DC has had a massively profitable year following its release of multiple star-studded titles, so it came as no surprise that yesterday’s DC’s Metropolis and Beyond panel at San Diego Comic Con was anything short of explosive. Some of DC’s top creators, including Joshua Williamson (Superman), Mark Waid (Action Comics, Justice League Unlimited), Tom King (Wonder Woman), Stephanie Williams (Wonder War: The Matriarch, Warriors and a Wee Wonder), Jeremy Adams (Green Lantern, Emperor Aquaman), Morgan Hampton (Green Lantern Corps), and Nicole Maines (Justice League: Dream Girls), took the stage to talk about their upcoming stories and titles in a discussion moderated by DC Group Editor Paul Kaminski.
Kaminski set the stage and without missing a beat, Williamson took the stage to talk about his recent run with Superboy-Prime. It was intense to see the room shake with thunderous applause, not to mention cheers, at the conversation concerning the character. “I feel I grew as a person and my perspective has changed seeing Prime as he has evolved,” Williamson said. He added that having been able to work on Prime, he was able to project his love of comics through the character. Prime’s reasoning for wanting to save the current DC universe was his love of these characters in his universe’s comics, and it only fueled this story of redemption and re-education.
Williamson also spoke highly of his collaborator on the story, DC artistic royalty, Dan Mora. “Dan does so much, and it gets to a point where I tell him that we can talk to someone and get another person to work on the project, or just help him with the workload.” Williamson said Mora would then look him dead in the eyes and with the calmest demeanor tell him, “I’m doing it all.” Williamson closed out his conversation with the crowd with one last statement: “Dan Mora is an incredible artist and he represents what I see as the future of DC Comics”
It’s important to note how all these creators seemed to like being in the same room with each other. That it was easy for them to riff off each other, laugh, and talk. One moment stood out where Williamson brought up one of the most recent Superman issues where Prime punches through different dimensions and, after landing in a nine-panel grid, exclaimed, “I need to get out of here before Tom King gets me!”
King, who joined Williamson on-stage, laughed it off, and went over the story of how Williamson called to ask if that would be ok. “Isn’t it so mean?!” King joked, “It was the end of the friendship.”
The panel moved on to its first big topic, the upcoming Kingdom of Zod storyline. The story follows Zod returning to Earth to discover that Superman is nowhere to be found. Supergirl has to put together a team to stop him.
“Lois Lane will of course be part of this team” said Williamson, “However I think we have one more Lois Lane fan in this panel.”
At that, Mark Waid emerged from the right side of the stage, talking his place next to the others. “You can bother me any time if it’s about Superman,” joked Waid.
Waid announced that he and Nicole Maines are working together on Justice League Unlimited #24 and 25, exploring all of the visions everyone saw during DC K.O and the repercussions of what is left after.
Yet there is so much more in store, as Williamson got into the Superman 2026 Annual Year 1000 Special, due in stores this coming Wednesday. “It will acknowledge where a lot of the Legion are”, he said to fans excited at the prospect as they enter the new era of Next Level with Williamson and artist Hayden Sherman getting ready to unveil their new Legion of Super-Heroes series.
Williamson said that artist Xermanico will join Superman post-Kingdom of Zod. Their first arc will be named “The Night Shift” and will be about Lois challenging Clark to write an article after a long hiatus, and the Black Lantern Corps.
The announcements just kept coming as Morgan Hampton will be writing Steel. An image of the House of El crest being being created with molten steel lit up the screen, and seemed to heat up the intensity of the panel.
Williamson said, “All of this will lead into the next major event as Sanford Greene and I get ready to dig into our newest announcement” That’s when the screen lit up with the cover for DC’s All In Saga: Darkseid Vs. The World, co-written by Scott Snyder and Williamson with art by Sanford Greene and Yasmine Putri.
The story explores the hidden past of Uxas (aka Darkseid), his descent into tyranny, and his quest for Omega Energy. It serves as an epilogue to DC K.O. and a setup for 2027’s Absolute Crisis.
The fact that this preceded the Absolute panel which had a line wrapping around hall 6DE was the last straw. The panel had achieved its goal and fans could not contain their excitement. There was so much more to look forward to and only time will tell what DC will deliver.
Stay tuned to The Beat for more news from SDCC ’26.
