See, originally, the cons were about the books. Dealers would set up with some boxes full of old stuff and if you normally couldn’t find a copy of Spectacular Spider-Man #18, well, now you could. Now a lot of those books are being sold in pretty good condition for next to nothing at cons all over the world, and you can get in on the action! All you need is money, a list of books you want, and something to carry them all in (bookbags = awesome, suitcases = not as awesome, tote bags = ha ha ha).

I go to cons with a good idea of what I’m looking for and willing to accept in not so great condition. For example, I’m not going to spend my time and money tracking down a VF condition Moon Knight vol. 1 #9, because honestly? Who cares? I’m not a perfectionist, I’m a completionist, and having that issue finishes the run for me. So I’m willing to flip through a box of back issues, keep my eye out for an issue number, and then determine if it’s worth my 50 cents. For instance, if the cover looks like someone used it to roll cigars, I won’t get that one. But a ding in the spine? Sure, it fills the hole in my collection.

I’ll admit, I keep a book. It’s a little pocket thing that lets me know what issues I still need of a certain title. It’s helped me out more times than I can count, and it’s helped me get complete runs of some dynamite stuff. You don’t have to have a list, but then you run the risk of getting doubles of something, which means you just blew your dollar.

I was able to get the entire 1980’s Manhunter series for a dollar an issue at cons. I’ve put together entire runs of Mister Miracle (the 80’s relaunch), the first run of Moon Knight (minus issue #1, that’s a little more than a dollar, I think I paid $5 for mine), the 1991 Ragman series, The Dreaming, Books of Magic, and the entire 252-issue run of the Flash (the Wally West series). A dollar each, sometimes less, occasionally more depending on the issue. They’re just sitting there, waiting to be liquidated by dealers who don’t want the stock taking up shelf space.

Currently my want list is small, although I scored big time at the Big Apple Comic Con by finding a box full of Bronze Age Detective Comics for $1 each. And you can too! My advice is pick a series that is good but doesn’t get a ton of revivals or press (for instance, you won’t find every issue of Watchmen or Flex Mentallo in a quarter bin unless the condition is low), and see what prices are. A lot of 1980’s and 1990’s DC and Marvel books end up in the graveyard of discount bins, but you also have to realize that a lot of that stuff isn’t good. There were a lot of mediocre comics back in the day, as everyone will admit to now.

So go out and find some treasures! For discount prices I’m sure you can get the majority of Justice League International/Europe, 90’s X-Force, Checkmate, Suicide Squad, any Venom miniseries, House of Secrets, Action Comics, Morbius (hell, any of the “Midnight Sons” books), or 80’s/90’s Punisher! Go ahead! Spend a few bucks!

X-FORCE #15-25
by FABIAN NICIEZA & GREG CAPULLO

I get hassled a lot for my love of the ’90s X-Force series, but the love is a genuine one for stories that are a lot better than people remember and definitely a lot better than the circumstances they came out of. I mean, series co-creator Rob Liefeld has a lot of strong suits but serious plots with solid characterization…kinda not as important as big guns. With issue #15, Fabian Nicieza first teamed-up with Greg Capullo and effectively began transitioning the team out of Liefeld-land and into something a bit more complex. Well, they started before being derailed by Big Crossover 1992.
Man, I could spend a whole ‘nother blog just writing why “X-Cutioner’s Song” rules, but that IS a whole ‘nother blog. Anyway, Nicieza somehow managed to make his team’s contribution one that really commented on the main theme of the series: the struggle for independence. The issue leading right out of the “Song” is the best issue of X-Force ever and easily one of the best comics of the ’90s, period.

With this issue, X-Force strikes out on their own without Cable, Professor X, or any adult to guide them. This is what X-Force should have been from the start, a series about teenagers struggling to turn into the adults they want to be instead of the adults their parents want them to be. Plus, Capullo redesigned the team’s uniforms in this issue.

Yeah, those are pretty much my favorite uniforms ever.

X-Force was still X-Force, though, just with a new layer of characterization and the superb storytelling of Capullo tossed on top. Yes, Shatterstar DID fight War Machine. And it was way awesome. But what was even more awesome were the dynamics that Nicieza started to work in. Cannonball became an extremely competent and confident leader while Shatterstar, Sunspot and Rictor all formed a bond similar to the 3 Stooges (they thought it was a great idea to dump an immortal villain into the ocean).

There were really no missteps in this run and Capullo didn’t have a single fill-in. He only managed to do eleven issues, but those eleven issues tell a pretty complete story full of character arcs (and lots of fighting, it IS X-Force). Since his run was mainly characterized by the team’s flying solo status, it only fits that Capullo’s last issue featured the mandatory return of Cable.

Nicieza wisely matured Cable, making him less of a gun-toting sociopath who was way okay with murdering villains after they surrendered and more of a gun-toting father figure. The last issue of this duo’s run is pretty great, managing to comment on both their history as a team and as the New Mutants and give fans the Magneto vs. Cable brawl they never knew they wanted.

If you see any of these issues in the discount bargain bins, snatch them up. They’re well worth it and still not collected in trade paperback, no matter HOW many letters I’ve hand-written to Marvel.

-Brett

Volunteering at Wizard World gets you all sorts of great stuff, like a free pass for the day, a cool T-Shirt to commemorate and celebrate your servitude, a bag of SWAG and the chance to escort/guard/stand near/talk to some or all of our awesome guests! If interested, e-mail your NAME, ADDRESS, AGE, PHONE NUMBER and AVAILABILITY to wizardworldtexas@wizardent.com.

While I’ve never volunteered at a Wizard World, I can say that volunteering in general is usually a great experience and provides hilarious stories. I mean, through my own volunteering experience I can now talk about driving Billy Ray Cyrus around on a golf cart and watching Toby Keith both ask for and receive his very own little person. Okay, I did a lot of stuff with country music in college. Have I mentioned yet how thankful I am to be in New York City?

-Brett

First, my name is Brett and I’m the Associate Editor of the conventions department here at Wizard. My favorite character of all time is Multiple Man and I annoy my office-mate (Wizard World Programming Director Adam Tracey) with marathon listening sessions of The Kinks and The Strokes on a near-daily basis. Who needs headphones when you have a Mac, especially one with “Serenity” trading cards and a Genis-Vell HeroClick taped to it? Can’t be beat. For the last five months I’ve been responsible for interviewing our guests and getting the word about our blockbuster conventions out to the masses. I’ve also been responsible for posing action figures on my desk. I don’t know what’s harder, writing the perfect press release or getting my Domino figure to stand up.

If I’ve done my job well you already know about how awesome Wizard World Texas (November 7-9 at the Arlington Convention Center) is going to be. We’ve got John Cassaday as our Guest of Honor this year and for someone who just recently discovered Planetary, I couldn’t be more excited! We also have all of your favorite writers and artists, like Ethan Van Sciver, Frank Cho, Brian Azzarello, Shane Davis, Lee Bermejo, Christos Gage, Phil Hester…the list goes on and on! For the full list, head over to Wizard World’s website. Heck, go on and purchase your tickets there too, it’ll save you up to 20%!

And if this blog isn’t enough for you, there are plenty of other places to get your Wizard World fix. We have a newly launched MySpace page as well as a good ol’ facebook page, both of which want to be your friend.

That’s it for today. Have fun on the internet, everybody!

-Brett

Gotham opened the panel by asking Deepak what is the soul and asked Morrison to talk about superheroes.
“As you’re listening to me, turn your attention to who is listening,” instructed Deepak. “Do you feel a presence? If you do, that’s your soul. It’s not your mind. That’s the voice saying, ‘I wish I’d gone to the bathroom before.’ Your mind is a conversation.”

“Which brings us onto superheroes, I guess,” said Morrison. “The superhero, I feel ask if it’s rising in conscious as a desperate way to rise out of the situation we’re in right now.”
Morrison referenced an All-Star Superman issue that displayed human history and its attempts to visually depict the superhuman—from Krishna to Superman.
“That imaginative concept is actually one o fthe best ways out of the deathtrap western culture has gotten itself into,” added Morrison. “This whole thing to me is about the stories we try to tell each other and that I try to tell in comics.”

Gotham then asked the panelists to talk about the role mythology in culture today.
“We read Superman comics and we start looking at what the actual problems are and what powers we have to stop them,” said Morrison. “For me, the fact that the superhero is coming through is a good thing.”

“The field of human consciousness is a field of infinite possibilities,” said Deepak. “It’s beyond your imagination. Yet the best we can do is qualify or represent the infinite through a symbol. The symbolic expression of that is what we call a superhero because that superhero has dormant potentials that you have, that we all have.”

“If you want a more close-up view of it, think about yourself sitting in that chair,” said Morrison. “We’re all one thing. And every single one of us has the potential to influence that one thing.”

“You have to admit, this panel is always so different than any other one out there,” joked Gotham.

Gotham referenced the various characters the two addressed with their particular works of fiction—Batman, Superman, Buddha and Jesus—and asked how they all connect.
“I think the theme here—Batman, Superman, Jesus, Buddha—is redemption and resurrection and death,” said Deepak. In order to recreate something, to lift yourself to a higher existence, you have to let something die. The other theme is the constant battle between good and evil.
“These are cosmic forces. If you had only good and creation, there would be no universe,” continued Deepak. “If they were only destructive forces, then the universe would disappear in the black hole.
The good guys have to keep winning, but they can never win.”
Deepak went on to explain that the universe needs the tension between good and evil—the two keep each other moving forward.

A trailer also played a trailer for Morrison’s upcoming project with Virgin Comics, MBX, a digitally animated film that presents a re-imaging of the Mahabharata, the Hindu myth telling the story of an epic war and the Hindu deity of Krishna.
“To me, it’s part of the whole exchange that we’re talking about, with Deepak doing a story about Christ and me doing a story about Indian myth,” said Morrison. “It’s time for us to be doing this cross-cultural swapping.”

Before the video started some technical difficulties that left the room dark staring a black screen.
“We are now staring at the field of pure potential,” laughed Morrison for the trailer started up.

Morrison explained that when researching the story of the Mahabharata, he discovered many of the characters represent the exact idea of the superhuman and the potential within all of us.

Questions then opened to the audience.

[BREAKING NEWS!] This just in…

One of the biggest pieces of news coming out of this year’s Comic-Con arrived during Sunday’s “DCU: One Weekend Later” Panel, which announced NEIL GAIMAN will be writing a Batman project with art by Andy Kubert that spawns out of “Batman R.I.P!”

The project comes out January 2009 following a two-part story written by the legendary Denny O’Neil!

Now, on to the panel report…

Executive Editor Dan Didio opened the panel by calling his “cohorts” onto the stage: Bob Wayne, senior story editor Ian Sattler, editor Matt Idelson, Art Baltazar, Franco, Jann Jones and Geoff Johns.

Didio asked the crowd about all the announcements that came out of the con this weekend.
“New Krypton. 100,000 Kryptonians. Kandor. New Krypton,” repeated Idelson from a fan’s statement.
“It’s a recap, but yes,” laughed Johns after Didio asked him to confirm the statements.

Flash: Rebirth, Green Lantern, the upcoming Star Sapphires story in Green Lantern Corps, the icon characters appearing in Justice League and Static in Teen Titans, and Legion of 3 Worlds were also talked about.

“And if you guys like speedsters, you should definitely check it out,” said Johns of Legion. “Especially if you like teenage speedsters.”

Didio also mentioned Kevin Smith writing a Batman miniseries, and Batman teaming up with the Archie Comics superheroes in Brave and the Bold.

Johns also stated his involvement in a “Smallville” episode introducing the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Didio then brought onto the stage one of the fans who read Final Crisis #3 in the Final Crisis Panel, who answered a few questions from the audience.

Didio then brought onto stage a fan dressed as Supergirl to recap Supergirl news; however, the fan stopped reading about 10 months ago. Idleson told her why she should start reading:
“New creative team. The book won’t suck. She won’t be a slut,” said Idelson.

Didio hinted to a video, but Wayne suggested they save the video for last “To give them something to talk about when they left the room.”

Questions then opened to the audience.

A fan asked about Firestorm Ron Raymond.
“Black Lantern,” said Johns.

A fan asked if a Batwoman series will be coming out.
“We would love to see Batwoman in her own book,” said Didio. “She’s actually going to be part of the New Justice League team.”

A fan asked for inside info on Batman R.I.P and Didio said to stay to the end of the panel because an announcement is coming up.

A fan asked if Johns used Alan Moore’s backup story in Green Lantern, which mentions a Blackest Night, as a start point for his story.
“I saw the backup story where they said the Green Lantern Corps will end one day,” said Johns. “I thought I wanted to know what that story is, so I’m going to tell it.”

A fan asked Johns about the Blackest Night being the end of the Green Lanterns, but Johns told him that in Legion a new Green Lantern is there with a new Oath.
“I told you that,” said Johns.
Johns confirmed that in Legion of 3 Worlds there are two Green Lanterns with a new Green Lantern Oath.

A fan asked about the state of Booster Gold and Johns announced that Dan Jurgens will be taking over writing duties on the book with issue #15.

Another fan asked if Jor-El or Ralph Dibny would appear in Blackest Night.
“Anyone dead is eligible,” said Johns, “which is the best thing about it.”

A fan asked if reprinting of the Trail of the Flash story.
“You mean the fastest man alive and the slowest story ever printed,” said Wayne. “No.”
“I like that story,” said Johns.
“I know,” said Wayne. “We had this conversation before. I threw a pancake at you once.”

After a few minutes of technical problems, Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada took the stage and riled up the crowd before and started the panel with a trailer for The Stand by Stephen King, which he admitted was a little off the beaten path for the Ultimate Universe.
The Stand releases at 12:01 am on Sept 10 along with Dark Tower: Treachery.

Quesada then introduced the panelists: Marketing Guru Jim McCann, Jeph Loeb, Joe Pokaski, Aron Coleitte and publisher Dan Buckley.

Marvel also announced the return of MARK MILLAR to the Ultimate Universe and artist FRANK CHO becoming officially exclusive to Marvel!

Loeb also announced that the next Ultimates book will be written by him and drawn by Cho.

Slides then followed of Bendis flicking off the camera, the upcoming issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, a preview ad for Ultimate Origins, Ultimate Hulk Special, Ultimate Captain American Annual, and a preview pages of Ultimatum!
The first page showed Doctor Doom apparently marching out of his castle.
The second featured Thor and Valkerie
The final page showed the Ultron that appeared at the end of Ultimates #4.

Questions then opened to the audience.

A fan asked the infamous Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine question.
At which point, Damon Lindelof rushed to the stage saying, “I apologize here in person.” He then proceeded to turn in the script to the final issue!
“So please, never ask me that question again,” laughed Quesada.

A fan dressed as DC’s Captain Marvel came to the mic. After receiving some jest, he said he’s not in the wrong panel and that he wants to be here.
“Listen, most DC fans want to be here, too,” joked Quesada.
The fan asked if Ultimate Deadpool would return.
“Yeah. There’s some plans for that,” said Loeb who then turned the question over to Coleitte.
“Yes. Absolutely, Ultimate Deadpool is coming back,” said Coleitte.

A fan asked about the Bryan Singer Ultimate X-Men project.
“Did you see Superman Returns,” questioned Loeb.
Buckley said that if Singer were to hand in a script they’d publish it, but it seems unlikely.

A fan asked Quesada what the most controversial thing he did in the Ultimate Universe was.
“The beginning of the ultimate universe,” said Quesada. “And of course, putting the those guys on the books. No one knew who or what a Brian Michael Bendis was.”

Another fan asked if the Ultimate X-Men would feel any repercussions from using drugs in the current arc.
“No, we like it when people do drugs,” said Loeb.
“It’s completely a pro-drug book,” joked Coleitte. “They’re going to be pretty messed up coming out of this book.”

A fan asked if Ultimate Spider-Man would be ending after Ultimatum.
“No,” said Buckley.
“Yes,” said Quesada.
“Maybe,” added Loeb.

Another fan asked the panelists which Ultimate character they want to see die.
Buckley took the question saying that everything dealing with Ultimatum answers that question.
“When you finish reading the book, you’ll see which one we don’t like because they die,” laughed Buckley.

Welcome once again Wizardites and Wizarditesses to another installment of Kevin M.’s San Diego Comic-Con 2008 panels. This time, I’m at arguably Marvel’s most popular panel—The Secret Invasion Panel! The line outside stretched far beyond the convention interiors and out into the setting sun. They’re still waiting for a few people to come into the room, so except more soon!

Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada started off the panel to many applause and cheers from the crowd.
“Alright, we’re done,” joked Quesada.
Quesada introduced the “humungous dais” of guests beside him: Marketing Guru Jim McCann, Joe Pokaski, Christos Gage, Peter David, Greg Pak, Fred Van Lente, Ivan Brandon, Jason Aaron, Brian Reed, Chris Yost, editor Nick Lowe, Daniel Way and C.B. Cebulski.

Quesada then showed some pages from Secret Invasion #5, and announced a new Thunderbolts team of Andy Diggle and Roberto De La Torre.
Marvel also announced “War of Kings,” which starts in August with Pokaski’s Inhumans tie-in and with a series coming up at the end of this year by Yost about Vulcan, Havok, Polaris and others. McCann said “War of Kings” focuses on a bevy of the Marvel space-based characters—including the Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova.

Questions then opened to the audience.

A fan asked about Parker Robins and whether an ongoing series might be in the works after Secret Invasion.
“That’s a fantastic question,” said Quesada. “Will there be an ongoing with the Hood? Probably not.”
However, Quesada did say that Bendis does have plans for the character. Behind Quesada an image presented at Wizard World Chicago of Emma Frost, the Hood, Doctor Doom, Namor and Loki appeared on the screen.

A fan asked how far ahead Marvel plans.
“We have what we call The Big Marvel Summits,” said Quesada. “The big ones are the broad brush strokes of the Marvel Universe.”
Quesada also said the sometimes happy accidents occur, such as Civil War.

Another fan questioned about whether Norman and Harry would have a reunion in the future. Quesada assured the fan that it would be addressed, and that Norman and Harry will have a connection coming up.

A fan asked about when the “War of Kings” event will be coming about.
“It is definitely coming up early next year,” said Lowe. “It won’t be a big summer event, but it will be a winter, spring event. So bring your long coats and sweaters, and then your dress for the last half.”

Another fan asked about the Infinity Gems and whether they would be seen again anytime soon.
“If I had my way, we will,” said Reed. “The infinity Gems is one of my favorite pieces of Marvel lore. I keep talking to editor Tom Brevoort saying, ‘I want to do this. I want to do this.’ But the opportunity hasn’t arisen yet.”

Brian Bendis called in to talk to Bob, who early called Bendis a punk for not coming to the show.
“He says he’s at Alan Moore’s house,” said Bob.

Quesada put Bendis on speaker phone to answer questions from fans.
A fan asked if Alias ties in to SI: Bendis said no, but it will in “Secret Invasion 2. Coming next Fall.”
Another fan asked why Bendis sold out Powers and Bendis said, “Boo you,” to much applause and laughter.
Another fan asked if the Skrull in House of M would be explored and Bendis said their story would be told in New Avengers #45.
After answering a few questions, Bendis thanked everyone in the audience for supporting the book and everyone on the panel for enhancing the event. He also promised a “super ending.”

Talking about his current involvement at Marvel, David expressed how much he enjoyed being a part of the industry in this day and age.
“I can truthfully say that I’ve never been as happy as a writer as I am right now,” said David. “People think in most industry’s when you’re older you’re slushed off to the side. I’m middle aged and I’ve never felt more vital.”

A fan asked about Deadpool and what he’ll be doing and what direction the book will be going in.
“Deadpool is one a mission for someone I can’t tell you about something I can’t tell you about,” laughed Way. “The direction afterward, oh, I can’t tell you about that either.”

A fan asked if Layla Miller will be get an origin story and if she’ll be back in the Marvel Universe. David said he was “in no rush to give a lengthy exposition” on her backstory because it adds to her air of mystery. He also confirmed that Layla will be back in regular continuity.

A year ago was the premiere of Superman/Doomsday, and today they’re officially announcing the Wonder Woman movie coming to DVD in February of 2009. Before showing a clip of the highly anticipated film, Gregory Noveck asked the panel to recap on how the DC Universe Animated Original Movies came to be.

“We got to the point where it was clear we had an opportunity to do animation that was not just there to fill space in between commercials.” said Paul Levitz, “This isn’t about making an advertiser happy, let’s make the best thing that we can and get it into the hands of our fans.”

Levitz continued to recap the short but amazing history of the franchise, detailing work on Superman/Doomsday, New Frontier, and Dark Knight.

“One of the things we’ve tried to do with these movies is bring in some stellar voice talent,” said Gregory Noveck, “Now for Wonder Woman, Nathan Fillion is voicing Steve Trevor and reteaming with Keri Russell as Princess Diana, Alfred Molina, it’s a pretty stellar cast.”

Noveck then announced that Superman/Doomsday will be re-released November 25 on a special edition Blu-Ray disc with 128 minutes of extra content including 4 of Bruce Timm’s hand-picked favorite Superman the Animated Series. After cheers from the audience, Gregory Noveck continued to give details about Wonder Woman. The film is going to premiere at A-Kon, and it’s an original Wonder Woman story, but based on a story by Gail Simone, who was in attendance and stood up amongst cheers from the audience, and written by Michael Jelenic. He then announced other cast members Rosario Dawson as Artemis, Virginia Madsen as Hippolyta and Oliver Platt as Hades.

When asked about how she decided on casting, Andrea Romano commented, “I had just seen Waitress, and I had worked with Nathan before and known how great an actor he was.” She continued, “There had to be this innocence of coming into man’s world, and that was beautifully put together.”

Romano then told a story where Oliver Platt was recording and was forced to shed a noisy, rustling shirt.

Nathan Fillion commented on the excellent job that the creative team had done with Wonder Woman.

“One thing that you guys did really well was giving us a female character who is incredibly strong and incredibly heroic and doesn’t try to be a man,” he said, “I think Keri [Russell] does that very well.”

On the creation of Wonder Woman as a character, Lauren Montgomery mentioned, “I wanted to make her an amazon,” she said. “She’s not a weigh-lifting he/she, she has muscle and she has definition without being too manly. I wanted to make her respectable. We were trying to give her a very Greek looking influence so we played around with her profile and her chin line.”

Noveck then came back to mention that Wonder Woman will be available in Two-Disc, Single Disc, Blu-Ray formats with bonus features, and joked, “We’re going to ask Nathan to reenact Oliver’s recording for you.”

The panel then showed a very short clip of the new feature which was short, but amazing. It showed Wonder Woman adorning her boots, bracelets, and tiara, and facing various warriors and monsters in amazing animation. It showed everything from mythical monsters to Greek soldiers getting the pulp beaten out of them by Wonder Woman. The clip finished with the tagline, “Justice Never Looked So Good,” and Keri Russel’s voice saying, “It’s not polite to hit a lady.”

The panel then opened it up for general questions.

When asked about future Batman films, specifically Knightfall, Bruce Timm responded, “I can guarantee you we will. Knightfall is not currently on the schedule.”

The team was asked about many, many possibilities for animation adaptions including Kingdom Come.

“If you guys want to see Kingdom Come, you want to see it look like Kingdom Come. When we can make it look like that for less than $174 billion, we will deliver it,” said Gregory Noveck.

When asked about the level of action, Lauren Montgomery mentioned, “There’s a lot of battles in this due to Michael Jelenic,” she said, “There’s a lot of violence in it, but it’s only the necessary violence.

Wonder Woman will be released in February of next year.