WIZARD WORLD BOSTON: CUP O' JOE AND MONDO MARVEL PANELS

Marvel Comics staged two panels at Wizard World Boston on Saturday -- although they could be viewed as one really long panel with a 3 1/2-hour break in the middle.

Joe Quesada presided over both, with C.B. Cebulski chipping in, and he started both panels out with small slide shows that were followed with open-floor questions and answers.

Following are highlights from the panels listed individually.

Highlights from Cup O' Joe:

* Quesada said artist David Finch is "knocking one out of the park" on the Moon Knight mini-series. He said that the book will appear to new and old readers of the character.

* Underworld is a new series by Frank Tieri and Staz Johnson.

"I really think this is going to be Frank Tieri's breakout book," Quesada said. "This is literally the making of a supervillain."

Quesada explained that Underworld centers around a gangland thug who is just finishing a long prison term and missed out on most of the super-heroic activities. "It's an unpowered villain in a super-powered world," he said.

* Marvel announced its 10 Terrific initiative, similar to the Young Guns promotion from last year. The 10 are relative newcomers to writing comics whom Quesada feels will make an impact on Marvel in the next year.

The writers are Joss Whedon, Reginald Hudlin, Allan Heinberg, Dan Slott, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Greg Pak, Daniel Way, David Hine, Sean McKeever and Robert Kirkman.

* Nextwave, by Warren Ellis and Stuart Immonen, launches in January, Quesada said he targets the book as an ongoing. The team will feature Monica Rambeau, Aaron Stack, Boom-Boom, Elsa Bloodstone and The Captain.

* Supreme Power will become Squadron Supreme when the book moves from MAX to Marvel Knights with a new #1. The name change also signifies the team finally getting together.

* Quesada on Black Cat/Spider-Man: The Evil That Men Do: "It's got a beautiful ending to the story and a twist that I've never seen in a mainstream comic before. It's very powerful."

* Quesada said he does not have an artist for the remainder of Kevin Smith's Daredevil: Target. "He has to finish it first," Quesada said.

* Quesada said NYX #7 -- the final issue -- has an ending that leaves open the possibility for more NYX stories.

* On Thor, Quesada said, "We absolutely know what we're doing with Thor."

* Asked about Marvel's plans with Stephen King, Quesada said, "Let's just say we were hypothetically in business with Stephen King. Would that be cool? (cheers from crowd) We'll leave it at that."

* A Cloak and Dagger series might happen as soon as 2006, Quesada said.

Highlights from Mondo Marvel:

* After five years of the Ultimate Universe, Quesada said he feels there is a second wave coming in terms of creators. He supplemented a release that Marvel had issued on Friday.

* Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk by Lost's Damon Lindelof and Leinil Francis Yu starts in December.

"By the time you get to the second and third pages of the story, you'll Damon Lindelof is totally out of his mind," Quesada said. "It's an incredible double-page spread."

Quesada said the book will also show the difference between the Marvel Universe and Ultimate Universe Hulks and it will include the introduction of an Ultimate version of a character.

* Robert Kirkman joins Tom Raney on Ultimate X-Men beginning in January with a story called "Date Night." This will be followed by a new storyline in April with artist Steve Dillon and then the return of Raney in June. There has not been an official scheduling of Bryan Singer's arc yet.

* Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley continue to work toward #104, which will break the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby record for consecutive issues of a Marvel comic. New stories include "Deadpool" in March and "Clone Saga" in September.

* Mark Millar and Greg Land deliver "President Thor" in Ultimate Fantastic Four and then their last story for the title, "Frightful," will start in May. A new creative team will start in August.

* Newly exclusive Pasqual Ferry joins Orson Scott Card on the second Ultimate Iron Man series.

* Ultimate Extinction, by Warren Ellis and Brandon Peterson, starts in January. The story will unite all the heroes of the Ultimate Universe against Gah Lak Tus.

* Ultimates 3, by Jeph Loev and Joe Maderiera, begins in October 2006. Quesada said he is hopeful that Maderira will continue to do more comics work after that.

* Ultimate Vision, by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. will run as a six-part back-up story in Ultimate titles in November and December.

* Newly exclusive Angel Medina is joining Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa on Marvel Knights Spider-Man, beginning with #23. "You're going to love Angel's Spider-Man," Quesada said.

* Quesada on X-Men: Deadly Genesis: "It tells the untold story of Giant-Size X-Men #1. This is Xavier's deepest, darkest secret."

* The slide show ended with an image of the New Avengers and the worlds: "Marvel 2006 -- Whose Side Are You On?"

* Quesada said the last page of House of M #8 will reveal a new status quo for Wolverine.

* There will be more Franklin Richards comics, although Quesada didn't specified a format or release date.

* April will be a key month for Marvel cosmic books.

* The Runaways will be integrated more into the Marvel Universe, and Quesada said other recently introduced characters will likely get second volumes at some point.

* Quesada on the 2006 event Planet Hulk: "There will be more Hulk smashing than even you can stand."

Daniel Knauf, creator of Carnivale on HBO, will be teaming with his son Charles to write an Iron Man arc. "Word on the street is he's having a lot of fun," Quesada said, adding an artist will be announced soon.

* Quesada said he recently met with Brian K. Vaughan and they discussed "five or six projects" that Vaughan might be interesting in doing.

* Quesada said he "definitely wants to do something else" after Daredevil: Father, but isn't sure what that will be.

* There will be another Last Hero Standing, Cebulski said.

* Quesada said that Neil Gaiman has "immersed himself in the Eternals" for his upcoming series. "They never fit into the Marvel tapestry before," Quesada said. "By the time Neil is done, they will be rock-solid characters in the Marvel Universe."

* Jae Lee has been attached to a major project that Quesada said will be his breakout book. "We'll have an announcement pretty damn soon," he said.

* Quesada said from a legal persepctive that he can't give the full reasons, but Marvel won't be using the Malibu Ultraverse characters anytime soon. He said he talked to Bendis about UltraForce showing up on the last page of a New Avengers issue, but when he began to investigate the characters' status, he discovered "it's just a huge problem right now."

"I would love to publish those characters, but it was a very bad deal."

* An Inhuman mini-series is targeted for next spring.

* Cebulski said Cable/Deadpool has been greenlighted through #36.

* Quesada said he would like to keep The Defenders around. "It's a book we enjoy," he said.

* Quesada said the first Wolverine arc after House of M is "so important" to the character. "That story will do some things with the character that I feel are much needed," he said.