Beer & Six Flags: Wizard World Texas

Under the shadow of Six Flag's Titan roller coaster and the former Ballpark in Arlington (now Ameriquest Field, home of the Texas Rangers), the third annual Wizard World Texas is in full force at the Arlington, Texas convention center. Or about as "full force" as you can get for it not only being the last big show of the year, but the last stop on the "Wizard World Tour."

I heard more than one fan lamenting that it wasn't as big as they expected, while others commented that they thought there were more pros in 2004. Attendance was a bit sparse on Friday, but really picked up today. San Diego and Chicago it ain't, but hey ... at least it's within driving distance of my house.

It's also the only convention I've been to where the beer was flowing freely ... well, not "free," but it was interesting seeing retailers, fans and pros buying bottles of beer from the concession stands. Dan Didio, Senior Vice President, Executive Editor, DC Universe, even found a few bottles and cups waiting for him on stage for today's DC panel, and he joked that he would happily reveal any Infinite Crisis plot points to whoever gave them to him.

And while both Marvel and DC had multiple panels this weekend, quite honestly, there wasn't a lot of "new" news, although both companies did reveal a few tidbits. For instance, on the Marvel side, Associate Editor Nick Lowe gave several updates and teases, including:

• Apocalypse returns to the X-universe next year, both in the pages of X-Men and in an Apocalypse vs. Dracula title written by Frank Tieri and drawn by Clayton Henry, with covers by Jae Lee.
  
• "Whose side are you on?" ... Lowe flashed up a teaser image featuring a plethora of Marvel characters under those words, but said coyly that he was only allowed to show it for a minute. Could it have something to do with the Bendis "Illuminati" project, where the group made up of Reed, Namor, Black Bolt, etc. starts to fall apart? The Illuminati will get some play in the upcoming Planet Hulk crossover event.
  
• Bryan Hitch has signed an extension to his exclusive deal with Marvel, and participated in a panel previewing the Ultimate Avengers animated DVD. The preview featured the Ultimates fighting the Hulk. Two Avengers DVDs, due early next year, will be followed by animated Iron Man and Dr. Strange DVDs.
  
• Pascal Ferry is also exclusive to Marvel.
  
• Mike Deodoto Jr. will take over the art on Avengers; Lowe said this should help the book get back on a regular schedule.
  
• Giffen & co. will take another stab at the Defenders.
  
• A fan asked about the recent placement of ads in Marvel comics, particularly the placement of the Honda Civic ad at the front of many comics over the last couple of months. Lowe said that those who work on the editorial side weren't happy with the placement of that particular ad either, and they were working to push ads to the back of the books.
  
• Lowe said that Kevin Smith is now working on finishing Daredevil:The Target, since Spider-Man/Black Cat is finally done. Lowe, who is associate editor for that project, said it has been an "albatross around my neck" since it fell behind schedule.
  
• While signing comics, Peter David commented that he had just finished the 10th chapter of Spider-Man:The Other, and while his first three issues were more about the set up and character building, the 10th chapter was full of action and would "knock over the apple cart."
  
• Lowe shared the cover to Astonishing X-Men #13 during his presentation:

On the DC side, Bob Wayne, VP of Sales, and Dan Didio were a lot more coy about DC's 2006. They said up front that they wouldn't be revealing who lives or who dies in Infinite Crisis, which meant every time they discussed a character, they threw out the caveat "if they are still around after March." Flash, of course, took the brunt of these jokes. Some DC tidbits, which were few and far between:

• Wayne said that an announcement about "Absolute Sandman" was forthcoming next week. "Try to be surprised," he joked.
  
• A fan asked if they were planning on bringing back Starman anytime soon, and Didio said no one wanted to touch the character unless James Robinson was involved. He hinted that Robinson could be returning to comics in 2006.
  
• Marv Wolfman will co-write a few issues of Teen Titans with Geoff Johns. Captain Carrot is also slated to appear in Titans.
  
• 52, the tentatively titled weekly comic between Infinite Crisis and One Year Later, will launch in May. Wayne said the price point for the series remains to be announced; Didio said he wasn't even sure what it would be, but he did add that the four writers on the series -- Greg Rucka, Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison and Mark Waid -- were all literally writing every issue together, rather than rotating each issue. He also started to reveal something about the back-up stories planned for each issue until Wayne stopped him.

With neither Marvel nor DC having booths, that left a lot of room for some of the local independent comic companies, like Viper and Beckett, to have a decent showing at the con. Jeff Amano of Beckett had images from their next project, Gepetto's Monster, on hand; the book will combine the stories of Pinocchio and Frankenstein. Viper, meanwhile, has flyers teasing a new title called "Villains" coming out in 2006.

The con continues through Sunday.

>Read More