San Diego Comic-Con is a madhouse full of all sorts of events that demand your attention, and the panels are many and widely varied. If you’re looking for comic book news and views, though, here are five of the panels you’ll need to hit up – I’ll certainly be there, although I’ve got many more panels beyond these to cover as well. These are just the five where I think the most interesting news will develop. It’s entirely possible a lot of other panels will prove me wrong.
One of the most controversial storylines going on in comics right now is happening within the Spider-books. Peter Parker is dead and gone, and Dr. Octopus has taken up residence in his body – and it’s been going on for months, with no end in sight? Can the “Superior” Spider-Man be here to stay? Sales have been great, but there is a vocal set of fans who are having trouble with the darkness inherent in a story like this, and who are missing having somebody to root for. Spider-editor Steve Wacker will be on hand, and he’s always entertaining, as will Nick Spencer, who just started The Superior Foes of Spider-Man book focusing on the low-rent replacement Sinister Six. Yes, this book is doing well enough to have spin-offs. But for how long, Mr. Spock? For… how… long?
Normally, I wouldn’t put this on the list. I was once an avid follower of the Ultimate Marvel Universe, but one horrible Jeph Loeb issue somehow destroyed my entire interest, and it just became some other alternate timeline thing to ignore. Perhaps not the fairest response, but my comic dollar has gone elsewhere. However, this panel will feature Brian Michael Bendis and Joshua Hale Fialkov, and promises “a startling announcement about the future of the Ultimate Universe!” Could the rumors be true that next year’s event book will be 616 vs. Ultimates, resulting in the shuttering of that line after a mighty run? Will it be replaced with a line of comics based on the movie world? We shall see.
Yes, I know, three Marvel panels is a bit much, but you have to make an exception when all-star sci-fi genius Jonathan Hickman is writing a Marvel event book that’s bound to make your head spin the way his Avengers titles have, and the way his Fantastic Four run did. This event will take the Avengers into space to fight the mysterious Builders, leaving Earth open for Thanos to attack, whetting the Marvel fan’s appetites for cosmic Marvel adventures, which will feature heavily in next year’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie – and given the teaser at the end of Avengers, will likely be huge in Avengers 2: Mad TItan Boogaloo.
This is where we’ll likely get the lowdown on Forever Evil, the first New 52-era DC event book that the big Justice League “Trinity War” clusterfudge is leading up to. Bad guys taking over after the superheroes spend a long time fighting with each other. DC’s best and brightest will be on hand, including Jimmy Palmiotti, who’s going to be starting up a new Harley Quinn solo book with his wife, the incomparable Amanda Conner. Geoff Johns, Gail Simone, Jeff Lemire… if we get any news, it’ll be here.
Image is the place to be right now for creator-owned original works, and this is where the dream teams of creators usually come to play. Ed Brubaker, J. Michael Straczynski and Matt Fraction will be on hand to talk about their new projects, and Image head Eric Stephenson will moderate – and he just happens to also be writing my favorite Image book out there right now in Nowhere Men. Image is where the award-winning comics will be coming from, no doubt.
