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February 25, 2007: NYCC Report - DC Nation Panel

By Nicholas Geoghegan (aka Super4Ever)

I recently attended the New York City Comic Con and had the opportunity to attend the DC Nation panel.

As we entered the room the panel was held in, we were all handed buttons, which many assumed to be the DC Nation buttons that are routinely handed out. However, once people began to actually look at these buttons, they came to find the slogan, "Jimmy Olsen Must Die" written on it. In front of the stage, the backs of�five poster boards faced us.�Dan Didio was alone on stage as we entered. He apologized in advance for anything true he might reveal. He then stated, "No one read their buttons yet, right?" Many in the audience laughed. Didio then brought out the other panelists, including Paul Dini and Keith Giffen.

Click "Read More" below to read Nicholas' complete DC Nation panel report.

Didio began by saying that they would not be able to reveal�anything at the panel and that they were under strict contract not to do so. Vice President of sales added, "We're barely allowed to be here at all." Which caught a few laughs. Discussion quickly moved into talk of weekly series'. First, Didio asked who was reading 52, which most of the audience were. He then began to talk about the next big weekly series of the DCU. He introduced Dini as the writer of the series and after a few moments realized he never stated the title of this new series. He looked to the audience for the title, and it was me who he called on. I called out the title of the series was, "Countdown," and Didio then asked me what it was counting-down to. I said, "The next big DCU event," to which he agreed. Giffen joked that they were, "Counting�down to the last issue of Civil�War."�He then asked if everyone was ready for another weekly series, to which a few fans replied no. He called one of the fans to come up to a microphone and state why. The fan replied that it was too soon and that they should wait about six months. Didio said, "Okay, we'll hold the first six months of issues and then send them to you."

That same fan was then asked to turn over the first poster board. He did, revealing an image of Jimmy Olsen looking up with the words, "Jimmy Olsen Must Die!" above him. Didio joked that Jimmy Olsen wasn't a Justice League International member so everyone should be okay with this. He then went on to explain that he felt Jimmy's character wasn't really being properly utilized these past few years and he wanted to change that. The panel then moved�into a Q&A format, in which Didio�stated that if a fan asked a question, the panel would get the right to�ask that fan a�question back.�One fan asked why Jimmy had to die, to which Giffen replied, "It was his time."

One of the first fans to ask a question also presented Didio with a stolen Joe Quesada name-tag from the Marvel panel. At first Didio put it up in front of him, but then took it down saying he just couldn't do it. Instead, Giffen took the name tag and proudly put it up in front of himself.

One audience member asked if there were any plans with Lobo. Didio said that they were looking into some things with him. Giffen added that he had passed him onto Morrison and hoped he didn't come pack.

One fan asked why Superman has been crying so much. Didio turned to the audience and asked if they thought Superman had been crying too much. It was a mixed reaction, with fans yelling both yes and no. Didio then turned to the fan who asked the question and asked, "Do you think you cry too much?" To which the fan replied, "Probably." Didio then told the fan to turn over the next poster board. The image revealed had Mary Marvel with half of her face darkened and what looked to be the arm of Eclipso in front of her. The caption read, "Seduction Of The Innocent." This received a big reaction from the audience, with many "oooohs" and "aaaaahhhs" for lack of better terms.

Didio went on to say that Mary Marvel would be a major player in Countdown, and that her story would take her on her journey as a hero, and would deal with many of the choices she has to make.

One fan turned the direction of the panel to the many recent delays that DC has had. He mentioned that, if Countdown was supposed to run along the DC Universe in "real time," would DC focus more on getting books out as scheduled. Didio replied that it was important that all the books come out on time, as many things from the regular titles will be reflected in Countdown, and vice-versa. For instance, if a character is injured in his or her own title, they would be shown with that injury in Countdown.

When asked how much Countdown would cost, Bob Wayne instantly replied with, "Priceless." Didio then coaxed him into saying that it would cost US$2.99.

Didio then asked fans which of their favorite characters were missing from the DCU. Many called out Ted Kord, to which Giffen replied, "He's not missing, we can show you where he's buried." One fan called out Ray Palmer, Didio then asked this fan to come up and flip over the next poster board. This revealed an image of a magnifying glass showing an up-close image of Ray Palmer's face in costume. The captioned read, "The Search For Ray Palmer." This was met with great applause.

When asked how many issues Countdown would be, Didio stated that there would be 52, starting with issue 51. Giffen stated that that would mean there were only 51 issues, to which Didio replied that there would be a Zero issue. Giffen hid his head in shame.

Asked how Faust was able to pose as Deadman in Justice League of America if he was trapped in 52, and how Ralph Dibney's ring made it to Sue's grave, Didio stated that there was still a story to be told.

When asked if any storylines would be carried on from 52 into Countdown, Didio stated that one key character would have one key appearance that would be important to one of the three storylines shown so far.

When asked if there would be any tie-ins to 52, Didio said, "We're not talking about that yet."

One fan asked what the plans were for Superboy Prime, to which Didio said, "Superboy Pri..." he then turned to the rest of the panel. He then said, "Not going there."

Another fan was asked to turn over the fourth poster-board, revealing an image of two arms chained together, with the title being "Villains Defiant."

It was revealed that Manhunter is once again saved from cancellation and that there were more plans for Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters.

A fan asked if the reason for all the continuity glitches were because some of the titles were taking place on different Earths, to which Didio replied, "I wish that were the case."

Asked about 52 spin-offs, it was revealed that there would be three or four and that Captain Carrot would be making a return. The audience was quite excited to hear this.

Didio stated that he was working very hard to get Wonder Woman back on track and that he had signed off on issues 5 and 6 before leaving for the Con.

When asked about Supergirl, World War III editor�Pete Tomasi mentioned that many of the questions about Supergirl would be dealt with during issues of World War III.

When asked if there would be excessive amounts of tie-ins involved with Countdown, Didio joked, "Nah, you're confusing us with the other guys."

Next, Didio asked one fan to turn over the last poster-board. He revealed an image of Darkseid's head with the title, "Unto Man Shall Come... A Great Disaster." This was met with great applause by the audience. When Didio asked Dini what Darkseid was doing on that poster, Dini replied, "Looking evil."

A fan asked what's next for Animal Man, Didio would only say that his story in 52 is not yet over.

When asked what was next for Isis, Didio told the fan he had 10-weeks to find out.

A fan dressed up as the Question asked, "Why'd you kill me?"�Giffen replied, "Because you told us to." The fan screamed, "You lie, it was Cadmus!" before leaving the microphone.

Dini confirmed that he would be staying on Detective Comics while working on Countdown.

When asked what Sean McKeever would be writing besides Countdown, Didio said he couldn't announce it yet.

When asked if we'd be seeing Kyle Rayner disappear anytime soon, Didio replied with a sturdy, "No."

When asked who would be writing Wonder Woman after Jodi Picoult, Didio stated he couldn't say.

When asked if there were any plans for Steel, Didio first had to confirm with the panel that he survived 52. Giffen joked, "We're going to kill him" but I believe Didio said that they had plans.

The Monitors will be playing a role in Countdown, according to Dini.

We will not be seeing Linda Danvers again, and Didio seemed firm on this.

When I asked about the Action Comics schedule, Didio was absolutely clueless. He didn't even know when the next issue of Action Comics would be out. (This Wednesday, for those interested.)

The last Allan Heinberg issue will be an extra-sized special issue.

And that was basically it, though I may have missed a thing here or there, I believe I covered just about everything. On the way out we were given another pin, "WWMMD?" with a little lightning bolt under it. This stands for, "What Would Mary Marvel Do?"

Hope this write-up was useful to you all, and any questions, please contact me.

-30-

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