On the Witchblade front, all 24 half-hour episodes of Gonzo's Witchblade Anime have aired in Japan, and Hawkins recently returned from Japan and a festival devoted to the show. Hawkins reported that out of 97 animated series airing in Japan, Witchblade, the first American property so treated, ranked No. 17.

Hawkins said he is meeting with FUNimation, the U.S. distributor, to discuss television possibilties and he is confident it will reach the airwaves by next summer. The series, which Hawkins said could be considered Witchblade canon, is set in the future in Japan and involves a new wielder, Masane, and evil corporations fighting over a young girl with ties to the Witchblade.

Other merchandise spinning out of the anime to come to the U.S. will be four statues and manga books presented in their original black-and-white format by Bandai and colored and reformatted versions from Top Cow.

The colored versions will vary in lengths due to chapter breaks, Hawkins said, with the first issue clocking in at 38 pages of story for $2.99. He noted that artist Sumita Kazasa not only approved, but encouraged the colorization of the book.

"It's much racier than anything we've ever done," Hawkins said. "There's no nudity, but it's pretty crazy stuff."

Hawkins said Top Cow has a big summer event planned for Witchblade and The Darkness. "Sara's pregnant already, so it has a lot to do with that," Hawkins said, adding that another event will follow in the fall.

In other notes from the panel:

* Silvestri will be working with Brian Michael Bendis on a project for Marvel that will likely spin out of Civil War.

"He's on that list of guys I've wanted to work with," Silvestri said of Bendis.

Silvestri said he couldn't comment on story details but did say he would be dealing characters he hasn't extensively worked on before, such as Captain America and Spider-Man.

* Top Cow's deal with Marvel will include a big crossover next summer, featuring Witchblade, Darkness, Doctor Strange and the Hulk, with "a cameo" by Daredevil. It will be written by Ron Marz, with an artist to be announced.

* Top Cow's big launches next year will include Madame Mirage, by Paul Dini and Kenneth Rocafort, and Aprhodite IX, by Dan Jevons and Eric Basaldua.

Madame Mirage is tentatively targeted for April or May. Silvestri praised Rocafort as a perfect fit for the mystery story crafted by Dini. "I just love this guy's design sense."

Aprhodite IX is also be developed in Korea for animation -- a trailer was shown -- and as a video game.

* Silvestri said some unfinished comics projects, such as Inferno, will be completed. He said he also wants to revisit Hunter-Killer.

* Hawkins said that Top Cow's City of Heroes title will conclude after 20 issues.

* There will be more Tomb Raider comics, but both Silvestri and Hawkins said they couldn't disclose plans.

* Hawkins called the Freshmen Vol. 1 trade paperback "one of our best-selling trades ever."

* Silvestri said he was "very excited" over developments of the Wanted movie at Universal, including the casting of James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman.

* And looking ahead even further to 2008, Silvestri said there are new properties in store at Top Cow, which he likened to being "the HBO of comics."

"We want to focus on stuff that Marvel and DC aren't doing," Silvestri said. "We need to stand out in this market place."