Elephant In The Room: DC Comics’s Before Watchmen Panel, SDCC 2012

I expected things to be a little more contentious than they wound up being at DC Comics’s Before Watchmen panel yesterday.

After all, this is Comic-Con. It is packed to the gills with rabid fanboys and fangirls, many of whom were swirlied in junior high school (Hi, Paul Jameson! I make a comfortable living in the software industry now! How’s that A in woodshop treating you, fucker?) and now that they have strength in numbers, are itching for a fight. This convention has fundraisers for Jack Kirby, panels dedicated to pointing out the injustice of Bill Finger not getting enough credit for co-creating Batman, and a panel called The Most Dangerous Women in Comics. It is a place where a lone nut in a Batgirl suit can change the course of an entire comics company, and come back the next year bearing gifts for the creators and none for the thousand or so paying customers whose convention experience she fucked with last year in order to further a personal agenda. In short: this is Angry Fanboy Central, and if there was a place for them to show their colors, it was this panel.

But that didn’t happen. Sure, the panel started a little bit late, and the whole Quentin Tarantino announcement smack in the middle sucked up some question time, so maybe the slavering, angry, “You fucked Alan Moore!” guy just didn’t get his turn at the microphone. The people who did get a turn were generally really enthusiastic about the whole Before Watchmen project; one fan flat-out said that he was one of those “keyboard commandos” who ranted against the whole project, but wound up really getting sucked into it. Hell, the entire Alan Moore elephant in the room was only addressed once by anyone in the crowd… and it was a guy who was hoping that DC could get Moore to work on a Watchmen sequel.

How’d that turn out? Well, let’s watch!

Yesterday’s SDCC Live Tweets: 2012-07-15

• #DC New Wave – Tony Bedard: "I'm more excited to work on Beowulf than I am to work on Green Lantern!" #SDCC #
• Dan DiDio – "Now is not the right time to bring back Superboy Prime." But open to bringing him back eventually. #DC #SDCC #
• Fan just donated to http://t.co/Lse6F4dg at #DC Next Wave panel. Dan DiDio just matched it! Yay! #SDCC #
• Last year's Batgirl stalker of #DC panels just showed up and thanked panel for steps to increase female contributions to titles. #SDCC #
• But Batgirl stalker still doesn't feel there's parity. #DC #hearditbefore #SDCC #
• Dan DiDio – "greatest successes of new 52 are Swamp Thing and Animal Man." #DC #SDCC #
• James Tynion IV -no current plans to crossover Nightwing and Talon immediately. But Batman's feelings on Talon will be made clear. #DC #SDCC #
• OMAC's origins will be in DC Universe Presents issue 0. #DC #SDCC #
• Will Team 7 book tell origins of "skinny Amanda Waller"? Nope. In New 52, she's just thin now, says Dan DiDio. #DC #SDCC #
• Scott Snyder – Look to Gail Simone's Batgirl for stories with James Gordon, Jr. #DC #SDCC #
• Panel will neither confirm nor deny New Gods popping up in New 52. #DC #SDCC #
• Scott Snyder – "I can't promise" Tim Drake won't die. He will play a big part in Bat Family/Joker storyline. #DC #SDCC #
• Bobbie Chase says Team 7 will explore Black Canary' origins in New 52. #DC #SDCC #
• Sitting in Room 6DE getting ready to live tweet #DC Original Graphic Novel panel (phone permitting) at 11:15am PDT. #SDCC #
• We Can Be Heroes – how to give to the cause: http://t.co/c7E7UGV2 #
• #DC OGN panel is opening with Anthony Bourdain summarizing #GetJiro and how book came to be. #SDCC #
• Not sure why Bourdain keeps getting his panties in a bunch re: Monterey Jack on tacos. I've seen Rick Bayless do it. Settle down. #DC #SDCC #
• Geoff Johns has just learned that some restaurants have dedicated wine rooms. Johns-"Are they like this?" Bourdain-"Drunker." #DC #SDCC #
• Geoff Johns would like to see Batman fight a sushi chef. #DC #SDCC #
• Geoff Johns – "We didn't want to see a Batman who can do everything" yet. It was liberating. #DC #SDCC #
• Johns -summarizing Batman: Earth One. Also says he's begun work on sequel w/ Gary Frank for end of next year. #DC http://t.co/j5iZDryW #
• JMS – now discussing how a young Clark Kent makes a life for himself in Metropolis in Superman: Earth One. #DC #SDCC #
• Superman! #DC #SDCC http://t.co/AocKq6qU #
• Shane Davis – design of The Parasite in Superman: Earth One was influenced by examining mosquitoes and other insects. #DC #SDCC #
• JMS – "The world isn't sure what to do w/ this Superman." Some think there needs to be a way to kill him. Sets up later events. #DC #SDCC #
• Panel has now gone to fan Q and A. #DC #SDCC #
• JMS – Happy working on Superman: Earth One in current GN format. Geoff Johns agrees. Enjoys lack of constraints. #DC #SDCC #
• I would lay even money Bourdain is doing this panel under the veil of a giant hangover. Very sedate and staring blankly. #DC #SDCC #
• Bourdain says, yet again, that his favorite part of San Diego is…Mexico. #DC #SDCC #
• J. Michael Straczynski has given the whole room permission to call him "Joe". #DC #SDCC #
• JMS and Shane Davis having excellent debate about whether Superman would fight dirty if the fate of the world is at stake. #DC #SDCC #
• Geoff Johns – Riddler story for Batman: Earth One sequel is influenced by Zodiac killer. #DC #SDCC #
• Ok. Reached the end of #DC OGN panel. Stand by for live tweets from Before Watchmen panel, starting at 12:45pm PDT. #SDCC #
• @markeithhost I don't think he's here. Coward. #
• Dan DiDio on Before Watchmen – There is something about it that attracts attention and conversation. Quality has exceeded expectations. #DC #
• Dan DiDio – Before Watchmen work "isn't a sprint; it's a marathon." #DC #SDCC #
• JMS – Twilight Lady in Nite Owl book works in "underground sex industry". Will hook up w/ Dreiberg. #DC #SDCC #
• David Finch variant Nite Owl cover. #DC #SDCC http://t.co/0ePVib3Y #
• Quentin Tarantino showed up to announce Django Unchained comic book, with story stuff he didn't get to include in his movie! Woo! #DC #SDCC #
• Darwyn Cooke – "I'm now working in an area I've never worked before…challenge is driving me." #DC #SDCC #
• Darwyn Cooke on Minutemen – "Read it carefully and don't jump to conclusions." #DC #SDCC #
• Amanda Conner – says she's done a lot of research on Haight Ashbury and 60s rock and roll to prepare for Silk Spectre. #DC #SDCC #
• Amanda Conner has just thanked Darwyn Cooke for giving the audience the mental image of Jimmy Palmiotti showering right now. #DC #SDCC #
• Darwyn Cooke – says Amanda Conner's work on Silk Spectre has "elevated it". #DC #SDCC #
• Just noticed the Darwin Cooke is wearing a Ferris Aircraft baseball cap to this panel. #DC #SDCC #
• Dan DiDio on whether there'll be an "After Watchmen" – fan reaction and reception will determine if that would happen. #DC #SDCC #
• Darwyn Cooke – "it took me two years to commit" to Before Watchmen. #DC #SDCC #
• The #SDCC Center does not have enough spare internets to Tweet our Tarantino pics. #SanDiegoInternetsFamine #
• Getting ready to live tweet #Marvel #AVX panel in room 6BCF at 2:45pm PDT. Hopefully, I'll have good internets! #SDCC #
• Already Arune Singh has gone out of way to put down Batman movie over Avengers movie appro po of nothing to open panel. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Only actual writer present at #Marvel #AVX panel is Christos Gage. Everyone else is editorial. #SDCC #
• Christos Gage refuses to take sides in #AVX so he can more clearly get in characters heads as a writer. #Marvel #SDCC #
• #Marvel says you can play as the Phoenix Five on Facebook's Avengers Alliance game now. #SDCC #
• Well, Phoenix Five except for Namor. I guess he's not on Facebook. #ImperiousGuess #Marvel #SDCC #
• Rehashing #Marvel #AVX Babies announcement from yesterday's Cup o' Joe panel now. #SDCC #
• Now reannouncing #Marvel #AVX Consequences by Kieron Gillen. Will be five issues w/ different artist for each issue. #SDCC #
• At end of #AVX Axel Alonso says one of the teams will need new leadership. Please be a hint that Cyclops dies. Please! #Marvel #SDCC #
• #Marvel NOW will be Augmented Reality equipped to work with any device connected to internet. Also, not a reboot. #Marvel doesn't reboot! #
• Wow, I really wish this @Marvel #AVX panel was actually about #AVX + not a State of the #Marvel Union panel. We heard this stuff yesterday. #
• And now we kick over to fans and their questions at the mic. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Axel Alonso – "Death + resurrection are some of the most exciting things to explore in (cont) http://t.co/d1RmVYxd #
• Domino and Deadpool will be active in #Marvel NOW. #SDCC #
• Uncanny X-Men 19-20 will focus on Colossus. Script described as "chilling". #Marvel #SDCC #
• Fallout for kid/teen characters post #AVX will be found in Wolverine And The X-Men. #Marvel #SDC #
• #AVX 5 will be important to the story of Storm and Black Panther. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Where are the #Marvel architects at these panels? No Fraction,Gillen,Bendis,Aaron, etc.Most #Marvel panels staffed by editors. Infuriating. #
• Kudos to Christos Gage, Nathan Edmonson and Sam Humphries for being writers that have come to #Marvel panels. #
• Other #Marvel writers are sending the message that they can't be bothered or don't care about fans by being no shows. #
• @Comicverses Think he's still on Winter Soldier. Bummer, though. I meant to get to @ImageComics panel. #
• @Mother_Box ping. ping. ping yourself! #

Unchained Doggerel: Marvel’s Avengers Vs. X-Men Panel and Quentin Tarantino’s SDCC 2012 Announcement

We’ve seen a lot of cool things at San Diego Comic-Con over the past couple of days, but the Marvel Comic Avengers Vs. X-Men panel held this afternoon wasn’t one of them. Iron Man’s new armor from the upcoming Iron Man 3 movie was, so here it is. Get a good look? Good. Now let’s get back to the bad news.

Avengers Vs. X-Men is Marvel’s marquee summer event for 2012, and we are at about the midpoint of the story, and shit is heating up. We’ve got five X-Men possessed by the Phoenix Force, Hope is being trained by Iron Fist’s sensei to learn to repel the Phoenix, Tony Stark is working with Black Panther to find a way to defeat the Phoenix Force with a combination of science and magic, and Spider-Man is getting at least one of the best moments in a comic set in the 616 universe he’s had in years. So while the event isn’t perfect, there’s a lot of fan excitement around the event and what it has in store for us for the rest of the summer.

So it was with a palpable sense of excitement that we filled the third-biggest room at the San Diego Convention Center at 2:45 this afternoon to discover some tidbits about what the Marvel House of Ideas might have coming up for the fans.

Turns out? It’s hats.

Marvelous Hype: Friday Marvel SDCC 2012 News

One thing I’ve learned over several years of attending the San Diego Comic-Con is that DC Comics panels are more entertaining than Marvel panels. That’s a harsh reality but for me, a true one.

Panels from each company are jam-loaded with hype, and each does its damndest to try and whip the crowd into a screeching nerd frenzy, which is fine; Comic-Con panels aren’t press conferences, they’re public relations exercises that happen to include some pieces of legitimate comics news. And often that news is exciting – Neil Gaiman back on Sandman, anyone? – so I don’t blame either editorial staff for trying to whip the crowd into a slavering geek frenzy. But for me, the difference is that Marvel is just so self-congratulatory about things.

Here’s an example: last year, DC Comics blew up their entire universe and ran a real risk of alienating a huge chunk of their core audience. Instead, the move allowed DC to overtake Marvel in sales for he first time in recent memory, and their sales have reportedly stayed damn solid since then. We have attended no less than five DC panels so far at SDCC, and the biggest pat on the back DC gave themselves was when Bob Wayne opened the New 52 panel yesterday by asking the crowd how many people spent SDCC last year thinking that DC was insane for making the move… and followed up by asking why more people didn’t think that at the time.

Compare that to Marvel, who last year introduced a black / Hispanic Spider-Man. In the Ultimate Universe, which thanks to the recent 616 universe crossover in Spider-Men, is the equivalent of DC’s Earth 2 – a sandbox where Marvel can mess around with characters without it affecting the valuable core titles from which they make movies. Was is a bold move? Sure it was… but compared to blowing up your entire continuity, it’s about the same as comparing dropping a washer slug into a Coke machine to sticking up the Federal Reserve with a dynamite belt: one’s a little easier to walk back if the plan goes sideways.

However, if you listened to the panelists at yesterday’s Marvel Ultimate Universe panel, you’d think they cured the common cold. “This was a big risk,” said Marvel Editor in Chief Axel Alonso, “It was harder for us to kill [Peter Parker] than it was for you guys.” Alonso also said that the new Ultimate Spider-Man was the best work of Brian Michael Bendis’s career, and make no mistake: it’s a pretty good story, albeit utterly decompressed. But the hype was, personally, a little hard to take. My notes from the panel read, “Lot of ‘We’re so awesome and brave’ shit on the panel for killing Peter and having an Afr.-Am. kid as SM. There’s no news here, just fucking hype.”

And then Alonso announced that Ultimate Spider-Man artist David Marquez just signed an exclusive deal with Marvel. And my notes read, “There’s your news, writer prick.”

Yesterday’s SDCC Live Tweets: 2012-07-14

• Getting ready to live tweet Marvel Ultimate Universe panel from room 6DE starting at 12:30pm PDT. #Marvel #SDCC #
• #Marvel Ultimate Comics Universe begins! #SDCC #
• Apparently, no one came cosplaying Miles Morales. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Divided We Fall – elements of Ultimate Universe are scattered. Mutants are banding together and fighting back. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Sam Humphries – America is destabilzed.The Southwest US are ravaged by Sentinels. World in chaos.Cap America off grid, finding self. #Marvel #
• Cap America comes back to find a very changed country. Kitty Pride still significant in Ultimate X-men. #Marvel #
• Ultimates 15 will be seismic, says Arune Singh. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Cap is the wildcard of the Ultimates. – Sam Humphries, #Marvel #SDCC #
• Ultimates 13-14 will have Easter egg hints. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Ultimate X-Men leads the X-Men in issue 13. Ground level "on the road story" w/ James jr, Kitty, Bobby Drake. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Follows how they become a team and become more powerful than they could imagine. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Ultimate Spider-Man: Axel Alonso "risk of Miles Morales has paid off", best work off Bendis's career. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Sana Amanat loves Gambit. REALLY loves Gambit. Unrelated, but there it is. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Sam Humphries would love an excuse to have Miles Morales crossover into the Ultimates so he can write him. #Marvel #SDCC #
• David Marquez is now exclusive to #Marvel #SDCC #
• Marquez will share duties on art with Sarah Pichelli on Ultimate Spider-Man "for the forseeable future". #Marvel #SDCC #
• Spider-Men: Peter Parker travels via Mysterio to Ultimate universe and meets Miles Morales. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Other Ultimates will appear in Spider-Men. Will be "big coming of age story for Miles". #Marvel #SDCC #
• Ultimate Iron Man – will be written by Nathan Edmondson with art by Matteo Baffagni. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Title of first arc is "Demon In The Armor". Villain will be The Mandarin. #UltimateIronMan #Marvel #SDCC #
• Sam Humphries – the joy of the Ultimate universe is that you can do things to these characters that you can't do elsewhere. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Ultimate Iron Man artist – Matteo Buffagni (typo before). #Marvel #SDCC #
• New Ultimate Iron Man debuts in October 2012. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Axel Alonso – "I do forsee a time when there will be Ultimate Infinite comics." #Marvel #SDCC #
• Ultimate Squirrel Girl? Maybe! "My mind is racing", exclaims Sam Humphries in response to fan question. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Getting ready to live tweet DC Green Lantern/Justice League panel in room 6DE at 1:45pm PDT. #DC #SDCC #
• Yes! RT @pixiestyx: So excited to hear that Neil Gaiman’s Returning To Sandman! http://t.co/pnsxMxxu via @infinitemidlife #
• Justic League 12- At end of arc some characters will leave. Next arc is about "who the team should be". Cheetah v Wonder Woman coming #DC #
• Justice League events with Cheetah move into Trinity War. #DC #SDCC #
• Identity of new Green Latern (who packs a gun!) will be revealed in Green Lantern 0. #DC #SDCC #
• Green Corps 0 tells story of Guy Gardner, origin, "fall of Guy Gardner" (oops!). #DC #SDCC #
• New Guardians 12 is where we find out why Kyle gets all the rings. Carol Ferris will be important in ongoing story. #DC #SDCC #
• Guardians are "systematically hunting dow main players" in Third Army arc says Geoff Johns. #DC #SDCC #
• Rise of Third Army is "prologue to something bigger" – Geoff Johns. #DC #SDCC #
• Flash 13 – Gorilla Grod and his army invade Central City. Flash teams up w/ his Rogues Gallery in this arc. #DC #SDCC #
• Earth 2 zero issue – follows the 8 wonders, different characters than current run (other than the Trinity). #DC #SDCC #
• Earth 2 issue 13 – Alan Scott takes on Solomon Grundy, gets better understanding of his powers. Issue 5 – intro of Wesley Dodd. #DC #SDCC #
• Justice League Dark 0 – Constantine and Zatanna love triangle with a "Moriarty" for Constantine. #DC #SDCC #
• Frankenstein, Amethyst, Tim Hunter to join Justice League Dark. #DC #SDCC #
• Second arc of Earth 2 is the government vs the Justice Society. Wildcat and Dr. Fate will be introduced. #DC #SDCC #
• Geoff Johns has begun work on a sequel to Batman: Earth One with Gary Frank. #DC #SDCC #
• Fan just asked panel who the Green Lantern of Krypton's sector was when it blew up and if Superman is pissed him. Excellent! #DC #SDCC #
• Pissed at him. At. Prepositions are important. #DC #
• Fan just asked if there could be a Justice League Australia, or JLOz. Geoff Johns says "sure!" #DC #SDCC #
• James Robinson is open to an Earth 2/Gemworld crossover. #DC #SDCC #
• Geoff Johns just revealed he will reintroduce the Metal Men to the New 52:#DC #SDCC #
• Trying to live tweet Cup O' Joe panel, but signal sucks. #SDCC #Marvel #
• Panel is opening with brief overview of AVX AND #Marvel NOW!, which they swear is not a reboot. Really. #SDCC #
• Uncanny Avenger will be a team comprised equally of X-Men and Avengers. #Marvel #SDCC #
• A+X is ongoing series post AVX from Dan Slott and Jeph Loeb. #Marvel #SDCC #
• Also, look for AVX Consequences from Kieron Gillen. #Marvel #SDCC #
• AVX Babies one shot in October 2012 from Skottie Young. #Marvel #SDCC #
• #Marvel is using its AR app to do things like have Black Widow and Magik have conversation in Russian w/ AR translation during their fights. #
• This #Marvel panel is mostly audience Q+A. #
• RT @Comicverses: Joe Quesada at SDCC Friday: No news on Moore/Gaiman "MarvelMan" reprints. Why the hell did Marvel even buy this property? #
• At room 6DE for #DC Comics – The New 52 panel. Will pass along live tweets if they pass along anything we haven't tweeted already. #SDCC #
• Scott Lobdell is feeling needy today. #DC #ClassClown #SDCC #
• Scott Snyder – Excited about writer James Tynion, his former student. Talon 0 is like "the DaVinci Code in Gotham". #DC #SDCC #
• Rob Liefeld – there will be an event in the fall: "Hawkman – Wanted". Ties into several other characters. #DC #SDCC #
• Dan Jurgens – Firestorm 13 will be back to one character. Focus on Ronnie Raymond, will be fun, teen oriented book. #DC #SDCC #
• Superboy 0 – deals with history of cloning and its ramifications on Krypton. #DC #SDCC #
• Superman 0 – focuses on Jor El and his feelings about finding out his wife was pregnant while Krypton is falling apart. #DC #SDCC #
• Teen Titans spoiler – we will meet Bunker's boyfriend and find out how the BF deals with learning Bunker is a super hero. #DC #SDCC #
• #SDCC 2011 Batgirl is in the line to ask #DC panel questions. Hope for the best. #
• Scott Snyder was just awesome with little boy who asked about Robin in Batman 0. #DC #SDCC #
• #SDCC 2011 Batgirl just asked nice question about Steph Brown in Smallville and brought panel presents? Hatchet buried? #DC #
• Geoff Johns – "If you guys want a solo Shazam book, I'm sure it could happen." #DC #SDCC #
• Ha! RT @markeithhost: @InfiniteMidlife : It's a trap! Duck!!! #
• The same Darkseid will be attacking both New 52 and Earth 2 characters. Only one Darkseid, says Geoff Johns. #DC #SDCC #
• You'd think so, right? RT @pixiestyx: Hmm…AVX Consequences and AVX Babies…not one in the same? #Marvel #
• At room 6DE for #Vertigo #GetJiro panel. Starts at 5:30pm PDT. Expect live tweets as long as phone has juice. #SDCC #
• #GetJiro panel starting now w/ Anthony Bourdain (@Bourdain ), Karen Berger, Joel Rose, and Langdon Foss. #Vertigo #SDCC #
• See. @Bourdain is in the room. http://t.co/mv9T5pSE #
• Doing a #GetJiro slide show. Audience is loving it, laughing, but comments around me suggest many members haven't read it. #Vertigo #
• Lot of folks just here for famous @Bourdain. #GetJiro #Vertigo #
• Fun fact – Bourdain was first published by Joel Rose. #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Rose helped Bourdain work #GetJiro story into comic script. #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Bourdain "When I first got my copy of the book, I just spent some time stroking it…the book…" #GetJiro #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Bourdain + art staff on #GetJiro – food and kitchens had to be accurate for the foodie/chef readers above all.Rest could be playful.#Vertigo #
• Bourdain – "There is a little part of me who, when seeing someone dip the rice from nigiri in the soy…stab 'em in the head…" #GetJiro #
• And now, fan questions. Lot of folks here who are sweating foodie Kool Aid. #GetJiro #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Sweaty fanboys/girls, sweating foodie Kool Aid. I say this and I'm a foodie. #GetJiro #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Bourdain – "Layover 'Gotham' would be 'cool'". #GetJiro #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Bourdain _ manga "Oshinbo" was an influence on #GetJiro #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Bourdain suggested shots from No Reservations as photo reference for Langdon Foss in #GetJiro #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Bourdain would be open to writing another #GetJiro adventure. #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Bourdain saw LA in #GetJiro as a Gibonesque "Sprawl" with its rings of priviledge in the book. #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Bourdain and Rose have "other ideas" for future comics, since hitting #1 on NY Times Graphic novel best seller list. #Vertigo #SDCC #
• Langdon Foss was able to have creative freedom on fight scenes. No specific notes, other than one dismemberment given. #GetJiro #Vertigo #
• Karen Berger – editor is there for objectivity + knows when to edit and when not to. -on editing #GetJiro "These guys are so easy!"#Vertigo #
• Someone's started the black Tumbler over at the Batmobile exhibit. It sounds like an engine that runs on the ground bones of criminals.#SDCC #

Put On A Happy Face: Batman Panel at SDCC 2012

Editor’s Note: I acknowledge that these pictures suck. We’ll upgrade our cameras once we receive your subscription check. Oh, you don’t pay for this? Then fuck you and enjoy the pictures you got.

Last year we kind of wandered into the panel for Scott Snyder’s American Vampire, mostly to make sure we’d have a seat for the DC New 52 panel that followed directly afterwards. Don’t get me wrong, we were following American Vampire in kind of a general way, but I had fallen away; the initial hype around one of the early stories being written by Stephen King hadn’t been enough to keep me in the book except in a “flip through when I happened to see it on the shelf” way. The point is that last year, we were able to walk right into Snyder’s panel without having to wait around in a line.

That was 2011. This year, Snyder’s writing Batman, which has consistently been one of the best books of DC’s New 52 and the source of the first post-reboot DC crossover event. So this time around, for the Batman panel yesterday? Yeah, we waited in line.

The Batman panel covered all the Batman family books, from Batman to Red Hood And The Outlaws… meaning walking in Amanda and I steeled ourselves for exciting news running the gamut from Batman’s post-Owls Joker encounter to Starfire’s post-Red Hood stranger’s penis encounter. However, weird former Teen Titan sex revelations or no, Snyder started the panel off with a laugh: “Avengers Vs. X-Men, who wins? Batman.” I hate it when my comic writers are funnier than I am. But I digress.

SDCC 2012: DC’s The Edge And The Dark Panel. Oh, and Neil Gaiman’s Returning To Sandman

First of all people of San Diego: it’s a fucking e-cigarette. It emits water vapor. So please stop passive-aggressively giving me shit when I’m using it on a public sidewalk, out of doors and approaching the convention center, by muttering, “Nothing I like better than a faceful of cigarette smoke blowing into my baby’s face…” Let’s clear the air here (ha!): my e-cigarette emits no odor and bothers no one, unlike your little bundle of squalling fecal production. And since my e-cig doesn’t even burn, the San Diego Fire Marshall even considers it less of a fucking fire hazard.

Okay, I feel better now. Now that we’ve got my personal news out of the way, let’s talk about what’s been happening at SDCC 2012 that doesn’t involve self-righteous self-absorbsion.

The actual programming at SDCC started in earnest yesterday, featuring panels on everything from homosexuality in genre fiction to Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part II. (Rob: This may be redundant. Consider editing. -Amanda)

The Wire

If you haven’t noticed, Amanda has been live-Tweeting the bullet points from every panel we’ve been attending here at SDCC 2012. And she’s been a trooper about it; her thumbs are raw to the point we can now only hitchhike from people with some kind of raw meat or leprosy fetish.

While we’ll wrap things up every day with a bit more analysis, including pictures and probably some video, when we get a chance to sit down (and find some WiFi that’s worth a shit), if you want the minute-by-minute of fresh, breaking comics news, keep an eye on our Twitter feed.

In the meantime, here is a picture of a flailing Batman.

Previews Are The Best Part: SDCC 2012 Preview Night

So Preview Night is past us now, and while I know it’s not even theoretically possible that it was busier than last year – after all, Preview Night passes have been selling out since about 2009 – it sure feels like it was. A few years ago it was possible on preview night for someone to, say, get ripped to the tits on Stone Arrogant Bastard IPA for four hours before he doors opened and then cruise around the floor, staging stupid and adolescent photographs with the Jabba The Hutt prop at the Hasbro booth. If you tried that now, you would inevitably stumble into someone waiting in a truly horrific line for an exclusive S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier playset, be unable to convince said line-waiter that you weren’t claim jumping, and wind up instigating a pathetic slapfight.

There is very little convention programming that occurs on Preview Night, so the action is centered on the main convention floor. The night’s original and intended purpose is to allow people who are attending the con to obtain exclusives, or who are looking for some particular, special item, piece of art or back issue, to have access to the vendors early and get the purchase out of the way so they can enjoy the rest of the convention. As such, any actual comic news is few and far between on Preview Night… but there is certainly some, and if there isn’t? There is spectacle.

San Diego Comic-Con 2012 : A Quick Batmobile Preview Before Preview Night

Greetings from sunny San Diego, California!  We are at T-minus 2 hours to the convention floor opening up for SDCC 2012 Preview Night.  While we bide our time in hot, sweet anticipation of the press of nerd flesh upon booth babes, the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Temporary San Diego Office thought we’d take a moment to share some photos of one exhibit that’s already up and open to the public: Warner Brothers Batmobile exhibit.

This shrouded sight greeted us from out of our hotel window as we stumbled from our beds this afternoon morning.  Six Batmobiles, ranging from Adam West’s 1955 Lincoln Futura to the brand new camouflage Tumbler from this year’s Dark Knight Rises.  Here’s a closer look at the vehicles the public can currently gawk at, after the jump!