Comicology

This weekend i was one of thousands of people who attended the The Wizard World Chicago convention. I don’t know how many times I have gone to this con in my life, so I’ll just say that I have gone a lot. However, this time was different than all the others because it was the first time that I got to attend the convention with a press pass.

This post / show today is the first of several that I’m going to be doing about the things that I saw, heard, and picked up at the con over the next few days / weeks.

The Comicology-078 show is a sort of audio sum up of all the cool stuff that I heard /saw at the various panels that I went to over the past three days. This post is a text version of that audio file.

FRIDAY:
1. Went to the Brian Wood / DMZ panel which was outstanding.
a. LOTS of people showed up to this, much more than Brain expected would.
b. We found out that Brian Wood has signed a two year exclusive deal with DC vertigo.
c. We found out that Brian will be starting a second monthly book which will be about vikings called NORTHLANDERS also be published by DC vertigo. There are not really any details on this yet because it got worked out just as the con was starting. IE: I don’t know anything about who the artist will be, when it will start to come out etc.
d. When I asked if DC Vertigo had any interest in publishing and distributing books in a digital format I got a really cool answer… The editor on the panel asked how many people download comics now, and a lot of hands went up. The editor then said that he believes that DC Vertigo will HAVE to start offering comics in some sort of digital format in the future. However, there are still a lot of old school dudes running things that do not like the idea of digital comics. All and all I’d say that it was a positive answer for fans of digital comics.
Note: I talked with lots of people in the comic book industry (who I will not name now) who told me that they download comics via BitTorrent all the time. So if the people who create comics for a living are doing it I don’t think that we need to feel bad about doing it as consumers.

2. I went to the Marvel: Civil War Panel and saw lots of cool slides, and heard many cool things.
a. There was a slide where we saw Cap getting hit IN THE FACE by Iron Man. Needless to say Cap’s fleshy face did not do so good when it was hit by Iron Man’s big mettle fist.
b. There was a slide where we saw Thor breaking Cap’s shield with his hammer… Looks like there will be a few bad days coming up for poor old Cap.
c. Thor is back (but I’m sure most of you all ready knew that). Quick side note: I think it would be cool of Thor and Bata-Ray-Bill were both in Civil War… but I want them to be on opposite sides.
d. Joe Q. spent a lot of time talking about the Iron Man side of the Civil War, because it seems as though lots of people really hate iron Man now.

Joe Q. said two things that I think are really interesting in regards to Iron Man.
-Lets give a 15 year old kid a bunch of grenades and tell that kid to just go and take out the bad guys… That is WAY to much power for a kid to have. Iron Man wants to make sure that kids who have powers get proper training on how to use those powers.
–Lets say that all of a sudden some dudes in ski masks drove up your street then started to take people away at gun point. They are wearing masks to you have no idea who the hell they are. When ever anyone asks what the hell is going on all the ski mask guys say is “This is for your own good.” Would you be OK with that?

SATURDAY:
1. I went to the Marvel Ultimate Universe panel where Joe Q. and Jeff Lobe were speaking.
a. Some guy asked “Why did you make Thor a anti-american son of a bitch who hates our troops?” Lobe responded to this question by saying “Because Mark Millar is writing that book and he is a Scottish commie pinko bastard thats why! But I’m going to b e writing that book now and I’m fixing that!” My impression is that Lobe was being a smart ass, and that he did not mean what he said at all.
b. Mike Turner will be doing the art on another book that Lobe is writing. The Lobe Turner book will be the Ultimate origin of Ultimate Wolverine. Which will be different than the origin of Wolverine in the regular Marvel U.
Note: Lobe said that the regular Marvel U. book that deals with the origin of Wolverine read like a Charles Dickens novel, not a story about a guy who goes “sknit”. I think we can expect a lot more action in the book Lobe is writing.
c. When I asked if Marvel comics plans on doing any digital comics Joe Q. said that he believes that digital comics are the future of comics. That the price on comics needs to come down. And that in 10 years he thinks that people will not be reading print comics. Lobe took issue with that and said so. The end result was a bet that the two made: Joe Q. thinks that in 30 years people will not be reading print comics. Lobe things they will. Who ever is wrong owes the other guy $1000.00.
d. The characters from Supreme Power will be coming over to the Ultimate Universe to fight with people there. Should be a good fight.

2. The DC editorial panel.
1. I feel bad, bud about this but I really don’t have to much to say about this which is positive so I’m not going to say much at all.
a. DC does not want to look into digital comics.
b. Keith Giffen is very funny.
c. I saw a dude with a cult of Conner shit on (the up-side-down Superman S that mean resurrection in the language of Krypton.) I think the dude made the shirt, and the DC guys commented on how cool it was, so I’m expecting to see them for sale in a issue of Previews soon.

3. The DC Vertigo panel.
1. I asked if Brian Wood could do me a favor and some how work the New York Yankees getting blown up into DMZ. He can’t because the Yankees would sue him.
2. I asked Azz if someone gave him a gun and 100 untraceable bullets who would he kill and why? Azz responded “She knows who she is.”
3. It looks like some main characters are going to be kicking the bucket in 100 bullets. After issue 100 of 100 Bullets Azz might do another series called Minuet Men. Sounds good.

Technorati Tags: Brian Wood, DMZ, Jeff Lobe, Keith Giffen, Mike Turner, Civil War, Vertigo