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by LargeMarge67 on 11.22.11 Photography by: LargeMarge67 
Of all the wondrous things I experienced at Comikaze Expo, attending this panel may have been my favorite. It had passion and a plucky spirit! (I stole that line from the Mark Harmon opus Summer School and don’t care because it fits!) The guests on this panel were loose, funny and very informative. There was even a surprise guest who brought the funny out of everyone else and is one of my favorite comic book creators. Here is a list of the participants; Blond – Colorist – Deadman
Brian Buccelatto – Co-writer & colorist – The Flash
Mike Costa – Writer – Blackhawks
Josh Fialkov – Writer – I, Vampire
Kyle Higgins – Writer – Nightwing & Deathstroke
Mike Johnson – Writer – Supergirl
JT Krul – Writer – Captain Atom & Green Arrow
Scott Lobdell – Writer – Red Hood and the Outlaws
Philip Tan – Artist – The Savage Hawkman
Eric Wallace – Writer – Mr. Terrific
So, without any further adieu, here’s how the panel went down…
JT Krul: Um…we don’t really have a moderator…you know, one of the questions that always comes up, I think, for a lot of us with the New 52 (is) what was the approach going into it and how did we kind of wrap our heads around the titles and all that? Mike (Johnson) down on the end there, let’s just talk about the core. I guess how we took about ten characters out of the core (and) how that process was for you and…
Mike Johnson: Will do. I have a suggestion, we have a volunteer moderator here (pointing into the audience), Jason Enright from Emerald Comics (an amazing comic shop in Burbank, Ca). He’s done this before so he’s a semi-professional moderator…
(Jason Enright comes up to the panel and grabs a mike)
MikeJ: So, Supergirl. You guys have read the book (and) you know that she has just arrived…the way we think of her, basically, to any new reader (of) the New 52, she has no idea what’s going on, she’s never met any of these people and it’s kind of a unique opportunity to write a character that has the same POV (point of view) as the audience (in) that way. There’s been a lot of talk about how she’s different from previous incarnations, in character, and she is very different. The back story, in particular, that we are slowly revealing over the first couple (of) arcs is very different from what’s come before but I think the core of the character’s the same; she’s heroic, she’s a good person, she’s brave…she’s a bit of a hot-head – quick to react – but, at the end of the day, she’s a good person and rather than being a hero from the start, the core of the book is learning how to be a hero.
Kyle Higgins: Okay, so I’m doing two (New 52 titles) (but) let’s start with Deathstroke. Deathstroke is a book about a meta-human mercenary…to me, what I was trying to do with the book is, basically, it’s a story about a guy who is the best at what he does, to steal a Wolverine line, and at the end of the day it’s about his reputation, it’s about perception. It’s about a guy whose reputation is the most important thing to him because he’s a warrior. He views himself as in the same kind of class as a samurai, as the knights throughout time. For a warrior, it’s all about respect – the greatest warrior from the greatest kingdom always commanded the greatest amount of respect. The only difference is now there are no great kingdoms worth fighting for. The only great kingdom that’s left, that controls everything and motivates everyone, is money. So working for hire, working for money…it’s not about money in the materialistic sense, it’s about the way that money is a sign of respect in being hired and what somebody’s willing to pay him. So going forward he’s trying to get his reputation back, he’s trying to re-establish that he is the best within the DC Universe because, at the end of the day, that’s really all he has. So…(in) Nightwing, Dick Grayson formally Robin and then Nightwing then Batman and now Nightwing again…I really wanted to continue where Scott Snyder had left him after Detective Comics and where…
(Something in the audience distracts Kyle and…)
Jason Enright: Ladies and gentlemen, hold on, we have a very special…no, it’s Scott Lobdell, it’s not special…
Kyle: It’s not special.
Jason: From the pages of Dr. Seuss…the Lorax is here…Scott Lobdell everybody!
(Applause)
(Scott takes a seat on the panel)
Kyle: So, Nightwing…I wanted to continue where Scott Snyder left off after Detective Comics, where he and I had played with Dick Grayson in Gates of Gotham, which is…this is someone who has avoided this place for a long time and in coming back to be Batman, it’s forced him to take another look at Gotham City and, basically, except where he’s at. So I didn’t want to take him out of Gotham, I wanted to leave him there…to have him run off to another city would undercut everything that Scott and I did and tried to do with the character. So…he’s basically the hero of tomorrow. He is Gotham’s future. Whereas Batman is the symbol of fear, Nightwing can be something more; he can be a symbol of hope, he can be inspiration. And, like I said, the city of Gotham is so dark (so being an inspiration is) one of the most powerful weapons Nightwing could have. So going forward, in the second arc – the first arc is all about his past, before he can become the hero he has to go back through his past as Gotham tries to break him through it – his status is going to elevate in the city, Dick Grayson’s going to take a very active role in the city and there’s a new job coming up that he’s going to take on that I don’t think anyone (will) see coming…the goal is that Gotham City is, possibly, more Dick Grayson’s than it is Bruce Wayne’s…
Mike Costa: Hi, so I wrote Blackhawks, it’s the book that some of you probably haven’t read yet…you know who you are. It’s the new book – I think it’s the only new book in the (New 52) – (and) all the characters are brand new and it’s about…sort of like the Seal Team 6 of the DC Universe but instead of going up against threats that the Justice League could take care of, they’re going up against very strange, technological threats. Looking at technology like it’s a virus…or infection in society and the Blackhawks’ job is to curb that. I’m writing it (in a way) where I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next issue…to keep it exciting for me and hopefully for you as well.
Josh Fialkov: (Laughing) And your editor (too), right?
MikeC: And my editor…also, in the past few months, I haven’t really known who (would) draw it either (which) adds to the level of excitement! But starting (in) issue five we have CAFU (Carlos Alberto Fernandez Urbano), who you guys might know from (DC Comics’ title) T.H.U.N.D.E.R Agents. (He’s) an unbelievably awesome artist. We’ve actually had some really good artists before CAFU, as well. So, (the book is) basically a lot of crazy (and) high tech action.
Josh: I, Vampire! Vampires in the DC Universe have been living in hiding, they’ve been taking crappy, crappy night jobs like driving cabs and working in adult bookstores. It’s miserable right? But here’s the thing, vampires can do amazing (and) wonderful things and they have so much power (and are) so much better than the common man. All the vampires have decided they’re not going to take it anymore. In a massive assault on the world, they have decided they are going to take over what is rightfully theirs and they are led by Mary, Queen of Blood, who is sort of “Queen of the Vampires”, and she’s totally awesome, I swear to God. Mary, Queen of Blood has her foil, Andrew Bennett, who is the vampire who turned her into a vampire. The two of them are deeply, deeply in love and they hate each other’s guts and it’s essentially a chess game between these two lovers, trying to decide who’s going to save mankind and who is going to keep mankind…Oh! John Constantine issue four (and) Batman issues five and six…
Brian Buccelatto: Um, The Flash. We’re focusing on Barry Allen – I co-write the book with Francis Manapul, who is an amazing artist – (so) we are focusing on a younger Barry Allen, one who doesn’t know quite as much as previous versions of The Flash and is discovering new things about his power. If you read issue two, you know now that he can access the speed force mentally (when) he just puts his mind to it and can see different permutations of what could possibly happen. We’re going to explore the upside and the downside of his powers…
Blond: So, when I created Red Hood and the Outlaws, the concept…
(Laughter)
Blond: I don’t do much, I’m just a colorist but on Deadman it’s a fun ride, (it’s about) a trapeze artist who is kind of a jerk in life (and) he gets a second chance at redemption that he never asked for. They won’t tell him how to (use his power) and he’s just this hand puppet of the goddess Rama (who gave him his power). We had a lot of fun…it’s a ghost story…
Eric Wallace: Mr. Terrific is basically about us. It’s about living in Los Angeles, it’s about the world that we live in, which is technology. Technology in the 21st century is taking us over! It’s taking over our lives; smart phones, Tivo, the whole nine yards. The only one who can save us from a (technology) gone mad type of future is one guy (and) his name is Mr. Terrific. He’s the third smartest man in the world or…is he (numbers) one and two also? Hmmmm…stay tuned. You’ll find out who the Top Ten is at some point—
(Scott Lobdell stands up and punches the air in victory, indicating he’s in the Top Ten)
(Laughter)
Eric: Not this month (but) a little bit later. But it’s very much a story that takes place right here, right now, in Los Angeles. I tell people (that) the greenery mall, which you see in issue three (which) comes out this Wednesday (and) features the final battle with Brainstorm! Oh my God, all these revelations about his background, his wife, his life, everything in his origin…it takes place at The Grove (a large mall in Los Angeles)…One of the most fun aspects of writing this book is writing a superhero for my town…technology gone mad. Check it out. Mr. Terrific…
Philip Tan: Savage Hawkman…I understand that Carter (Hall) hasn’t had a regular title in a while and we’re really excited to get new readers into this new Hawkman…Tony (S. Daniel) is surprising me with his stories (and) hopefully you guys are going to like the visuals (but) it’s going to be very different than the Hawkman you’re used to as far how he transforms and interacts with the bad guys in the city itself…it’s going to be pretty exciting…
Scott Lobdell: My name is Scott Lobdell and, show of hands, how many people are reading Teen Titans? Okay, show of hands, how many people are reading Superboy? And how many people are reading Red Hood and the Outlaws? Okay…everybody who’s not reading those books should be reading those books...that’s all I have to say. So thanks…
(Brian stands up and does the “slow clap”. Everyone on the panel bursts into laughter)
JT Krul: Wow! Okay…that’s awesome. Captain Atom is a man with God-like powers who is struggling to cope with the abilities he has, as it moves him further and further away from the human being and the man that he used to be. It’s amazing to write a character who can basically do whatever he wants…if you could do anything you want, what would you do? How would you try to help people? But the powers control him in a way because he can’t contain all the abilities he has…it’s a very kind of science fiction character study in humanity. It’s drawn by Freddy Williams, who’s doing the best work of his career (and) the book’s absolutely beautiful…
Jason: So we now know that you guys (the writers and artists of DC’s New 52) have overtaken the market share – fifty-one percent – We also know that comic book sales, in general, have skyrocketed. I just wonder what it’s like to be a part of this new (rejuvenation) of comic books and bringing new life to these characters…and brought new life to the industry?
MikeC: I’ll tell you guys…the ladies love it!
(Howls and laughter from the crowd)
MikeC: I’m showing them my 51% pie graph…that’s my new thing in bars…
JT: One of the things has been that…I think we all did a ton of signings in September and most of the retailers I talked to said they were limiting the sales to one copy per person. In the past, where a book may have sold tremendously, because you had people buying two maybe three or four, five (or even) 10 copies (to) sell them on eBay or just (for) collectibles, (now) it’s all individual sales. So when you have books like The Flash that are topping out at over 100,000, you have Batman hitting 200,000…that’s great for the industry as a whole and (has) made people come into comic book stores who may have lapsed (as comic book fans) and it (raises) everybody (else) up. I think other books have had a high profile because of it and it‘s a great thing to keep this industry going…we’re all up here because we love what we do, except for Scott, and I just think it’s great.
Josh: The great thing is…this is a big, big opportunity for you guys. If you love these books, you need to tell your friends that they exist. People don’t know that comics are a real thing that you can still buy and right now DC is giving you a huge opportunity to put new books in people’s hands. (All of the New 52 books) have a number 1 on the cover; that means they can understand it, they can follow it and they can get hooked on the same “crack rock” that we’ve all been hooked on all of our lives. By doing that (you help) make sure that the industry is going to be here not just today, not just tomorrow but for 20, 30 (or) 40 years. So it’s really, really important that, when you find things you love, you’ve got to shout about them. You’ve got to tell every person you know to read these books, specifically I, Vampire! That’s all you need to read. Screw these guys!
Brian: You also need to tell your comic shop to pre-order this stuff so that they know that you want it (and) print enough copies for everybody…
MikeJ: Another things is digital (comics). (They) are a great way to introduce new people because everyone’s got their smart phone now and rather than having to go and get a physical copy – sometimes it’s hard to go get physical copies of some of these book, especially the number ones – (instead) you can email them a link to DC Comics (or) Comixology and say, “Here it is. You can download it and read this right now.” (They) don’t have to get in a car and go find a comic shop (they’ve) never been to. Really, (expanding) the audience (through digital comics) is one of the best things that DC’s done.
MikeC: Although, if you did want to get in your car and go to a comic shop, you should maybe go to Emerald Knights—
Jason: I think that’s a great idea!
MikeJ: After you go to the store, email a link to your friends…
Brian: While you’re at the store, email a link to your friends…
Jason: One of the things that has been great for me…I actually sent a package, that had all of the number ones (from the New 52), back home to my family and I got a message, this morning actually, from my little brother that said, “My Superman is so cool!” I wonder if there’s a sense, with you guys, of a new ownership, that these are not the characters from the 50s but (rather) these are our characters now, something that we love and can own, as well?
Eric: I don’t think ownership, at least for me, is the word I would use. As a creator, I am trying to imitate what happened to me thirty years ago when, after Crisis (on Infinite Earths), which DC (did), they did some other number ones. They (had) John Byrne (who drew) a Superman 1 and George Perez, who did a Wonder Woman 1 and I can’t remember the guy’s name who wrote The Flash (in which) Wally West became The Flash. At that point, I was a little kid and those (new) characters became my version of those characters—not the 50s versions, 60s versions (or) 70s versions—(in) ’85, ‘86 (and) ’87 (and) all through the 80s—and I grew up with that. When I’m writing Mr. Terrific…(I am) creating that same energy and putting it out there for you guys (the public) because (I) want you to get that same feeling that I got in 1985, 1986. We want you to say what that little boy (Jason’s brother) said, “This is my Superman. This is my Mr. Terrific. This is my Captain Atom. This is my Flash.” And (then) take that forward because we’re creating new stories with new characters (and) new villains and we’re just pumped up and excited. And we just want to share that (with) you. And, like we’ve been saying, if you find books you like, use social media—Tweet about it, Facebook about it, do whatever—(to) spread the word. Comic books are back!
Kyle: The coolest thing to happen (regarding) that point (about) ownership, and I don’t feel any ownership to any character I’m writing because they’re going to be around a lot longer than I am, but when the first issue of Nightwing came out…the old Chuck Dixon run is like one of my favorite comic books of all time. I have a copy of his Nightwing 1 and it was on my desk (and) I was looking through it for reference and my comics showed up from DC…and (they were) sitting, side-by-side, and I realized that there had never been another Nightwing 1 ever (before now) and it was really cool and really depressing at the same time because (I thought) “I’m going to screw this up”.
Jason: So, do we want to take some questions from the audience?
Audience Question: My question is for all of you…which character would you like to work on of the ones that (that don’t have their own title) yet?
Kyle: I’d like to kill Supergirl.
(Mike Johnson grabs the microphone)
MikeJ: (to Kyle) (None) of your characters could do that. It’s smack talk. Let’s talk smack about each other’s characters…Blue Devil is a character that I’ve always loved, do you guys know Blue Devil?
(Scattered applause)
MikeJ: I want to bring him back.
Kyle: I’d like to do something with The Flash someday…
Brian: No!
Kyle: Come on! We just said, “No ownership!”
Brian: Okay, I’m sorry…I’d like to write Superman.
MikeC: Legitimately, I’d like to do Deathstroke.
Josh: Brian and I are going to say the same thing because we argue about it. I want to write Superman like there is no tomorrow. Literally! Like there is no tomorrow—it’s so weird! What’s he going to do?
Eric: I’m going to go with a villain…and it’s someone we haven’t seen and that’s Ra’s al Ghul…
(Loud applause)
Eric: I want to, if I have my way, so we’ll see what happens…
Scott: I would love the opportunity to fix I, Vampire before it goes too far—
Josh: You’re dead to me, Lobdell!
Scott: ...but, in the meantime, I would like to do Raven. (I’d) bring Raven back but the question was what character we could work on and actually we’re going to bring Raven back in about five issues…
JT: I’d really like to do something with the Question. It’s one of my favorite books (so) yeah…
Kyle: I would like to do a Tim Drake (Robin and Red Robin) title…
Scott: You should do Tim Drake. Who thinks Tim Drake should guest star in Nightwing? How many people would buy more copies of Nightwing if Tim Drake was in it?
(Applause)
Kyle: Stay tuned…
Scott: And how many people are looking forward to the three-part Superboy story guest starring Red Robin?
(Applause)
Scott: Okay, good. Then I’ll do it.
AQ2: I downloaded the New 52 on my iPad and I felt like I was having a completely different experience than I would just going to a comics store, which I’ve done my whole life. I was getting it and it looked amazing (and) I was flipping through and it didn’t feel like I was reading a comic book…it was really interesting to me that it felt friendlier, I didn’t have to go out of the house…it’s like (how) you don’t have to go to the porn shop anymore…
Brian: You don’t have to but you can.
AQ2: Are you looking to expand through new social media and (pursue) new demographics? It seems to me that you can put comic books in front of people in (a new and) totally friendly way.
JT: That’s the whole point. Because it’s a new generation, we want the people who have loved comics for years to keep reading them (and) keep loving them because they’re the great characters we grew up with (and) they’re our modern-day myths in society. At the same time the digital realm is how the younger generation (is) going to read it (and) absorb it…
Kyle: Yeah, that was the whole point of the relaunch, in general, and the reason why the universe was stream-lined (because) DC decided to do a regroup to coincide with the entity of digital. (It’s) not a coincidence. (It’s about) creating a line that’s more accessible for those other demographics (and) those other audiences that we’re talking about. You’ve seen an increase in marketing, a PR campaign, you’ve seen commercials on TV, you’ve seen stuff in movie theaters promoting comics stores and it’s all part of a bigger campaign to get new readers. The industry is getting smaller so this was a very concerted effort…
AQ2: (to Jason) Have you seen any new readers come into your store?
Jason: Yes, we’ve seen a huge increase in female readers—
Scott: That’s mostly because of Red Hood number one, right?
Brian: He’ll be here all week…
Jason: N-n-not really…we’ve seen a huge increase in younger reader and a lot of return readers who may not have read (comic books) in, like, ten years (so) readership is definitely up and it’s definitely expanding to all different kinds of people.
MikeJ: The other thing (is) it’s amazing, the contact you can have with creators now. When I was growing up, reading early 80s DC (and) Marvel, I wouldn’t dream of having any contact with the creators but now I think everybody up here is on Twitter or Facebook or both and we’ll respond. If you guys have a question, we love talking about ourselves. It’s one of our favorite things to do so—
Josh: Especially Kyle. Oh my God!
MikeJ: Higgins, yeah. Higgins will talk to you all day (about himself)…but make contact with the creators that you like and let them know (what you like or dislike). Also, a lot of the artists have their own blogs now where, if you like an artist, go Google them and find their blog and check out all the other art they’re doing and share it with your friends. The internet has been an amazing boom for the industry.
AQ3: Normally I wait to get stuff in trade paperback (but) you guys got me interested in what you’re doing right now, I heard a lot about it but there’s something that has utterly confused me…Action Comics is going through the origins of Superman (while in) Superman, it’s years later and their seems to be this temporal discontinuity between a lot of the titles—
Josh: Action (Comics) and the Justice League take place five years ago. Everything else is taking place right now. Except All-Star Western, that takes place 150 years ago or so…
AQ4: I don’t see any female creators on the panel and the New 52 has gotten some flack for new portrayals of females in their comics…how are (you) feeling about that?
Kyle: Here’s the thing about female creators…I feel like DC (has) gotten flack for that (but) there are female creators that were approached about New 52 books that either passed on the opportunity to write it or turned in pitches that weren’t in the right direction…there’s not a ton of female creators in the industry to begin with and—
Josh: That is Scott Lobdell’s fault!
Kyle: That is Scott Lobdell’s fault.
Brian: He’s driven out many women in the industry.
JT: But in terms of the books and the content of the books (and) it’s funny (how) people look at the Wonder Woman book or the Red Hood book and say it’s gratuitous or whatever—
(Scott Lobdell shakes his head violently in disbelief)
JT: I’m going to stop defending him now because…
(Scott Lobdell puts his head on JT’s shoulder)
JT: But you have to look at the (New 52) line as a whole. That’s like saying I don’t like (the television network) ABC because they air one show I don’t like. The things that’s the coolest about the New 52 is there’s such a wide variety out there right now, stuff like I, Vampire and Captain Atom, Swamp Thing and Animal Man then you’ve got your Justice League and Blackhawks…there’s superhero books, there’s action books, there’s horror books, there’s science fiction books. There is definitely a wide variety (and) as far as, if there’s another type of genre you’d like to see tell us about it, tell DC about it…they try stuff like that but if it doesn’t sell it doesn’t sell there’s nothing we can do because, at the end of the day, they want books that sell.
MikeJ: Yeah, that’s a great point (and) actually we have a question for you guys (the audience)…is there anything that’s not (in) the New 52 that you would like to see? Is there a character or a genre that you guys would like?
AQ5: I want to ask a question about the red-hooded woman, actually…what is she? What’s the connection?
Josh: It’s a secret!
Scott: The only thing we know for sure is (that) she’s going to be a huge presence sometime after the first year so…she’ll be appearing a little more here and there, not in all 52 at the same time but she’ll be around. And I just wanted to say one thing about when we were talking about women in comics…the thing that confused me (regarding) women writers, both of my editors (for) Teen Titans and Red Hood are women — one is a woman I’ve known for twenty years — I understand the importance of women creators and guy creators but I don’t think there’s that much difference between male writers and (female) writers in the first place…if DC got rid of half the guys and made every half of a comic book written by a woman would we see totally different comic books? I mean, we’re all writers. I don’t see a distinction between (the two). Look at Gail Simone (writer of DC’s Birds of Prey). If you read a Gail Simone book and a JT Krul book (you couldn’t say) this one’s written by a woman and this one’s written by a man so…I just don’t register this argument that women writers write differently than men writers…
Josh: In terms of strong women in DC Comics I, again, point you to a little book called I, Vampire.
MikeC: I will agree that I, Vampire does have a strong woman who appears mostly naked on the cover of issue one.
Josh: And yet no one ever complains that she’s mostly naked…
AQ6: You asked earlier about what character we’d like to see done for the New 52 and I would say, even though it’s kind of taboo at the moment, Wally West…
Brian: I get asked an awful lot about Wally West and every time I have to apologize (because) I don’t have an answer for anybody. The one thing I can say is that what is old is new so, sooner or later, you will get your Wally. I just don’t know how soon.
Jason: On the Captain Marvel front, there was an announcement at New York Comic Con that there is going to be a Captain Marvel back-up story (in Justice League)…
JT: Justice League: Exile. Geoff (Johns) is going to write it and Gary Frank’s been working really hard so you know it’s going to be dynamite…
Jason: So Captain Marvel is coming…
AQ7: I just wanted to know how you narrowed it down to what heroes you chose for the New 52, is there a specific protocol?
JT: (to the rest of the panel) How did we choose the New 52?
Brian: We didn’t choose at all. There’s a big brain trust at DC and they made up a list of 52 and then they picked writers for them so, yeah, it wasn’t us at all.
Scott: I do think what they tried to do was…they tried not to make it just a bunch of superheroes and super teams and Captain Atom, as an example, they didn’t want just another guy flying around in a cape. They let JT (Krul) run with it and create a much more cerebral version…it almost reads like a Vertigo book. So they really did give a lot of the writers a lot of chances to bring different voices to these characters…that was the rationale that went into it…
AQ8: I want to say I really like the books, so far. I’m a new fan and buy (monthly) issues when I used to just buy (trade paperbacks)—
Brian: Can you say which ones you bought?
AQ8: I bought sixteen of them, man! That’s a lot! I don’t want to be giving it away (or) play favorites but I do like Red Hood. That’s my favorite one so far…but you guys were talking about getting more people into it? I told a lot of my co-workers about it and (they would say, dismissively) “Oh! You read comics?!” And I would go on my break and (walk) away, when I (came back) they were reading my books when I (brought) them into work—
JT: You should charge them.
AQ8: I know, right? But I wanted to know, have you guys ever thought of putting together a magazine? Maybe (with) a Justice League (or) Batman, Green Lantern and Flash (books inside)…a magazine to make it more mainstream for people to get into it.
MikeJ: That’s a great idea! And, first of all, thank you. Thank you so much for wearing it on your sleeve and trying to get other people involved. But I think that’s a great idea, putting together an anthology book…I remember when I was a kid you (could) get DC collections; they’d put three (comics) in a pack at the drugstores…
Jason: Actually, in January there’s going to be a collection of four of the number ones together. I believe Josh’s book is in there…also, there’s going to be a collection (released) in December that (will) be all 52 number ones…
MikeJ: That’s why Emerald Knights—if you’re ever in Burbank—the comic book store? (Jason) runs the place (and) you should go…
AQ9: When you were doing your pitches…I know there was a list (of) the 52 books and these are, most likely, the characters that we want to be in these 52 books…did you ever think of possible changing (the) races or gender of the characters?
Josh: My book…if you read the old I, Vampire, Mary (is) in the book as like a cackling villain at the end of every story and the first thing I said to them was, “She’s the co-star (and) she needs to be as much the lead in the book as Andrew is” and they were totally fine with it. It was about how do I tell the best story, (one) that brings new fans and gets them interested in what we do?
Eric: I also think it’s dangerous, sometimes, to take a character and change (their) gender or change their race. I don’t know about you but I’m very sensitive to that. What I think is important is to take a new character or a character that is, in the case of Mr. Terrific, a diverse guy and people didn’t know him. Here (was) a new opportunity, with the New 52, to move him from the “C” ranks and hopefully up to a “B” and hopefully down the line…your diverse character, whether it be a black guy, a Chinese guy, a lesbian (or) gay character, a female (or) whatever…you want to get them on the same par and same familiarity with the Supermans and the Batmans and the Green Lanterns because they don’t live in a, forgive me for saying this (but), pale and Caucasian world. We don’t live in that world anymore and what I’m very happy about, with the New 52, (is) that they came and said, “Let’s do some specifically diverse characters. Let’s give them a shot (and) let’s put them out there”…When I was fourteen years old, reading comic books, I had Luke Cage and Super Fly (a character from “blaxploitation” films in the 1970s)…that was about it. That’s not always the greatest role-model, Super Fly! Luke Cage is okay; Black Panther and what not. Nowadays, I’m hoping that Mr. Terrific connects with folks. I’m hoping that Blue Beetle connects with Hispanic fans, you know? There so much more now days…it’s very important for me and I think a lot of the New 52 folks to write comic books that are relevant for now (and) not relevant to the past. We want to cut that loose (and) move forward. Yeah, we’ll make some mistakes, probably, but I think the good far outweighs the bad and that’s what matters.
Scott: Following what you said, I have two separate Teen (Titans) books and each of the new characters that I am creating are all very specifically (not) young, white males because I think (that) common sense has that covered by now. But I don’t think I would ever presume to take a character and change their race or change their sex just because I felt I should…
Eric: Great question! Thank you for asking that.
Jason: One thing that I really love about the books is that they take characters, for example, Mr. Terrific and Captain Atom, who were like Justice League background characters, (and) you’re actually fleshing them out. Mr. Terrific has a “Jimmy Olsen” and has a “Lois Lane”. He has these characters that support him the way Superman gets supported and I wonder is it important to you, as you try to take these lower list characters and try to make them “A” List characters, to flesh out their world and make them more than just a co-star in the Justice League?
Eric: That’s definitely number one. And, in the case of Mr. Terrific (and) with Superman and all the classic characters…they have a family (and) I think what audiences and readers do (is) we go to stories because we have families and we want to read about other families; sometimes dysfunctional families. That’s what is part of the appeal of an individual character. When you’re trying to raise somebody from “C” to “A”, you want the Jimmy Olsen…
JT: I think all of the titles are expanding their universes (and) I think what DC’s doing right now (is) they want all of the books to stand on their own (and) also have a certain connectivity to everything. Like you’ll see certain characters popping up, like the Flash (appearance) in Captain Atom (but) you won’t have to read The Flash to get what’s happening in Captain Atom. (You won’t be) lost if you miss a certain issue…I think all of the books are trying to create their own characters and really flesh out the rules and I think that’s really great.
AQ10: As storytellers, how did you guys approach the New 52 in terms of balancing (story elements) for new readers while not upsetting long-time readers?
Brian: I can tell (you) how what Francis (Manipul) and I did it. For us, with Barry (Allen), we (asked ourselves) what did Barry mean to us? And we developed an arc around who he was and who he was going to become over the course of, in our case, two years. So…what we did was, we worked backwards from where we were going to end up and we just kept an eye on continuity and the past and everything that had gone on before and we had a great opportunity to cherry-pick the things we responded to from Flash’s past and maybe not focus on things that might be too difficult for new readers to get their minds around. Or (tried not) to get keyed in on things that new or returning readers wouldn’t know about. We just decided, we’re moving forward. At the end of The Flash 1, there’s a metaphor for moving forward and it’s not just Barry’s mom telling him to move forward, (we were also telling readers to) move forward with us. The New 52; move forward with Barry as The Flash (and) this new writing team…so that’s pretty much how we approached it.
MikeJ: I think one of the keys is staying true to the core of the character. We had the benefit on Supergirl of being able to start really fresh. Obviously there are fans who love the incarnations that came before and the way to keep people reading is to give them new stuff, like Brian was talking about, but you’re entertaining and having fun with the fact that you’re seeing these things in a new way. But ultimately it’s like staying true to the core (and) you don’t want to write Supergirl completely different from who people think she is. It should be different enough that it’s new and fresh but if you stay true to the core of the character I think that older readers will stay with you.
So, that’s all she wrote. (Actually, my memory card ran out with a few minutes left…damnit!!!) Overall, this was one of my favorite panels, not only at Comikaze Expo, but of all time. The only criticism I have is its location. It was not held in a room but in an area surrounded by a curtain and, apparently, there was a cheerleading competition being held right next to it. Not really, but it sure sounded like one and that made it difficult to hear some of the participants of this panel’s answers. (The organizers of Comikaze Expo are aware of this problem and have promised to correct it next year.) A wide variety of amazing artists and writers made the DC New 52 panel a highlight of this con for me and I’m sure that next year’s event will provide even more excellent offerings.
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