Follow Jim Lee and his amazing friends taking the stage at NYCC '22
Follow along with the Jim Lee & Friends panel from New York Comic Con 2022
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Those who attended San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year will have fond memories of that show’s Jim Lee & Friends panel, in which the publisher of DC introduced none other than Todd McFarlane for the surprise announcement of Batman/Spawn. Well… now it’s time for him to do it again. The Jim Lee & Friends panel, we mean; you can only announce Batman/Spawn once, after all.
What is going to happen at this panel? Who are the secret surprise guests going to be this time? We have no idea, but we can promise a good time, no matter what: just listening to Lee share stories from his career while he sketches away is one of the most fun ways to spend an hour at a comic book convention, in our experience.
If you are wondering just who’s going to wander out on stage this time around, there’s one way to stay up to date with the answer: following along with Popverse’s live-blog of the entire panel. Just bookmark this page to follow along with everything as it’s happening in real time. Of course, perhaps you’re someone who wants to revisit things with the comfort of retrospection, in which case, we also have you covered: come back in an hour and read the whole thing after the panel has been completed.
Throughout all of New York Comic Con 2022, Popverse is going to be keeping tup with everything that happen, from panels and breaking news to interviews and the best cosplay on the show floor. We’ll be sharing everything as it happens — including exclusive livestreams from the biggest panels at the show — so let us keep you in the loop all weekend.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Hi all! We're here for the Jim Lee & Friends panel at NYCC!
Here is the description from the NYCC Guide: "DC is highlighting some of the incredible talent and showcasing the biggest books coming out of DC this year and next!"
Jim Lee is listed as the only guest so it will be surprise who shows up!
This panel is just about at capacity and we'll be getting started in about 15 minutes.
Marc Silvestri is in attendance so he is likely here to talk about his upcoming Black Label title Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo.
A sizzle reel for DC Universe Infinite plays for the crowd.
At SDCC, Batman/Spawn was announced at this panel. Maybe we will get a similar announcement today.
Jim Lee has arrived so we are about to get started!
First up, we are replaying the DCUI sizzle reel for Lee because he has never seen it.
"More like an ad than a sizzle reel. We'll take it though." - Lee
First up, Lee is introducing DC's 90's Rewind titles. Lee says that the 90s were marked by artist-driven comics. "It's amazing to see the power and nostalgia [for the era]." - Lee
The 90s rewind will feature 90s inspired variant covers. But DC will also be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Wildstorm with Wild C.A.T.S #1 and Waller vs Wildstorm.
Waller Vs. Wildstorm is written by Spencer Ackerman and Evan Narcisse with art by Eric Battle.
Spencer Ackerman is also the first guest on the panel. Lee asks him how he feels to be writing this book.
"One of the best lines of comics coming out in the 90s was Wildstorm... I wanted really badly to honor the spirit of Wildstorm and bring something that was something of a Year One for Amanda Waller." - Ackerman
Waller vs. Wildstorm will be a Black Label book which will give Ackerman more freedom to play with darker themes with these characters and their relationship to government.
This story is set right at the end of the Cold War. For Waller, this story is about finding out what the role of America is post-Cold War.
Ackerman says that the story is influenced by real life events that he has reported on in his work as a journalist prior to writing for DC.
Ackerman was one of the reporters that broke the Edward Snowden story.
"There's an amazing thing that fiction can convey to get at truths that are deeper than the ones that journalism can present." - Ackerman
Lee says that he hopes that this will help contextualize the Wildstorm characters within the DCU because they haven't been fully integrated to this point.
Lee asks how Ackerman and Narcisse began working together.
Ackerman got to know Narcisse after reading his MArvel series Rise of the Black Panther. Narcisse helped edit Ackerman's pitch for the book and eventually it just made sense to bring him onboard to co-write the book and help Ackerman learn how writing comics is different than writing for journalism.
Lee asks what its like for Ackerman to see his words get turned into art.
Ackerman says that it's like watching his writing go from mono to stereo - brought to life by the artist's interpretation of his words.
Waller vs. Wildstorm will be a 4 issue prestige format miniseries. Issue 1 hits stores on November 15.
Lee moves on to the upcoming Milestone Initiative. Nikolas Draper-Ivey joins Lee on stage. He will be drawing Static Season One.
Lee asks Draper-Ivey about his artistic journey and what got him into comics.
Draper-Ivey was introduced to Milestone by his father but he also got deeper into anime as he was getting into comics. He was a fan of Static at first from the TV show.
DC is also celebrating Milestone's 30th anniversary next year.
Draper-Ivey did Static Season One with Chriscross and he's thankful for the guidance he received with regards to layouts and other nuances in his artwork by working from Chriscross' layouts.
But with Season Two, Draper-Ivey is excited to be taking on the book entirely himself.
There will also be an Ikon vs Hardware book and Draper-Ivey lets the crowd know that there will be a Static Beyond story that will see Static and Batman Beyond teaming up.
There will be a Milestone 30th anniversary anthology that features the creators who were part of DC's Milestone Initiative this year.
Static Up All Night will be a YA entry in DC's Milestone output next year as well.
John Ridley has joined the panel to talk about I Am Batman (with art by Ken Lashley) and The American Way (with art by Georges Jeanty).
"With the Fox family, even though this is JAce's book, it's always been about the whole family. Tanya, Tiff and Jace have moved to NEw York." - Ridley
"Tiff is very much on her way to becoming a hero in her own right." - Ridley
Lee says that he enjoys Ridley's work on this book because of the reality of sibling rivalries that they see in their own kids reflected on the page.
In two weeks, DC will be releasing GCPD: The Blue Wall, the story of some new young cadets in the Gotham Police Department as they deal with the pressures of being police officers in a world with superheroes.
"The thing I appreciate about DC is that there is an appetite for really challenging stories." - Ridley
Ridley says that he respects those who serve but he says that things can't change if that respect doesn't go both ways.
He names Denys Cowan's The Question run as an inspiration.
"This is a story about narratives, about who owns that narrative, about policing... for me, there is some finality in the storytelling... there is loss in here but it informs Renee Montyoa very completely." - Ridley
Lee says that he is so thankful that Ridley is part of the DC family.
The next slide up is Batman: One Bad Day - a Penguin-focused story that is a riff on a line from The Killing Joke.
"This felt like Get Shorty where its fun in some places but not so frivolous so when it gets real, it really gets real." - Ridley
Lee says that despite this being a one-shot he was left with a feeling that there could be more.
Next up Marc Silvestri joins the stage to talk about Batman/Joker: The Deadly Duo.
Lee asks Silvestri what inspired him to bring Batman and the Joker together on the same side.
"Because you kept bugging me," jokes Silvestri.
Silvestri pitched the idea initially to Bob Harras that he thought had been done before: Batmand and the Joker team up against a new common foe.
It turned out that it hadn't and DC wanted him to do it.
Silvestri is a lifelong Batman fan and he believs there is no more iconic hero/villain duo than Batman and the Joker. He wanted to explore their dynamic further.
Because it is a Black Label book, Silvestri gets to be a little darker and play with more elements that wouldn't work as well if the book was in continuity.
"Let's just say that Gordon loses some body parts." - Silvestri
Silvestri tried to make both Batman and Joker intimidating in different ways - physically versus psychologically.
Joe Quesada has now joined the panel!
Lee asks Quesada if he's been drawing more comics since stepping down from his post at Marvel. Quesada says that at Marvel he really felt like he had done everything and it was time to return to his roots.
He reveals two variants for Batman 131 and 132. Kevin Nowlan inked 132.
"Right now, it's just covers for you guys but I'm working on some other things... it felt like unfinished business coming back to Batman." - Quesada
And that's all for this panel! Thank you all for follwoing along!
