By Luis A. Jaime and Ivan Jaime
We start with a really cool Introduction for DAWN OF DC:
The Moderator for this panel is Ben Abernathy, Executive Editor at DC COMICS. He introduces the panelists:
Joshua Williamson, Writer of SUPERMAN, GREEN ARROW, BATMAN & ROBIN, and KNIGHT TERRORS
Nicola Scott, Artist on TITANS
Tom Taylor, Writer of TITANS
Joanne Starer, Writer of FIRE & ICE: WELCOME TO SMALLVILLE
Josh Trujillo, Writer of BLUE BEETLE
Ram V, Writer of THE VIGIL
And a Surprise Guest that might be joining them near the end of the panel.
Ben Abernathy kicks things off with Joshua Williamson and asks him how DAWN OF DC connects with DARK CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS.
“A little over a year ago, we started talking about what we wanted to do after DRAK CRISIS,” Joshua answers, “I was having different conversations with creators and we really wanted to have a much more optimistic tone. I kept coming back to: ‘It’s always darkest before the dawn,’ so I started think of ‘Dawn of DC.’ At the time, I actually called it ‘Dawn of the DCU,’ but Paul Kaminski (Group Editor of the SUPERMAN books), smartly, pulled it back down to ‘DAWN OF DC.’”
Joshua continues, “For me, it was really about embracing all these things that we love about these characters. I wanted to take those things that we love and showcase it, but also add an optimistic tone to it. And also start introducing new elements and new story pieces.”
Ben asks Joshua: “Why was it important for SUPERMAN #1 to be the launch title for DAWN OF DC?”
Joshua’s response:
The conversation now moves to Joshua’s work on GREEN ARROW.
Joshua talks about how many times he pitched GREEN ARROW, his story idea for re-launching the book, and a surprise artist:
Up next is BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 written by Joshua Williamson and art by Simone Di Meo, which spins out of BATMAN VS ROBIN and LAZARUS PLANET.
Ben asks Joshua about Bruce and Damien’s relationship in BATMAN AND ROBIN:
Here is Simone Di Meo’s beautiful artwork for BATMAN AND ROBIN #1:
Joshua talks about a new villain in BATMAN AND ROBIN:
The cover to BATMAN AND ROBIN #2, coming out in October 2023:
Ben Abernathy shifts the conversation over to the TITANS team of Nicola Scott and Tom Taylor. They are the “Dynamic Duo from Down Under,” as Ben calls them.
Ben says the Titans are in a much more mature role following the events of DARK CRISIS. With the Justice League gone, the Titans are the preeminent team within the DC Universe. Ben asks, “How are they holding up with that sort of pressure? How’s Nightwing handling it?”
Ben wants to talk more about the artwork. WONDER WOMAN was the last book Nicola Scott worked on from the DC core line before moving to TITANS, which is a team book. Ben asks Nicola how she approached Titans:
Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott talk about Brother Blood in TITANS #3:
Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott talk briefly about Beast Boy in TITANS #4:
Here is artwork from TITANS #3 and TITANS #4:
Ben Abernathy introduces Joanne Starer, the writer of FIRE & ICE: WELCOME TO SMALLVILLE. Joanne talks about why she chose to write about Fire & Ice:
Joanne says that at its core, the book is about female friendship. There is also action, a ton of comedy, but there are also a lot of feelings in the book.
Ben points out how awesome the covers are for FIRE & ICE: WELCOME TO SMALLVILLE. The Kevin Maguire cover with the classic JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL logo is really cool.
Up next is Josh Trujillo, writer of BLUE BEETLE. Ben asks him if this is his first time participating in a DC panel at San Diego Comic-Con. Josh says that he was here last year talking about BLUE BEETLE: GRADUATION DAY.
Ben asks Josh how the events of BLUE BEETLE: GRADUATION DAY will lead up to BLUE BEETLE #1:
Here are the covers and interior artwork for BLUE BEETLE #1:
Ram V, writer of THE VIGIL, is up next. This team was seen in LAZARUS PLANET and DETECTIVE COMICS. Ram tells us about this new team:
Artwork from THE VIGIL #4 and THE VIGIL #5:
Ben asks Ram, “What can you tell us about the individual members of THE VIGIL?”
It’s now time to discuss WONDER WOMAN #1 written by Tom King!
But Tom King hasn’t made it to the panel. Tom Taylor asks if he should go to the end of the table and pretend to be Tom King. I’ll let you watch the hilarious high jinks that ensue:
Here is some gorgeous artwork from WONDER WOMAN #1 by Daniel Sampere:
Ben Abernathy says that’s it’s time for our Special Guest! He welcomes to the stage Jeremy Adams! He talks about his GREEN LANTERN series:
And for the final segment, Ben Abernathy asks everyone what series they reading right now, or what books they recommend:
This concludes the DAWN OF DC panel. I enjoyed this panel so much. There are lots of great titles coming soon. My favorite upcoming title is FIRE & ICE: WELCOME TO SMALLVILLE! I am definitely going to get the Amanda Conner variant with Superman on it!
