Comic Vine News

33 Comments

SDCC 2011: DC Batman Panel LiveBlog [Updated]

What new things can we expect from the Dark Knight?

No Caption Provided

Looks like there will be many of the new 52 creative teams on this panel. Currently, the panel is running 5 minutes late because the 1st of 3 new 52 panels before this went a bit overboard. It's a full house here, so hopefully, this will get started soon.

3:25- 10 minutes late so far. People are still filing in.

3:30- Mike Marts comes up to intro the panel. David Finch, writer/artist on Dark Knight comes up. Writer of Penguin limited series Greg Horowitz comes up. Gates of Gotham/Detective Comics Batman Scott Snyder comes up. Peter Tomasi walks on up. Batwing and Catwoman writer Judd Winick comes up. Gail Simone comes to the stage. Kyle Higgins of Nightwing strolls on up to the stage. Batman Inc's Chris Burnham comes up. Grant Morrison makes his way up.

3:35- Rachel, the editor of the upcoming Catwoman series gets on the mic, and she says that this upcoming series is one of her favorite takes on the character. It's a dangerous, sexy, charismatic, and intelligent Catwoman. "She's going to be everything you want and more." Chris Burnham says working on Batman Inc is a dream come true. A picture of Batman punching a school girl goes up on the big screen and everyone has a chuckle.

== TEASER ==
No Caption Provided

3:35- Kyle Higgins jokes that Nightwing won't be any good. "Dick Grayson is at a point right now where he has more exposure than he's ever had." He plans on exploring more of Dick's past. Eddie Barrows is doing art. The art looks fantastic according to Higgins. Gail Simone! She'll be on Batgirl! College student by day, Batgirl at night. "This book looks beautiful... Seeing her as Batgirl [Gordon] is one of my favorite things I've ever seen." Judd Winick is on Catwoman and Batwing. He is really pushing the sexiness of this book... He's said it a few times, and makes jokes about how much he likes saying it. He's taking the character a bit more back to the roots of a thief and a planner.

3:40- Judd on Batwing. "Over the course of the first few issues we're going to learn about who he is and how he came to be." Panel of the art goes up on the screen, and it's amazing looking. Ben Oliver is on the art. His artwork looks like cover art. This may be enough to get me to jump onto the book. The character will fill the Bat-mold very well.

3:45- Scott Lobdell on the Red Hood book. He makes it seem a little more light hearted than I thought it would see. He says it's a great book about damaged characters. Grant Morrison says we'll find out soon about who the Batman Inc team will be fighting. It's not who you think it is, according to Morrison. He's playing off of what Tomasi is doing on Batman and Robin. Scott Snyder says we'll be learning more about the history of Gotham and the enemies of the Wayne family. It's Scott Snyder, so it's going to be awesome. Snyder talks more about Gotham than Batman and his books will most likely revolve around that. Greg Horowitz on Penguin: He's psyched to be on the book. He loves Penguin's sanity. What Batman represents to Penguin. It's a five issue limited series that debuts in October.

3:50- David Finch says he's gained a lot of respect for writing while working on the Dark Knight, and he's very excited about it. I guess it's going right to questions. Question: Are the Bat-villains getting a revamp like the 52? Answer: The classic villains we know and love are staying true to core concepts, and there are some cool new villains. All of the people on the panel are bringing new villains to the table.

No Caption Provided

3:55- Question: Lateness issues with Batwoman and Dark Knight. Answer: Batwoman has 4 issues complete already. The books will be out on time. David Finch says that it wasn't great for him to give up the writing, but it's made his job a bit easier. Question: Any larger plans for Bane? Answer: Grant Morrison won't be doing anything with Bane. No one else says anything else. Question: Why is Starfire paired with Red Hood and Arsenal? Answer: Scott says the decision was already made, but when you see the book, it feels like they've been together for ages. "In this series she [Starfire] is an alien who wants to figure out what humanity is about, but she's with Jason so it may be a skewered vision of that."

4:00- Question: What was DC's criteria for deaging heroes, and will there be a book about Batman's younger days? Answer: It's always a possibility. They are focused more on the present though. It's not something they're jumping to right away. Question: Why pick Batwing? Answer: They liked him the best. Judd says Grant came up with a great army, but Batwing was a terrific character and Africa is a great place to tell a story. You will see the other characters.

4:05- Q: What is about Batman that makes you want to use him month after month? A: Morrison: He's endlessly adaptable. As a writer, he's a very interesting character to work with. Q: A little kid asks how many Robins are there? A: Panel says 4, audience says 5. Q: I think Christopher Walkin in a little girl form is asking a question. She asks if there will be a Batgirl Inc type book. A: Simone says they are discussing something along those lines. The person isn't a little girl, she's a college student with a tiny voice.

4:10- Q: Does Catwoman still have her daughter? A: Jokingly "I think she's working in Joker's Pet shop." Q: Will Secret Six characters appearing in Batgirl? A: Simone, "they won't appear in there, but they will be scattered around."

4:15- Last question. Q: How much room do they give Grant Morrison. A: He says he knows what they'll looking for and he works with the other writers to keep everything streamlined. Q: Is Batwing going to be Batman: Africa? A: Yes and no. Less politicized and drive a story from it. Last last question: Q: Jason Todd's hair color and what's up with the Batman Beyond series? A: Batman Beyond has a future. Jason Todd's hair color is black. He makes sure Judd doesn't hear him though. (Lobdell)

All done! My fingers hurt!

Update

Here's the images DC has released.

Batman: The Dark Knight
Batman: The Dark Knight
Batman and Robin
Batman and Robin
No Caption Provided
Batwing
Batwing
No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided
Detective Comics
Detective Comics
No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided
No Caption Provided