Fan Expo Vancouver is this weekend. Stan Lee, Nichelle Nichols, Michael Rooker, Michael Hogan and Sean Astin are among the celebrities can meet but there’s some extra fun for comic book fans.
Sketch Duels are a great interactive take on the panel in which two or more comic book artists create their work of art in a friendly competition while answering fan questions during the hour and one lucky fan walks away with the unique sketch.
This year’s scheduled sketch duels are:
Stephen Sadowski (JSA, Hawkman, Fairest) vs. Phil Jimenez (Fairest, New X-Men, Wonder Woman)Saturday at 1pm
Steve Epting (Captain America, New Avengers) vs. Alex Maleev (Daredevil: End of Day) Saturday at 4pm
David Finch (Batman, The Dark Knight, Justice League of America) vs. Bob Layton (Iron Man) vs. Kaare Andrews (Ultimate Comics X-Men) Sunday at 1pm.
This photo is one of lucky audience winners (in stunning Mystique cosplay) who left with this amazing Sadowski sketch!
DC Comics announced a brand new Justice League of America series by Geoff Johns (Justice League, Green Lantern) and David Finch (Batman: The Dark Knight) at Fan Expo Canada.
Steve Trevor will recruit an eclectic team of heroes to fight the Secret Society of Super Villains. Th roster pulls from the New 52, JSA and a shocker.
Martian Manhunter, Catwoman, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Stargirl, Vibe, Katana and the new Green Lantern. (Baz will be the first Arab Lantern debuting in September’s Green Lantern #0)
Geoff Johns tells MTV Geek why this new version of the team forms:
“The idea of why the JLA forms, and what it is, and what it’s in reaction to… It kind of spins out of Justice League #12; what happens in that, and then subsequent issues, because JLA comes out next year some time. But the book itself is a group of heroes that aren’t necessarily coming together because they want to be together… They’ve been selected specifically. They all want, or need something that Steve Trevor, and the other person behind the scenes that’s in charge of this team can provide.
The first arc is going to deal with something they learn is called The Secret Society of Super-Villains.”
There are a lot of surprise choices in this roster – Vibe? The choice that will make me try this book is Catwoman. Why is Batman’s femme fatale on the team?
“Catwoman is a very different perspective, and is brought in for a very different reason. She stays because they have something that she wants… And it’s not at all what you’d expect. It’s not a big diamond, it’s not a get out of jail free card, it’s something she’s been searching for that’s going to lead to a whole exploration of a side of Selina Kyle we haven’t yet seen.
But she is going to have a lot of fun on the team, she is going to be the Veronica to Stargirl’s Betty, if you will, and she has a new dynamic because we haven’t really seen her interact much with all these characters. Some of them not at all, like Vibe, and Stargirl… There’s not a lot of interaction between her and Martian Manhunter, and I don’t think she’s ever interacted with Steve Trevor that I can remember. Catwoman has a very different reason for being on the team.”
For more from Geoff Johns here’s the MTV Geek link.
Novelist Gregg Hurwitz takes over writing Batman: The Dark Knight with June’s issue #10. The acclaimed novelist is currently writing Penguin: Pain and Prejudice, a mini-series about Batman’s iconic foe. The final issue arrives next week.
“Okay. So this is the job I’ve been waiting to get since I was eight years old. I’m thrilled to be tackling one of the world’s greatest characters with one of the industry’s greatest artists,” Hurwitz told The Source. “Finch and I are very fired up to take the Batman into dark and dangerous new terrain, presenting a story that’ll be epic and sweeping and just a little bit twisted. We’re gonna see a cornerstone villain from a whole new angle, too. I’ve always been fascinated by Jonathan Crane—not just what makes him tick, but what could have happened in his past to make him obsessed with fear at the expense of all else. And perhaps that particular obsession isn’t so different from the demons that drive the Dark Knight. As I discovered when writing Penguin: Pain and Prejudice—Batman fits uniquely with the villains in his rogue’s gallery. They are two sides of the same coin, yin and yang, ego and shadow. But in some cases, maybe the match is even closer. Maybe instead of ego and shadow, it’s shadow and shadow. Maybe when Batman looks in the mirror, the Scarecrow’s face is looking out. We’re used to Batman teaching his villains a lesson, but this time the Scarecrow might have something to teach Batman, too. Right now, I’m knee deep in straw and burlap, trying to stitch together a tale I hope you’ll find familiar yet new, a twist on a classic. It’s gonna get bumpy and scary and bit unhinged, so buckle up for the ride.”
