Baltimore Comic-Con, DC Nation Panel and FanBoyWonder’s ‘Translations’
Following up on our overview of FanBoyWonder and Kemosabe’s invasion of Baltimore Comic-Con this past weekend, we offer our impressions of the DC Nation panel that we attended on Saturday.
As it turns out, FBW and Kemosabe joined the panel already in progress—following the better part of an hour in the ticket line but the upside of that was that we missed all of the time killing introductions and the likely tedious blather from DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio about how Final Crisis really doesn’t suck(but it really, REALLY does).
Acting as part emcee and part board room chair with a dash of roastmaster thrown in DiDio was flanked by on the panel by (in no particular order) Jimmy Palmiotti, DC’s uber writer Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates, Kemosabe’s favorite writer James Robinson, Sean McKeever and DC Comics Story Editor Ian Sattler.
We won’t report the 90 minute panel verbatim—you want a stenographer try newsarama or Comic Book Resources—but we’re here to weigh-in on the news that interested us and to offer our reaction and commentary to said news.
The format of the panel had DiDio at the podium with the creators seated at the adjacent table and a slide show of art from various DC Comics titles on screen. Something the professional newsman in us found surprising and a bit disappointing was that Team DC had no real talking points to speak of.
Some creators were better than others but it seemed obvious (to us at least) that there was no “script” in that when their book came up for discussion—some creators struggled to offer a clear, concise explanation of the book’s premise and/or the upcoming story arc.
Geoff Johns was quite adept at providing an “upshot” while other creators struggled. This came as a surprise as Baltimore certainly isn’t the first convention these guys have done—this should be boiler plate by now. Back to media training class fellas.
One other thing that stuck in our craw before we get to the nitty gritty—following a audience member’s near gushing praise of Trinity (we don’t agree but it’s a free country and such), DiDio brought the guy up to sit on the panel, where the super-fan happily obliged by offering drank-the-kool-aid positive commentary of the DCU line up.
The whole thing made us uncomfortable because it seemed they were mocking this poor guy who had done no wrong—it’s a fine line of being part of the joke and you being the joke.
If it were us, we’re pretty sure we would have said “thanks but no thanks” if such an offer were made to us (unlikely as it is given the slight ball-busting we did when we had our turn at Q&A)—UNLESS we were offered a seat between the Secret Six’s Gail Simone and Nicola Scott…..or perhaps Huntress Year One writer Ivory Madison and upcoming Power Girl artist Amanda Connor (“Hubba-Hubba”:)
Also one more observation before we get to the pain—we’ve already written about how cool Geoff Johns was with us during autograph time but sitting in the audience listening to Johns do a LOT of the talking about DC future projects—many of which he is writing or co-writing—it occurred to us that if Geoff Johns (God forbid) was hit by a bus tomorrow, the 40 percent of DC’s current stable of books would vanish with him.
Two words Dan DiDio—“Deeper Bench.”
Ok…let’s get it on.
Justice Society of America
Geoff Johns noted that “Thy Kingdom Come” is wrapping up and Black Adam will be returning to the pages of the JSA starting with Issue 23. Adam discovers his wife Isis is indeed alive and they take over the Rock of Eternity together prompting the Justice Society to try to stop them.
During the Question and Answer (Q&A) session, Johns also noted that Adam Smasher will be returning to the JSA but he wouldn’t elaborate.
FanBoyWonder’s take: We’re disappointed that Johns mentioned NOTHING about the Earth-2 story line introduced in Justice Society Annual #1 this summer, leading us to believe this is a one-off story that doesn’t seem to carry any creative weight down the road.
That’s a disappointment considering that storyline has got us jazzed after a year or more of coasting/stalling with the Kingdom Come sequel in JSA. Johns obviously loves these characters and this book but it seems obvious that he can’t give them his full attention.
Power Girl
The upcoming new Power Girl series will seek to pick up ball from what Geoff Johns and artist Amanda Connor started during their Power Girl story arc in JSA Classified (#1-3) just prior to Infinite Crisis at least in the light-hearted theme.
Palmiotti says the book is deliberately designed to be accessible to newcomers and to long-time fans alike
Meanwhile, Palmiotti and Connor will finally be rolling out their Terra mini-series that they first discussed with us (and a room full of other fans) back at Pittsburgh Con in 2006. In an amazing coincidence given the same creative teams, Power Girl (as well Geo Force) will guest star in Terra.
FBW’s Take: We think Power Girl is long over due for a series of her own. We like Palmiotti and Connor but we are also a bit wary….Palmiotti has a …mixed record creatively and Connor isn’t the quickest artist around and now with two books….but they clearly have a passion for the project so we are hopeful and look forward to Power Girl.
We’ll wrap up our orbit of DC Nation in our upcoming Part 2. Stay Tuned.
As it turns out, FBW and Kemosabe joined the panel already in progress—following the better part of an hour in the ticket line but the upside of that was that we missed all of the time killing introductions and the likely tedious blather from DC Comics Executive Editor Dan DiDio about how Final Crisis really doesn’t suck(but it really, REALLY does).
Acting as part emcee and part board room chair with a dash of roastmaster thrown in DiDio was flanked by on the panel by (in no particular order) Jimmy Palmiotti, DC’s uber writer Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates, Kemosabe’s favorite writer James Robinson, Sean McKeever and DC Comics Story Editor Ian Sattler.
We won’t report the 90 minute panel verbatim—you want a stenographer try newsarama or Comic Book Resources—but we’re here to weigh-in on the news that interested us and to offer our reaction and commentary to said news.
The format of the panel had DiDio at the podium with the creators seated at the adjacent table and a slide show of art from various DC Comics titles on screen. Something the professional newsman in us found surprising and a bit disappointing was that Team DC had no real talking points to speak of.
Some creators were better than others but it seemed obvious (to us at least) that there was no “script” in that when their book came up for discussion—some creators struggled to offer a clear, concise explanation of the book’s premise and/or the upcoming story arc.
Geoff Johns was quite adept at providing an “upshot” while other creators struggled. This came as a surprise as Baltimore certainly isn’t the first convention these guys have done—this should be boiler plate by now. Back to media training class fellas.
One other thing that stuck in our craw before we get to the nitty gritty—following a audience member’s near gushing praise of Trinity (we don’t agree but it’s a free country and such), DiDio brought the guy up to sit on the panel, where the super-fan happily obliged by offering drank-the-kool-aid positive commentary of the DCU line up.
The whole thing made us uncomfortable because it seemed they were mocking this poor guy who had done no wrong—it’s a fine line of being part of the joke and you being the joke.
If it were us, we’re pretty sure we would have said “thanks but no thanks” if such an offer were made to us (unlikely as it is given the slight ball-busting we did when we had our turn at Q&A)—UNLESS we were offered a seat between the Secret Six’s Gail Simone and Nicola Scott…..or perhaps Huntress Year One writer Ivory Madison and upcoming Power Girl artist Amanda Connor (“Hubba-Hubba”:)
Also one more observation before we get to the pain—we’ve already written about how cool Geoff Johns was with us during autograph time but sitting in the audience listening to Johns do a LOT of the talking about DC future projects—many of which he is writing or co-writing—it occurred to us that if Geoff Johns (God forbid) was hit by a bus tomorrow, the 40 percent of DC’s current stable of books would vanish with him.
Two words Dan DiDio—“Deeper Bench.”
Ok…let’s get it on.
Justice Society of America
Geoff Johns noted that “Thy Kingdom Come” is wrapping up and Black Adam will be returning to the pages of the JSA starting with Issue 23. Adam discovers his wife Isis is indeed alive and they take over the Rock of Eternity together prompting the Justice Society to try to stop them.
During the Question and Answer (Q&A) session, Johns also noted that Adam Smasher will be returning to the JSA but he wouldn’t elaborate.
FanBoyWonder’s take: We’re disappointed that Johns mentioned NOTHING about the Earth-2 story line introduced in Justice Society Annual #1 this summer, leading us to believe this is a one-off story that doesn’t seem to carry any creative weight down the road.
That’s a disappointment considering that storyline has got us jazzed after a year or more of coasting/stalling with the Kingdom Come sequel in JSA. Johns obviously loves these characters and this book but it seems obvious that he can’t give them his full attention.
Power Girl
The upcoming new Power Girl series will seek to pick up ball from what Geoff Johns and artist Amanda Connor started during their Power Girl story arc in JSA Classified (#1-3) just prior to Infinite Crisis at least in the light-hearted theme.
Palmiotti says the book is deliberately designed to be accessible to newcomers and to long-time fans alike
Meanwhile, Palmiotti and Connor will finally be rolling out their Terra mini-series that they first discussed with us (and a room full of other fans) back at Pittsburgh Con in 2006. In an amazing coincidence given the same creative teams, Power Girl (as well Geo Force) will guest star in Terra.
FBW’s Take: We think Power Girl is long over due for a series of her own. We like Palmiotti and Connor but we are also a bit wary….Palmiotti has a …mixed record creatively and Connor isn’t the quickest artist around and now with two books….but they clearly have a passion for the project so we are hopeful and look forward to Power Girl.
We’ll wrap up our orbit of DC Nation in our upcoming Part 2. Stay Tuned.
posted by FanBoyWonder at 6:43 PM
3 Comments:
My sister and her boyfriend went to that panel I think. Our cousin just put out an anthology with Walter Mosley called The Darker Mask I think they are going to be at the Geppi's Museum next week and were at balto book fair.
http://www.amazon.com/Darker-Mask-Gary-Phillips/dp/0765318504/ref=ed_oe_h
Hello Lisa,
Thanks for stopping by to comment long enough to drop a link to your cousin's book.
I don't mind helping to plug other projects but this feels one step shy of SPAM.
However, I'm going to reluctantly keep your "comment" on here...but if your Sister or her boyfriend have anything to contribute about that panel, we'd love to hear their thoughts.
Cheers,
FBW
I, too, was very disappointed the the Earth-2 JSA/JSI arc appeared to be ending with JSA #20. Why have a Multiverse if you aren't going to use it? Much wasted potential. But, it sounds to me like it's a decision from the higher ups and not Geoff.
Thanks,
Jeff Capo
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