Join us starting at 5:30pm (San Diego time) as moderator John Cunningham and a plethora of panelists sound off about the next big things in the New 52. On the creative side, we're expecting to hear from Tony Daniel, Kyle Higgins, Geoff Johns, Jeff Lemire, Jimmy Palmiotti, Gail Simone, Charles Soule, James Tynion IV, Robert Venditti, and JH Williams III. From DC Entertainment, we've got Eddie Berganza, Brian Cunningham, and Mike Marts rounding out the panel.
5:30 -- Things kick off with a video intro to the Trinity War. We meet the Justice League, Justice League of America, and the third, Justice League Dark, and find that they're all at war. The battle? Orchestrated by powerful supervillains -- and the villains win. Trinity War month one starts in July.
5:38 -- The key to taking down the Justice League is going after Superman. Things are pretty dicey with Superman's (apparent) killing of Dr. Light, and it's only going to get bigger.
5:41 -- Forever Evil has the villains running the show. We'll be surprised by who's gathering together to lead the charge, fronted by Lex Luthor. FOREVER EVIL: ARKHAM WAR is going to feature a crazy war -- Blackgate vs. Arkham -- and we're seeing two other tie-ins with FOREVER EVIL: A.R.G.U.S. and FOREVER EVIL: ROGUES REBELLION.
5:43 -- AQUAMAN #24 marks the end of the first two years of the New 52, and the team is really happy with the book (they're even joking about how it's cool that people still make fun of Aquaman!). Up next: we'll find out about Aquaman's complex ancestry, and the origins of Atlantis.
5:44 -- Trinity War is the end of the first era of the New 52, and the launch of the next stage.
5:45 -- SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN is happening! The book goes on sale October 9th, with Charles Soule writing and Tony Daniel on art.
5:47 -- We get a sneak peek of the cover for GREEN ARROW #24. Jeff Lemire says that he never expected to enjoy writing Green Arrow, but it's turning into one of his favorite projects. We can look forward to some elements from ARROW in this book (in a unique form that differs a little bit from the show) and also see the title cross over with Zero Year.
5:49 -- Jeff Lemire shares a sneak peek at the cover for ANIMAL MAN #24. We can look forward to seeing some personal glimpses into the Baker family, and how they deal with Buddy's celebrity.
5:51 -- Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner are bringing us a new HARLEY QUINN monthly book, starting in November. Fun fact: the "5150" on Harley's shoulder in the promo image is the police code for an escaped lunatic. It's Jimmy's first time writing with Amanda, and we can expect fun and chaos!
5:52 -- ALL-STAR WESTERN is approaching its 2-year mark this fall, and Jonah Hex is now stuck in the modern world after Booster Gold dropped him off here. He's running around with Amadeus Arkham's great-grandson, escaping Arkham Asylum, and going on crazy adventures.
5:55 -- BATWING #24 features a beautiful cover by Darwyn Cooke. There's going to be a New 52 version of Lady Vic making an appearance soon, and we're going to see how Luke is a different type of Batman character. He's going to be tinkering with his dad's designs and growing into his role...and having major girlfriend problems.
5:57 -- J.H. Williams builds stories so that one arc feeds right into the next, but hopes that each arc can be read as a standalone BATWOMAN story. Up next: helping Betty Kane find her footing, and rescuing Kate's twin Beth from the DEO. Hinted for later: a direct conflict with Batman.
6:00 -- We just got to see Barbara Gordon go on a date, and also watched her practice her shooting skills with her dad. Coming up in BATGIRL: we'll learn more about Barbara's relationship with her father, their conflict over her Batgirl identity, and a dramatic punch to the face!
6:04 -- In THE MOVEMENT, the city is falling apart, and the team needs to band together to save it, even if they don't all get along. Up next: a guest star from the New 52 DCU comes to Coral City. Rainmaker is back, and Mouse is going to try to get a date.
6:06 -- We see a sneak peek of the cover for NIGHTWING #24, and Nightwing has a great butt (Gail Simone's words, not mine!). Will Conrad joined on art starting with issue #22, and Nightwing continues his story in Chicago. We'll get to see some great character moments, and watch Dick Grayson adjust to his new life (roommate problems and all), all while continuing his pursuit of Tony Zucco. Complicating things further is the villainous Prankster -- a cross between Jigsaw from SAW and the hacker group Anonymous -- and we're about to find out what his true motivations are.
6:09 -- Nightwing and Batgirl team up for the NIGHTWING ANNUAL!
6:10 -- Jason Todd has been having a bit of a rough year -- running into the man who killed him, having his memory wiped -- and it's only going to get worse. The League of Assassins has an idea of what they want him to be, and we're going to find out more about that as he's taken to the secret city of the League. Roy is going to pay them a visit, and we can expect lots of action in issue #23.
6:12 -- TALON enters its second year, and James Tynion IV promises some great Talon/Bane moments. Calvin Rose was killed a few issues ago -- his year has been just about as bad as Jason Todd's! -- and we're going to explore his dynamic with Bane (another guy who was raised in a cage).
6:15 -- Robert Venditti is kicking off his run of GREEN LANTERN with Hal taking on a leadership role within the corps. He's a fighter pilot -- not a platoon sergeant -- and he's not used to having other people's lives on the line. He's also going to face new conflicts that he hasn't seen before. Fun fact: Venditti asked for a shark construct on the cover to issue #22 because it coincides with Shark Week. The new Star Sapphire character is going to be around for quite a while, and we're going to find out more about what it means to be in that particular corps.
6:17 -- RED LANTERNS now has Guy Gardner as a rage-monkey member of the corps (he put on the red ring in issue #21). Up next: figuring out how to recover from the frothing rage, and learn to be a hero again (also, house-hunting with the Red Lanterns). Charles Soule mentions that the Green Lantern team is very close, and all of the books are very tightly connected. Robert Venditti says that Soule has set the high bar for dialogue moments -- look for it in issue #22 next week!
6:21 -- Charles Soule has been having a blast writing SWAMP THING, and starting with his run (issue #19), we've been getting to know the villain Seeder. Swamp Thing has been chasing Seeder around the world -- from whisky trees and beyond -- and we're going to find out more about who Seeder is and why he's doing what he does. We've also got a SWAMP THING ANNUAL coming up, featuring eleven different Swamp Things from history!
6:22 -- "Have you guys ever heard of EMPIRE STRIKES BACK? It's a Star Wars movie?" Charles Soule claims that SUPERMAN/WONDER WOMAN is going to be an epic tale of the kind that hasn't been seen in comics yet, and Tony Daniel is doing a killer job on the art.
6:25 -- Next up: the two crazy wildcards of TRINITY WAR -- Pandora and Constantine. Pandora is the bomb that sets off the worst parts of the Trinity War, but she doesn't even care. John Constantine takes things too far, and we're going to see him stealing Billy Batson's powers.
That's all for the New 52! No Q&A this time, but plenty of great stuff to look forward to.
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