crisis: Rogues Revenge by him and Scott Kolins, and Final Crisis: Rage of the Red Lanterns.

Simone then talked about upcoming Wonder Woman plans, mentioning a new rogue’s gallery spinning out on a team of scientists devising a scientific way to defeat Wonder Woman. She also said “We’re going to have a new Wonder Woman, who is a man.” DiDio mentioned, probably at least mostly kidding, that he wanted the story to be called “the Manazons.” “OK, maybe that’s not the title,” he relented.

A fan asked about Trinity - DiDio said it works similar to 52 in that it’s in continuity but not necessarily side-by-side in what’s happening in other books.

Will some of the plot threads hinted at in Justice League of America #0 be touched on any time soon?” DiDio: “Maybe one of the key ones.”

A fan asked McKeever if he’ll touch upon Wonder Girl’s relationship with Ares, and he said he does have plans. Johns said he knows what they are and that he’s excited for them.

DiDio then paused the Q&A to ask a Q of his own - if anyone in the crowd was reading Tiny Titans. Those that said they did were all positive about the title.

DiDio asked Jann Jones what’s coming up for the Johnny DC line, and she plugged Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade, a six-issue mini coming “hopefully in the fall” by the creators of the “Kids Gravity” series that originated In Disney Adventures.

A British fan - or one with a convincing accent, at least - asked why there weren’t more British heroes since DC has several British creators. “There hasn’t been a British hero since World War II,” joked Giffen. DiDio responded seriously by saying that they’re always looking to expand the DC Universe and new British super heroes could be a part of that.

Any Krypto anytime soon? Johns said that Krypto was “all over” the latest Superman retreat, and that incoming Superman writer James Robinson has plans for the canine character.

“Will we ever find out what the heck was up with the Countdown promotional posters?” DiDio promised he’d explain it at a later date. The same fan asked if Batman is really going to die in “Batman: R.I.P.” DiDio then said “We wouldn’t kill Batman, would we?” adding under his breath, “Yes.” DiDio then asked the panel if they thought Batman would die, with Bob Wayne rather pragmatically answering “Not in a movie year.”

Any chance of using Sinestro’s sister? Johns: “Yes.”

“Are we going to see Batman and Batgirl have ‘the talk’?”

Jones: “Ew.”

The fan: “No, not that talk,” apparently referring to Batman revealing his identity to the Cassandra Cain Batgirl. DiDio said there are no plans for that at the moment.

A fan of the “Sinestro Corps War” asked Johns about his plans for Superman, and Johns said he’s planned about two-and-a-half years worth of stories with James Robinson.

Upcoming Absolute editions? Wayne said an Absolute edition of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier is on the way, along with an Absolute Frank Miller’s Ronin.

A fan who began talking about DC comics took a circuitous route to his amusing yet off-topic question - what happened at the end of “The Office” last night?” (Apparently, he missed it somehow). DiDio and the rest of the panel said that they all TiVo’d it and couldn’t help him.

Any plans for Arthur Curry Aquaman? “Who is that?” joked DiDio.

DiDio then asked the crowd to describe Arthur Curry - “blonde hair,” “orange shirt” and “two hands” led the list of descriptors. Some said “one hand,” which led to DiDio explaining the harpoon-handed, long-haired Orin Aquaman is often confused with Arthur Curry, and made sure that wasn’t the Aquaman the fan wanted. The fan clarified he wanted the orange shirt, green pants, “Superfriends”-esque one, and DiDio said he’d keep that in mind.

A fan asked if, in current DC continuity, Clark Kent wore a suit flying around Smallville, as Superboy - Johns said it’ll be addressed and wait and see.

A former “devout Marvel fan” that said “DC is now my favorite” said that the solution to the “Aquaman problem” was to get Geoff Johns to write the character.

“I heard a rumor online - is Catwoman getting cancelled?” DiDio: “That is true, actually.” He added that doesn’t mean you won’t be seeing the character in the DC Universe.

Did Skeets actually kill Waverider in 52? Johns: “Skeets kinda killed Waverider, but I’m sure Dan Jurgens is going to bring him back.”

DiDio turned to Palmiotti to announce that he’s going to be working, with his wife Amanda Conner, on a new Power Girl ongoing series. DiDio said that art will be shown at a panel tomorrow.

[editor's note; yeah, we kind of heard something about that too]…

“Was Infinite Crisis written with Death of the New Gods in mind?” Johns says he’s a few issues behind on reading the comic and he’ll let the fan know when he reads it.

“What is the ‘Girlfight’?” (i.e. one of the phrases on DiDio’s white board seen in Newsarama’s recent video interviews as well as at the panel). You’ll have to find out.

How long is Gary Frank going to be on Action Comics?” Johns: “Hopefully forever.”

What’s going on with the DC Universe MMORPG? DiDio: “I’m not allowed to talk about it.”

Any chance of Young Justice being collected (which got applause) and any reason why Manhunter isn’t starting up with a new #1? Wayne: “No plans” for YJ. Jones: “Manhunter, we’ve got the same writer and the same character, no reason to relaunch with a #1.”

“Thanks for making Nightwing not suck,” a fan told Tomasi.

“Who’s the next breakout star writer or artist?” DiDio said to watch Philip Tan’s work on Final Crisis: Revelations.

How long is Mark Waid on Brave and the Bold? He finishes up with issue #16.

Any more hints on the “Superman red or blue” which was on the cryptic white board? DiDio said you’ll have to figure it out.

Any more Kingdom Come characters in Justice Society? Johns said the next story arc will have Black Adam and Isis.

Any special promotion planned for the Spanish issue of Blue Beetle? Giffen: “It doesn’t matter, no one’s going to understand it, anyway.”

And on that pithy note, the panel wrapped a few minutes early….

End of live updates…

Return to the New York Comic Con Mini-Site…

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