It was the third day of the 2007 Fan Expo when DC Comics presented its pool of talent for a panel session. During the previous year’s ‘DC Big Guns’ panel, a stunning revelation was delivered by Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver, which has since materialized as the best-selling Sinestro Corps War storyline. With that in mind, the 2007 ‘Amazing World of DC Comics’ panel held great promise.

A number of DC notables were seated at the Sunday afternoon panel. Dale Eaglesham and Frank Quitely shared a microphone, as did J. Torres and Karl Kerschl. They were joined by Chris Sprouse, Paul Dini, and a moderator.   

Countdown

As one of the chief architects behind DC’s Countdown series, Paul Dini was hit with a lot of extra attention. During a question and answer period, a fan asked about the different versions of Earth that will be depicted in the series. “We’ll see plenty”, Dini responded.

“I don’t know if we’ll see all fifty-two, but we may see representatives from all fifty-two.” [Watch the clip here]

(from l to r) Eaglesham, Quitely, Torres, Kerschl, Sprouse, Dini

In commenting on the Monitors, the DCU spanning protectors of the multiverse, Dini revealed that “the monitors, the way they started out in Countdown, may not be exactly the way they finish up”.

Dini advised fans to “look for some changes as far as… whats been established with the Monitors.” [Watch the clip here]   

The Joker

Upon being asked about the shifting status of the Joker’s origins, the Detective Comics writer revealed that he doesn’t keep up with all the other Bat books. He has not read much Batman Confidential and very often, the majority of his complimentary DC books wind up being given out to kids on Halloween! While that may be a joke, the fact is that a busy creative type like Dini just can’t keep up with every nuance of every storyline. He feels that some space remains for writers to build on what has come before. “There is room enough to expand on what the Joker’s origins were without conflicting with anything.” [Watch the clip here]

Superboy

It was early 2006 when the Internet exploded with talk about the status of the Superboy character. The ownership rights were (and continue to be) contested by the Siegel family and if the courts side with the Siegels, it is likely that some sort of agreement will be made to allow for DC’s continued use of the character.

The lawsuit has had far reaching consequences within comics as well. The Superboy character was killed off in an issue of Infinite Crisis and is now solely referred to by his first name, Conner, rather than by his traditional moniker. The infamous ‘Superboy Prime’ character from Infinite Crisis and the original Crisis is currently being referred to as merely ‘Prime’ in a recent press release from DC Comics. Another press release uses the name ‘Superman Prime’.

When questioned about the status of the lawsuit, Paul Dini denied having much knowledge about the issue. He believes that it is still in litigation. [Watch the clip here]

The Future

Opening up a question to the entire panel, the guests were asked to speak about their future work. The collected responses:

Dale Eaglesham – Will continue to be on the Justice Society of America book for the foreseeable future.

Frank Quitely – Will be on All Star Superman for “the next eight months or so”. He has yet to decide on anything after that.

J. Torres – Just completed three fill-in issues of Wonder Woman in advance of Gail Simone’s run on the title. The Amazons Attack material wraps up and leads into Wonder Girl, a six issue mini-series. Teen Titans Go! will continue, as far as he knows. Torres will take over Legion of Superheroes in the 31^st Century around issue eleven.

Karl Kerschl – He’s halfway through drawing Teen Titans: Year One, a six issue mini-series that will come out in January. After that, he will do a five issue zombie mini-series for Wildstorm. Kerschl is also doing weekly web comics.

Chris Sprouse – In the immediate future, he is doing some Midnighter covers. Soon he will disappear for several months, to work on a Wildstorm mini-series he cannot discuss further. It will be announced in late 2007.

Paul Dini – Is currently on Countdown until at least the early part of 2008 year and Detective Comics until at least until the end of 2008. In a future issue of Detective, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee will be revealed as the new crime bosses of Gotham City . Look for that sometime next year.

[Watch the entire clip here]

And finally, if you are interested in hearing Karl Kerschl discuss his opinion of the Zuda Comics initiative, you should bounce to this handy little clip right here.

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Avi Weinryb is an editor and feature writer at The Comic Book Bin