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4th Annual New York International Sci-Fi
& Fantasy Creators Convention at Madison Square Garden in NYC |
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THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL SCI-FI & FANTASY CREATORS CONVENTION
2003 Superheroes take center stage at the 4th Annual New York International Sci-Fi & Fantasy Creators Convention, which is being held this weekend at Madison Square Garden. The show features a mix of media and comics guests, including a rare East Coast appearance by Brian Michael Bendis. The con was cool - with a ton of guests. The convention program featured the new TEEN TITANS by Phil Jimenez and Scott Hanna. George Pérez George Pérez was a guest at the 4th Annual New York International Sci-Fi & Fantasy Creators Convention in NYC. As he sketched, George revealed the Titans will be appearing in JLA/Avengers. When asked "which incarnation of the team?" he answered "several." George is presently working on the last issue [#4] of the crossover. Looking forward to seeing George draw the Titans characters again! |
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Phil Jimenez I chatted with Phil Jimenez at the 4th Annual New York International Sci-Fi & Fantasy Creators Convention in NYC. He revealed that his 8-page Donna Troy Eulogy tale would likely be part of the TEEN TITANS/OUTSIDERS SECRET FILES this fall. The story is entitled "Who Was Donna Troy?" Donna herself does not appear in the story, but everyone close to her has an opportunity to say goodbye. Various friends and family are each left a special keepsake from Donna as they bid a tearful farewell to the fallen heroine. Those set to speak include Nightwing, Arsenal, Beast Boy, Flash and Wonder Woman - among others. Phil was his usual talkative friendly self. We chatted about Tempest [he proposed another mini as well as an ongoing, but it didn't gel with Peter David's vision in AQUAMAN]. Also -- He's not a fan of the Dolphin/Garth pairing. Phil had proposed a new take on the GLOBAL GUARDIANS, and had Tempest representing Atlantis. We even talked about the TEAM TITANS and how that went horribly wrong. Phil wanted an almost-Vertigo book and DC wanted X-Force. Almost every story was a warped version of what Phil and co-writer Jeff Jensen intended. Phil drew this absolutely gorgeous Tempest sketch which has earned a special spot in my sketchbook. |
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Art Thibert I tracked down Art Thibert, who was slated to do a Nightwing mini series way back in 1992. I had Art sign his Nightwing poster from the TITANS SELL-OUT SPECIAL. He winced when he saw it. I asked for a sketch of Nightwing and he was determined to 'redeem himself' his 'bad' Nightwing from 1992. Heck, I have his Nightwing poster, and it looks fine to me! I asked Art about the aborted Nightwing mini-series and he told me the whole overview. As the mini-series opened, Starfire confronted Nightwing about 'where their relationship was heading'. They had been dating for a few years and reached the point in their relationship where it had to take the next big step. Before any decisions were made, an alien invasion threatened the earth, taking Starfire hostage. Nightwing investigated and started formulating a plan to stop the invasion and rescue Starfire. Meanwhile, the other heroes in the DC Universe learned of the alien threat and mounted a counter-offense. But Batman stopped them from taking any action when he realized Nightwing already had the situation accessed and was confident his former sidekick could handle it on his own. Nightwing is able to reach the aliens and stop the invasion - as well as rescue Starfire. The mini-series would end with Nightwing cradling Starfire in his arms, emerging from the alien stronghold. A crowd of DC heroes would part to watch Nightwing emerge with Starfire in his arms, having defeated the alien threat. Now reunited with Kory, Nightwing proposes marriage and she accepts. The mini was geared to establish Nightwing's 'coming of age' as a major, competant hero in the DC Universe. Art Thibert said Marv Wolfman read the overview to the mini-series and approved it. Unfortunately, there was a major editorial shift and Thibert was offered a very lucrative offer from MARVEL to do CABLE. With NIGHTWING in doubt, Thibert opted to take the CABLE assignment, much to the loss of Titans fans. |
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Tom Raney Tom was excited at the success of OUTSIDERS #1 and was telling everyone that "it keeps getting better from here." I asked about the upcoming Brother Blood appearance. Tom has tweaked Brother Blood's design slightly to give it a modern look. Also, Judd Winick had planned to use Brother Blood without knowing Geoff Johns had plans for him in TEEN TITANS. When Geoff got wind, they talked and learned that Judd's story would dovetail perfectly into Geoff Johns' plans for him in TEEN TITANS. Tom mentioned that Judd and Geoff work great together and there will undoubtedly be some crossover potential. I asked if any old members will be appearing, like Geo-Force or Katana. Tom mentioned that there are no plans for any old members. OUTSIDERS has more connections to TITANS than the old OUTSIDERS series. Tom did a great sketch of Nightwing, which you can see to your right. |
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Chris Batista Chris Batista revealed some upcoming artwork from THE LEGION. Superboy is set to appear for a MAJOR story arc following his appearance. Fans of Pre-Crisis SUPERBOY AND THE LEGION will be thrilled with upcoming developments in that book, especially concerning Superboy. Also, Chris offered a glimpse at upcoming Legion Academy members, with some familiar faces in Legion lore. Several characters make their first post-reboot appearances, including one character from the "5 year gap" era, one character from the baxter book era and two characters merged into one from the 80s Giffen/Letitz Legion. Chris is a major LEGION fan and was excited about upcoming developments. Superboy will maintain a more 'classic' look in LEGION and there are some cool plans for the return of Sunboy to the book. |
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Scott Hanna The OUTSIDERS inker drew this nifty Nightwing sketch. Scott is a Nightwing fan himself -- when he heard Nightwing was going to be in OUTSIDERS, he accepted the assignment right away! |
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Craig Rousseau The former IMPULSE artist drew a great sketch of Bart Allen. Look for a cool looking self-publishing venture from Craig and Todd Dezago called the perhapanuts. Look for www.perhapanuts.com coming soon! |
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Jose Garcia Lopez If you ever have met Jose Garcia Lopez, you'll probably be surprised. For such an awesome and incredibly talented artist, you'd expect a bit of an ego. Instead, Jose is one of the most humble gentleman you'll ever meet. Even though he was fully booked with sketches, he took the time to render a quick sketch of Kole. |
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