Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Batman, Comics, dc entertainment, entertainment, greg capullo, Kevin Conroy, neal adams, NYCC, scott snyder

Full NYCC Con Report – DC Entertainment: Batman 75th Anniversary

NYCC DC Entertainment – Batman 75th Anniversary

Arno Bogaerts writes for Bleeding Cool

DC Entertainment's Batman 75^th Anniversary panel at New York Comic Con didn't reveal any new surprises, but it was a celebration of all things Dark Knight with some of the industry's top talent. The current Batman team of Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo was present, along with DC's Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, co-publisher Jim Lee, industry legend Neal Adams and Animated Series star Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman, who got a massive roar from the crowd when he uttered the famous lines "I am vengeance, I am the night, I am Batman!".

The panel got started where it should. Both Detective Comics #27 (1939) and Batman #1 (1940) were shown and afterwards the panel was asked about their favorite Batman villain. Almost everyone mentioned The Joker, although Neal Adams only said his name because he couldn't pronounce the name of his favorite villain (Ra's al Ghul). Jim Lee liked Catwoman though, especially the Julie Newmar version from the tv series which made him feel all "tingly" inside when he was younger. Greg Capullo jokingly mentioned Marvel's Doctor Doom, but eventually went with The Joker as well.

The upcoming DVD/Bu-ray release of the Batman '66 tv series came up, and both Scott Snyder and Jim Lee again mentioned they took the show seriously. Lee mentioned that the "lost" Two-Face episode, which was deemed a bit too crude for the show, will be adapted as a comic instead. Capullo said that a sketch of the animated versions of Batman and Robin from the show's intro was the very first superhero drawing he did. Neal Adams, who is a bit older than the rest, tried to hold his suspension of disbelief when he watched the program, but eventually gave up.

Batman #251, featuring "The Joker's Five Way Revenge!" was shown, the story from the 70's where the villain went from a harmless clown to a murderous psychopath again. Artist Neal Adams claimed writer Denny O'Neil was a ghoul since he worked the night beat as a crime reporter which influenced his stories. He was impressed with the level of violence Denny's stories had, deeming it some "pretty sick shit".

Adams' more recent work, Batman Odyssey, didn't get too much applause. He said that he wanted to write a good Batman novel, where the audience wouldn't find out what the story was all about until the very end. Batman, of course, always would be one step ahead of them and figured it out already.

Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns was shown. Scott Snyder praised the realistic feel of the book, drawing comparisons to his own youth growing up in a still dangerous New York. Greg Capullo called it "the book that keeps on giving". He loved it when he was young and, now that he's older, he relates to the older version of Bruce Wayne.

Batman: The Animated Series was up next to a massive applause from the audience. It seems, at any given panel this NYCC, whenever the show is mentioned the audience goes wild. Kevin Conroy only knew Batman from the 60's tv-show, but was impressed with the dark noir take Bruce Timm and Paul Dini took. This influenced his take on the voice of Batman as a tragic, dark character. He further praised the iconicity of the Caped Crusader. He then told a story about a woman he met in Chicago. She was living in the projects and every friend she had got into a gang. She, however, got out of that life by watching the Batman Animated Series every day. Conroy was obviously touched by her story and praised the "never give up" attitude of both that fan and Batman himself.

Next up, the Bruce Timm animated short "Strange Days" was shown. Although there were some problems showing the piece at first, causing Kevin Conroy – in his Batman voice – to start singing "Am I Blueee…" from the Justice League cartoon series. Afterwards, the Darwyn Cooke Batman Beyond short was aired as well.

Batman: Hush was up next and Jim Lee once again talked about how proud he was he could make his deadlines and the story was published in a monthly book. He won his bet with editor Mike Carlin, who thought that there was no way Lee could make the deadlines. He was also proud of establishing the moustache of Bruce's father Thomas Wayne, since the "moustache scene" was his favorite thing in Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.

All-Star Batman and Robin was shown and Lee mentioned he's proud he contributed to the phrase "The Goddamn Batman". When he was asked about the delayed sequel series, he said there are pages drawn and scripts written.

Geoff Johns then talked about Batman: Earth One. He, along with artist Gary Frank, tried to portray a less experienced Batman. The second volume of Earth One is planned for spring 2015. Some art was shown, prompting Johns to call Gary Frank the "best emotional storyteller in the business". Expect to see new versions of Harvey Dent (along his twin sister Jessica), The Riddler and Killer Croc. Johns also mentioned this Batman learns his detective skills from James Gordon himself.

The New 52 relaunch came up, with Greg Capullo telling a story about the 2011 New York Comic Con. The new Batman book, featuring the "Court of Owls" storyline, was just out and already he saw Owl masks everywhere. Both Scott Snyder and Capullo were praised because their already lasting contributions to the Batman mythos. Neal Adams' daughter is a fan of the pair and showed the book to her father. "Father Neal", as Greg Capullo likes to call him, told him he did a great job.

The new arc "Endgame" was shown, with Scott Snyder basically telling a story of how The Joker "breaks up" with Batman. If "Death of the Family" was all about love, this one is all about hate. Kevin Conroy jumped in and praised the comic creators for giving actors like him so much good material to work with. He mentions that, even going as far back as Batman '66, every actor wants to work with these characters.

The panel concluded with a trailer for the new Gotham series. Geoff Johns told the audience Oswald Cobblepot/The Penguin is his favorite and teased the upcoming debut of Harvey Dent and the first meeting between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle.

And with that, the panel concluded. There was no Q&A session for the audience.

Arno Bogaerts writes about comics, superheroes and philosophy. He is an editor for Belgian pop culture blog Brainfreeze and Glitch Magazine and contributed to several "Superheroes and Philosophy" publications.

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