The Quarter Bin

What better way is there to end a convention than with Dan DiDio’s traditional Sunday Conversation panel?

I love seeing Dan DiDio, executive editor of DC Comics, at panels because he’s always full of energy and fun to listen to. His Sunday panel was much more casual and laid-back, and though there wasn’t anything in the way of news, it was still an entertaining way to end Wizard World. Joining Dan was Adam Schlagman, also of DC, although Dan mentioned that he liked to have anyone from the comic industry join these discussions, regardless of publisher.

-Dan starts off by showing off some Marvel toilet paper that he just bought on the floor. He’s very proud of himself.
-Show of hands, how long have you been reading comics? One guy in the room has been reading comics for more than 50 years.
-People discussing the first book they ever read. I couldn’t even tell you what mine was. Probably X-Men? Spawn? I remember buying Witchblade/Tomb Raider at the mall but I know that wasn’t first. I think I must admit that Spawn was the first comic I read regularly. Damn, I haven’t thought about that in years!
-Adam’s first: Three-part Hydra comic, sometime in the 80s. Dan: “I hate him for that.”
-Now the audience is discussing where they bought their early comics.
-“Jimmy Palmiotti always has good stories… which we can’t repeat because there are kids in the room.” But apparently Jimmy used to buy comics by the pound, literally. Others got them from mythical comic vending machines.
-Now it’s time to talk about what we like and what we don’t like. “At DC we put out about 60 comics a month. We want you to buy all of them, but we know that’s impractical. Doesn’t mean we won’t stop trying.” They’re always trying to do things to appeal to different people.
-Talking about George Clooney as Batman: “I still have problems with Batman with nipples.”
-What do you recommend for other people to read? For me, it’s usually Fables and Y: The Last Man.
-Characters in the DC Universe other than Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are moving into the spotlight, particularly Flash and Green Lantern at the moment.
-Kevin Maguire wanders into the room for the next panel, Dan makes him come up to the front of the room.
-Dan to Kevin: “What got you into comics?” Avengers Defenders War, collecting all of the different issues to get the whole story. Favorite characters? Defenders.
-Dude dressed as Superman loves Action Comics #1. Dan: “I consider Action Comics #1 a jump-on point!”
-With decades of continuity for each character, there’s just no way everything could fit into continuity.
-Jason Todd is back because of the readers.
-DC lost readers’ confidence when they couldn’t get their books out on time, they are working hard to fix it now.
-When something huge happens, fans want to see the fallout immediately.
-Price is on everyone’s mind right now. People talk about their concerns of comic pricing and how it affects their purchasing choices.
-In a meeting when Dan started working for DC, he asked everyone what DC comics they would still buy if they didn’t get them for free. Someone spoke up “not much.” That was an eye-opener, to be aware of the value of the books.
-And that’s it! Thanks for being awesome, Dan. This is his favorite part of the convention, and it shows.