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The Wildstorm 25th Anniversary Project With Full Visual UPDATE – Fiona Staples, Lee Bermejo, Jim Lee, Bryan Hitch, J Scott Campbell, Warren Ellis And More –

Published Sat, 01 Apr 2017 14:48:21 -0500

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Sat, 01 Apr 2017 18:18:26 -0500

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Coming from DC Comics.Wildstorm later this year and announced at Wondercon, the Wildstorm 25th Anniversary comic book.

A 200 page hardcover collection, including classic works, and early works of Fiona Staples, Sean Phillips and Lee Bermejo. But there are new stories too. A Brandon Choi and Jim Lee WildC.A.T.S. story. A Jeff Scott Campbell Gen 13 story, a Brett Booth Backlash story, a Dustin Nguyen Wildcats 3.0 story and the Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch Authority story that will also be seen in Absolute Authority's new printing.

UPDATE: Our man on the scene, Matthew Quitney e-mails in with the full breakdown.

A hardcover Wildstorm retrospective book will be released in August. It's over 200 pages and will include many creators revisiting their classic work.

Sean Philips – Sleeper

Lee Bermejo – Deathblow

Fiona Staples – Hawksmoor

Tom Raney – Stormwatch

Jim Lee, Brandon Choi, Richard Friend – Wildcats.

J Scott Campbell – Gen 13

Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch – Authority

Brett Booth – Backlash

It will also include pin-ups such as a Planetary piece by John Cassady, hand picked classic and lost material.

The book started as hidden gems from the vault and evolved into its current form. Within two days, they had assembled the contributors.

For many in the audience, this is the reason they're at WonderCon. A grand reunion of the Wildstorm line. In attendance were Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair, Ryan Benjamin, Carlos D'Andra, Richard Friend, Mark Irwin, Dustin Nguyen, and Ben Abernathy.

Jim started by talking about his relationship with Scott Williams. They've been working together since 1987, longer than he's known both of his wives. They met at Jim Lee's first San Diego Comic-Con. He continued by recounting stories for each member of the panel, such as Alex Sinclair being in witness protection during the start of the studio.

Jim Lee delivered a heartfelt tribute to the recently passed, Oliver Nome. Oliver was one of the last artists brought into the studio, having won a contest held at SDCC. He provided a majority of artwork to the online DC Universe game.

The panel recounted the history of the studio from the formation of Image Comics. They spoke about the lasting impact of Wildcats #1 from Jim Lee, Brandon Choi, and Scott Williams. Scott spoke on Jim Lee's uncanny ability to bring talented artists into the studio.

The studio was a family environment where they were able to produce work, led by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi. It was inspired by Bernie Wrightson's creation of The Studio with Michael Kaluta, Barry Smith and Jeffrey Jones. The panel joked about their version being an apartment with 5 or 6 artists living there, called the crack house.

Jim Lee led by example and everyone inspired each other. Each creator on the panel was very proud of how the studio didn't have a house style and that there was such diverse talent there. Jim Lee boiled the success down to a combination of a close collegial atmosphere combined with tours and store signings.

The panel told stories about how they were young artists with money for the first time. This lead to Jim Lee having to bail some of them out jail, rescue them from Tijuana, and that they used the scanner to make fake IDs for Vegas. The lamination was too shiny, so they would scuff them up. J Scott Campbell, when he first got to Image bought a sports car and everyone wanted to race him at stop lights, so he traded it in for something more modest.

The panel spoke about how they revolutionized many digital coloring and lettering tools, and that they are still used to this day. Adam Hughes learned to digitally color at Wildstorm by going in at night and picking everyones brains.