DC All Access Panel From the Emerald City

DC made several new announcements during their All Access Panel with some of the creators and artists behind their books. The creators teased some of their future plans, and answered some of the fans’ burning questions.

With the recent happenings in Batman Inc. #8, everyone was anxious to ask Snyder about his plans for the Batman title. When asked about whether Batman Inc. had an effect on Death of the Family, he said no. In his words, “We knew what was coming up in Batman Inc. but DC pretty much gave me the ability to kill anybody I wanted.” Snyder stepped aside  to let Morrison tell his Batman epic without any complications from the recent Joker crossover. As for how he is going to continue his Batman title, Snyder said that issue 18 will indeed deal with the fallout from Damian’s death, but it will all be shown through the eyes of Harper Row and her brother. Issues 19 and 20 will be a homage to Batman the Animated Series, and #21 will begin an eleven issue arc that Snyder says is his favorite thing he’s done with the book. “It’s ambitious, crazy, and I’m extremely proud of it.”

Jae Lee, recently reported to be the artist for the new Batman/Superman book, looked tired but said he had been working hard on the art for that series. His wife was unable to make it to the ECCC because she was coloring the cover Lee had been working on.

The Lil Gotham web series will not be released in single issues. DC plans to release this digital title, by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs, as a collected edition on April 10. Fridolfs also shared some info on the Justice League Beyond series. New characters are going to be added as the team goes on a recruitment drive, most notably a new female Flash character.

In non-Batman related news, Jeff Lemire described what happens next in Animal Man after the end of Rotworld. This will be the end of collaborating with Snyder, since Snyder is leaving Swamp Thing with issue 18. Lemire stated that his next story will deal with “Buddy Baker’s celebrity status and our culture’s obsession with celebrities.” Lemire expanded the comment to describe that a terrible tragedy will occur soon in Animal Man, and Baker will have to deal with that while being nominated for an Academy Award at the same time.

Ray Fawkes spoke about his titles Justice League Dark and Constantine, which he is co-writing with Jeff Lemire.  In Justice League Dark, a familiar villain will be reappearing soon with a new look. Fawkes said it would be ”a horrific new guise.” Constantine, in his new title, no longer lives in London, but there is a future story planned where he returns to London to find the city ready to kill him.

The panel ended with news from Joshua Fialkov discussing his upcoming run on Red Lanterns and Green Lantern Corps. Fialkov stated that he, Justin Jordan, and Robert Venditti are working together closely on their books, but that “they might be more separate than what they have been.” Despite having separate stories, the team wants to make the Green Lantern books fit together well and feel more of a cohensive whole that the books have been under Geoff Johns’ leadership.

More news should be coming out of ECCC from different creators and artists, so keep an eye on the happenings.