Ethan Van Sciver Panel

Ian Sattler from DC Comics never turned up, but Van Sciver went ahead without a moderator anyway and did a splendid job. I remember his indie days back in the 90s as creator of Cyberfrog. How much has changed since then, not only his success as an artist, but also his ability. Comparing his work on DC from the last few years to his earlier work makes it look like two different artists.

At the panel, he talked about his exclusive work for DC Comics, mainly centered on the expanding mythology of Green Lantern and his current work on the Sinestro Corps off-shoot, Blackest Night, where he is designing thousands of different GL costumes from every sector of the galaxy. Yes, he’ll be a busy boy for a while. He also expanded on the recently announced, Flash: Rebirth mini, which he’ll be working on with writer Geoff Johns. It will be six issues and will focus on Barry Allen’s return to the DCU, after his noble sacrifice twenty years ago in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Similar to the Green Lantern: Rebirth series from a few years ago, (also written by Johns) which followed Hal Jordan’s return as the foremost GL, this mini will follow Barry as he integrates in to society. He then asked for the audience to respond to Barry’s return. So we did with a round of applause. Van Sciver seemed relieved. He also excitedly mentioned that the last issue of Rebirth will show us the Speed Force in a way that’s never been seen before. The words, “in real-time,” were used, so how he manages that is anyone’s guess. Should be great.

He likens Barry to King Arthur and current Flash Wally West (and nephew of Barry) to Lancelot, and assured that us that Wally was not going anywhere. Fans had similar concerns about GL Kyle Rayner when Hal returned, so it’s great to see the Flash I grew up with is staying put. He will also redesign Wally’s costume, to set him apart from Barry, and compared Sinestro to Hitler, in that he’s a sadistic, egotistical madman. His aim is to never draw Sinestro smiling to show his dark side. Working with Johns has been an encouraging experience for him and he’s allowed himself to be more forthcoming with ideas to Johns, despite fear of rejection. It seems to be working, as his idea of opening up the “emotional spectrum,” to include rings other than of the green variety propelled Johns to scribe the epic and ongoing Sinestro Corps War. They have plans for a while yet and Van Sciver was surprisingly deep when talking about what each colour represented, from greed and hatred, to fear and hope. He’s obviously an artist that thinks deeply about his work and what fresh directions any given story can head towards.

After talking about Flash and GL for most of the hour, he expanded on further topics, including an odd Superman lawn sprinkler from his youth, being influenced by Moebius on his interprettion of Batman (with an emphasis on the Bat), and following penciller Frank Quietly on New X-Men in his short, but unsatisfying run with Marvel.

The hour sped by and Van Sciver seems to be enjoying his relationship with DC and creative collaboration with the extraordinary Johns. I’m glad to see his detailed and dynamic pencils will grace the pages for an exciting future.

Batman: Gotham Knight

Similar to what The Animatrix DVD was to the Matrix films, Gotham Knight is a direct-to-DVD animated anthology tying into the recent Batman films. As reported on Wednesday, this film is the latest after Superman and Justice League DVDs, with Wonder Woman’s turn coming next year. Containing six short films from different Japanese animation studios and American writers, they each look very different from one another. The only similarity between all six tales is Batman’s voice; that of Kevin Conroy. Initially it is jarring to hear it coming from an animated Batman that doesn’t resemble the Batman: The Animated Series version from the mid 1990s, but I eventually warmed to it.

The first vignette, “Have I Got A Tale For You,” is not entirely original for Bat fans. It presents a group of kids recounting their run-ins with the mysterious Batman, and shows how they view him differently – as a soldier of smoke, a monster and a robot. A similar episode was seen in Batman: TAS, but it’s a good introduction and shows how Batman has lasted through the decades. He’s simply a versatile character. He can be the gothic creature, or the street-level detective, or the traditional superhero or the man with all the sci-fi gadgetry. But it’s all still Batman, just different parts of the same whole.

“Crossfire” is written by comics scribe Greg Rucka and continues what he started with the comics title, Gotham Central – revealing how the Gotham police see the Dark Knight. He uses characters from the series that he knows well, namely detectives Crispus Allen, and Renee Montoya (though for some reason she has been renamed Anna here) “Field Test” is an interesting take on Batman’s use of, rather than reliance on, all his “wonderful toys.” Lucius Fox gives Bruce Wayne some hardware that makes him a lot more powerful, but essentially waters down the essence of who Batman is. “In Darkness Dwells” written by Batman Begins co-writer David Goyer Scarecrow shows up (in a much better costume than his Batman Begins version) as Bats travels to the sewers and briefly encounters classic comics villain Killer Croc. Comics writer Brian Azzarello creates “Working Through Pain” which picks up straight after “Darkness” as Bats struggles to maintain consciousness as he traipses through the sewers, bleeding as he does so. He reflects on training he received while in India as a young man and learns the power of mind over matter.

Finally, and probably the best of the bunch, “Deadshot” which introduces another great comics bad guy. It offers a great story and well directed action and is written by Alan Burnett who has written comics and episodes of Batman: TAS. There are two versions of the DVD available. The standard one-discer has an audio commentary, a cute Lego Batman video game trailer and a 10 minute look at next year’s Wonder Woman film. However you may have trouble accessing them as separate features and they may only appear after the end-credits. A big blundre from Wraner Bros. The two-discer contains those features, four episodes of Batman: TAS with intros by Burnett, a doco on Batman creator Bob Kane and also one on Batman’s rogues gallery. I’ll certainly check this version out. Each of the six tales don’t really tie into one another, and Alfred sounds more like a refined gent (a la TAS) rather than Micahel Caine’s Cockney speak. The artistic style is different in each take, but they still all resemble the dark detective that we all know and love. In some instances Bruce Wayne looks far too young but the Japanese artists have restrained themselves well. Yes, these versions may not be the Batman that everyone expects, but neither are they too jarring. The soundtrack throughout is also excellent, though I’m still fond of Danny Elfman’s score from the Tim Burton films and Shirley Walker’s take from TAS. Music makes the hero. There’s nothing in this collection to link it to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, as has been promoted, but it more closely resembles them than it does the current state of the comics. A pleasant enough, though short, glimpse at Batman’s life for those who feel prompted by all The Dark Knight hype. Oh, and the backgrounds are gorgeous, which can’t be said about the DVD cover. With the hype The Dark Knight has been receiving, this package deserves better. There has been no mainstream promotion and to top all the other problems off, there is no Japanese audio dub on the Blu-Ray version, in spite of the cover saying there is. WB’s marketing team have dropped the ball I’m afraid. It is the most adult and bloody animated Batman ever seen, but you could still be more satisfied by spending your money on any number of comic collections, such as The Long Halloween, KnightFall, Hush, The Dark Knight Returns or any number of recent paper escapades.

Wonder Woman – Animated!

Here’s your first look at the Amazon herself. Keri Russell (MI:3) has been cast as the voice of Diana Prince and her lasso wielding alter ego, while Nathan Fillion (Firefly) is providing voice duties for pilot Steve Trevor, who crash lands on the Amazon’s hidden island. Lucky fella. Rosario Dawson plays rival Artemis (WW’s one-time replacement in the comics), Virginia Madsen is WW’s mum, Queen Hippolyta and Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2’s Doctor Octopus) plays Ares, the god of war and all round bad dude. This follows DC Comics other direct-to-DVD features, Superman/Doomsday (which recounted the awesome Death of Superman tale in a more simplified manner), the 1940’s inspired Justice League: New Frontier and the just released Dark Knight film tie-in, Batman: Gotham Knight, by a unique handful of both Japanese and American creators.

Each of these films has a very different artistic style and each one is a great introduction to the sprawling cast of characters that make up the DC Universe. Each DVD also has its own handy documentary, and interviews with the writers and artists to give you a heads up about these characters. We don’t know much about this newest film, but before it is released in February of next year, I’m sure we’ll slowly find out more.