Posted in: Comics | Tagged: batgirl, Batman, Bob Harras, c2e2, Comics, dan didio, dc, gail simone, new 52, wonder woman

C2E2: DC New 52 Panel – "Wonder Woman Has Gone To Hell Already"

Cody Walker writes for Bleeding Cool from C2E2.

Panel list – Bob Harras, new editorial director of the New DC Group, Bobbie Chase, Brian Azzarello, Chris Burnham, Cliff Chiang, Tony Daniel, Kyle Higgins, Jimmy Palmiotti, Scott Snyder, and Geoff Johns. Still no Gail Simone.

We start with the second wave of the DC New 52.

Batman Inc. – Burnham "You think it's hard to understand his comics, try to interpret it to draw it for a comic." Themes are grim and gritty Batman and crazy pop art. "I hope you like it, and if not, I can't wait."

Earth 2 – Harras "Different world. Different destiny." Same old rigmarole about how excited they are about it. "First issue is awesome."

Worlds' Finest – "One is accepting about where she is and the other is not." Again, same press release information we've seen.

Gail Simone enters and Jimmy and Scott move a little and she sits a little behind. Her phone goes off.

Dial H – Harras says that Mieville is known for many "YA novels"… someone should tell him that Mieville has only written one YA novel. "Wild, fantastic ideas", he compares it to Animal Man and Swamp Thing.

G.I. Combat – Gets applause for dinosaurs. "The War that time forgot by J.T. Krul and backup story by Palmiotti."

Ravagers – "Been built in with Teen Titans and Superboy." "One of the things you might notice is Caitlin Fairchild and Beast Boy is red in it. If you read Animal Man and Swamp Thing, then it makes sense why Beast Boy is red."

Free Comic Book Day – "What can we tell people now?" Geoff calls female fan allowed to read the FCBD book while the panel continues as long as she promises not to share with anyone what she sees. The fan sits next to Gail and reads.

Gail brings up how they have endangered fan's life and how they should hire someone to protect her.

Justice League – Jim Lee returns in issue #9. By the end of #12, the team will be radically different.

Announcement about DC comics taking the top 10 Diamond spots and how Aquaman outsold "every other competitor."

Geoff Johns personally thanked every one for making Aquaman "outsell the Avengers and X-Men" specifically. "Aquaman will be a force to be reckoned with throughout the DCU."

Green Lantern – Johns: "Thanks for supporting Green Lantern. It's selling better than it ever has."
Geoff and Ethan are going to be doing Green Lantern Annual #1 and like they are known for, it will "change the game."

Wonder Woman – "what's up next?" Azzarello, a man of few words, "She goes to Hell." Chiang: "I don't know how to elaborate on that. I'm sure a few people have thought that Wonder Woman has gone to Hell already." After Chiang explains that he is working on #11, Azz says simply, "It gets worse."

Swamp Thing: After #11, you will see that Animal Man and Swamp Thing interacting a lot more.

Batman: Snyder points out three people dressed as Court of Owls members and notes that he is creeped out by them. Same sort of announcements as yesterday.

Taking a break to check in with the female fan that read it. She liked it.

Batman Annual – "You'll see Mr. Freeze in Night of the Owls" Snyder acknowledges the others (Gail, Jimmy, Tony, etc) and humbly says that he is "proud to have Batman stand next to those books." Promises of big revelations on Mr. Freeze.

Batman: Dark Knight – Finch isn't here today, so Harras promotes it.

Detective Comics – Just completed his tie-in. Had a blast doing it. After awhile, these announcements start to sound like 80s video dating ads where people continually use the word "fun." "I like to have fun." Tony says, "I get to do some great . . . well, I don't want to say great . . . I get to do some character stuff with Jeremiah Arkham." Kind of an odd correction there.

Bob Harras moves so that Gail Simone can sit at the table.

Batgirl: Gail gets a huge applause. She praises the Night of the Owls concept. "Barbara is starting to put her past behind her and she will be moving into her role of Batgirl." Mentioned creating a new villain named Nightfall who will be a main foil for Babs.

Nightwing – Higgins pauses for a moment and mentions, "trying to remember what I can say and what I can't say." The reveal of Dick Grayson as being a candidate for the Owls had been planned since Gates of Gotham. Going to show the family line from William Cobb to the Grayson name. Dick Grayson is the "Prince of Gotham" in the eyes of Higgins and how he is the "hero of tomorrow" and embracing the future.

All-Star Western – Discussing the history of Gotham. Laying the groundwork for the present day books. "Being part of the crossover is unexpected." Palmiotti thanks everyone for giving the book a real shot.

Batman and Robin – show the cover and that's it.

Q&A and a short video now!

"Watchmen is next so you might want to hold your seats or run away screaming."

Q: "Is Bludhaven still destroyed? will he leave Gotham?"

A: Right now, he's in Gotham and the Court of Owls refocuses his mission.

Q: New DC logo without stars?

A: "Because the guys who designed it thought it would look better?"

Q: For Geoff – what is the Orange Lantern oath?

A: "You'll find out . . . sometime. Ask me next year. Lots more LaFleeze coming up."

Q: "Will we see Azrael in the future?"

A: Snyder: "He is a character we're talking about. No firm plans."

Johns: "He's in Arkham City. Play that."

Q: When will we see Billy become "Captain Marvel"? (no correction of "Shazam" from Geoff Johns)

A: Black Adam first, then Freddy and the Tiger and the Bunny.

Q: Skeptical fan who is now on board with the new 52. Will we ever see the story telling in Hex where he sort of jumps around instead of linear progression?

A: Palmiotti: "It's linear right now"

Q: Where are Cass and Steph?

A: Snyder: "Characters we love too and we talk a lot about using them. We want to bring them back in a way that really matters. In issue 7, we are trying to introduce new, strong female characters in that mythology. The girl you saw in that issue will have a major story."

Q: Another skeptical fan that is cool. Will you go anywhere new with Deathstroke?

A: Higgins: "What Rob has planned is new and definitely exciting."

Q: fan that loves the New 52. Superboy Prime is a favorite villain. Plans?

A: Johns: "If he came back, then he would hate every body. No plans. He's probably out there somewhere complaining about something."

Q: Where is the Joker?

A: Tony Daniel : "we will see him some day in the future."

Q: Another fan mentions he is excited but upset about Green Arrow or something. How are concerns about consistency addressed?

A: Geoff with Harras telling him how to answer behind him "We try to work together to make sure things are consistent." A non-answer for a strange question.

Q: How far has Batman been Batman? And Superman is Superman?

A: Johns: "Well, we open Justice League to 5 years ago, so I'd say '5 years."

Q: "Is Elongated man still dead?"

A: Johns "It's the New 52. Anything can happen."

Q: Spectre showing up?

A: Host: "For those who couldn't hear, the person said that she thanks us for showing up." Dismissal says every thing.

Q: Will Animal Man and Swamp thing stay in their own bubble?

A: Snyder: "We developed their solo stories, then them together, and now we are working on putting them in the main universe."

Q: What happened to the JSA?

A: Harras: "That's why you should look at a book called 'Earth 2'"

Q: Question for Wonder Woman team. The representations of the pantheon were great. What is your process for their creation?

A: Chiang: "We're figuring out their biggest personality traits and then bringing those out." "We want to highlight the fact that these are not humans." "we look at mythology and see what particular element or animal they are connected to."

Azz: "People forget these aren't just meant to be worshipped, they are to be feared."

Q: Finally a Batgirl question . . . sort of. Mostly an allusion. Will we see more references to the old time line.

A: Burnham: "We're referencing the Neal Adams Talia story in the second issue of Batman Inc."

Higgins: "I'm also referencing Sonia Zucco from Scott's Detective run."

Johns: "Same in Justice League. We know Starro and Amazo. those stories still happen and we're building off of that.

Q: Solo Cyborg series?

A: Johns: "We want to build him up in justice league first. It's like what we did with Aquaman."

Q: Will Mogo ever come back?

A: Johns: "It's hard to kill a planet. One more thing about Mogo, DC Collectibles wants to do a Mogo beach ball" with a huge applause.

Q: Where will National comics fall into the 52 comics?

A: "They are one shots that tie in to the universe."

Video time. It's for the We Can Be Heroes website. we are encouraged to "Join the Justice League and fight the hunger crisis in the horn of Africa."

Now waiting for the Watchmen panel… Should be noted that Gail didn't speak except for the Batgirl portion. Bobbie Chase didn't say anyting.

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