SDCC '15: DC – From Page to Screen

Here today is a veritable who's who in the comic-film entertainment complex.  Present are Geoff Johns, Aria Mottley, Michael Allred, Marc Guggenheim, Heath Corson, and Jay Oliva.  Combined, they cover the worlds of DC Comics, video games, animation, and TV.  There's no group better equipped to talk about transitioning comic books into other mediums.  I also hear that they cannot travel on the same plane.  If something were to happen, life would suck.

Geoff Johns did the bulk of the talking.  His Smallville two parter Absolute Justice, brought the Justice Society into the mythos of the Smallville universe.  He recalls that network execs tried to dissuade him from using the Dr. Fate helmet.  Johns refused, stating that Dr Fate isn't Dr. Fate without the helmet.  He then recounted an anecdote about the original 90's Flash series, where the network execs proposed that John Wesley Shipp wear grey sweats instead of his trademark red and gold.  He strives for characters to maintain their core while undergoing the tweaks necessary for intermedium transitions.  Johns won't pursue a character's transition from the comics if their core isn't maintained.  If Firestorm isn't two people, it's not Firestorm.

In storytelling, Geoff Johns hates easter eggs.  What we consider "Easter Eggs", Johns treats as story points.  To that end, he let it slip that the Jay Garrick helmet seen in the Flash season finale signals the arrival of Jay into the CW-verse.  I'm going to keep my eyes open this next season and treat every wink and nod as an indicator of things to come.

The panelists also discussed the importance of divorcing yourself from your fandom.  All of the panelists came to their respective roles as big fans, which they all said caused them a great disservice.  They had to conscientiously divorce themselves from their fandom, to become objective so as to not simply reproduce that which they fell in love with, to make the necessary leaps to bring the character to their new medium.  Sometimes that leads to great story telling via a shared universe over several shows, other times it means Superman topples half of Metropolis to snap Zod's neck.

I realize this article is less the "breaking news" article that fills seats, but I do have one nugget to drop.  Geoff Johns was asked about the possibility of transitioning Grayson into a new medium.  He said that if he said any more, Warner Brothers would kill him.  Roll that around in your brain-head for a bit.

Well folks, lots more San Diego to cover, so I'll stop here.  Follow me @notacomplainer.