WIZARDWORLD TEXAS' DC PANEL

**MattBrady** · 11-21-2003, 02:59 PM

At today’s DC panel at WizardWorld Texas, the publisher showed up with a slate full of announcements – some cementing previously hinted at projects, and some coming out of the blue. Newsarama’s got ya covered for a quick run down of what’s coming, and what will raise eyebrows.

DC confirmed that artist Howard Porter will join Flash as penciller with February’s issue #207, part one of the six part “Flashback” storyarc which will feature repercussions from the current arc, “Ignition” (wherein the world has forgotten that Wally West is the Flash), and the new Kid Flash and Jay Garrick try to find out who the man in the Flash costume really is.

Covers for the arc will be by Michael Turner.

Completing George Perez’s duo of flashback projects, DC will publish his and Marv Wolfman’s New Teen Titans Graphic Novel which originally began production in 1988. Perez had over 70 of the pages draw before the plug was pulled, and the final page count of the GN should run in the 120 page range.

Set in the era of the “classic” Wolfman/Perez Titans, the OGN will include a new framing sequence by Wolfman and Perez that will allow the story to stand in current continuity.

For more on Games, as well as a look at original art from the GN, click here.

March will see the debut of Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s JLA arc, with Jerry Ordway on inks. Entitled “"The Tenth Circle," the six-part story (shipping twice monthly) finds the JLA investigating a rash of child disappearances — a case made more difficult as the JLA themselves start to disappear.

For more on DC's plans for JLA, click here.

DC also officially announced Coup D’etat, a weekly, four issue Wildstorm miniseries starting in February with an issue written by Ed Brubaker with art and cover by Jim Lee. Following issues are by Micah Ian Wright and Carlos D'Anda, Joe Casey and Alé Garza, and Robbie Morrison and Whilce Portacio.

Coup D’etat’s action kicks off when Sleeper antagonist Tao Tao tricks the U.S. government into committing an interdimensional atrocity on its own soil, forcing the Authority to create its “finer world” no matter what – or who – gets in the way.

Also announced was the return of Wetworks in the spring of 2004 as an Eye of the Storm series written by Mike Carey with art by Whilce Portacio. The new series kicks off when a rip in the Bleed allows an evil — and hungry — invasion force to reach Earth.

For more on Wetworks, please click here for an interview with Carey by Newsarama's friends at Comic Book Resources.

Another new project announced by DC was a Richard Dragon series written by Chuck Dixon, with art by Scott McDaniel. The series will follow the character who learned to fight with Lady Death and was trained in the way of the martial arts by the Bronze Tiger as he finds himself in Nightwing’s home town – Bludhaven.

DC also again spoke of it’s Focus titles, which are set in a world without the heroes of the DCU. As Newsarama reported from WizardWorld Chicago this summer, the four titles will be:

Hard Time by Steve Gerber with artist Brian Hurtt, coming in February in a 56-page issue (retailing for $2.50 and featuring a preview of the other three titles).
Fraction by David Tischman and Timothy Green, in March.
Kinetic by Kelley Puckett with art by Warren Pleece, coming in April.
Touch by John Francis Moore with art by Wesley Craig, coming in April.

Matt Idelson and Joan Hilty will co-edit the line, each handling two titles.

As the editors told Newsarama this summer:

First up, Idelson:

”Touch is the story about a couple of guys named Rory and Cooper who are pretty much lacking in a moral compass. They use their power to make money, manipulating the media and information flow of today to promote themselves and their product. They're pretty crass, and a lot like many people out in the world today. You think you know them and that they're a nice couple of guy, and then they do something pretty rotten to serve themselves. I guess you could say Touch is a reflection on today's society with a superpowered spin.

”In the case of Kinetic, Mark Chiarello had a really nice take on it. He said it was like Spider-Man if Spider-Man had been created today. He'll probably kill me for throwing that in here, but he's right. Without quantifying the concept, it's like My So Called Life meets Spider-Man if he had been created today. It's about being the loser in junior high, escaping into your own world as a result, and then discovering you have a superpower.”

Over to Hilty:

“Hard Time - One tragic mistake sends 15-year-old Ethan Chiles to prison for 50 years. On the day he's sentenced, his terror and rage manifests itself as an astonishing power. Now he's got to survive a maximum security prison while trying to find out what his power can do, what he'll choose to do with it, whether there might be others like him, and much more. It's basically about your life beginning and ending on the same day.

”Fraction - It's a Tarantino take on Treasure of the Sierra Madre, about four young toughs and one amazing battlesuit. Four friends grow up bad on the streets of Philly; two of them are still stuck in the past and two of them are each trying to make a new life for themselves. But they're all thrown a major curve when they pull a petty theft, discover this hi-tech battlesuit, and agree to split up the pieces. Power forces each guy's true colors to the surface, for better and for worse. Timothy Green II's art on this is amazing. He truly brings science fiction to the real world.”

Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray’s The Monolith will debut with a double-sized first issue in February as well, with art by Phil Winslade.

As Gray told Newsarama this summer: “His creation happened many years ago because of an injustice dealt to a friend of a now departed family member. Much of the story takes place in 1920’s New York and everything that happens there has a direct effect on events that take place later in the book all the way up to the year 2004. Monolith’s resurrection is a reaction to events that our main character Alice is going through. This book is nothing like anything either of us has done before.”

For earlier DC announcements of coming projects, check out Newsarama's coverage from San Diego and WizardWorld: Chicago.

xdemon · 11-21-2003, 03:10 PM

”In the case of Kinetic, Mark Chiarello had a really nice take on it. He said it was like Spider-Man if Spider-Man had been created today. He'll probably kill me for throwing that in here, but he's right. Without quantifying the concept, it's like My So Called Life meets Spider-Man if he had been created today. It's about being the loser in junior high, escaping into your own world as a result, and then discovering you have a superpower.”

I thought this title already existed and was called "Ultimate Spider-Man". (Except USM is set in high school, not junior high.)

Nothing here sounds the least bit interesting to me and I doubt I will pick any of this up.

Garth Rockett · 11-21-2003, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattBrady

Completing George Perez’s duo of flashback projects, DC will publish his and Marv Wolfman’s New Teen Titans Graphic Novel which originally began production in 1988. Perez had over 70 of the pages draw before the plug was pulled, and the final page count of the GN should run in the 120 page range.

Great Scott!!! 120 pages of Perez art on a Wolfman Titans story we've been awaiting for a decade and a half?! Sign me up, please!!

stlfan79 · 11-21-2003, 03:12 PM

Im pretty excited about the return of wetworks. The original series started out fantastic but quickly strayed from the basis those early issues laid. With Eye of the Storm treatment and writing by Carey I bet it is going to be a gem this time.

kalorama · 11-21-2003, 03:15 PM

part one of the six part “Flashback” storyarc which will feature repercussions from the current arc, “Ignition” (wherein the world has forgotten that Wally West is the Flash), and the new Kid Flash and Jay Garrick try to find out who the man in the Flash costume really is.

Isn't this about the 4th time in the last few years that Flash has featured a storyline where Wally disappears (literally or figuratively), a new Flash shows up, and it's up to the "Flash family" to uncover the "new" Flash's true identity/motives/origins?

gOgIver · 11-21-2003, 03:16 PM

Flash is always good. Not much new news though.

Michael P · 11-21-2003, 03:19 PM

Yeah, but the catch this time is that Wally didn't really disappear, and the readers know it. So we're rooting for Wally instead of the also-rans this time.

Mick Fury · 11-21-2003, 03:39 PM

And there also isn't a new Flash. It's still Wally.

Mike

MattFreakinLittle · 11-21-2003, 03:42 PM

THANK YOU JERRY ORDWAY for making Byrne's pencils viewable again!!!

MattFreakinLittle · 11-21-2003, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Michael P
Yeah, but the catch this time is that Wally didn't really disappear, and the readers know it. So we're rooting for Wally instead of the also-rans this time.

Anybody wanna tell me who the Flash turned out to be back when he changed to the red-and-white costume? I was reading JLA then and he showed up, but I never bothered to follow up who it was in the actual Flash book.

rjjb7 · 11-21-2003, 03:46 PM

”In the case of Kinetic, Mark Chiarello had a really nice take on it. He said it was like Spider-Man if Spider-Man had been created today...it's like My So Called Life meets Spider-Man if he had been created today."

The above promo, as stated above, is a lame attempt to repeat the success of the already existing and already excellent ULTIMATE SPIDER MAN book (and related Spidey titles such as SINISTER SIX).

How about something original DC ?

Lots of talented creators listed above, but amazingly enough few projects above that sound too interesting or novel to me.

Frans Blix · 11-21-2003, 03:47 PM

I'll probably give a spin to all the Focus issues. Bound to be a gem in there somewhere. Hard Time is the most appealing due to the concept and Brian Hurtt, who did a nice Gotham Central fill-in.

The Perez project is a good idea, too.

Simon DelMonte · 11-21-2003, 03:49 PM

Dixon and McDaniel together again? At DC? Well, my predictiuons regarding Dixon coming ack to DC are coming true.

When he left DC, it was time. He needed a break, and he seems to have done well at CrossGen. However, much of his stuff there has been Dixon-Lite. Maybe he needs to get back to DC now?

mdg1 · 11-21-2003, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattBrady
[Another new project announced by DC was a Richard Dragon series written by Chuck Dixon, with art by Scott McDaniel. The series will follow the character who learned to fight with Lady Death and was trained in the way of the martial arts by the Bronze Tiger as he finds himself in Nightwing’s home town – Bludhaven.

I assume they mean Lady Shiva...and if I remember correctly, Richard trained _with_ Bronze Tiger, not under him. For that matter, he's supposed to be even _better_ than Lady Shiva, but retired to explore the spiritual aspects of the martial arts.

This probably means he'll be beaten by Connor Hawke by issue #3.

Devil Dino · 11-21-2003, 03:54 PM

Wow! I'd never heard of that unfinished Titans GN, but I'll be sure to pick it up - it looks gorgeous!

Also count me in on the JLA 6-parter by Byrne/Claremont. It'll be great seeing these two work together again, and I have a good feeling that they might both pull out the stops for this one. Both of them have been accused of producing some mediocre work recently, but when they're good - they're very, very good

Not sure at all what to make of the Focus books... Um, don't really know what to say! The concept sounds a bit like Marvel's New Universe of a while back, and 'Hard Time' sounds fairly interesting. But I'm not sure what DC is really attempting with these books...

Frans Blix · 11-21-2003, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by xdemon

I thought this title already existed and was called "Ultimate Spider-Man". (Except USM is set in high school, not junior high.)

Quote:

Originally posted by rjjb7
”In the case of Kinetic, Mark Chiarello had a really nice take on it. He said it was like Spider-Man if Spider-Man had been created today...it's like My So Called Life meets Spider-Man if he had been created today."

The above promo, as stated above, is a lame attempt to repeat the success of the already existing and already excellent ULTIMATE SPIDER MAN book (and related Spidey titles such as SINISTER SIX).

How about something original DC ?

I think just looking at the cover art of Kinetic indicates that we're not going to have a redux here. Could bt wrong, but I'm not ready to dismiss the book.

Justin M. Campbell · 11-21-2003, 04:09 PM

Uhm, isn't Richard Dragon paralyzed? I remeber the last few issues of the Question had him in a wheelchair.

P.S. Is Richard Dragon Vic Sage's father? brother? What's the deal there?

Kevin T. Brown · 11-21-2003, 04:15 PM

Some really great news there, but I'm upset that there was nothing mentioned at all about upcoming Green Lantern plans....

Brian Langlois · 11-21-2003, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattFreakinLittle
Anybody wanna tell me who the Flash turned out to be back when he changed to the red-and-white costume? I was reading JLA then and he showed up, but I never bothered to follow up who it was in the actual Flash book.

It was Wally West. An alternate Wally from the future who was a little older and a little harsher. He has a lightning scar on his face, if I remember correctly. Man, I hated that story too, and it was spawned from such a good one (Chain Lightning!). Waid really lost it toward the end there, but he had a great run before that.

Brian Langlois · 11-21-2003, 04:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kevin T. Brown
Some really great news there, but I'm upset that there was nothing mentioned at all about upcoming Green Lantern plans....

Yeah, the GL plans have me excited/worried in a weird way. I don't like who they are talking about doing the book (Morrison, Johns) but then I think, how much worse can it be? At least they are doing SOMETHING. We'll just have to wait and see.

The only thing looking really good here is Richard Dragon. I'lll have to check that one out.

ComicBook Conventions.com · 11-21-2003, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Justin M. Campbell
Uhm, isn't Richard Dragon paralyzed? I remeber the last few issues of the Question had him in a wheelchair.

P.S. Is Richard Dragon Vic Sage's father? brother? What's the deal there?

In Richard Dragon's final appearance in the Question, he got out of the wheelchair. It turned out he was faking it the whole time.

I think he just mentored the Question. I believe that was the extent of the relationship.

Brian Pate
Comic Book Conventions.com

gwangung · 11-21-2003, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rjjb7
”In the case of Kinetic, Mark Chiarello had a really nice take on it. He said it was like Spider-Man if Spider-Man had been created today...it's like My So Called Life meets Spider-Man if he had been created today."

The above promo, as stated above, is a lame attempt to repeat the success of the already existing and already excellent ULTIMATE SPIDER MAN book (and related Spidey titles such as SINISTER SIX).

How about something original DC ?

Ain't no such thing as original.

As any writer will tell you, ideas are dime a dozen; it's the execution that counts.

Kil49ers2004 · 11-21-2003, 04:53 PM

THE ONLY THING EXCITING IN THIS NEWS FLASH IS THE AWESOME FLASH COVER ART BY TURNER!

OH GEORGE PEREZ ROCKS TOO!!!

dollman · 11-21-2003, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mdg1
I assume they mean Lady Shiva...and if I remember correctly, Richard trained _with_ Bronze Tiger, not under him. For that matter, he's supposed to be even _better_ than Lady Shiva, but retired to explore the spiritual aspects of the martial arts.

This probably means he'll be beaten by Connor Hawke by issue #3.

The last time I saw Richard Dragon was in the pages of the Question, where he became his trainer/Sensi. He had his legs amputed and was confined to a wheelchair, so I'm not sure how they're going to explain his new legs.

DC has been implying that Lady Shiva is the deadliest martial arts combat fighter, even better than Batman. My recollection from the old Richard Dragon series of the 70s was that Dragon and the Bronze Tiger were all equals of Shiva. Whether this holds true or not in current continuity, I don't know.

OM · 11-21-2003, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by kalorama
Isn't this about the 4th time in the last few years that Flash has featured a storyline where Wally disappears (literally or figuratively), a new Flash shows up, and it's up to the "Flash family" to uncover the "new" Flash's true identity/motives/origins?

...Yeah, but keep in mind that it's almost a Flash writer's tradition to do at least one story where Wally goes missing and gets replaced. Personally, I'd love to see one of the writers have the balls to bring back Chunk and have *him* pick up the Speed Force long enough to replace Wally after he turns up missing when Mopee decides to get revenge for having been retconned out of existence :-)

Quote:

Originally posted by dollman
The last time I saw Richard Dragon was in the pages of the Question, where he became his trainer/Sensi. He had his legs amputed and was confined to a wheelchair, so I'm not sure how they're going to explain his new legs.

...He obviously used the Force and some spare droid parts at the end of the third film :-P