An Oscar Award-Winning Screenwriter, The Ultimate Batman Team-Up, A Sneak-Peek at Plans For A Monumental 30th Anniversary, A Special Surprise Guest, and More Made “DC’s Jim Lee & Friends” Panel A ‘Can’t Miss’ Experience at New York Comic Con
“Surprise and Delight” was the order of the day, as DC’s “Jim Lee & Friends” panel treated New York Comic Con fans to an afternoon of great announcements, reveals and conversation with some of DC’s top storytellers.
Marc Silvestri Talks About Batman’s Ultimate Team-Up
Lee’s longtime creative colleague Marc Silvestri was also on hand to share new art and conversation about his “buddy cop horror story”, Batman/The Joker: The Deady Duo. Silvestri talked to Lee and fans about the early days of pitching and planning the series, how his approach has evolved as both writer and artist from the start until now, why the relationship between Batman and The Joker has captivated fans for so long, and more details about what fans can expect when this seven issue limited series launches November 1, 2022.
Oscar Award-Winning Writer John Ridley – All In On DC
DC is fortunate to have an Academy Award-winning screenwriter on hand that treats his comic writing projects with the same care and commitment that he has with movies like 12 Years A Slave, Five Days At Memorial, American Crime, and his other movie projects. Writer John Ridley joined the panel to talk with Jim about his body of work, past and present. Ridley chatted with Lee and the audience about the current and future trajectory of Jace Fox since his move from Gotham to New York (and a sidekick?) in I Am Batman, and how the most recent story arc leads into his upcoming limited series G.C.P.D.: The Blue Wall, debuting October 18, 2022. John also discussed how he landed the job of telling the story of The Penguin, as part of DC’s Batman: One Bad Day event, revealing exclusive first look art from the one-shot ahead of its October 18 release.
Spencer Ackerman – “Building The Wall” in A New DC Black Label Series
For many, the 1990s was a comic book “renaissance,” with the birth of Lee’s own Wildstorm comics, DC’s then-unimaginable Death of Superman, and the creation of Milestone Comics. November’s DC 90’s Rewind event includes the launch of a new WildC.A.T.s. ongoing series, and a new DC Black Label limited series, Waller vs. WildStorm. Co-writer and noted national security journalist Spencer Ackerman appeared on the panel to talk about his first work for DC and how he, co-writer Evan Narcisse (Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded City) and artist Eric Battle (Batman, Tales of the Unexpected, Batman and The Outsiders) plan to merge the DC and Wildstorm universes and show how Amanda Waller rose to power to become one of the most ruthless and unyielding characters in the DCU. Waller vs. Wildstorm debuts November 15, 2022.
Nikolas Draper-Ivey and Vita Ayala Return Static to Dakota in 2023
One of the brightest lights of Milestone Media’s reuniting with DC was Static: Season One, and breakout artist Nikolas Draper-Ivey, who joined the panel to talk a little about the reception that he, writer Vita Ayala and co-artist ChrisCross received after relaunching Milestone’s flagship super hero for a new generation. Fans got to see some of Draper-Ivey’s incredible art, as he spoke about taking on the new challenge of both co-writer (with Ayala) and artist for the six-issue sequel to Static: Season One, Static: Shadows of Dakota, debuting on February 7, 2023.
Early Look at New Titles Celebrating Milestone’s 30th Anniversary in 2023
Lee’s chat with Draper-Ivey led to more Milestone news, as he shared early reveals of two titles that will be part of the celebration of this groundbreaking imprint’s 30th anniversary next year. Cover art was revealed for Icon vs. Hardware, a five-issue limited series launching on February 14, 2023. Spinning out of the epilogue of the Milestones In History anthology, this series is co-written by Reggie Hudlin and Leon Chills, and pits two of Milestone’s core super heroes against each other for the future of Dakota, as Hardware discovers a time machine and puts it to work altering the history of the world.
Fans also got the first look at the main (by Denys Cowan) and variant (by Nikolas Draper-Ivey) covers for a Milestone 30th Anniversary Special, scheduled for a February 21, 2023 release. This commemorative one-shot will feature stories celebrating the breadth and depth of the Dakotaverse, with contributions from Eisner award winner Chuck Brown (Bitter Root, Black Manta), Stephanie Williams (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons, Nubia and The Amazons), Denys Cowan, Nikolas Draper Ivey, Yasmin Flores Montanez (Milestone Talent Development Program) and others. The Draper-Ivey variant cover spotlights the story he’s writing and drawing, a team up between an adult version of Static and Batman Beyond.
Special Guest Joe Quesada Reveals Details on His Return to DC
Even though Jim likes to keep his panel lineup secret to surprise people with big news, he always keeps an ace-in-the-hole extra secret to really catch the audiences off guard. Today was no exception, as artist and former Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada took the stage.
Quesada left Marvel earlier this year to pursue his own personal projects and he’s clearly starting off with a bang, as he announced that he’d be designing covers for DC titles in 2023, exclusively revealing his variant cover art for Batman #131 (January 3, 2023), and Batman #132 (February 7, 2023).
The DC excitement at New York Comic Con continues Saturday, with DC’s Superman panel and concluding with the Gotham Publishing panel on Sunday.
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