NYCC 2009: Teen Titans by Karl Kerschl

OK... here's my big score from New York ComicCon: The original fab five by Karl Kerschl. I can't tell you how much I LOVE Karl's interpretation of the year one Teen Titans. Karl was doing tons of awesome commissions all weekend long, and he was able to complete all five Titans for me!

Yep, this set is getting frame along with my fab five sets by Nick Cardy, George Pérez and Phil Jimenez.

This is my favorite thing from this year's ComicCon.

NYCC 2009: Ravager by Eddy Barrows

Man, I love the way Eddy Barrows draws Ravager. Maybe that's because he loves drawing her! Eddy drew these two kick-ass Ravager pieces for me at the con. So awesome.

NYCC 2009: Robin by Eddy Barrows

Eddy Barrows was at the show and it was great to see the (now-former) TEEN TITANS artist! He did this Robin sketch at the DC Booth signing.

NYCC 2009: Ravager by Georges Jeanty

It was a pleasure meeting BUFFY and FACES OF EVIL: DEATHSTROKE artist Georges Jeanty. I had two requests for Georges, but he only finished one by the time the con ended: Ravager! I requested her because Georges recently drew her in the DEATHSTROKE one-shot.

Georges is also slated to finish my second request in the next few weeks. I'm a big BUFFY fan, so wish me luck that he comes through!

NYCC 2009: Wonder Girl by Tim Fish

Tim Fish is a fun artist I noticed at MOCCA awhile back. He draws a sorta retro-Archies style from the 70s, but his writing touches on modern relationship issues. Check out his website here.

Tim was nice enough to draw a retro Wonder Girl. He's a fan of the original Teen Titans from the 60s.

NYCC 2009: Nightwing by Paul Azaceta

This commission is from GROUNDED artist Paul Azaceta. I think he's got a great style.

Also, GROUNDED is written by Mark Sable, who wrote thee enjoyable CYBORG mini-series. I chatted with Mark for awhile at the show, and he was telling me about an unpublished TEEN TITANS story he wrote awhile back. I might have some more details on that for you guys in a little while...

NYCC 2009: Jericho by Mike McKone

Regular readers of titanstower.com know that I really like Mike McKone's art. I consider him one of the best Titans artists ever! Mike was selling a bunch of his prelim sketches at some great prices, so I snatched up a sketch he did of the "classic 80s" team.

It's actually an "impossible panel" because Terra cannot ever exist on the same team with Jericho. Still love it! :)

Mike also did a sketch of Jericho for me. I asked for Jericho since Mike and Geoff brought him back when they relaunched the series in 2003. I like that Mike gave me "nice Jericho" instead of "crazy Jericho."

NYCC 2009: Raven by Wes Craig

Here's a great moody piece featuring Raven by Wildstorm artist, Wes Craig.

NYCC 2009: Donna Troy by Jose Garcia-Lopez

Jose Garcia-Lopez was at the show, and selling some of his brilliant artwork. His work is deceptively simple and incredibly dynamic. Jose drew the NEW TEEN TITANS for only 3 or 4 issues, but many people still asociate him with the Titans!

He later provided artwork for the RETURN OF DONNA TROY mini-series in 2005. Jose was gracious enough to do this beautiful sketch of Donna Troy. Another one of my favorites from the show.

NYCC 2009: Wendy & Marvin by Tim Seeley

I wanted someONE to do Wendy & Marvin at this show, and Tim Seeley ( writer and creator of Hack/Slash) was very obliging!

NYCC 2009: Flash by Greg LaRocque

Greg drew FLASH for awhile (a good 50 issues or so) in the 1990s. I always liked the shiny Flash costume Greg designed for FLASH #50. I thought it really fully "graduated" Wally as the Flash. It also visually separated him from Barry. So, of course, I had Greg draw him in that costume. This is one of my favorite pieces from the show.

NYCC 2009: Deathstroke by Joe Prado

Joe Prado (ACTION, BIRDS OF PREY, GREEN LANTERN, 52) was signing at the DC Booth and drew this nifty Deathstroke!

NYCC 2009: Cyborg by Carlos Magno

Carlos was the artist on the recent CYBORG mini-series! I got this sketch from him at the DC Booth.

NYCC 2009: Kid Flash by Alex Saviuk

I got this great piece from Alex Saviuk, who did a lot of work for DC in the 1970s... including FLASH, GREEN LANTERN, SUPERMAN, AIRWAVE and more. He did some back-up strips of Kid Flash so I had him draw "classic" Wally West Kid Flash!

NYCC 2009: Blue Beetle & Robin by Rafael Albuquerque

Here's two sketches by Rafael Albuquerque I was able to score at the DC Booth... Robin and (of course) Blue Beetle!

NYCC 2009: Kid Devil and Ravager by Tony Daniel

I had the pleasure of meeting Tony Daniel at this year's ComicCon. Tony said titanstower.com ws a great resource while he was on TEEN TITANS and that he really enjoyed working on the series. Tony said he and Geoff Johns have talked about wanting to return to TEEN TITANS someday....

Tony was doing some quickie sketches at the DC Booth, so I had him draw the signature "one year leap" Titans: Kid Devil and Ravager. Tony jokingly asked me to add a disclaimer if I planned on posting these: "These quick sketches are not fully representitive of Tony's work." Heh.

It was great to meet him. I'd love to get a more involved sketch from Tony one day....

NYCC 2009: Bette Kane in DETECTIVE

Comic Book Resources reports: "Thanks to a preview in the pages of the official New York Comic Con program, attendees of the sold-out convention learned as they were walking in the door at the Jakob Javitz Center that Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III will be collaborating on “Detective Comics” once the long-running series returns from its “Battle for the Cowl”-imposed hiatus in June with issue #854.

Who else is featured in the cast of your Batwoman run?

She’s got her own cast. There are a few people from other books. Maggie Sawyer appears as of #856. We see Commissioner Gordon. And we are using one or two characters that were established in “52,” as well. But again, understanding who they were in “52” is less relevant. You don’t really have to know who they are.

And there’s an important one too, that I keep on forgetting. Bette Kane is there. And I’m not going to say any more about her.

[Editor’s Note: Bette Kane was the original Bat-Girl in the 1960s. She was later retconned and returned to DC continuity as Flamebird in 1989. Rucka’s upcoming run in “Action Comics” features a Flamebird partnered with Nightwing, both from Kryptonian lore.]"

Yeah, Bette! :)

Matthew Clark: Artist on Doom Patrol

Matthew Clark has revealed that he is slated to be the artist on the new relaunch of the DOOM PATROL. From Matthew Clark's myspace page:

"Well they announce[d] the book today.

Mentioned the writer at a DCU panel, talked with him even, even the back-up stories creative team the writers and artist were discussed. Crowds of people were cheering

NO mention of me drawing the book. Nadda."

You can read the rest of Matthew's post here.

It's a shame they neglected to mention Matthew Clark when they announced the series. He certainly deserves the mention; In my opinion, he's one of DC's better artists. Also, one of the top 5 Nightwing artists in my book!

Heck, I'm excited for Matthew Clark on this series!

NYCC 2009: Keith Giffen New Chief of Doom Patrol

It was announced today at New York Comic Con that legendary creator Keith Giffen (“Justice League International”) is bringing “Doom Patrol” back to the DCU in a very big way with a brand spanking new ongoing series. The other big news regarding “Doom Patrol” was that his co-conspirator on “JLI” Kevin Maguire is drawing a 10-page “Metal Men” backup series in the title.

"Giffen is going back to the future and re-launching the franchise with the classic lineup.

“We’re not ignoring the other characters; it’s just that the focus will be on those three characters, and of course, the Chief. They’ll be the primary movers in the book. Characters like Mento or Bumblebee or the chick with the four-armed ape, they will play into the book as they play into the book, but not as the primary characters.”"

[...] "

“Somewhere down the line, if we can come up with a good riff that will work within the dynamic of the team, we might bring in somebody else, but unlike Justice League where a lot of the time, you would have characters introduced and they would work within the framework of the group, I never thought any of the extra add-ons in Doom Patrol really worked.

“It was kind of like, well, we have nowhere else to put this guy, let’s put him in Doom Patrol. And I really wanted to get back to the core group. Look, people who are Doom Patrol fans always hearken back to the original Doom Patrol book for better or worse. They had some great moments and they have had some horrifying moments. And I think it’s time to recapture that – without going retro.”"

Read the whole article here.

NYCC 2009: DC Universe Panel

Welcome to CBR's live coverage of DC Comics' DC Universe panel at New York Comic Con with panelists Geoff Johns, Sterling Gates, Philip Tan, Dan Jurgens, Sean McKeever, James Robinson, Keith Giffen, Peter Tomasi, Mike Carlin, Ian Sattler and Dan DiDio.

Keith Giffen revealed that he will be bringing back the Doom Patrol. "Way too much pressure," he said. Giffen asked the crowd if they liked Morrison's run on the series. After a loud applause, Giffen remarked, "You're going to be really disappointed."

Giffen said the mission with "Doom Patrol" is to make the series "accessible" to fans of the DC Universe.

Giffen then asked why DiDio disliked the Justice League International, and DiDio denied any such feeling. JLI artist Kevin Maguire then took the stage to announce he would be drawing a 10-page Metal Men backup series in Giffen's "Doom Patrol."

Geoff Johns then discussed "The Flash: Rebirth," which comes out on April 1, confirming that Bart Allen is back and will play a big part in the book.

As for the Teen Titans, Sean McKeever said the team is going through a membership drive that will eventually see a team of eight members. April's "Teen Titans Annual" will see Jericho try to "out-Deathstroke Deathstroke."

Fan questions:

- What does the future hold for the Terror Titans? They will be in "Teen Titans."

- Will there be another Robin after Tim Drake? Yes.

- Will Static Shock appear outside Teen Titans? If he catches on.

Read the whole article here.