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With the immanent release of Valiant’s Book of Death crossover story this week and the announcement of the Wrath of the Eternal Warrior series set for November, author Robert Venditti is one of the busiest writers in comics (not to mention that he’s also cooking multiple titles in the DC Universe). The Eternal Warrior, one of Valiant’s strongest and most weathered characters in the publishing slate is set to star in the latter series. Venditti initially chose between X-O Manowar and The Eternal Warrior to get ready to launch the Valiant Universe way back in 2012’s Summer of Valiant, but now the author has the opportunity to go back and chronicle the ongoing adventures of The Eternal Warrior. The hero is a key piece of Valiant at the center of Unity, the publisher’s premiere superteam, he is also the protector of the Geomancer — another important player in the landscape of the Valiant world. The Beat sat down with Venditti to get briefed on our mission assignment with Wrath of the Eternal Warrior and to congratulate the author on the first completed issue of Book of Death.

How are you feeling now that the first installment of Book of Death is in the can?

The whole thing isn’t done, I’m still working on the last issue of it. The comic has been a lot of fun to work on. It’s definitely unlike any story I have ever done before, not just in terms of characters, but also the content. It has much more of a horror bend to it than anything I have done, which is part of the reason why I wanted take on the project. With everything that I take on, I try and do something different than what I have done before, so hopefully I am always growing and challenging myself. It’s just been a lot of fun because there are a lot of surprises coming up in the story. The nature of the event has allowed me to introduce a lot of concepts into the Valiant Universe and show a lot of characters from the previous Valiant Universe for the first time. You don’t get opportunities to do that kind of stuff too often.

Does it excite you to have the opportunity to reintroduce concepts from the last Valiant incarnation in Book of Death?

To me, the great fun of working in a shared Universe with Valiant or DC is the idea that you can sort of become part of the tapestry because there is a line of writers that will come before you and a line of writers that will come after you. You know the extent to which you could contribute to it — it’s kinda like bringing some toys to the party and leaving some of the toys in the toybox so somebody else can play with them later. No matter what happens, I will have always put those toys in the box, and in some senses you are leaving a legacy behind.

I heard you mention that you initially pitched an Eternal Warrior series to Valiant in 2012. Did you take any sort of plot threads or pieces that you had and weave them back into the new story you were telling?

I didn’t actually pitch Eternal Warrior, what you probably heard is that when Valiant reached out to me about pitching for their characters back in 2011, they sent me Bibles on all the main characters. The two that appealed to me were X-O Manowar and The Eternal Warrior. I could only pitch on one, but have always wanted to pitch on The Eternal Warrior. I never put anything down on paper, but he’s certainly someone that I have thought a lot about. He showed up briefly in X-O Manowar for a couple of issues and I wrote him a little bit in Armor Hunters. This is something that I have been talking to Valiant about for a really long time. A lot of that stuff is definitely making it into Wrath of the Eternal Warrior series.

Can you talk about what the series will be comprised of tonally?

Gilad the Eternal Warrior is immortal. This is going to be a different take on that concept. The series is about what he has to endure and what he has to sacrifice in order to be immortal. I think that we live in what can be a lot of times a really pessimistic world, but I don’t think Gilad would get out of the grave and fight for us if he didn’t believe that we were inherently good and worth fighting for. If he thought that the world was inherently evil, he would just stay dead and let us all fall to our own devices. What appeals to me about him is despite the millennia that he’s been alive, and despite the things that he’s seen, he still remains an eternal optimist in some ways — which I find fascinating.

It’s the romance of the character that you are drawn into in that sense?

That’s certainly one aspect of it. I also love the aspect that because of his age, he hasn’t read about history. He’s lived it…you know. That sets him apart from the rest of the Valiant Universe, just the way that he views the world is different from everybody else. One example of that that I always use is his axe. A lot of people would say he’s supposed to be a master tactician and he’s a great warrior, why would he carry around something primitive like an axe? That’s because to us an axe is just a blade and just a weapon. To him, seeing what the axe is capable of, it’s an extremely versatile tool. He can turn it over and use the heel as a hammer, he can heat the blade in a campfire and fry an egg on it, he can polish it and use it as a signal mirror, he can use it to chop down trees and make shelter. There’s all these uses and even the way he fights with it. He uses not just the blade, but the sharp edge, the curve of the blade and the heel. Whereas today, we think the gun is the more obvious choice because we know that the gun can shoot a bullet, but that’s all it’s gonna do for you — you’re not going to build a shelter with a gun!

Would you say that with Wrath of the Eternal Warrior, you’re utilizing some of those more wild elements of the character and weaving them back into the hero’s mythos in a more practical way?  The axe, for example.

Yeah, I would say that there are things we would perceive from our modern view and certainly the rest of the Valiant Universe as something that would be primitive or wild, but for him they are actually extremely cultured. That’s the inversion that makes it so interesting, we might think that he’s primitive, but really that’s because we are too primitive to discover how cultured he actually is.

This might be a sort of heady question, but in a lot of ways, The Eternal Warrior is in the middle of the Valiant Universe whether it be Unity, that tie to X-O (Manowar) and the role in protecting the Geomancer. I was wondering how you balanced this really connected character of the Valiant Universe within your series that is also nestled in the scope of a shared Universe?

Yeah, I think that those are different books and that those are different roles. I don’t know…in a way it would just make sense in whom it would be. It’s his mission to be at the center of everything, and that’s why he gets down out of the grave and he keeps doing what he does, because he’s at the center of things. It would be a harder book to write convincingly to have him be someone who wasn’t in the middle of everything, because why else would he do what he does? It’s just part of his DNA.

We saw The Eternal Warrior: Days of Steel mini, and we saw the Greg Pak (The Eternal Warrior) series. Have you sort of studied those elements and took the lens of that and sort of applied it to your upcoming book?

I have certainly read all that stuff, as well as the original Valiant run on the character as well. Much like X-O, we are really building on those things, trying to do it in a way that’s really different for the reader so it doesn’t seem like it’s anything that they haven’t seen before. He’s still gonna stay true to who his roots are as a concept — it’s going be a completely different take on those things.

Can you tease some thematic elements of how Book of Death is going to segue into the series?

That’s a tough one, that gets a little spoilery. Book of Death definitely sets up a lot of what we are going to be doing in Wrath of the Eternal Warrior, but Book of Death is completely self contained. If you pick up Wrath of the Eternal Warrior you can see how the foundation was laid in Book of Death, but it’s not going be a requirement to read Wrath of the Eternal Warrior.

Raul Allen has been making a splash in the Valiant world. What is it like for you to have the opportunity to work with him on Wrath of the Eternal Warrior?

Is there a way for you to communicate my smile? (Robert Venditti smiles.) I am super excited about it, he is a really talented guy. My first interaction with his work was when he was doing the covers for X-O Manowar, you just immediately see how he’s such an outside the box thinker. Not in a way that’s complex or alienating, but in a way that’s wholly unique.

Aric and Gilad had a really interesting relationship stemming out of the fight between the two characters in the pages of X-O Manowar. I really thought that in Unity, we saw the relationship go full circle, I don’t know if you are writing the two heroes in Book of Death, or if you are covering how the relationship has changed overtime?

They have a long history with each other. Aric didn’t know Gilad was The Eternal Warrior. Gilad was his mentor in a lot of ways when he was a child. He taught him how to fight with a sword, and was sort of a male role model for him as a Visigoth. At the surface, I think what people will find similar with them is that they have a man out of time aspect. They are actually polar opposites. Aric was actually someone who freed himself from the captivity of the Vine, the alien race that took him, then he came back to Earth from the modern day. Gilad has lived every single day. Aric has no constant in ethics and culture, while Gilad has witnessed all of that. So that’s obviously a big strain on their relationship in the modern day. There’s also a deep bond between them– a mentor and student bond. They have known each other and can relate to each other in ways that nobody on else can. They can become very antagonistic with each other as well — which I think is true of a lot of really deep friendships or brotherly bonds or things like that. They are inextricably bound to each other.

Correct me if I am wrong, but these are all thematic elements that are going to be covered in Book of Death?

Yes, a lot of what I was just discussing is going to be in the second issue in Book of Death #2. They are also things covered in X-O Manowar and in Wrath of the Eternal Warrior as well.

Book of Death #1 is on sale this Wednesday and Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #1 is launching in November at your local comic book shop.

BOOK OF DEATH #1 (of 4)
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by ROBERT GILL & DOUG BRAITHWAITE
Cover A by ROBERT GILL (MAY151586)
Cover B by CARY NORD (MAY151587)
Cover C by CLAYTON CRAIN (MAY151588)
Cover D by JELENA KEVIC-DJURDJEVIC (MAY151589)
Character Design Variant by PAOLO RIVERA (MAY151591)
Valiant Icons Variant by PERE PEREZ (MAY151592)
Artist Variant by PAOLO RIVERA (MAY151593)
Blank Cover also available (MAY151590)

“A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once.”

The Valiant heroes. X-O Manowar. Bloodshot. Ninjak. The Harbinger Renegades. Unity. This is how they lived. This is how they died.

Now we know. The Book of the Geomancer has recorded it all. But only a young girl – the last in a line of the enigmatic mystics who protect the Earth known as Geomancers – has seen this future come to pass, from the coming cataclysm to the dawn of the 41st century. Alone with her sworn protector, the Eternal Warrior – a soldier battle-forged across five thousand years of combat – the duo must defy their allies to stop the Dark Age that now threatens to eclipse our world.

Together, they are the number one target of every hero and villain on Earth. Either the Eternal Warrior hands her over…or they take him down. But can even he single-handedly protect one child when the entire Valiant Universe wages war against him?

The blockbuster Valiant event of 2015 starts here as New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti (X-O MANOWAR) joins superstar-in-the-making Robert Gill (ARMOR HUNTERS: HARBINGER) and visionary artist Doug Braithwaite (ARMOR HUNTERS) to begin a thousand-year journey into the future of the Valiant Universe…and rain, fire, blood and war on the heroes of today.

$3.99 | 40 pages | T+ | On sale JULY 15

WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR #1
Written by ROBERT VENDITTI
Art by RAUL ALLEN
Wraparound Cover by DAVID LAFUENTE
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | ONGOING SERIES | ON SALE IN NOVEMBER!

Jim Lee

By Nick Eskey

One of the happy-highlights of San Diego Comic-Con is when DC Comics co-publisher, writer, and artist Jim Lee just sits down and draws. Well he doesn’t just draw. The talented artist also has the chops to be a regular comedian. Every year on Sunday, his “Drawing with Jim Lee” is a highlight of the convention.

The panel this year had a slight hiccup however. From what we were told, he had it on his schedule that it would start at 3pm to 4pm, not 1:30pm to 2:30pm. We wouldn’t have to wait till 3pm, but he wasn’t going to be there till 2:15pm. A number of people left, but a majority stayed the extra forty-five minutes.

When Mr. Lee did show, a wave of applause went through the room. He took to his chair, and looking out at the crowd said, “Thanks for staying. It’s a real testament to your guys’ love of a free sketch.” Everyone erupted with laughter.

He continued to thank the crowd as he pulled pencils, “Pigma” pens, inks, and brushes out onto the table. “Now, you see this? It’s a Pigma marker. It gives you a fine tip and you can go thicker. You can use it for defining, or shadowing… They always send me a bunch of these, so I use them. I’m still waiting on this year’s crate.” More laughter. “You’ll have to excuse me, it’s Sunday at Comic-Con, so I’m not all here. But really guys, I do enjoy this panel a lot. Compared to the other days, this one is just very intimate, and a fun atmosphere. So thank you.”

He proceeded to trace the lines on a “Wonder Woman” sketch that he had started earlier. “I thought I would get some drawings done beforehand so I had more to pass out to you all. So I… I got ONE. Yay!”

As he put the finishing touches on, he addressed the convention staff. “Is there anyone in here that works for Comic-Con? Do you know the difference between ‘Law’ and ‘Justice?’ Well, Law is what should be done. Justice is what needs to be done. So I know there’s some sort of rule forbidding panelists from handing out food to attendees in the room. But I got all these ‘Twix’ bars I want to give out.” Low and behold, Twix bars were passed out to everyone in the room. “We did an ad campaign back in June that took up a whole page… So yeah. That’s Law and Justice.”

While he finished his Wonder Woman, he had the crowd ask him questions. One person asked if he still did personal drawings from his Marvel days. “I’ll occasionally draw Marvel things for friends who like Marvel… It’s fun to draw these characters every now and then.” He was then asked if he would draw one. “Fine, I’ll draw Wolverine… but he’s got to wear the Batman suit.”

Jim gave out the first sketch, and then began on the second. He began with a circle, and built upon it. “Trace basic shapes. They are like the blue print.” With the skeleton of the drawing done, he started the detailing. “Wolverine is like Batman. But smaller nose, bad breath, and… 2.8 billion dollars.” As he began the lining, he added “Batman is a lot like Wolverine, but less feral in nature… DC has less angry characters.”

It’s obvious how much Jim Lee enjoys his art, and sharing it with others. The amount of care he puts into his work looks effortless. It comes from years of practice. As he’s working on Wolverine’s nose, he smiled and said, “Add the nose and the teeth that make him look like he’s going to drop a deuce.” The room erupts again in laughter. “No, see? He’s kind of hunched over. He’s about to sit on the toilet.”

“Add the nose and the teeth that make him look like he’s going to drop a deuce.”

Finished, he gave Wolverine away, and took the request of doing “Harley Quinn.” As he drew, an attendee asked, “With nine kids, what do you do to relax?” Jim Lee looked at him, and laughed a little. “I make nine kids… No really. What do I do to relax? I draw. When I draw, time goes by. I fall into my pocket dimension, which is full of shirtless, muscular men.”

As he finished the drawing and was going to give it out, another person asked, “Who’s your least favorite character to draw?” Without hesitation, he answered, “Spiderman. I do believe he’s one of the best creations of Jim Lee, but I don’t like drawing Spiderman. He has all that webbing…The webbing, it creates the form of the costume. And when it moves around and curves, it’s just hard to plot.”

For his last drawing, he asked who he should draw next. A flurry of responses came through. But the one he latched on to was “Aquaman.” “Look, this girl is putting her hands together and pleading! That’s the international sign of ‘I have to draw this.’”

While he drew the last sketch, the question of “What’s your favorite part of the costume to draw” came up.  And this was probably my favorite response of the night. Jim Lee answered, “Oh you’re not going to trick me with that.”

The Jim Lee Sunday panel is probably the favorite of many. The fun and playful atmosphere is one that can be greatly appreciated on a Comic-Con Sunday. Though it doesn’t really explain much of the techniques in his drawing, it does allow everyone to see one of comic’s greats make wonderful art. Let’s all hope it continues for a years to come.

This weekend, actor Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Lex Luthor in next year’s Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, was seen at the premiere of The End of the Tour, a film about the release of David Foster Wallace’s 20th century existential tomb of a novel, Infinite Jest.  In an interview with the Associated Press, Eisenberg was asked about what he thought of his first comic con experience, to which he replied:

“It is like being screamed at by thousands of people. I don’t know what the experience is throughout history, probably some kind of genocide. I can’t think of anything that’s equivalent.”

“I can’t think of anything that’s equivalent,” he says, as he stands in line being screamed at by fans and paparazzi, berated eternally by the strobe of 200 watt light bulb flashes.  I understand that comic con is a stressful experience for all parties, especially the talent, but come on.  Eisenberg’s statement sounds like slight hyperbole for an A-List actor– not to mention the fact that it’s an offensive statement to make in the first place.

Archie #1 (art by Fiona Staples)

By Harper W. Harris

Among his lauded superhero comics, Mark Waid is also writing the highly publicized Archie #1, which relaunches the flagship title of the publisher, featuring art by the 2015 best penciller Eisner winner Fiona Staples. I had a chance to speak with him in between signings and panels to get his take on everyone’s favorite comics love triangle.

Harper W. Harris: What is your history with Archie? Have you been a fan of the characters for a long time, and how did you get involved?

Mark Waid: I mean, like everybody, I read Archie comics growing up. But I worked on staff for a brief time as an editor in the early ‘90s, and at that point did a deep dive on the character for the first time, went through the library and read all that stuff, and that made me an aficionado for life. Just looking at the the beauty and the variety and the bounce of the artwork in the ‘40s and ‘50s, and watching the character dynamics, and realizing that these characters are much deeper than we give them credit for. There’s much more to them than we tend to see. So when they called me a few months ago and asked me if I wanted to jump in on this, my first instinct was, you know, I’m a 53 year old man, why are you asking me about 16 year old teenagers. But then I thought about it, and you know what, I’m willing to step up to the plate and take a swing at that because I love these characters and I’m very protective of them. Whenever I take on something like Daredevil or Superman or Archie or something, I’m very protective of characters who have existed since before I was born, because I think that there’s clearly something about them that makes them perennial, vital characters, that makes people still want to tell stories about them after all these years. And that fascinates me, like what is it about those characters? Drilling down and then trying to figure out what that nugget is that makes those characters something where, as opposed to like Betty Boop or Woody Woodpecker or Andy Panda, that are nostalgic, nobody’s telling stories about them. So that’s what fascinates me. So with the Archie characters, when they gave me that opportunity, I thought, okay, clearly my high school experience is different from your high school experience is different from my 15 year old stepdaughter’s experience, but there are certain things about being a teenager that, I swear to god, are universal. The idea that you don’t know who you are yet and you’re trying to figure out your identity. Or you remember what it’s like to be flustered and embarrassed in front of the opposite sex. That feeling that everything you do is the end of the world and every bad thing that happens feels like its going to last forever. Those are the things that are universal to every teenager that ever lived, so those are the things you concentrate on. You don’t concentrate on Snapchat and Instagram and Twitter and hashtags and stuff like that, you don’t cram that into the story; that’s window dressing. The stuff that makes it timeless is the emotions.

HH: One of the interesting things about this new Archie book is that you are tackling the “origin” of Archie. You usually think of an origin in comics as when somebody got their superpowers or stopped their first crime or whatever–how did you go figuring out where the starting point should be for the character?

MW: I really started thinking about the Betty/Veronica/Archie dynamic, because the things is, and this is going back to the original DNA of the strip: the whole idea of will Archie choose Betty or Veronica is actually a fairly recent construct, that’s more of an ‘80s or ’90s thing. While it served the comics well at the time and it’s certainly one of the questions that people still ask, you know, will he choose Betty or Veronica, it kind of makes the girls like property to be owned. It makes them feel like they’re competing–it’s weird too that they’re supposed to be best friends and yet they’re dating the same boy all the time. So I stepped back for a minute and I thought, let’s go back to the original DNA of the strip which is that Betty is the tomboy underdog who is attracted to Archie but can’t get his attention because of glamorous Veronica and Archie being a dumbass about that. That just made more sense to me. With that in mind, the other thing that sort of makes it feel like an origin is that I needed it to be a more diverse cast, I desperately needed it to be a more diverse cast. The five main Archie characters–Reggie, Jughead, Archie, Betty, and Veronica–are traditionally white characters, white Cis characters. I needed a little more variety. Luckily, Archie has a very deep bench in the last ten years of very diverse supporting characters in the Archie Universe. So the first instinct was, let’s leave Veronica off the table for a little while, let’s leave Reggie off the table for a little while, let’s make room for Raj and Kevin and some of the other characters who are not your typical whitebread Archie characters. So I think that also sort of helps it feel like an origin in that you’re still sort of introducing some of these characters.

HH: You talked in a panel earlier today that your approach to Betty is that she’s in a sort of awkward stage where she’s not one of the boys anymore. Do you plan on exploring a lot of the characters in that way and giving them a point of view as opposed to the book just being about Archie?

Archie #2 (on sale 8/19)

MW: Oh yeah. Here’s the thing: Archie is the hub of the wheel, he’s the guy that has to be, in a way, the most unremarkable character in the book, because everyone else is sort of “Archie but he’s a foodie,” or “Archie but she’s a tomboy” or “Archie but she’s glamorous.” Everybody is a variation on the typical American teenager, so he has to be at the center. But the problem with that, of course, is that the typical American teenager is not a terribly glamorous or interesting in and of itself, and I’m not sure what that means in the 21st century either. So what I’m doing is using Archie as the lens to look at all those other characters. Issue two deals more with Jughead and why he’s an iconoclast and why he wears a hat and why he is the way he is. Issue three deals a lot more with Veronica–she could just be a stuck up rich bitch, but first of all we hate her that way and secondly that’s not very interesting. Instead, we’re treating her more like it’s Kim Kardashian coming to your high school. She doesn’t think she’s a bad person, and most of the time she’s not a bad person. It’s still that she doesn’t really connect well with the little people. That’s the trick, really drilling down on them and making them interesting and making them all relatable. Nobody invents a time machine, nobody has such a wacky adventure that it could never really happen to a teenager. We push the envelope a little bit, but by and large I want to keep those characters pretty well grounded.

HH: One of the other interesting things about starting this new series is that in the past, Archie stories have had little to no continuity from issue to issue. Is your approach more to tell the stories as arcs, one long story, or in short one-off stories?

Mark Waid at SDCC ’15

MW: It’s sort of in the arc format, but every issue still stands on its own. Every issue has a beginning, middle, and end, and then the soap opera is what brings you back from issue to issue. In terms of continuity, look, if the other artists and writers doing the Archie stuff want to play off what I’m doing, that’s awesome. If Chip Zdarsky instead wants to do Jughead in space, that’s fine too, that’s going to be awesome. The Archie stuff really does adapt itself really well to whether it’s continuity or not continuity. All the stuff in the ‘60s–there’s this great book that just came out called 12 Cent Archie by Bart Beaty. It’s an examination of Archie comics in the 1960s, and how continuity didn’t mean anything and that was its strength. Like in one issue Betty can be a master chef, and in the very next issue Betty can burn everything down in the kitchen. It didn’t matter because it served the plot. Archie can be a football hero in one issue and in the next issue be a scrub, it didn’t matter because it’s funny and that’s the plot. So there’s a part of me that likes doing the arch stuff where there’s a continuity to it, but I have no problem at all if the other guys want to run off in a different direction. I mean, Chip Zdarsky and Adam Hughes, I just want to see them do their thing.

HH: Alright, I’ll let you go on an easy one: Team Betty or Team Veronica?

MW: Hmmm…Team Betty, but I’m beginning to soften on Veronica a bit as we get into that very shellacked head of hers.

Archie #1 is on shelves now, with the second issue due out on 8/19!

UK based Titan Comics brought plenty of Doctor Who comic news across the pond for their appearance at SDCC. In addition to assembling some of the artists and writers behind their SDCC 2015 exclusive story and upcoming four Doctor crossover, panel moderator and Executive Editor Andrew James announced a new mini-series and holiday special both coming this Fall.

The panel kicked off with Senior Editor Steve White leading the room in singing Happy Birthday to Ninth Doctor series artist George Mann before James took the podium to premiere a teaser trailer for the forthcoming four Doctor crossover as series writer Paul Cornell looked on. Fans got a taste of never before seen artwork from series artist Neil Edwards, including an image of Doctors Ten, Eleven and Twelve gathered around the TARDIS console with companions Gabby, Alice and Clara. A title card proclaimed the crossover would feature four companions, which begs the question of who the fourth might be.

The crossover hits stores August 12 to coincide with the second annual Doctor Who comics day the following Saturday, August 15. The celebration will feature appearances from Doctor Who comics creators “at over 2,000 stores and libraries world-wide,” according to James.

“This all comes about because Clara Oswald desperately tries to prevent what she refers to as ‘some kind of multi-Doctor event’ which she doesn’t want to happen,” said Cornell, describing the basic premise of the series. “Thankfully, she fails to do that completely.” As with any multi-Doctor tale, from early seventies television serial “The Three Doctors” on down through 2013’s “Day of the Doctor,” disagreements and power struggles between the iterations take center stage.

“Ten and Twelve really don’t see eye to eye. Twelve can’t explain how he’s even alive to the other two,” Cornell said, noting that the story takes place before Doctors Ten and Eleven meet up in “Day of the Doctor.” He acknowledged that how the pair don’t remember this earlier encounter is one of the main points his series will have to explain.

“Ten thinks Twelve must have done something diabolical to even exist, he calls him an ‘abomination.’ And Twelve says, ‘Abomination? Dalek word. Nice.'” Cornell’s take on the Twelfth Doctor includes further witticisms such as his referring to Doctors Ten and Eleven as “Manic Pixie Dream Doctors,” leaving the Eleventh Doctor in the unenviable position of trying to help the other two manage to get along. He promised that the story, which he said was “all about a photograph, the nature of which means the end of the universe,” would feature some compelling cliffhangers, lots of old monsters and some surprise cameos.

Cornell wrapped up by saying: “All the Doctor Who titles are coming to a halt to clear the way for this for five weeks, and then they’ll all be relaunched again with any survivors.”

One of those titles is the recently launched Ninth Doctor comic series. To the right of Cornell on the panel was Cavan Scott and Blair Shedd, respectively the writer and artist behind the series. Scott remarked that he couldn’t quite believe he was writing for a Doctor that had already reached the 10th anniversary of their appearance and then death.

“We wanted to do a big event to celebrate that,” Scott said, “and wanted to do things we hadn’t seen the Doctor do very often in that year.” He said that Nine is still dealing with the Time War, leaving him a “very, very raw, a man who’s remembering how to be the Doctor.” Scott felt the TARDIS team of Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness helped the Doctor with that, saying he loved the brilliant way that group interacted. He also noted the flirting between Jack and the Doctor and Rose, which he likened to a love triangle that was perpetually spinning.

In terms of story, Scott explained that annihilation of the Time Lords left a “vacuum of power” that two warring factions are vying to fill. This leads the Ninth Doctor, Scott said, “to come face to face with people who are saying, ‘We are the new champions of Time’ and he might not like that.”

Scott added another Doctor to the growing roster of Time Lords he’s written for when he paired with Mann on writing duties for the SDCC exclusive story “Selfie.” James explained that the origins of the Con-centric story, which he described as a “delight” to work on, lay truly with the writers as his brief for the tale only asked that they do a story set in San Diego with the Twelfth Doctor and Clara.

“We spent an evening on Skype arguing, basically,” said Mann, who elaborated that the loose brief from James gave them the freedom to go anywhere in the city, but that both writers agreed they wanted to do a story at the convention center which they saw as “the heart of comics.” This was why the story opens with the TARDIS landing in the middle of the convention’s main floor,  in a full-page shot that James explained took artist Rachael Stott weeks to complete as she kept adding detail and costumes for con goers that referenced a variety of fandoms.

Scott said he and Mann asked themselves what summed up a convention these days and decided it was the many selfies taken by attendees. This led to the concept of an alien that could only be seen in selfies, and what endgame such a creature would have. “So if you look on your phones and see this,” Scott intoned in an ominous voice, gesturing to a slide showing a panel of the alien, “run.”

James segued into the announcement portion of the panel by saying that the Titan editors so loved Stott’s work on “Selfie” that she was the first artist invited to work on year two of the Twelfth Doctor series. Stott will support returning writer Robbie Morrison. “Selfie” writing team Scott and Mann will also return to a Twelfth Doctor story in a holiday special due out in early December. “Doctor Who is synonymous with Christmas back in the UK and around the world,” James said, “but we’re going to go slightly more international with the holiday.”

The other big announcement from the panel was the release of a new mini-series featuring the Eighth Doctor. James showed a slide of the series’ issue one cover by Alice X. Zhang, whose oil painting-style imagery depicts actor Paul McGann. McGann’s brief on-screen tenure as the Doctor only included one ill-fated TV movie, meant to test the waters for a possible BBC series collaboration with Fox. Though the film is much maligned, fans largely agree McGann himself shined in the role.

Due out October 28, the new series will be written by Mann with art by Emma Vieceli. “It’s a different format to the mini-series you’ve seen before,” Mann said, explaining that this was a later version of the Eighth Doctor, as seen just prior to “Night of the Doctor.” That television short, which served as a prequel to “Day of the Doctor,” was well-received by fans and may have paved the way for Titan to feature him in comic form.

Mann himself stated the short had personally made him want a season’s worth of Eighth Doctor stories. As a result, he wrote each issue as it’s own “episode” and “separate adventure.” Issue one will deal with a “village under siege set in the modern day,” but the issues will also see the Doctor travel to distant worlds and introduce new villains. Mann also said that we’ll meet a new companion named “Josie” who will be central to the stories, calling her “the backbone of the series.”

The Eleventh Doctor year two sees the introduction of a new writer to pair with Robbie Williams, Si Spurrier, who sent a video greeting to play to the panel introducing himself. Artist Simon Fraser returns, joined by newcomer Warren Pleece. The Tenth Doctor year two brings back Nick Abadzis on writing, while returning artist Elena Casagrande will be joined by Eleonora Carlini.

Check out some of the upcoming covers from Tenth and Eleventh Doctor year two, upcoming Twelfth Doctor and new Eighth Doctor covers below!

With a huge frown on their collective entity’s face and a couple of stiletto-wearing foot stomps to boot, Warner Bros. has released an official copy of the Suicide Squad sizzle reel that leaked after being shown at a panel during SDCC.  The trailer comes with a statement:

“Warner Bros. Pictures and our anti-piracy team have worked tirelessly over the last 48 hours to contain the Suicide Squad footage that was pirated from Hall H on Saturday. We have been unable to achieve that goal. Today we will release the same footage that has been illegally circulating on the web, in the form it was created and high quality with which it was intended to be enjoyed. We regret this decision as it was our intention to keep the footage as a unique experience for the Comic Con crowd, but we cannot continue to allow the film to be represented by the poor quality of the pirated footage stolen from our presentation.”
– Sue Kroll, President Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures

Deadline and a few other outlets have speculated that the leak of Suicide Squad and Deadpool footage meant exclusively for SDCC attendees could mean the end of the media practice.  Deadline characterizes this type of footage as a “gift,” and it is.  However, the reality of the internet is that information can be disseminated far and wide at increasingly rapid speeds.  There’s no way to stop this sort of thing from happening in the future, and not showing any promotional material at all seems like an emotionally driven reaction that ultimately hurts all parties, movie studios like Warner Bros. included.

It doesn’t make sense for companies to fight the future.  There’s plenty of room for innovation left in the internet.  Corporations simply need to embrace that.

Not everyone realizes that Seth Meyers, Rashida Jones, and Taran Killam are already playing superheroes – the trio, along with a cast list that reads like the credits for an episode of Saturday Night Live, voice original heroes on the Hulu animated comedy series The Awesomes. But Meyers was able to merge the characters’ off-screen faces with their on-screen costumes with the help of artist Alex Ross.

“Our dream is to present this show as the show that stars these people,” said Mike Shoemaker, co-creator of the series. “So the idea to have somebody who can put their faces in – I didn’t think it would happen, but he did it… he took it and just made everyone real.”

Killam said he and Meyers are both huge fans of Ross’s work.

“Kingdom Come is one of my favorite graphic novels, for lack of a better definition, and he’s my favorite artist,” he said.

The cast joked that the painting could springboard a live-action episode, and while Meyers said it would be unlikely due to scheduling conflicts, he would like to do a table read with the full cast (fortunately we won’t have to wait long to see Ike Barinholtz in a live action role, as he’s set to appear in the upcoming Suicide Squad film).

Meyers said in addition to having flexibility to book high-profile voice talents due to the nature of animation, doing the series for a company like Hulu, rather than traditional network television, puts less pressure on individual episode ratings.

“I think it’s really been exciting for us to be on Hulu,” he said. “In the network world, the next morning you always find out the ratings and things like that. It’s really refreshing to live in a world where it’s more about building subscribers and content.”

The Awesomes seasons 1 and 2 are available on Hulu, and a third season will debut this year.

by Zachary Clemente

In the overzealously air-conditioned afternoon of the Saturday of San Diego Comic-Con 2015, Image Comics held their fourth panel highlighting their creators – this time focusing on the aesthetics of their comics and how their creators, a mix of writers, artists, and colorists own it. From left to right: David Brothers (moderator), Rob Guillory (Chew), Stuart Moore (EGOs), Lee Loughridge (Deadly Class), Scott Snyder (Wytches), Jaime McKelvie (The Wicked & The Divine), and the not-pictured Josh Williamson (Nailbiter).

Williamson kicked off the discussion, prompted by a panel from his ongoing series Nailbiter that humorously depicts “The Buckaroo Butcher” – a serial killer who only kills clowns – stuffing a tiny car with a clown corpse. He mentioned that the surprises that his collaborator, Mike Henderson leaves for him in the panels keep the work fresh and entertaining.

While describing his book EGOs, Moore found it absolutely necessary to ensure that his collaborator, Gus Storms (who he called his “scruffy Moebius”), receives 50% of the rights on the project, jokingly cursing his “fucking principles.”

Loughridge, colorist on Deadly Class with writer Rick Remender and artist Wes Craig, described the conversation with Craig to develop their palette, saying that he always shoots for simplicity whenever possible as the colors are often the first thing that really get seen on a page and need to echo the narrative tone.

McKelvie quickly talked about the variant cover for issue #14 of The Wicked & The Divine by musician Grimes – they started talking online as Grimes is a huge fan of Matt Wilson’s coloring work so they offered her a cover. Both Williamson and McKelvie noted that this kind of control over a property is exactly why they bring their works to Image.

Art by Grimes

Guillory recounted the pitching process for Chew – since writer John Layman was first pitching it to Vertigo, Guillory tried to work in a style that would suite the publisher as he was used to working in a variety of styles. Layman nearly fired him from the book, as he was looking for the specific style that Guilloy posted on his blog, but had never been commissioned to do. After redoing the pages in that unique style, it was off to the races.

Wytches, according to Snyder was always set up to reflect the style of series artist and long-time collaborator Jock. They did a lot of preparation, ensuring that monster designs were biologically viable – every bit of the design being present for a purpose. He and Jock agreed that the best of horror exists “half an inch off of reality […] almost realistic, but just twisted enough away.”

Interestingly, other than the Grimes cover, the only image displayed from The Wicked & The Divine was the last page of the latest issue, showing the wheel of the gods with their various icons. McKelvie explained that the design from cover to cover of their book is incredibly deliberate, coming from his and series writer Kieron Gillen’s need to control the reading experience. The icons making up the wheels that bookend each chapter each tell their own story about the represented gods and give context to their overall connections – carefully designed by a friend of the long-collaborating duo. Additionally, McKelvie explained the the reason the credits are at the end is so you know who to blame. Snyder jumped in to laud them for how their successful design in the book creates a narrative texture, heightening the emotional experience.

During the Q&A portion, the panelists were asked about their relationships with working both in creator-owned and on licensed properties. Snyder, current writer of DC’s Batman series, picked it up right away, describing his experiences. Firstly, he’s noticing that publishers such as DC and Marvel are calling a lot more for different kinds of stories which he directly attributes to the success and demand for creator-owned works and that it’s becoming easier to do unique takes on existing properties. Secondly, he dug into his process for writing pre-existing characters which is to treat them like everything you know and feel about them is your individual idea, as if you made the character up.

Art by Jock and Matt Hollingsworth

When asked about the splattering and filtering effects layered on the pages of Wytches, he attributed all of it to series colorist Matt Hollingsworth. Following in suit with Jock’s unique style, Hollingsworth wanted to extend into something very different on the series once Snyder described the process as looking for the worst or scary version of himself. Hollingsworth returned with the filtered and splattered layers as a way to obscure the truth and maybe convince the reader that they’re deterring themselves from seeking it out of fright.

For me, the big takeaway from this panel can be summed up in the consistent narrative from all of the panelists when talking about the creative teams they’re a part of. They always called their writers, artists, colorists, letters, and so forth as their “partners” or “collaborators.” They happily see their teams as essential to the success and aesthetic of their Image books.

Thanks for joining us for our coverage of San Diego Comic-Con 2015. It was a blast and we look forward to wrapping up out convention backlog over the coming week.

As fan frustration increasingly mounts over the lack of female-centered superhero movies and TV shows, the team behind Supergirl vows that when translating Kara to the small screen, they won’t sacrifice the unique take her gender brings to the story.

“For us, usually when you see a female hero – and it’s no disrespect to any of them – they’ve had to lose being female to be the hero,” said Andrew Kreisberg, an executive producer and writer for the show. “Usually when you see a hero, it’s because she’s badass. And what we’re saying is you can be badass and still be a girl, and being a girl ins’t a bad thing. And so much of what makes Kara successful her is that she is a girl, and women do things differently. Our version of this world presents Superman as a bit of a loner… and that’s not the way Kara does things.”

Chyler Leigh, who plays Alexandra Dancer, a character created specifically for the show, said the female-led show was a common sense move.

“I wouldn’t even say it’s a good step forward; it’s appropriate. It makes sense. It is timely,” she said. “I have two daughters, they’re eight and six, and I couldn’t think of a better way to be a part of something that is such a great influence for them. They get to look up to Supergirl.”

Executive Producer Ali Adler said that they saw more than 1,000 women audition for the role, but that Melissa Benoist – who landed the role – was the very first person they saw, and she stuck with them throughout the audition process.

“She is so special and contagious and true,” she said. “She’s unapologetically a badass, and she’s soft.”

Benoist said that although she’s been physically training for the role, it wasn’t something she was used to.

“It’s funny because in my every day life, I have always been such a pacifist. I grew up in a household full of women, and if you hit someone, it was a huge deal, even just a slap,” ehs aid. “So the butt kicking is new, that’s a new muscle I’m flexing, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I liked it.”

At the SDCC panel, showrunners also revealed that Maxwell Lord would be appearing this season, played by Peter Facinelli,  as well as villains Livewire and Reactron.

Supergirl will debut in late October of 2015 on CBS.

Variety’s Statler and Waldorf, aka Peter Bart and Michael Fleming, have an inane piece up for Variety called — r u ready? – Comic Con, Neutered Male Performances And Ballsy Directors Ben Affleck & Luc Besson which argues that it’s over for the men:

BART: Anyone out there notice the reverse sexism that’s afflicting Hollywood? I’m glad women are getting most of the juicy roles these days, but I’m surprised that the guys have all but shriveled and disappeared. And the phenomenon is being well documented. Michael Douglas last week argued that Hollywood’s leading men have lost their masculinity. A story in The Times of London claimed that the few flashy male roles in film were mostly going to Brits and Aussies — witness Tom Holland as Spider-Man. The leading men in Magic Mike XXL and Terminator: Genisys looked like they were sleepwalking (or sleep dancing). George Clooney in Tomorrowland was formidably forgettable. And Bradley Cooper did his best to build a character in Aloha, but the script did him in. The women are even dominating animated movies – can you remember any guys in Inside Out?

“getting most of the juicy roles these days”??? So more than one or two is most?

I’m in in the post Comic-Con sleep and brain deprivation mode but after our journalism panel on Thursday night—or five years ago, as it feels—Casey Gilly and Donna Dickens were trying to explain to someone a phenomenon that I can’t remember the name of. But basically when there are more than 30% women in a crowd scene men perceive it as being MOSTLY WOMEN. Obviously old timey wimpy Hollywood curmudgeons Bart and Fleming also think that a few movies having strong female roes makes up for years and years where, say, the Academy has to scramble to find five Sscar worthy main roles for women or why a woman doing anything in Hollywod is treated like a three-eyed fish. Anyway you can read more about all of this at the Geena Davis Institute for Gender Studies website. I’m going back to sleep. Wake me up when the women are running everything.

Though Hannibal has yet to find a new home for a potential fourth season, showrunner Bryan Fuller said during an SDCC panel that he was investigating the possibility of a feature film instead. In press interviews he later confirmed Amazon and Netflix had passed on the series, though when asked about Hulu, indicated they had not passed as far as he knew. Fuller also said he was confident they could get all of the key players back for a movie, regardless of the recent reports that all of the actors were released from their contracts.

When asked whether they would consider a fan-funded film, such as via Kickstarter, or if they’d go with traditional funding, Producer Martha De Laurentiis answered: “They’ve approached me, so I just don’t know what model we’re looking at, whether we’re entertaining television, or the timing with the cast,” she said. It was unclear whether De Laurentiis had been approached by a crowd-funding type of site or a more traditional method of funding for a feature film, however.

When discussing his character during the panel, actor Hugh Dancy said that the episode airing in two weeks would jump the characters forward three years, to a period where Will Graham is married and starting to recover from his involvement with Hannibal, which is when the show will also introduce the story of  Francis Dolarhyde’s transformation into the Red Dragon. Fuller also said they were going to minimize the focus on the sexual nature of the crimes committed by Dolarhyde, because he does not believe rape should be depicted on television unless the proper time is allotted to deal with the damage and effects. Instead, he said it would focus on Dolarhyde’s attack on the family unit as a whole.

If the show does come back, Fuller said he has plans to reinvent the relationship between Will Graham and Hannibal, but isn’t sure whether he’ll be able to include the character Clarice – though he does have some fantasy casting in mind.

“The Clarice rights have always been tricky, because they’re owned by MGM. Martha has rights to everybody in Red Dragon and every character that originated in Red Dragon, but she doesn’t have the rights to whoever originated in Silence of the Lambs,” he said. “Because the show may be changing formats it might not be possible, or if in the change of the formats we’re able to work out a deal where we can include those things, that would be fantastic. I love Ellen Page. I think she would be a great Clarice, but I also love the idea of not casting someone who is white in that role, and having race play a factor in Clarice’s background in the way that race plays a factor in everybody’s background.”

Fuller said if the show ends here, though, the finale will hold as a series finale, and that he wrote the season with a potential ending for the series in mind. He said he had a gentleman’s agreement with NBC about where his ratings needed to be to survive, and knew when he was falling below that threshold.

“Part of that gentlemen’s agreement was ‘I will let you do the show that you want to do, and I can protect the show as long as we’re above a .5,'” he said. “And once we went below a .5 rating, I knew Jen [Salke] wouldn’t be able to protect us… so I was aware that this was going to be our last season, in many ways, so I wanted to get as much in there. And I thought if we don’t do Red Dragon now, we might not be able to.”

While chatting with press at SDCC this weekend, Executive Producer John Stephens revealed that the second season of Gotham will move away from a story-of-the week method, opting instead for ongoing character arcs and development.

“Bad things will happen and there are villains, but it’s really a saga about the characters who live inside Gotham and their lives,” he said. “So it’s much more fun to write, and I think it’s more fun for the actors to act. I feel like we are taking a big evolutionary step towards the Gotham that we know from the comic books.”

Showrunner Bruno Heller said the change happened as the show found its audience.

“The first season on any show is very much kind of finding its feet, finding out what works, what the audience responds to, and what kind of animal you have,” he said. “The second season is more like, we understand this game now… so this second season is very much allowing us to stretch our legs.”

Stephens added that the popularity of serialized storytelling and binge watching of other shows, such as Game of Thrones, encouraged them to make the switch, though the length of the season presents obstacles.

“It’s tricky to do it over 22 episodes, because you have to build a lot of story,” he said.

David Mazouz, who portrays a young Bruce Wayne on the show, said as a result of the new direction, he expects his character will be less isolated from the ensemble in the upcoming season.

“He’s going to start to go out more and interact with some new characters, and I feel like that’s going to be cool, because you haven’t really seen him do that,” he said.  “I think in the first season I worked with three series regulars, and there’s like 15 of them.”

Gotham also intends to deliver more villains next season, with Victor Freeze, Clayface, and Jerome’s transformation into a proto-Joker.

Meanwhile, fan favorite villain Robin Lord Taylor, who plays the Penguin on the series, says he will continue to delight in the stark differences between this on-screen persona and his own.

“I won’t even send food back at a restaurant,” he said, when asked if he was anything like his character.

Gotham returns on Sept. 21 on Fox.

Yesterday, Raina Telgemeier, author of the Eisner-winning autobiographical comic, Smiles, announced her next graphic novel.  The book, entitled Ghosts, will be released in fall 2016, and will be published through Scholastic’s Graphix imprint, which focuses on YA and kids comics.

John Rogers – Comic-Con President

By Nick Eskey

San Diego Comic-Con has come and gone. As in every year, to officially close convention, we are gathered before John Rogers, Comic-Con International President, for the ever so important “Talk Back” panel. It is here that attendees can voice their concerns, suggestions, or applause this year’s convention, so that John can hear them personally.

Comic-Con’s president introduced himself, and thanked staff, security, volunteers, exhibitors, and others before opening up the microphone to the waiting crowd. And as usual, the crowd extended nearly to the back of the room.

Some of the concerns brought up dealt with the constant concern for lines. Lines for merchandising and booths have become a recent issue. One attendee brought up the issues he was having with the “Funko” booth. “The line was so disorganized, and constantly closed throughout the day. There was even one day where they stopped selling all together as of 4pm.” I have had my personal experience with Funko. To get even a chance to stand in line to buy, you either have to be the first one in the hall, or lucky to be passing by when they open up. Over the weekend, they started passing out line tickets. As people first entered the exhibit hall, they would have to get a ticket, get to the line, and then wait in line to eventually buy. This added step seemed to compound issues, as the ticket passers didn’t announce they were passing tickets, and only mentioned something if you got within arms distance. Those that raced by to get to the booth received the news there that they needed a ticket.

Another cause for concern was how exhibitors were still getting into lines by switching out for a regular attendee pass. “I was upset when I saw an exhibitor in the autograph line that I couldn’t even get into,” said one woman. “This has been an ongoing issue for a while on how exhibitors are ‘magically’ producing regular passes,” responded Rogerss. “Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about it.”

To address the crowds on the sales floor, one man proposed the use of directional lines on the floor. “As you might have noticed, we are such things when large signings are taking place,” said John. The man wished the lines though to happen throughout the convention. Many a person in the room grumbled at this. “I’m pretty sure no one would like anymore rules to complicate things,” added John Rogers.

Reiterated by many was the lack of communication from the different security companies employed by Comic-Con. “One guard had my attendant sit far away from me in Hall H. And other guards were giving me issues over where my attendant was… I need my attendant in eyesight at all times. I don’t know why that guard would have me sit away from him.” Another attendee said that one guard was handing out passes, where there were others just standing around. When he asked why there weren’t helping, they said “oh that’s not our department.”

Now, for the most reoccurring issue: those with disabilities and the services available to them. Many of the attendees with these concerns had actually positive things to say about this year’s services. But the lines for Hall H were still major issue. “On Friday, the general line went in forty-five minutes before the ADA line… I felt like we were forgotten,” said one woman with disabilities. “When we finally got in, many of the red seats marked off for disabled were already taken.”

Another Hall H issue was that the ADA lines were uncovered. “There are many of us that can’t stand in the sun as part of our disability,” said one woman. The same issue was brought up over and over again.

New this year was the addition of wristbands for the ADA line, to help gauge the number of available spot. For the most part, it was met with positive feelings. A few issues did arise though when it came with the actual issuing of said wristbands. “Security would come out and say that there might not be enough bands. Then maybe an hour later they would come out and say there’s six. Another hour later and they’d have four more. Is it that hard to just count the spot and let us know?”

John Rogers responded, “We haven’t come up with a better system to figure out how many spaces we have left till wristbands have been passed out… It’s actually difficult to keep a working number and go off of that.” The woman then asked about making three lines then, or doing a straw pull for wristbands. “We’ll think of that,” said John.

There’s also the issue of those with disabilities and the use of elevators. “The wait for the elevator was extremely long,” said an attendee. “By the time I got to the autograph area, they had caped the line.” For this year’s convention, they’ve had those with ambulatory disabilities use the elevators as opposed to the escalators. “It was a decision we made to be fair to everyone,” replied John. “We were seeing those with ambulatory issues being rushed around by other attendees for the escalators.”

One woman suggested that Comic-Con should have those claiming they have disabilities to show proof, so as to not be accessible to services if they are not. This elicited a quick response from the president. “By California state law, the only ones that can ask for proof of disability is the police.” The woman couldn’t believe that, but many from the crowd agreed with John. “That’s how Disney got in trouble recently at their park,” he added.

The biggest upset was when one woman said, “I was told by Disabled Services that this was the last year my attendant could get a complementary pass. And if they couldn’t get one through the lottery, ‘then they would be out of luck.’ I need my attendant. If he can’t come, I can’t come either. And I’ve been coming for twenty years. I don’t mind if he needs to buy one now, but then please put into place a system that he is guaranteed purchase.”

This seemed to catch John Rogers off guard. “Attendant badges are always complementary, so I don’t know why they would say that to you,” he said. Half a dozen in the line confirmed that they also were told the same thing. John looked at the line and said “We will fix that.”

This panel went on for an hour and a half; one of the longest Talk Backs to happen, with most of the issues dealing with Disabled services. Though it seems the guard issue has lessened this year as compared to others in the past, the concerns with ADA have not. If anything, they seem to be growing. When it comes to something like Comic-Con, it’s important that the whole experience is accessible to all fans that wish to partake. As the convention will remain in San Diego for at least a little while longer, let’s see if they can better address these issues.

SDCC 2015 hasn’t been a slouch in the announcements department especially if you’re a fan of comics.  Friday morning, Aspen Comics held their Comic-Con caucus in room 9 kicking off with a big traditional “Aloha” and leading to a couple of big teases for fans.

Frank Mastromauro, Vince Hernandez, Mark Roslan, and Peter Steigerwald were joined by Josh Reed, Beth Sotelo, BigDog Ink’s Tom Hutchison, David Wohl, Paolo Pantalena, Siya Oum, V. Ken Marion, Heather Quinley, Alex Koant, and Hannibal Tabu. So many people that actually couldn’t fit on the stage.

Frank opened with the upcoming Eternal Soulfire showing off the Century Edition cover which was an SDCC exclusive. With Eternal Soulfire debuting this week more covers for issues three and four were shown off including a large piece separated into four different covers. The Vettix sketch cover initiative cover was talked about and their lineup for auction includes Art Adams with more names to follow soon. Vettix helps armed forces men and women attend hard to score events like comic-con.

The presentation transitioned into the recently launched Fathom Blue. One of the two Aspen team books set in the Fathom universe. Some scantily clad covers and regular covers for issue 2 through 5 were showing.

David Wohl talked about his new project called Santeria: City of Fear (working title). Wohl talked about wanting to do a paramedic story. It’s about a woman who saves someone’s live and in doing so is thrust into a world of Santeria. The pitch for the book sounds like an interesting take on what the cost of saving a life could be.

Oniba Swords of the Demon by Paolo Pantalena is a series featuring a female samurai. Her feudal Japan timeline story will see the heroine battle intricately designed monsters. There’s a sketchbook available at the Aspen booth featuring some intense line art.

The Big Dog Ink rundown started with an update on Critter. Some con exclusive covers were shown which should be available on the publisher’s online store. After Critter will be Legend of Oz Wicked West in October. Wrapping up the BDI stuff is a tease for new Shahrazad stuff next year.

Panel exclusive Critter #1

Jirni Volume two debuts in August. Some new covers for the series were shown and Marion’s art really bumps up his game here.

The all ages Psycho Bonkers showed off some covers including one by MLP artist Agnes Garabowska.

LOLA XoXo Wasteland Madam had some new cover art to show off by the impressive Siya Oum. She’ll return to writing the LOLA series with Vol 2 whileWasteland Madam continues to be written by Vince Hernandez.

Steigerwald talked about the delay with Zoohunters. His current DC Commitments were taking more time than they should have but he’ll be returning to the book very soon.

Upcoming trades by the publisher include Fathom Vol 2, Fathom Killian’s tale, Legend of the Shadow Clan, and Jirni Vol 1.

Following the recent movement of Aspen Novels is Aspen Novellas. The first one in the line will feature the world of Executive Assistant Iris. They’ll be shorter than the novels but an expansion into the comics’ worlds that takes prose form.

Dellec and Shrugged will have new Volumes at some point. The stories for each are in the works but current titles are the focus. Mastromauro explained the publisher can only handle a certain number of books a month.

The Scourge,  Scott Lobdell’s previous Aspen series is in talks to be a feature film and has a screenwriter.

A gorgeous Michael Turner gallery edition collecting the legendary artist’s Batman/Superman run through the lens of the original pages is currently available at the show and at Graphitti Designs. The oversized book is a must for fans of Turner and orginal art which also contains tons of cover work and designs for his various DC Comics contributions. Fans can flip through one at the Graphitti booth, but be prepared for the best impulse buy ever.

The panel announced this year’s Halloween Fest book will be a Psycho Bonkers coloring and activity book for kids.

The publisher also announced a catch up with day-and-date digital as well as the back catalog continuing to update with Comixology.

For years Aspen has always had their IP on the cusp of breaking into other mediums, while there has been movement on a few things; according to Mastromauro the thing closest to being a reality is Executive Assistant: Iris. In the group’s opinion it’s the property that would be cost effective for a studio to tackle. Even teasing that it could be a SDCC 2016 announcement.

With that the panel closed with another rousing “Aloha!”

Today the DC Entertainment booth hosted a signing featuring the stars of Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  DC All Access had exclusive footage from the event:

Released today, this Ant-Man clip shows Hank Pym meeting up with none other than…

The Falcon!  Ant-Man comes out July 17th.

Comics Beat was invited to an early morning look at Walker Stalker Con Fan Fest at Petco Park on Friday. A con within a con celebration of all things zombie but mostly Walking Dead. Take a look at a few candid shots from our brief time at the show.

Going in through part of the walking dead escape course

Jinx Zombie Shoot!

stage for conversations with Walking Dead stars and famous horror creators

Great new decor for the zombie fan household

Skybound Walker Stalker Fest merch booth with exclusives only available at W/S Fest

Fans got to spend time with some great Walking Dead alumni such as Hershel himself Scott Wilson

IronE Singleton making memories with fans.

We miss you T-Dog

Even after the zombie apocalypse people can’t go without their iced coffee

Fans got shirts blasted at them as only Skybound can by large mech

WWF Legends at a zombie con

Various set ups from partners including Twitch TV’s broadcast of live table top card game gone digital, Superfight

Walker Stalker Con tours the world year round with full larger shows in places like Brazil, London, and various U.S. Cities. Fans can find more info including upcoming dates on the Walker Stalker Con website.

If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like for a comic to be composed entirely of one-liners, wonder no more.  This Fall, writer Joe Kelly and artist Ed McGuinnes are teaming up to create the very first Spider-Man/Deadpool crossover EVER.  No further news has been announced at this time, so we can only speculate on whether the world will survive the weight of these heroes’ collective puns.

During the “Women of Marvel” panel at SDCC today, the House of Ideas announced several new series as a part of their All-New, All-Different relaunch.

When solicits for over 45 titles came out, a large number of fans worried about the fate of one of their favorite characters: Squirrel Girl.  Her newest series had been launched earlier this year to incredible acclaim, but Marvel had not announced the continuation of her title the way they had trumpeted other continuing series like Ms. Marvel and Spider-Gwen.  However, fear not!  The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl will relaunch this October with a new #1.  Writer Ryan North and artist Erica Henderson will continue their work on the title.

To add some fuel to the fire of the rumor about Wesley Snipes’ potential return to the role of Blade, Marvel announced a new Blade series at the panel as well.  While a promotional image from the series leaked from Marvel’s retailer panel earlier this weekend, we now have more specifics about the title.  To begin in October, the series will be written by Tim Seeley, drawn by Logan Faerber, and focus on Fallon Grey, a sixteen year old girl who lives in a rural part of Oregon.  She’s a star student and the queen social bee, but her stellar life is suddenly disrupted by an unnamed “terror.  As fearsome supernatural forces hunt Fallon, she’ll come face to face with something even more shocking than the monsters on her tail. Eric Brooks…Blade…her father?! And in each other, they’ll discover the purpose they’ve each been struggling to find.”

In an interesting experiment, Marvel will republish Ms. Marvel Volume 1: No Normal as an audiobook through GraphicAudio.  While GraphicAudio has adapted a number of Marvel prose novels in the past, this will be the first time the company will take a story straight from the comic itself.  This title will be released on August 17th.

To follow up on our earlier announcement that Joe Michael Straczynski would be penning Flash: Earth One, DC just announced that Francis Manapul would be writing AND drawing Aquaman: Earth One.  The news comes from DC’s Meet the Co-Publishers Panel, and the book will be released in 2016.

Jonathan Hickman announced that he would return to double duty on his next book, writing and drawing the whole affair.  As someone who was inspired by his unique sense of design in The Nightly News, this is very good news.

Joe Michael Straczynski, author of several Before Watchmen titles and Superman: Earth Vol. 2, just announced that he was signed by DC to write Flash: Earth One.  This will be the fifth entry in the Earth One series of books.

By Nick Eskey

On July 9^th at San Diego Comic-Con, the creators of comics “Eat of West” (Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta) and “Invisible Republic” (Gabriel Hardman and Corrina Bechko) gathered on behalf of Image Comics. These comic writers and artists were present to discuss the processes that they use to create their perspective works.

First the prompter asked the panel to talk about the comics themselves. “Eat of West is a Sci-fi Western,” said Jonathan Hickman. “The four horsemen come to bring about the apocalypse. But one of them falls in love; death of course. And he doesn’t feel like fulfilling his duty.” Gabriel Hardman said that “Invisible Republic is about a disgraced reporter that finds a hidden history of a foreign planet.”

Writer Jonathan Hickman and Artist Nick Dragotta (“East of West”)

For any story, the first thing that has to get cleared is its development. “We had an idea for a world going through a rebellion,” said Gabriel. “We were thinking of this song from the 70’s that talked about rebellion in the future.” For East of West, Nick and Jonathan talk about how they went to lunch together. “Nick wanted a Western, and I wanted a Sci-fi,” said Jonathan Hickman. “When we couldn’t argue over which one, we just decided to do both.”

With the idea of the story decided, the teams would need to be able to work well together. With any collaboration between artist and writer, they would each need to learn the other’s habits. “Well, we’re married,” said Gabriel. “We live in the same house. Our working habits have a sort of ‘Jazz’ interplay. If something doesn’t work, we talk to each other and change it… It’s very organic. And if we want to change something, it’s not like we have to go to anyone and get the changed approved.” For East of West, artist Nick said “I just wanted to make the work easy between us.” Gabriel from Invisible Republic laughed as this, then adding “It’s never easy for us.”

Writer Gabriel Hardman and Artist Corinna Bechko (“Invisible Republic”)

What sets apart a graphic novel and a comic from a book is the artwork; it tells the story just as much as the dialogue. Nick Dragotta spoke about his own drawing style. “I like to use thumbnails as panels… to let them lead the reader’s eye. This is easier for me because I work in digital, and use layers.” Writer Jonathan Hickman added that because his time is limited, he has to look at his work as a whole. “I’ll give Nick what idea I have for dialogue, sometimes even the whole thing, knowing there’s a chance I’ll have to rewrite it all… I just try to get the hell out of the way, and let the artist have his way.”

After showing the completed art, Nick said that sometimes Jonathan will say a section “would do better with this addition of dialogue.” This would make Nick either add a page or two, or even go back and redo some of them. “An angle change might have happened,” he further adds.

Gabriel Harman says that he’s in large a story board artist, working on some movies just as “Tropic Thunder” and “Inception.” He prefers to use more traditional means, using paper and pencils to draw out the scenes, defining parts here and there but not fully. “And I’ll ink it as I go,” he said.  “I don’t do full penciling first, or I’ll find that I have this dead thing.”

Soon the topic of rules came up: whether there are rules for their work. “One thing I believe in is arbitrary rules,” said Gabriel. “Things go left and right, and important things to the front. [Also] never use caption to tell where the story is going… For us it’s about drama than literature. These things are how you tell the story.”

This led to a discussion of how the teams decide to convey their story. Some comic writers and artists use captions to partially tell it, and some use over dramatic scenes. “We try to tell emotion with less,” said Gabriel. “Struggle and intensity with how the characters hold themselves. I want them to be like pixies; I want them to be quiet, and I want them to be loud when loud… I don’t want it like ‘Jack Kirby,’ where everything is flying out at you.”

“If you’re a writer, it’s like a huge cheat to just tell someone what’s going on,” said Jonathan of East of West. “It’s like if they said ‘I ran as fast as I could,’ and then they run. There’s nothing worse than telling something twice.” Nick added that, “I first drive for clarity; simplify. And then I draw the heck out of it.”

After the art is pretty much done, coloring comes in. Color palettes can be very important as well when it comes to making the comic tie together well. Gabriel of Invisible Republic mentioned that since their comic has two time streams, they use two different palettes. “The present is a desaturated  film look, when film use to be used for movies.” Nick took it further by talking about the role of colorists. “[They are] like the new finishers… we give the colorist enough space to play and have it. Color sells books, really. If you are in perfect harmony with your colorist, you have it made.”

As a last discussion, the teams discussed their influences; where their ideas come from. “Manga, because they show, not tell,” said Nick Dragotta. Jonathan Hickman had a lot more to say on the subject. “I consumed as much as I could when I was beginning, and my first five projects could be seen as ‘this is like that, but meets this.’ I don’t read as much anymore  though… when I work it could spark an idea that I’ll want to include, or spark another idea that I don’t’ have time for… Nowadays I watch a lot of film.”

Gabriel Hardman said that “I take influences from other outside sources. Pull from everything, not just comics.” This is where Jonathan broke back in, and went on a rampage about comic ideas. “I also work for marvel as a writer, and they write comics for comics. They don’t take any original ideas, just basically mine their previous franchises. It’s incestuous. No, they’ve [expletive] themselves beyond incestuous.” He then discussed how “cool” it is when people are willing to try new original things. “It’s really cool.”

It’s great to see the process from where the story and art of our comics come to life. Because after all, that’s what makes comics, well, comics. And it’s great to have a company like Image that gives their writers and artists the space to let such creativity flow. Keep an eye out for “East of West” and “Invisible Republic.”

Archie Meets the Ramones (courtesy of Comics Alliance)

By Harper W. Harris

Today at the Comics and Pop Music: Making New Noise panel at Comic Con, there was one of the most interesting groups of people on stage: Patrick A. Reed of Comics Alliance moderated Matt Rosenberg, Alex Segura, Amy Chu, and Mix Master Mike of the Beastie Boys as they spoke about the fascinating ways that music and comic books cross paths.

In an SDCC exclusive announcement, Segura and Rosenberg talked about a new miniseries from Archie Comics that they are co-writing: Archie Meets the Ramones, with art by Gisele Lagace. The promo art, seen above from Comics Alliance’s post, looks fun as hell. Rosenberg said that Archie comics are what got him into comics, and Ramones are what got him into punk, so it was a “perfect combination.” Segura says the mini-series will be “fun and a little weird.”

Zoldar by Mix Master Mike and Tony Washington

Amy Chu, who will be writing Poison Ivy as was recently announced, spoke briefly about the Run DMC comic she is writing, and the legendary Mix Master Mike talked about his Zoldar project with Tony Washington, which is both a comic character and a multimedia experience. There is an Oculus Rift aspect in which you enter the virtual world of Zoldar and experience the music and story in 7.1 surround sound. The music has already been made, and soon we can expect to learn more about the scratch-wielding superhero.