SDCC’09: DC Day One

Here’s our Rapid-Fire Roundup of items of interest that came from the first day of DC Comics panels at the San Diego Comic Con.

Superman

• The next Superman crossover event will be called “Codename Patriot”
• General Lane will be the big heavy coordinating whatever is going on
• Every character will be affected.  Rucka said this series will be “a game-changer”.  Again?  I think that meme is the most overused gimmick in the industry and needs to have a moratorium put on it.
• Captain Atom will play a part in Codename Patriot. Is the title a clue to Atom’s role?
• Look for Hunt for Reactron as a Supergir;/Action crossover in October.  It will be written by Sterling Gates and Greg Rucka.

“That storyline forces a change with what Nightwing and Flamebird are doing,” he said of “Hunt for Reactron.” The pair will then return to Metropolis “and James and I are talking about the damage we’ll do to Metropolis–Again,” Rucka said, before remembering that readers had not yet seen the first damage. –CBR

• Thanagarians aren’t going to be too happy the Kryptonians are back.
• Superman #700 will be titled Mon-el: Man of Valor and will be a darker character with a new costume.
  
• If you don’t like reading about Krypto, Geoff Johns laughingly told the audience to avoid Adventure Comics
• Francis Manapul said Adventure Comics was like a Norman Rockwell comic.  I wonder if it will feature the kid sitting outside the principal’s office with a black eye?
• The Adventure Comics co-feature JSA’s Starman, Lightning Lad, Polar Boy, and Sun Boy
• Every Legion will be featured in Adventure Comics… eventually.
• Starman has a new task that will play out in Adventure Comics, and not Blackest Night
• As will Superboy Prime (in issues #4 and #5)
• Origin stories will be the focus in the Supergirl Annual (origin of Superwoman), Superman Annual (history of Daxam), and in a Secret Files issue.

Blackest Night

• Black Lantern: Superman will answer everyone’s questions about New Krypton, and dead heroes in the Superman titles.
• Geoff Johns is working on Blackest Night: The Flash, which arrives in December.  Look for the dead Rogues to return from the dead
• Barry Allen’s return is not temporary according to Johns
• Abin Sur vs. Hal Jordon?  You betcha!
• Krypto vs. Dek-Starr? You betcha!
• The Anti-Monitor is imprisoned in the Black Lantern power battery, and isn’t happy about it.

JSA

• If you hadn’t already heard, Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges will be team writing Justice Society of America. I know some of you don’t like that news, but having followed both of these writers for a decade, or more in Willingham’s case, I’m still very interested in reading this series.
• JSA All-Stars is a new monthly to be written by Sturges with art by Freddie Williams.
• The first story arc has all the JSA-ers having a price put on their heads.
• The All-Stars series will feature more of the younger members of the team. Unfortunately, those younger members include Magog. The good news is Powergirl, Stargirl, Judo Master, Hourman, and Citizen Steel will be featured heavily in the first issue.
• The Magog fun continues as the character gets his own series.
• Jerry Ordway, James Robinson, Freddie Williams and more are teaming for the JSA 80-Page Giant arriving in November.
• Everyone seems pretty tight-lipped when Vandal Savage’s name is spoken. Hmmm…
• Look for annual JSA/JLA crossovers once again.

Vertigo

• There were a lot of new books and series announced during today’s Vertigo panel
• Mike Carey will be writing a new series called The Unwritten about a writer who wants his stories to lead readers down a terrible, terrible path.
• Daytripper is still scheduled to be released by year’s end.
• The Chill takes Irish mythology and mixes it in a modern crime drama.  It’s an odd pitch as a cursed woman steals people’s sexual energy for immortality.
• Peter Milligan and James Romberger are working on Bronx Kill.  The lead character is the black sheep of the family and has to uncover what happened to his missing wife.  The Bronx Kill is a dumping ground for bodies.
• John Evans will be writing The Executor.  The Vertigo panelists describe the graphic novel about a washed up athlete who is named executor of his high school sweetheart’s will after her murder takes place.  It will be a tense thriller as the history of the central character intertwines with the murder investigation.
• Anderson Gabrich will write Fogtown – a very Mike Hammer-esque story set in 1960’s San Francisco.  It is expected to hit in the summer of 2010.
• The last book in the Perdition saga concludes with Return to Perdition.
• Gary Phillips and Brian Hurt are teaming for Cowboys.  It’s the story of two undercover agents (police and FBI) who are investigating a gang style slaying at a restaurant where both characters are injured.

More stories as I get around to them.  There is a ton of stuff, and only little ol’ me gathering everything together from the Intardwebz.