By Thomas Dreyfuss
DC Comics is no stranger to conventions, but this panel last month marked the first time the publisher has had an official presence at Emerald City Comic Con since 2019. Despite the last minute addition to the schedule, the room was packed as eager fans awaited to what was next from DC. Much to the surprise of many (myself included), this was not a crowd shaking announcement panel but rather a causal discussion panel where DC editor Rob Levin (The Gotham Group, DC K.O.: Knightfight) brought some of the best talent working at DC (that just so happened to be at the convention) to discuss thought and creative process regarding their recent books.
First was the legendary Jeph Loeb who talked about Batman/Wonder Woman: The Truth one-shot with art by Jim Cheung. In terms of continuity, Batman/Wonder Woman was originally supposed to take place between Hush and H2SH given the 23 year publication gap between the stories. However, DC publisher and artist Jim Lee decided to get to work on the Hush sequel sooner than planned so Loeb and Cheung are trying to get Batman/Wonder Woman: The Truth out before Lee finishes H2SH.
Fans of Loeb’s Superman/Batman run will be pleased by the return of the dual narration bubbles in Batman/Wonder Woman: The Truth as Loeb assured fans that may be skeptical of his take on the Amazon Warrior. “And for those of you who are worried that I’m not going to know how I’m going to write Wonder Woman, I agree. And so I’m very lucky one of my dear friends is Allan Heinberg who I think writes the best Wonder Woman, including the movie, And he was there every step of the way was like ‘Yeah, let’s try this line instead’ so he gets a special thank you in the book.”
In regards to the lateness of H2SH, Loeb gave a very reasonable answer: “Why are we late? The reality is, I have a partner who is the best artist living on the planet, name of Jim Lee. He also happens to be the publisher of the best comic book company, and that takes a lot of time.” Between his duties running DC, drawing for various projects including a story in DC’S SUPERMAN/SPIDER-MAN #1, and being a loving father of nine children, one has to think how Jim Lee even has time to sleep let alone draw the best comics in the business. As of now, Batman #163 is scheduled for May 27, 2026.
Up next was writer Jason Aaron talked about the joys of reimagining Superman from the ground up for Absolute Superman while also exploring the history of the Absolute DC Universe. Aaron explained, “You got a bit of tease of like, ‘Was there a previous generation of heroes? Was there a Justice Society?’ The answer is basically ‘no.’ There different characters that popped up but none of them really survived. They got sold out. They got killed. That tells you that this new generation of heroes that are coming along, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, all the others, the odds are stacked against them in a huge way that there was nothing like this has ever happened before in this universe.” Fans should expect to see some tales with Hawkman set in the World War II era as well as a radical take on Black Adam that flashes back three thousand years in Absolute Superman #18.
Next was writer G. Willow Wilson has done an incredible run on Poison Ivy and has taken the Batman rogue into City Hall as the Mayor of Gotham City starting in issue #42. Wilson dismissed that this creative decision was based on anything going on in the real world, but was compelled to follow what seems to be on face value (giving Ivy unlimited power over Gotham’s resources) a “bad idea.” “One of the most fun things about this character is that her motives are so pure. She wants to save the Earth from the destructive influence of human kind, but because she’s a villain, her methods can be a little bit shady. So now that she’s in a position of legitimate power, she’s protected from Batman, she’s protected from some of her enemies that have sort of troubled her in the past. They can’t touch her now so she’s like ‘Now, this is my moment to remake Gotham the way that it should be!’ It goes about as well as you’d expect.”
Milestone Media founder and artist Denys Cowan was next to talk about collaborating with writer Dan Watters on an arc of the ongoing Nightwing title starting with issue #136. Cowan was initially confused as why he was hired as he knew very little about the character. That is until Cowan started to do some research and understood that Nightwing is the fourth pillar of the DC Universe. “I have to tell you there’s certain things you have to get right about Nightwing. Y’all don’t know about this, but I learned his butt…I gotta be looking at his butt. Gotta make sure it’s right.” As for why Cowan was chosen to do art on Nightwing, he explained that they wanted to capture the vibe of his run with the late great Dennis O’Neil on The Question title back in the ’80s as it fits the gritty urban folklore angle on Blüdhaven supernatural history.
Writer Tony Fleecs was up to talk about Deathstroke: The Terminator, his new comic for the DC Next Level publishing initiative with art by Carmine di Giandomenico. What attracted Fleecs to write for Slade Wilson was how the character is famously an awful guy in the DC Universe, which provided a challenge for Fleecs as his previous work involves talking animals and licensed kids books. Deathstroke: The Terminator revolves around Slade feeling empty inside as he tries to find himself all while battling killers and assassins trying to collect a bounty placed on his head. Though it may seem overwhelming to new readers, Fleecs assured that anyone can jump right in. “I wrote this as if I was writing for someone has never heard of Deathstroke or the DC Universe or anything. You should be able to pick this up like it’s your first comic.”
Issue #3 in May will see Slade Wilson going up against Deadshot and Deathblow, a character who first debuted in the Wildstorm Universe established by Jim Lee in the ’90s. For Fleecs, having Deathstroke go up against two other assassins with “death” in their names as a no-brainer.
Last but not least was writer Kyle Starks to talk about End of Life, his new series for the newly revived Vertigo imprint that reunites Starks with his Peacemaker Tries Hard! artistic collaborator Steve Pugh. Described by Starks as “John Wick meets Northern Exposure,” the series follows profession hitman and colossal manchild Eddie Stallion who messed up royally after accidentally robbing the Raven, a high-ranking boss of the international cabal of assassins the Menagerie, of which Eddie is was a member of. With a price on his head and no safe harbor, Eddie is forced to flee to the small midwestern town of Pluto and the home of his estranged father George Stallion, a former assassin as well who is dying bitterly from cancer. Not only is his father trying to kill him, everyone is trying to kill Eddie including “Big C**k”, a rooster themed member of the Menagerie. And that’s probably all I can say without getting my mouth washed out with soap.
Overall, this was not a bad panel and much like Emerald City Comic Con, the vibes were laid back. From where I sat, I genuinely saw the passion from each of these creators about their work and the gratitude for making DC Comics over perform in sales. As of this writing, there are several DC Comics: What’s Next Panels being held at various cons like Megacon Orlando or WonderCon in Anaheim. If these panels are anything like what I witnessed in Seattle, I think it’s a bold strategy for DC to use these forums as a means to introduce readers of the Absolute or Mainline DC Universes into these weird pockets they may not have been aware of and the brilliant minds behind them. Until next time, stay classy ECCC.
