JL RelaunchedThere's lots of DC news flying around this weekend, and almost all of it revolves around the new 52 books DC is releasing. It's SO big that it's been split into three panels, and today is the second of the three panels. I have no clue what to expect.
Panel begins at 11:15. So hold tight!
It's going to be a few more minutes guys. They're finishing up setting up the panel.
11:17- John Cunningham intros the show. Black Wayne Casino chips are mentioned again. Jokes are made. Refresher on what is happening with 52 in September. Bring out the panelists! Dan Didio and Jim Lee come out. Eddie Berghanza and Bob Harris come out. Dan says hi! This panel will be the origin of how the 52 started.
11:20- Dan says sales were dropping a tad, and that's when they started the "Draw the line" campaign. It came together last October. They wanted to re-energize the company. 23 top writers came into a room and alked about the tone, and voice of the DCU. Jim Lee says the meeting was intimidating because he isn't a writer. They talked about what they loved about DC and what changes they could make. Bob Harris says they talked a lot about character.
== TEASER ==11:25- They were sick of "Event Fatigue." Lois and Clark came up at the meeting and their relationship. Jim states that it became a little complacent, the character of Superman. Bob says their was a struggle missing in Superman's life because he already had Lois. Eddie says that the first thing they took away was the underwear, as a joke. They wanted to give him a supporting cast that wasn't just super-heroes says Didio.
11:30- At the end of the year, Didio says sales were still dropping and they decided to do new number ones all across the board. He originally says they wanted to keep Action and Detective at original numbering. It wasn't going to work, so they went "all in." It was 48 new books at first. Jim kept pushing for 52 because it's a "magical number for the DCU." They met in the "war room" and put a grid on a wall with characters and discussed each one. They wanted to put new/old genres back in the books. They say Geoff Johns was also heavily involved.
11:35- Finished pages of JLA go up on the screen. Gotham City City Police are chasing someone. Jim describes the pages. This takes place 5 years ago. The art is amazing. "The GCPD doesn't care where people live and they shoot buildings." says Jim. We all laugh, He continues describing the panels making jokes about how physics in comics are different. Batman destroys a chimney. Jim says "We have a big budget we can put as many chimneys in here as we want." Jim Lee loves chimneys. The art on this book is gorgeous. The colors on this book are also gorgeous.
11:45- Don't know what happened, but lost 2 paragraphs. Talked about getting rid of all the yellow belts on the costumes of Justice League, and making small changes here and there. Wanted the costumes to look functional, contemporary, and realistic.
11:50- Action is the first time the public sees Superman. They didn’t want to start with year ones or origins or first meetings because we’ve all seen that before. Eddie decided to build a five year time line to keep it fresh.
11:55- Question time and everyone almost tramples each other. Q: What's going on with Stephanie Brown? A: She'll be a part of the Batman family. Q: Will there be any character who knows what happened pre-launch? A: Doesn't seem like it. Jim Lee essentially says it's counter-productive to what they are doing. Q: Did they ever thing of doing a season or volume numbering system? A: It came up, but it's not something they could do. Q:Barbara Gordon and walking. A: Have faith in Gail Simone. Q: Will characters stay dead? A: Didio says it's about moving forward. It's about building not taking a part.
12:00- Q: Anything they were changing that made them sad? A: Yes. No examples. Q: Timeline questions. A: JLA takes place 5 years in the past, and Action Comics takes place 6 months BEFORE that. The second arc of Action will be taking place at the same time as Superman.
12:05- Dan mentions there will still be a Multiverse. (awesome) Q: How long before they cut off Aquaman's hand? A: This Aquaman will beat the crap out of us if we do that again. Q: IS GL Rebirth canon and did GL still hit Batman? A: Yes, and you'll see more of that soon. Q: Where's Donna Troy? A: Didio says he is not allowed to talk about her yet.
12:10- Q: Are powers being changed? A: Certain things have been altered a tad. They want to show new ways for these characters to use their powers, like how Flash's costumes comes out of his ring now. Q: Are people like Alan Scott and Jay Garrick going to be active during the new 52? A: Didio says they're getting a rest. Fans, and myself, boo. Could be more than a year before we see them again. Q: Kid asks why is Dick Grayson Batman. A: Didio says he's not and "you're welcome." We all chuckle. Looks like someone was just trying to get a poker chip.
Bye bye! All done!