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This week at STS, we go full force into San Diego Comic Con 2011 coverage. To all who attended SDCC this year, I hope you had a great time like I did, and I also hope that you didn’t bring home with you the dreaded SDCC plague like I did. For those of you who couldn’t make it, fear not, for I will be giving you all the juicy details that I happened upon whilst at the biggest comic book convention in North America. I have a lot to tell so let’s get into it!

We begin with DC Animated movies, and more specifically, Batman Year One. Bruce Timm, Andrea Romano, and the cast were there to show a screening of the movie. There was a bit of Q&A with cast members Bryan Cranston (Jim Gordan), Ben McKenzie (Batman/Bruce Wayne), and Katee Sackhoff (Detective Sarah Essen). The trio were charming and a bit sexually charged in many of their answers. I did see the screening of the movie and will be reviewing it at a later date. Bruce Timm announced that the next DC animated film will be a Superman movie, but more importantly that it will be followed by the first two-part animated movie, Batman The Dark Knight Returns! On a side note, there was a really great Tim Drake/Robin cosplayer who entertained the crowd before the panel began by taking pictures with audience members. For the pictures, he would pose by picking up the various people as though he had just rescued them (men and women alike!), and he even got a bit naughty with a fellow Poison Ivy cosplayer. I chalk the sexually charged environment up to the fact that it was a “late night” panel.

In other DC animation news, at the Young Justice panel they FINALLY showed a new episode of the series. The episode was broken down into two stories, the first about Red Arrow helping Lex Luthor (yeah, you heard that right) to bring peace to two warring nations. Meanwhile, Superboy and Miss Martian go off on their first day of high school with some hilarious results. Throw in some Ra’s Al Ghul and Aqualad and you’ve got yourself one great episode. Some of the creative staff and Miss Martian herself, the lovely Danica McKellar, were on hand to talk about the show and answer some questions. Everyone was pretty tight lipped about what was going to happen in future plot lines, but they did say some members of “The Light” would be revealed shortly if you haven’t already figured out who they are.

Finally, we get to Marvel TV, the newest venture from Marvel comics. Marvel TV is an in-house group that is bringing both live action and animated shows to the tube in the near future. This new group lead by Jeph Loeb announced many new shows that will (hopefully) be coming to a TV near you in the upcoming future. Among the shows that are in the works include live-action versions of The Hulk, AKA Jessica Jones, Cloak & Dagger, and a Mockingbird show. For these shows Marvel is partnering with ABC and ABC Family. As for the animated programing, they offered season two of Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Hulk and the agents of S.M.A.S.H. Hulk and the agents of S.M.A.S.H. is just getting into production, but it will be the brain child of the amazing Paul Dini.

Ultimate Spider-Man is based off the comic by Brian Michael Bendis, who is a consultant for the show, and was developed by Paul Dini, whom you may know from his work on Batman The Animated Series. The voice cast for this show is pretty amazing, with Drake Bell as Spider-man/Peter Parker, J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson, Steven Weber as Norman Osborn, and even Spider-Man creator himself, Stan Lee as…well, Stan Lee. Look for episodes to include Venom, Doctor Doom, and even Spider-Ham! In the series Peter breaks the fourth wall and talks directly with the audience in some hilarious bits. The series looks great, and I think it will be a lot of fun and will be more deeply rooted in Spider-Man lore considering that it is actually being made by Marvel.

During the panel they also screened the first episode of the second season of Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. From this one episode, it looks as though Chris Yost and crew have an even better season in store for us than the last. In this episode alone, we get to see the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and Doctor Doom! If that isn’t enough, Thing even has one of his world famous poker games with Human Torch, Hawkeye, Hulk, Black Panther, and Cap. The interaction between the Thing and Hulk alone makes this episode just awesome! Doctor Doom kicks some major ass in the episode, and what he uncovers during his plot is something that is going to play a major role in what goes down this season!

So that is what you missed if you couldn’t make it to SDCC this year. If you ever get the chance to go to the San Diego Comic-Con or any Comic-Con in your area, I highly recommend that you attend at least one. In the meantime, we have much to look forward to in the coming months, so stay “tooned” right here for the latest news and reviews.

Nick Zamora
nickz@comicattack.net