SDCC 2009: Superboy by Francis Manapul

Here's my last pieces from the con, from Francis Manapul (former artist on LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES and upcoming artist on ADVENTURE COMICS starring Superboy). I loved Manapul's LEGION, but he's taken his art one step further with a watercolor type style on ADVENTURE COMICS. It perfectly suits Smallville's placid surrounding, "sort of a Norman Rockwell feeling," as Francis described.

I got two pieces from Manapul. The first is a quick sketch at the DC booth (with Krypto!), and the second is a more elaborate piece he did at his booth in Artist's Alley.

This ADVENTURE COMICS is going to be one beautiful book... and psst, Titans fans, expect to see Cassie, Bart and Tim within the first 4 issues. OK, so this Superboy commission is my favorite piece of the entire con!

SDCC 2009: Ravager by Josh Middleton

I love Josh Middleton's stuff. And he's almost impossible to nail down for a commission, since he works so meticulously. My patience paid off (after a few hours of waiting...) and I nabbed this Ravager by Josh at the Hero Initiative booth. Since he helped co-create the comic version of X-23, I thought Rose would be a good subject for him. After all, Ravager is sorta the "X-23 of the Teen Titans," right?

SDCC 2009: Deathstroke by Mike Huddleson

Mike Huddleson was the regular artist on DEATHSTROKE for the last 5 or 6 issues. They tried to revamp the title a bit, and even changed Slade's costume and de-aged him. I asked Huddleson to give me the "classic" Deathstroke he never really had a chance to draw. Nice piece, huh?

SDCC 2009: Team Titans by Kerry Gammill

I caught up with Kerry Gammill at the Vanguard booth, and was able to get a few commissions from him. Kerry was a go-to "fill-in" guy during the Titans Hunt saga, and he drew one of the very first appearances of the Team Titans, and also drew they Who's Who page. Gammill was supposed to be the regular artist on TEAM TITANS, but then Kevin Maguire stepped in and took over. Gammill even drew the first 6 or so pages of TEAM TITANS #1!

Anyway, I already had Kerry draw me Mirage at the New York Comic-Con, so now it's my mission to have him draw all the Team Titans. Here's Redwing, Terra and Nightrider.

SDCC 2009: Beast Boy by Jason Howard

Here's a commission from Jason Howard, who is currently drawing the excellent ASTOUNDING WOLFMAN book from Image. Since it featured a transforming creature, I thought Beast Boy would be a good character for Jason. Looks like I guessed correctly!

SCDD 2009: Lilith and Donna by Jamie McKelvie

Here's a commission from PHONOGRAM artist Jamie McKelvie. The Image comic is about a group on British club kids, so I thought .... how about Lilith and Donna circa 1971? After all, Lilith was a go-go dancer at the Canary Lounge. right?

SDCC 2009: Donna Troy by Terry Dodson

I was lucky enough to catch Terry Dodson doing some quick sketches. I had him draw Donna Troy, who he has recently drawn in WONDER WOMAN. And trivia: Terry also drew Donna during the last few issues of TEAM TITANS when he was just starting in the industry. Man, I love Dodson's stuff. This is a great quick sketch!

SDCC 2009: Robin by Cameron Stewart

I caught Cameron Stewart at the DC Booth, and he did this quick Robin sketch.

SDCC 2009: Cyborg by Kaare Andrews

I really love Kaare Andrews' stuff. It's very high-energy and animated. Kaare donated his time at the Hero Initiative booth to raise money for the charity, and I had him do a Cyborg commission. He really did a great job on this one.

SDCC 2009: Kid Eternity by Andy Suriano

Here's a commission from Image artist, Andy Suriano. Andy also drew a few issues of BRAVE AND THE BOLD (the series based on the cartoon). There was an issue he drew with Kid Eternity, and Andy wanted to draw him again ... but the Grant Morrison version of the character. This is one of my favorites from the show!

SDCC 2009: Ravager by Sean Galloway

Here's a Ravager sketch from Sean "Cheeks" Galloway, who is currently drawing TEEN TITANS in WEDNESDAY COMICS.

SDCC 2009: Risk by Norm Rapmund

I caught Norm Rapmund in Artist's Alley. he inked the latter half of Dan Jurgens' TEEN TITANS, so I had him draw Risk. He really liked the way this one came out!

SDCC 2009: Argent by Dan Jurgens

Now come the sketches. I caught Dan Jurgens at the Hero Initiatiive Booth, where he was doing commissions for charity. I had him draw my favorite Titan from his run: Argent. Turned out pretty nice!

SDCC 2009: DCU in Animation (and Nightwing News!)

OK, so I saw the sneak peek of GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT. It's decent, but a little flat compared to WONDER WOMAN and SUPERMAN: DOOMSDAY. It didn't have the charm or spark of either of those movies.

But best news? Scroll down for some information about Nightwing in animation.....

ENI reports: " The writer, Alan Burnett, had several ideas for how to approach this origin of Green Lantern but many of the stories simply got too complicated. He decided to take it down to a basic police story, in the style of Training Day. Sinestro is assigned Green Lantern to break in as a rookie partner and he tries to sway him to his twisted vision of the Guardians and the Corps. It's that dynamic that drive the plot of the movie."

They also reports: "Superman/Batman - Public Enemies, is the next DCU animated feature. September 29, 2009, it will be available on Blue-Ray, DVD and On Demand. Kevin Conroy is the voice of Batman and Tim Daily is Superman. Power Girl will be in this feature, in one of her few animated appearances. Clancy Brown plays Lex Luthor."

They screened some footage from that one, and it looks pretty good! They did a nice job of evoking Ed Ed McGuiness' art style. Also, Starfire is in this one, as part of Captain Atom's takedown team.

Update: Here an image of animated Starfire from CBR:



A fan asked about the possibility of a Nightwing animated feature, and " Bruce TImm says it's even money that there will be Nightwing in the DC animated future."

Sweet!

SDCC 2009: Geoff Johns on All Flash

And this weekend DC revealed he’s also writing a “Flash” ongoing series after “Flash: Rebirth” and “Blackest Night: Flash” are complete. It should also be noted that in conjunction with the most recent announcement, DC announced Sterling Gates, Johns’ long-time assistant who is now writing “Supergirl,” will be working on a “Kid Flash” ongoing, as well. No artist was named for either project.

CBR News: Geoff, speedster fans must be reveling in all this Flash news. On top of all your other projects, now you’re writing a “Flash” ongoing too.

Geoff Johns: Yes, It’s very exciting. I can’t say much just yet but I’m writing the “Flash” monthly, and it will come out after “Blackest Night: Flash” and “Kid Flash” by Sterling Gates will come on the scene after that. We’re going to be working in unison like Pete [Tomasi] and I work on “Green Lantern” and “Green Lantern Corps.”

We’re going to slowly dive into the Flash universe. And no one else knows this yet but the title of the first arc in the “Flash” monthly, ‘The Dastardly Deaths of the Rogues.’

Can you say whether it will feature Barry or Wally?

I don’t want to spoil “The Flash: Rebirth,” but all the Flashes in the Flash Universe will be major players in both Flash books.

I love working on The Flash. He’s my favorite character. And working on the movie and working on the comic at the same time is a dream come true for me.

See the whole article here.

SDCC 2009: Titans, JLA and Teen Titans

Big Titans News from the DC Universe Panel. Dick Grayson Batman and Donna Troy join the Justice League. (One of those silhouettes on the cover also looks suspiciously like Starfire). Kid Flash gets hs own series. Deathstroke becomes the new team leader in TITANS. And plans are afoot for TEEN TITANS.

DC Universe Panel, as reported by CBR:

-- "Johns promised a new speedster coming out of "Flash: Rebirth" and running right into the "Blackest Night: Flash" series he's doing with Scott Kollins. And once "Blackest Night" ends, Johns will be writing a Flash monthly book. Johns later said that he wanted to do the same thing with the Flash franchise he did with Green Lantern. It's his favorite character, and to build the franchise Sterling Gates will come on to write "Kid Flash.""

-- "Art was shown for Robinson's upcoming run on "Justice League America" with artist Mark Bagley. A new lineup was teased of which Robinson said, "At the moment, I don't think the team is everything it should be. I want to make the team great again." With "Cry For Justice" taking place just before "Blackest Night," Robinson's run starts proper with "Justice League of America" #38 including two issues tying into "Blackest Night." "You're going to see a character I believe can be great...female Dr. Light against Black Lantern evil Dr. Light," the writer teased, adding that the new team will feature Mon-El in a new Superman-inspired costume, Dick Grayson as Batman and Donna Troy who "I'm going to make her kick ass in this book.""

-- "When a fan asked for Johns to come back onto "Teen Titans" and work to "fix" the franchise, the writer said that Superboy, Kid Flash, Tim Drake and Wonder Girl will all appear in the first arc of "Adventure Comics" and that he had spoken with the new writers taking over both that series and "Titans" saying, "They're going to be really, really good books." Deathstroke will become the leader of the Titans team when Wallace writes "Titans" later this year."

DC Universe Panel, as reported by Newsarama:

-- On the JLA team: "The team will have: Mon-El (in a new costume with a Superman "S" on it), Dick Grayson Batman, Donna Troy and Hal Jordan. The other characters are a "mystery," says Robinson."

-- "Eric Wallace has joined the panel, talking about Titans. "We're going to have a new leader for the Titans, someone that you might be familiar with, by the name of Deathstroke: The Terminator," Wallace informs. Some brief talk about Teen Titans preceded the Titans dicsussion."

-- "Johns says "I want to do the same thing with Flash that we've done with Green Lantern," adding that he's going to be doing Flash, and Sterling Gates will be writing Kid Flash. They'll be writing in close contact with each other, a la Johns on Green Lantern and Peter J. Tomasi on Green Lantern Corps."

-- "Fan: "Ever since Geoff has left Teen Titans, that book has been a mess. Please come back to Teen Titans." Johns said that Bart, Conner, Tim and Cassie will be in the first arc of Adventure Comics."

-- "Wallace pointed out that Felicia D. Henderson, new writer of Teen Titans, was in the audience, and that fans should be excited for her plans. Johns added, "I can't wait to read Titans and Teen Titans.""

SDCC 2009: Titans Tidbits

From the DC Nation panel:

-- "With Trigon removed, what is Raven good for? "Raven is going to be very important in Teen Titans soon," DiDio said."

From The Superman Panel:

-- "Geoff Johns briefly ran down what would appear in "Adventure Comics," drawing laughter when he mentioned "the good Teen Titans." He also said, "If you don't like Krypto, don't read our book.""

-- "Manapul liked that "Adventure" was a charming book "and I can actually show it to my mom." "It's like a Norman Rockwell comic,' Manapul added."

-- "Superboy Prime will appear in "Adventure Comics" #4-5, Johns said."

From Blackest Night Panel:

-- "JT Krul's "Blackest Night Titans" will feature "a hell of a lot of dead Titans, as Titans fans know," Johns said. Berganza said that Ed Benes "makes death look really sexy.""

SDCC 2009!

Yes, Titans peeps. Another exhausting Comic-Con is now complete. A few Titans tidbits, sketches and other assorted madness. I'll be reporting and sharing some stuff the next few days...

SDCC 2008: The Final Comic-Con Moment

So that wraps up another Comic-Con! Fun, wild and exhausting.

I left Monday morning to a great, final Comic-Con moment. I was leaving breakfast at the Hyatt and there was a guy walking in the hallway humming to himself, and I thought "That guy looks like Erik Estrada..." Well, a pretty girl walked by him and he enthusiastically said, "Good Morning!" to her, flashing a big, pearly-white smile. As he walked past her, he craned his neck around to get a second look from behind... and he enthused... "A VERY good morning...."

Yes, that was definitely Erik Estrada.

What a way to end Comic-Con!

SDCC 2008: Mike McKone

Does Mike McKone ever disappoint? This year, he was doing charity sketches for the HERO Initiative, so I signed up for a few spots. Deathstroke, Ravager... and just to show it's not always about Titans.... Spider-Man. He's really killing it on Spidey. Once again, Mike produces some of my favorite, framable art. My home office already has a mini-corner of all things McKone... looks like I need to make room for more....