COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL: DC NATION PANEL

SAN DIEGO --Dan DiDio -- accompanied by editors Steve Wacker and Jann Jones and writers Mark Waid and Greg Rucka -- staged another fast-paced DC Nation panel on Thursday at Comic-Con International.

Below are highlights:

* Asked about the future of Steel, Wacker said there are big plans for the character in 52. "If you're a Steel fan, you're to love the rest of the series," he said. "He's the heart of the story."

* Rucka said the writers of 52 don't veto each other, rather they express concerns with stories and then provide suggestions.

"It's really a collaborative effort," Rucka said, "unlike any I've been involved with."

* Rucka said there is a sense of ownership with characters among the writers, but all the stories come out of meetings. "There's nothing that I don't want to write," he said.

* Asked about the reaction to Superboy's death by Superman, DiDio said that might be addressed in Action Comics. He also noted that the Action Comics will be revealed at the DC Universe panel.

* Rucka said he's tinkered with a Renee Montoya-Crispin Allen team-up "in some fashion; I just don't know who to do it yet."

* DiDio said a lot of the elements planned for later in the 52 event have been pushed up because the writers have been so energetic in coming up with new ideas.

* DiDio said Superboy is dead, "the way Ted Kord is dead, the way Max Lord is dead, the way Sue Digby is dead." He said the character's death has produced many story possiblities that have been used.

Rucka added that doesn't mean the cult in 52 isn't "on to something."

* Waid said that Ralph Digby will seek out many characters in his current quest. "It gives us a look at what magic now loks like on the other side of Crisis," he said.

* DiDio said that the two-part Guy Garnder book will be in Prestige Format.

* And finally, asked about the way to bring in new readers, DiDio said simply, "create compelling stories."