This weekend the second Kapow! Comic Convention took place in London. Starburst was there to grab all the gossip – both official and on the down-low – that the weekend had to offer. Here’s a selection of the best titbits we picked up:
* According to Joe Quesada, Marvel “have a big meeting coming up in a couple of weeks to discuss the movie slate. We have several movies in the works right now that I think you’ll be really pleasantly surprised to hear about.” Could one of them be a big screen outing for Ms (soon-to-be Captain) Marvel? He called her one of his favourite characters and told us quietly that a script is ready to roll for her film, the only problem they’re facing is finding an actress for the part… Either way, it seems Mark Millar’s hopes for “a sexy Namor movie” probably won’t be coming to fruition any time soon.
* DC have revealed that a character not seen yet in the New 52 will be returning – with a new sexuality. The previously straight character will become one of their “most prominent” gay characters, but they refused to reveal who that character might be. Since Tim Drake returned with his heterosexuality still mystifyingly intact, the identity of the newly-gay character is a complete mystery. Beast Boy, perhaps?
* The Amazing Spider-Man looks well worth a trip to the cinema. But Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter looks more likely to be a wait-for-it-to-come-on-Sky deal, despite a nice 3D bullet-through-the-screen shot, with a very Bekmambetov subliminal flash of red, making you feel like you’ve just been shot between the eyes.
* DC are gearing up for some big changes to their Vertigo imprint, according to Dan DiDio: “The new 52 took back a lot of what was Vertigo with Swamp Thing and Animal Man, and they’re doing beautiful jobs with it as part of that world but Vertigo was always a cutting-edge imprint line and in the world of the New 52 so to speak we need to help redefine what Vertigo is and that’s something we’re working really hard on, we’re ready to grab that by the throat, because that’s the only way Vertigo should approach its books. We’re rebuilding things and hopefully by 2013 you’re going to be seeing new projects that really stand for Vertigo and are just as important as everything that’s out there.”
* The Girl Who Waited writer Tom McRae confirmed that the Daleks will be back in the next series of Doctor Who and that expectations should be high for the next two series. Whether he was referring to the split series as two separate series or hinting at the continuing adventures of the Doctor wasn’t clear.
* DC are as wary about Before Watchmen as we are: “To say we’re excited is an understatement. To say we’re nervous is an understatement” DiDio joked. But snippets of gorgeous interior art and a discussion about the mini-series’ reassured a lot of the fans in the gallery room. We learnt that Nite Owl will have “a father-son feel to it” and that Rorschach will be in the series as “a very key participant”. His solo series, meanwhile, has a violent “grindhouse” feel, Ozymandias is the most visually removed from the original series, Dr Manhattan showcases Adam Hughes’ first interior work in over ten years, The Comedian is “the political intrigue one”, while neither Dan DiDio nor Senior VP of Sales Bob Wayne could stop raving about Amanda Conner’s work on Silk Spectre.
* Peter Serafinowicz announced his upcoming comic, with Batman artist Jock. It’s currently without a publisher but will be hitting shelves by the end of the year. However, it’s already hit a small hurdle, as it seems their chosen title, Nelson, is already in use by another comic. “We were looking at other titles anyway,” Serafinowicz told Starburst with remarkable good humour.
* DC came out of the Stan Lee Awards with the biggest haul, picking up Best Publisher, Best Game for Batman: Arkham City and Best Comic Hero for Batman, while Best Writer and Best Series went to Scott Snyder and his Detective Comics run. Marvel didn’t leave empty-handed though – Sara Pichelli won Best Artist and Best Newcomer for her work on Ultimate Spider-Man, Best Limited Series or Story Arc went to Uncanny X-Force’s Dark Angel Saga, and X-Men: First Class picked up Best Film, at the expense of other Marvel films Captain America and Thor.
* Scott Snyder is the new Nicest Man in Comics, as well as winning the Man or Woman of the Year award at the Stan Lee Awards. If his attentive signing manner didn’t win fans over, then his brilliant (multiple) awards acceptance speeches – including a lovely one about his five year old son’s current pirate obsession – certainly did.
* And finally, Starburst learnt that cute kids trump awesome costumes every time, as hugely impressive The Thing and Mr Fantastic (complete with six foot long arms) costumes lost out in the cosplay competition to a couple of moppets in Batman and Iron Man costumes. But hey – would you want to be the judge who makes two kids cry?
