DC executive editor Dan DiDio began the "DCU: Countdown to Crisis" panel late Saturday afternoon by introducing DC sales VP Bob Wayne, writer James Robinson and writer/artist Darwyn Cooke.

DiDio talked about the impending end of Countdown, and plugged DC Universe #0. "It's our way of saying thank you for supporting us with the weekly series," said DiDio of the book.

DiDio also briefly mentioned the upcoming "Batman: R.I.P." storyline, though quickly advised that they won't be answering any questions about it today. "The idea of Batman being a New God actually is kind of cool, as far as being the most psychotic thing possible," DiDio added.

DiDio turned to Cooke; asking for his thoughts on the recent direct-to-DVD, animated adaptation of The New Frontier. Cooke bemoaned the need to cut elements out of the original story to fit the length of the feature, but said he was very pleased with things how turned out. "I watch the movie, I still get a little choked up," Cooke said.

DiDio then asked the audience if they bought the recent Justice League: The New Frontier comic book special, and it appears many of them did. Cooke talked about the fake house ads for "John Henry" and "Martian Manhunter" comics made for The New Frontier special, and how DiDio said it was like the "Machete" trailer shown during Grindhouse, in that now he wants to see a full-length project spinning out of those ads.

DiDio then asked Robinson for some comics on his upcoming run on Superman. Robinson said that, along with Action Comics writer Geoff Johns, "We want to make it into the books you just have to read every month."

Robinson said they have story ideas coming up that will encompass the entire DC Universe, and they'll "put a lot of effort and passion into it to make it something everybody loves."

Robinson talked about the Jimmy Olsen character, saying that they'll be an upcoming subplot involving Olsen developing as an investigative journalist, and also the Metropolis Guardian.

Robinson then announced that he's working on a new Justice League book called - wait for it - Justice League. "Hal Jordan decides that he wants a pro-active team," said Robinson. "They never go out and bring in people. This team will go after the equivalent of the FBI's most wanted list, sometimes in different countries, sometimes through time. It's a nice eclectic team of established teams and some oddball characters I've thrown in." Along with Hal Jordan, Robinson named Green Arrow as a member. When writing the two characters, Robinson said "I just imagine me and Geoff Johns talking to each other."

Robinson expanded on the lineup, naming Ray Palmer. "He's not The Atom, but he still has the costume, and he still shrinks," Robinson says. "That's not to say at some point he won't be The Atom but again, but for now, he's Ray Palmer."

Also on the team? Supergirl, Batwoman (DiDio: "Whoops, we weren't supposed to say that one. Just kidding!"), Freddy Freeman in "whatever name he's going to have" (which DiDio said was Shazam), and Starman. No, not the Jack Knight Starman that Robinson made famous in the '90s, but the blue, alien Mikaal Tomas Starman.

Robinson said the final member is an "old, 90-year-old man named Bill." "People are going to love this character by the time I'm done with him," Robinson said. The writer was about to name the artist, but no, DiDio cut him off and said they were going to hold off on that announcement.

"The difference is, the Justice League of America is all about the league, it's a family," said Robinson. "While this is about justice. It's all about bringing in the bad guys."

DiDio then took a question from the audience, directed at Robinson. "Will you still use the Chris Kent character in Superman?" Before he could answer, Cooke interjected "Who the hell is Chris Kent? Where have I been?" Robinson then answered "It's impossible for him not to be involved, but not as much as he has in the past."

Is Jason Todd ever going to have his own book? DiDio: "He's going to be important in what's going on in the Batman-books" for the next year, specifically mentioning the upcoming Hush storyline.

The next question, for Cooke - any plans to return to The Spirit? "It was a lot of fun, but you're under a lot of pressure to reach a standard you simply can't," answered Cooke, speaking of trying to live up to Will Eisner's legacy. He then indicated he had a great deal of fun with the character, and seemed confident he'll return to him at some point.

A fan asked about Manhunter, and DiDio said that when the comic comes back, helmed by Marc Andreyko and Michael Gaydos, "it'll be a little more grounded," tied-in to real world events, and controversial.

"When will we finally see the conclusion of the Zod storyline?" DiDio: "All the art is done. It was completed this week. I'm not happy about the delay." DiDio said that it's unfortunate the delays affected the reception of the book, and that he's hoping that once the book is collected, people will be able to appreciate it as a whole. He then promised that there won't be another delay like that again.

A fan asked about the Legion, and DiDio reminded that it's the 50th anniversary of the characters, and they have significant plans for them. "I really liked the 'Legion Lost' era," commented the fan. "Come back and see me in a month," DiDio said.

Will we see the original Aquaman again? DiDio: "Aquaman. This year." DiDio said they want to make sure that the next time readers see Aquaman, it'll be the "best" version of the character.

Plans for an all-villain book after Salvation Run? Robinson said with Justice League, he'll be dealing a lot with villain characters, and hopefully making them as interesting as the heroes.

DiDio then asked Cooke what he's working on. Cooke said Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray have been asking him to do a Jonah Hex comic book with them, and at San Diego last year, Cooke said he'd only do it if they came up with a script that took Hex to Canada - and they did, so that'll be coming out at some point.

How long will the current Nightwing team be on the book? At least through the end of the year and a little past that.

Status of the Freedom Fighters team? DiDio: "They'll be in Final Crisis," adding "Hopefully things will go better for them then they did in Infinite Crisis."

A female fan asked about Countdown and the apparent timeline discrepancy with Kyle Rayner in Countdown and Sinestro Corps War. DiDio started to answer, "With Countdown, we tried to build a strong monthly continuity," which caused Cooke to laugh. "These panels are a gas," he said. "I got to come to more of them." DiDio said that, in regards to Rayner and the "Sinestro Corps War," they broke their central conceit, and felt that the books got better after that.

How many issues will Cooke be doing Jonah Hex for? Just one, at this point, answered the artist.

"I've always been more interested in the Marvel Family in DC," a fan began to say, before getting booed due to confused fans thinking he meant Marvel Comics. When they figured out what he meant, DiDio updated the fan on the current status of the Marvel Family characters, including apparently "slipping-up" and saying that Mary Marvel is side-by-side with Darkseid, after which he said he shouldn't have said that and getting a worried look from Bob Wayne.

A fan asked about the "Johnny DC" line, leading to DiDio talking about Tiny Titans, and the upcoming Superfriends and Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam. Cooke then added that he's been talking to Jann Jones about potentially doing a "Johnny DC" project, but it's too early to give any details.

Is George Perez staying on Brave and the Bold? Wayne said Perez is moving on to another project (they wouldn't reveal what it was), and that Jerry Ordway will take over the Brave and the Bold art duties.

Will Shadowpact appear in Final Crisis? DiDio: "Shadowpact will be appearing in Reign in Hell." DiDio then briefly explained the plot of Reign in Hell, that is, a civil war in Hell due in part to the absence of Neron.

A fan asked the panel their thoughts on the late Steve Gerber's best contributions to comics. DiDio talked about his personal relationship with Gerber, and how DiDio first met him while he was working in comics. DiDio said he was a fan of Gerber's Marvel work like Howard the Duck, Man-Thing and Foolkiller, and was happy to have the chance to work with him at DC. Wayne said he admired Gerber both in his capacity at DC, and in his previous profession as a comics retailer. Robinson talked of his time working with Gerber on Malibu's Ultraverse comics, saying he was always a "complete gentleman." DiDio added that there were six characters in comics he would follow no matter what, and one of them was Gerber.

Will there be variant or sketch covers for Final Crisis? DiDio: "Two covers. One will be story-specific." DiDio continued that acclaimed book designer Chip Kidd is working on both Final Crisis covers as well as Trinity covers. Wayne added that the two covers will ship at an approximately 50/50 ratio.

Will readers see more of Black Adam any time soon? DiDio: "Absolutely. I think Black Adam is one of those characters that's going to be appearing in a book that makes the most sense for him."

"What's going on with All-Star Wonder Woman with Adam Hughes?" Wayne: "I believe, in order to avoid the type of delay we were discussing early on that Superman arc, we're waiting until we have a number of pages from All-Star Wonder Woman before we put it on the schedule."

Will there ever be an ongoing Doctor Fate series? DiDio said the original plan was to that spinning from the Gerber mini-series and now they don't feel comfortable doing that at this point, but the character will be appearing in Reign in Hell.

"Will be seeing Superboy or Bart Allen?" The panel played dumb and neglected to answer.

"Will you bring back Barry Allen?" Wayne: "Either we say 'no,' and you're disappointed, or we say 'yes,' and we ruin it, so no comment."

Will there be JSA characters in Robinson's Superman run? "I want to stay away from the Golden Age characters for a while," Robinson said, "and focus on the new ones. I don't want to be the new Roy Thomas and just write old characters." "That's my job," joked Cooke. Robinson said he still loved those characters and will probably return to them at some point.

How involved is Trinity with the rest of the DC Universe? "It affects the DCU, but we want to make sure the story works best by itself, lest we have another problem like Kyle Rayner," answered DiDio.

A fan saw similarities of the mission statements between the new Robinson Justice League and Batman and the Outsiders. "The Outsiders basically does whatever Batman wants them to do," clarified DiDio.

Is there ever going to be a regular team on Superman/Batman? DiDio said Michael Green is the regular writer, but they'll continue having revolving artist.

A fan asked about how the 2009 Green Lantern storyline, "Blackest Night" fits in, and DiDio said the through line is the Red Lanterns.

Will Trinity affect Superman/Batman? The short answer, from DiDio - no.

What is the role of Shazam in Final Crisis, and is a regular series coming? DiDio: "Mary (Marvel) plays a bigger role in Final Crisis than Shazam. There's a great cover with Mary Marvel coming up."

Is there any chance you're going to speed up the release of trade paperbacks? "Are we going to SPEED UP?" asked an incredulous Wayne. "The only place I can see where speeding up would be an issue is how we did 52 and how we're going to do Countdown." He said that the weekly beats of those comics - and Trinity - are so important, that they want readers to feel the "urgency" of going into the comic book store every week to buy them.

DiDio transitioned into the lightning round - "More Joe Kelly?" DiDio: "Yeah, but I think he just signed with Marvel, so not with us!"

"Will there be a weekly series after Trinity?" DiDio: "Yes, I love the stuff."

"Will the Booster Gold series continue after the creative team leaves?" DiDio: "Yes, we have plans for the character, and big plans for the book."

"Chance of a Great Ten ongoing?" Yes.

"Darwyn Cooke working on a Justice Society character?" Cooke: "I can almost guarantee it."

"Greg Rucka writing a new Question mini-series?" DiDio: "You can say it, I cant."

"Is Final Crisis really the final crisis?" DiDio: "Yes. Until the next one. No, really, it is my final crisis, at least."

"Are the Metal Men going to be in the DC Universe more?" Yes.

"With Sinestro's popularity, will Emerald Dawn II be re-published?" DiDio, with a disgusted look on his face, said "No! We've been trying to get rid of that for a while."

Last question: When will we see the return of Ralph Dibny? DiDio: "He's already appeared."

end of live updates