"Pulp Notes"
Special Report
Live from Wizard World LA
Live from Wizard World LA....it's Pulp Fiction
Wizard World LA opened today at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Pulp Fiction was out in force. I arrived a little late, around 3:00pm (the convention started at 1:00pm) and was quickly running to get to the DC panel that started at 3:00pm! Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Marv Wolfman, Dan DiDio and other DC staffers were on-hand. After a brief introduction, Didio explained that we have entered the DC Nation (I walked into the panel a shade late, so I can't tell you exactly what this means, but I suspect we are all a part of it). No earth-shattering news from the panel, as most of the audience questions focused on Infinite Crisis and 52. We were told that 17 issues of '52' have been written and 14 drawn, so there is virtually no chance this book will be late. Grant Morrison walked in mid-panel to much applause and was quite entertaining. He informed us that an all-new, almost all different Freedom Fighters will be back soon. Actually, DC will be publishing "Brave New World" after I.C. is over as a bookend to Countdown to Infinite Crisis. BNW, like Countdown, will be 80 pages and only cost $1. It will introduce 6 new titles including Freedom Fighters, Martian Manhunter, Atom, and others. Some of the best moments of the panel were the more intimate ones - Mark Waid sharing his love of the Legion letter column (A small digression: I still fondly remember the old LSH letter columns, and voting for the Legion leader, as well) and Grant Morrison trying to explain the concept of hypertime (Is it a hyperline, a hyperplane or hypercube Grant?) to some fan. One fun thing to checkout - look over the backgrounds, specifically the newspaper headlines, in the latest issue of Superman (#650) for hints about post I.C. happenings in the DC Universe.
After the DC panel I had a chance to dash to the around the convention floor (many pictures to follow). DC and Marvel have gigantic booths in the front, with other publishers in the surrounding area. Retailers, a gaming area, and the artists alley are behind the major exhibitors. Because the LA Convention Center is so much bigger than the Long Beach Convention Center (home of last year's Wizard Con LA) everything didn't seem quite so packed together, even though there are approximately the same number of booths. Attendance was pretty sparse, so it was easy to go up and talk to your favorite creators, even if you only had a few minutes - which are all I had because it was time to run up to the Aspen panel...
Again, no big news at the Aspen panel - other than those of us in attendance being told that Fathom and Soulfire are caught up and should be back on a monthly schedule (I will believe it when I see it). Aspen's big "splash" was the world premiere of Shrugged - a book that Michael Turner and crew are very high on. Michael Turner did reveal that he has a two year contract with Marvel to do approximately 30 covers and a mysterious (I could not get him to divulge even the slight hint, and I tried) six-issue mini series coming out sometime next year. You will still see some covers for DC as well, including one for a high profile project, as he finishes up his work there. Just for fun, if you ever run into anyone on the Aspen crew, ask them what the next Aspen Challenge is (hint: it involves over consumption).
As the Aspen panel ended I ran over the Cup o Joe panel (Marvel) two doors over to catch the tail-end. Mike Guardabascio, part of the Pulp Fiction force, will have a full report on this up sometime real soon :)
That was about it for Friday other than another very quick survey of the convention floor before closing time. I should have lots more reports from the floor tomorrow, including some interviews with exhibitors and retailers. As someone who had a table at Wizard World Long Beach last year, I can tell you from first-hand experience how much work (and insanity) is involved in being behind the table at a convention.
Much more to come soon...
Mike