What a Wonder-ful world

As most of you know, WonderCon was this past weekend. I was not able to attend because I did not know it was this weekend and because, after Wizard World Chicago, I'm not sure if I could handle another ginormous con. I can only handle so much. Luckily Newsarama is far stronger than I. Here are the highlights that I picked out of the two DC panels.

DC's Beyond the DCU Panel:

June's Ex Machina #12 kicks off a new story arc, Fact vs. Fiction, which begins with Mayor Mitchell Hundred being called for jury duty, and a new super-hero arriving in New York.

Vaughn's amazing.

After a delay from its original December 2004 start, Kurt Busiek's Astro City: The Dark Age begins in June. The story, of the 1970s in Astro City, has its roots in what Busiek originally envisioned as Marvels II. Brent Anderson pencils, with covers by Alex Ross. The Dark Age will run for 12 issues, and will tell of the Silver Agent's final fate.

I've been re-reading my Astro City trades and am seriously considering adding this book to my pull list.

Moore and O'Neill are at work on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen volume 3, with an eye on a 2006 release.

I can not wait for this.

In describing August's The Fountain OGN by Darren Aronofsky and Kent Williams, it was explained that, while the graphic novel will tie in to the film of the same name by the writer, it will be a stand-alone as well, with a complete story.

I'm a big fan of Aronofsky's film work and have been anxiously awaiting the release of the film. Curiosity regarding the film and his comic writing ability will probably sucker me in.

Mike Carey and Glenn Fabry's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere begins in June and runs for nine issues.

If you haven't read the book or seen the BBC television movie, do it. See why Neil Gaiman puts JK Rowling to shame.

Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon's City Lights is still on the horizon, but moving slowly. No release date it scheduled as of yet.

These guys are golden together. Preacher is one of the greatest comic series of all time.


The DCU Panel:

The creators stayed mum on the contents of DC Countdown, but Dan Didio revealed that the cover that has been shown to date is not the final cover for the one-shot. Ales Ross reported that he'd been getting badgered about who the person was as he painted the final version of the cover.

Ha, I'm really glad they did this. Always play with their minds.

Dan Didio, speaking about the All-Star line, said that DC didn't feel the need to create another universe, a la Marvel's Ultimate universe, but the stories told under the All-Star banner will be iconic in nature. All-Star Batman and Robin will start in July, with All-Star Superman starting in September.

Okay, it's not another universe, but each story takes place in a different time and has different character designs? Hm. Sounds like they're creating all kinds of other universes, which is okay by me as long as the main one is still around.

When asked where James Robinson was, and if he would be returning to DC any time soon, Jeph Loeb said that Robinson has found great success as a screenwriter in Hollywood, and probably won't be coming back any time soon.

Starman is another of the best written series in comics history. Too bad Robinson's so successful (for fans, I don't think he's too upset about it).

Ivan Reis was named as the new, ongoing artist for Teen Titans. Most likely, Reis will begin after the four-part Titans/Outsiders crossover, running through the titles in May and June, which should give him time to complete his penciling duties on Rann/Thanagar War.

I like everything about this paragraph.