The DC Nation panel was opened up by Editor in Chief Dan DiDio, who introduced the crew of the DC Nation panel. Bill Willingham, Stephane Roux, Gail Simone, Aaron Loprestri, Ethan Van Sciver, Kurt Busiek, J. Michael Strazynski, Phillip Tan and Greg Rucka rounded out the panel and the stage was packed with creators. DiDio quickly opened up the microphone to questions from the floor.
The first few questions were not “feel good” questions, critiquing the low paper quality on some of the archive trades and when there would be a 3rd volume of the Golden Age Green Lantern, but soon questions came around to things happening currently in the DC universe.


It seemed that at first, many questioners were reading from scripts, but one in particular had a lot of difficulty getting it out.. DiDio, a natural editor, leaped off the stage and found that the questioner had ten questions on his list. Coaching the starstruck con attendee, DiDio returned to the stage and let the person back up to the mic. “Do the one we practiced.” He said. “This is what an editor does.”Upon hearing the question, which was not apparently the one they had rehearsed, DiDio said, “Your just like every writer!” Queue the laughter. One person quickly asked the panel if he did the same thing to their scripts. Their answer was yes.

An item came up about the many “big ideas” in the DC universe right now and if there was any comics in the DC line that would be easier for fans to jump in to. DiDio went down the line through many of the creators. Joe Strazyski’s turn on Brave and the Bold would be a great place to start, with his run being one and two issue arcs at the max and containing team ups like Batman and The Specter, Lex Luthor and Swamp Thing, Deadman and Wonder Woman, Flash and the Blackhawks, Matman and Dial H for Hero, Constantine and Eclypso, Doom Patrol and the Legion of Superheroes, Superman and Sgt.

Rock, Two Face and Hawk and Dove, The Challengers of the Unkown and Metal Men, and finally The Legion of Substitute Heroes and the Inferior Five. Each a great place for fans to check out characters from the DC Universe.

Kurt Busiek talked about his new weekly series Trinity, starring Wonder Woman, Batman and Superman. His series would not be mired in the complexity of Final Crisis and would also be a good place for new fans. Finally, Wonder Woman team Gail Simone and Aaron Loprestri also talked about how they have some big plans for Wonder Woman, but none that fans would need a ton of knowledge to wade in.

A great topic came up about having to wait for comics, such as Action Comics Annual #11. DiDio talked about this, stating that it is always something that they try to avoid, but sometimes it is unavoidable. He asked if people wanted their comics on time no matter what, or would wait. How long was varied, some saying they would wait one month or two, some saying they would wait a year for a comic to come out. It seemed that he was leaning us in the direction that they want to keep the original vision of the writer and artist intact as much as possible.

One of the last topics touched on was the return of Batwoman. Writer Greg Rucka, who had said on his blog that all he could say this weekend was, “no comment,” was actually commenting on the Batwoman book coming out soon and would be previewed more at San Diego.

The DC Nation panel this year was a lot of fun and DiDio did a great job of hosting. The crowd was lively and rowdy, hoping to get the dirt on the latest from the DC Universe. This next year seems to hold a lot for DC fans and it will be interesting to see how these “big ideas” unfold and change the DC Universe.