The third day of New York Comic Con continued the momentum of the second day. There were plenty of panels from DC Comics and Marvel that showed what plans the Big Two have for their respective universes. From new comics to big plans there seems to be something for everyone to look forward to. Along with that we learned the results of the big winners from the Harvey Awards that was held during NYCC. Let’s break down the big news that came out of the third day of NYCC 2018.
DC COMICS WORLD’S FINEST ASSEMBLE
For DC Comics NYCC was more about elaborating on the projects they already announced than new comic. The World’s Finest panel was an example of that as DC Comics used it as opportunity to have Kelly Sue DeConnick, Steve Orlando, Peter J. Tomasi, James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson take center stage for the panel. Each of these writers have major titles involving key members of the Justice League. With Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman having enough attention on them this was refreshing to see.
With DeConnick we got to learn a little more about what she was planning for Aquaman. Given her library of work it does look like DeConnick has a good understanding of how to write Aquaman, especially as the series will have more attention on it after the movie releases. It was also interesting to learn that DeConnick will be working on the Black Label series titled Hisotria, which will focus around the Amazons.
On a similar note it was good to see Steve Orlando get the chance to talk about the upcoming Martian Manhunter series. With the Martian Manhunter being elevated thanks to his leadership role in the Justice League this is the perfect time for the iconic DC character to get a shot at a solo series. Adding these series to what Tomasi, Tynion and Williamson have planned for Detective Comics, Justice League Dark and Flash, respectively, show that there is a lot to be excited for from the DC Universe.
Source: CBR
FLASH FUTURE INCLUDES DEATH AND YEAR ONE REVISITED
Coming out of the World’s Finest panel we found out that Flash is in store for an even bigger year in 2019. For one thing Flash will have to wait until January to feature Barry Allen to deal with Wally West’s death in Heroes In Crisis. It is an odd move given that we just saw Oliver Queen and the Justice League deal with Roy Harper’s death in Green Arrow #45. Waiting an extra three months for Wally’s death to be address is head scratching and does make you wonder if there is more to Wally’s death in particular. Though that may be tied in with Bart Allen’s appearance, which is said to happen in the Flash comic before Bart goes on to star in Young Justice.
To go along with that annual we also learned that Barry Allen’s Flash will be getting the Year One treatment. What’s particularly interesting about Flash: Year One was the costume featured on the cover. It’s much more of a street-level costume that is reminiscent of Peter Parker’s homemade Spider-Man costume in Civil War and Homecoming. How that costume works and what is revealed from Barry’s updated history will be interesting to see.
Source: Newsarama
WHAT IS MARVEL’S NEXT BIG THING?
As is typical with the comic cons that Marvel has a big presence at they hosted a Next Big Thing panel. This one featured Jason Aaron, Donny Cates, Gerry Duggan and Dan Slott. The line-up wasn’t surprising given that those four writers are working on big Marvel titles. For Aaron he quickly established that we will be getting a seventh full-time member on the Avengers. Though it does not seem to be Namor and Doctor Strange. Who exactly it’ll be seems to be left to fans imagination until Aaron makes it official on the Avengers.
Slott also seems to be given free reign on Iron Man and Fantastic Four as he talked about how he is being allowed to do things on those comics he didn’t get to do on his Spider-Man run. As long as he doesn’t trick us with a wedding fake out then he could avoid angering fans the way other comic book weddings did.
Along with all that we also learned that No Surrender will be getting a sequel titled Avengers: No Road Home. Given that No Surrender was largely a forgettable story it is surprising that it is already getting a sequel. And with Aaron having free reign over the Avengers it’ll be tough for No Road Home to seem consequential without him on the series.
Source: CBR
C.B. CEBULSKI TALKS MARVEL UNIVERSE FUTURE
With Marvel’s Next Big Thing panel mostly centered around the Avengers franchise it was interesting to see Editor-In-Chief CB Cebulski’s spotlight panel was more about the X-Men. Cebulski seemed to passionately talk about how important the X-Men are for half of his panel’s alloted time. That says a lot about the X-Men’s new position back to prominence at Marvel. With the Fox merger just months away Marvel seems to be trying to get ahead of the game on the comic book front. In doing so Marvel can make sure to streamline the X-Men as much as possible for when Disney goes all in on franchise in other mediums.
In addition to that we also learned from Cebulski that the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man are also key players he wants to focus on. Which is not surprising given the previously mentioned Fox merger and Spider-Man continuing to be Marvel’s most popular character.
Though it was surprising to learn that the Young Avengers series will be returning. While Young Avengers has a strong loyal following we already have the West Coast Avengers which could be seen as a spiritual successor. How the market will deal with yet another Avengers title will be say a lot about how the franchise does handling so many comic book series at the same time.
Source: CBR
TOM KING TALKS HEROES IN CRISIS
After Heroes In Crisis #1 was released there was a lot of talk about what Tom King did in the first issue. It was shocking to find that King opened DC Comics latest Crisis event with major deaths throughout Heroes In Crisis #1. King understands how big these deaths were as he talked about them during his spotlight panel at NYCC. During his panel King confirmed that the deaths in Heroes In Crisis are permanent. So at least for now we should not expect the likes of Wally West and Roy Harper to return. That may be King trying to get fans to buy into what happened in Heroes In Crisis as we all no to well that in comics no death lasts forever.
During the panel we also found out that DC Comics seemed to want to also kill Tim Drake during Heroes In Crisis or King’s Batman run. Given that Tim recently returned from being placed in limbo it was good that King did not go that route since Tim will be Robin in Young Justice. And it was also refreshing that King said he found killing a Robin to be boring. As King showed with Nightwing getting shot in the head and Lodell’s turn with Red Hood.
Source: CBR
MARJORIE LIU AND SANA TAKEDA WIN BIG AT HARVEY AWARDS
Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda continues to rack up awards. It is great to see Liu and Takeda’s work continue to gain so much recognition. Monstress winning the Harvey Award for Book of the Year further proves the power of the independent scene in the comic book industry. This type of recognition also continues to build momentum for the series as now Monstress will likely be in the running for many as comic book of the year given all the awards it has already won.
Source: Newsarama