Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Batman, batwing, eccc, flash, gail simone, greg capullo, new 52, scott snyder

ECCC DC New 52 Panel: Earth 2, Batman's Cape, Flash's New Villain, Batwing And JLI

Judging by my twitter stream, there was quite a line to get into the DC New 52 panel today.  If you didn't get in, Bleeding Cool's Judd Morse has you covered. Here's another missive from ECCC's front lines:

Not a ton of new info was given out during DC's New 52 panel, but there were some gems. Batman editor Mike Marts put a good deal of emphasis on the company's "New Wave" of titles arriving in May.

A cover was shown for new New 52 Title Earth 2. Panelist and editor Brian Cunningham said that although he's not editing the book, he's been watching it and is very impressed with what's going on. Earth 2 will feature entirely new takes on established characters, like a New 52 version of Elseworlds.

More detail was given into where exactly the Flash's title will be going in terms of the Speed Force. The Flash will also feature a new villain, Turbine, a Tuskegee Airman that's connected to the Speed Force. Flash writer/artist Francis Manapul also teased that the Speed Force will at long last be fully explained. "We want to be able to describe it in one sentence," Manapul said.

Changes are also in store for Justice League International, who will add Batwing and another unnamed character to the team roster as of issue nine. Marts stressed that although the titles may go away, the characters will remain part of the universe.

Marts had high praise for Batman artist Greg Capullo and his work with writer Scott Snyder. Capullo said that it was a little difficult going from drawing for someone like Todd McFarlane, who sort of just lets the artist do whatever he wants, to someone like Scott Snyder, who meticulously lays out scripts, suggests panel counts, and is very active throughout the penciling process. "We were kind of an Odd Couple at first," he said.

Capullo said it was kind of intimidating, moving over to Batman. He had to learn to avoid chat rooms, and make an effort to keep Batman's cape under control, so it wouldn't get all Spawn-ish. But ultimately he's having the time of his life. "You have to grow into a book. You wait for the characters to show you the way."

The Q&A session got a little terse, with a couple audience members essentially asking why DC destroyed everything and alienated their loyal readers. Creators basically responded that judging by their own interactions with fans, they're doing okay. "Every once in a while you have to revitalize your mythology," said Manapul.

Somebody brought up Steph Brown again, Marts joked that he was contractually not allowed to talk about the character any more.

Gail Simone said she didn't have any immediate plans to use Scandal Savage, and she doesn't know of anyone else having plans to do so either. She also promised to try like hell to keep Catman from reverting back to the lame fat guy.

Oh, and Lobo's gonna show up in Deathstroke kind of soon.

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