WONDERCON: ASPEN COMICS

SAN FRANCISCO -- A new series written by David Wohl highlighted Aspen Comics' panel at WonderCon on Saturday.

The series, with the working title Executive Assistant, is slated for this summer. It's Wohl's first work for Aspen; he teamed with Aspen's Michael Turner for a long run on Witchblade.

"It's going to be a lot of fun," Aspen's Frank Astromauro said. "It's definitely a different story for us. This is going to be a little darker."

Mastromauro showed off some of Joe Benitez's designs and he said that Benitez "hopefully" will do covers.

The series will feature pencils by Eduardo Francisco, inks by Jason Gorder and colors by John Starr.

Wohl said Francisco's art has changed from his previous Image series Victory and is "less cartoony." A preview will be featured in Aspen's Free Comic Book Day.

In other highlights from the panel (include post-panel updates):

* Turner was unable to attend the convention because of health issues. "I talked to him this morning and he shared his best wishes," Mastromauro said.

Soulfire will return in March with #8, and Turner will follow Soulfire with his Marvel project. Soulfire #10 hasn't been solicited yet.

Ekos, by Geoff Johns and Turner, will follow Turner's remaining three issues of Soulfire and six Marvel issues.

* Mastromauro said with Aspen's guaranteed shipping, there has been a bit of a lull in publishing.

* Aspen Showcase came out last Wednesday. Upcoming Showcases will feature David Schwartz, J.T. Krul, Peter Steigerwald, Micah Gunnell, Turner and more.

* Marcus To is the artist of Soulfire Vol. 2 and is already working on the third issue. Mastromauro said four issues will likely be drawn by the solicitation of the monthly series.

Soulfire: New World Order might be released in a Prestige Format.

* Shrugged #8, the final issue, will wrap up the story elements. Artist Micah Gunnell has a probably Marvel project and another Aspen project in his future.

* Mastromauro said there are talks about a sequel to Iron and the Maiden.

* Ale Garza is drawing the third Fathom series. Garza is halfway through #2, and the book will be monthly.

* "We're really making a concentrated effort to collect ourself," Mastromauro said. Soulfire Volume One trade paperback will be March, followed by the Fathom: Volume Two and Fathom: Kiani trade paperbacks to accompany the release of Fathom: Volume 3.

* This is Apsen's fifth anniversary. "We really do want to have some fun with that," Mastromauro said.

* The Kiani Statue Lava Edition will be released in the spring.

* Aspen Splash returns this summer and will feature artwork by Turner, Peter Steigerwald, Gunnell, To, Garza, Sana Takeda, Randy Green, Francis Manapul and more.

* Aspen will be releasing a new five-issue Soulfire mini-series featuring Grace later this year. It will be by Vince Hernandez and Sana Takeda.

* All of the Iron and the Maiden books sold out. "We're looking forward to putting out a trade paperback," Mastromauro said.