WONDERCON: DCU PANEL

SAN FRANCISCO -- DC Comics staged its DC Universe panel on Saturday at WonderCon.

Panelists included Dan DiDio, Kirk Busiek, Mark Bagley, Judd Winick, Adam Beechen, Mike Carlin, Bob Wayne and Jann Jones.

Highlights include:

* DiDio introduced J. Michael Straczynski, whom he said "would be working with us in the future."

"I'm a huge Babylon 5 fan and love everything you're doing," DiDio said.

Straczynski said he is a massive DC fan, and his home is covered with Curt Swan artwork. "Working in a new universe is exciting," he said, noting Justice League might be in the mix.

* DiDio made a correction from Friday. There will be a new Batgirl mini-series, not Batwoman.

* Beechen said all the questions about Batgirl's actions will be answered. "It will set the stage for new Batgirl adventures going forward," he said.

* Winick said that Oliver Queen will be on the trail to find Connor. By the end of the story, Winick said "all will be explained," comparing it to "the last episode of Lost, but a lot sooner."

* Busiek said Trinity became a much larger project that originally pitched.

Bagley said he was pleased to draw the series because "it's Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman."

* Straczynski said he is interested in doing Babylon 5 comics for DC, including finishing a graphic novel. He also said his favorite character is Superman.

* DiDio said Batwoman will be an intregal part of the DC Universe for 2008, without giving any specifics. "She is appearing in things," he said.

* DiDio said it's called Final Crisis for "several reasons."

* Carlin said he was confident Countdown will finish its weekly run on time.

* DiDio said DC is trying to decide how to bring back Aquaman. He said he considers the character one of the "big seven" and he will return.

* All-Star Batgirl, originally by Geoff Johns and J.G. Jones, is on hold, and DiDio said he has another creative team in mind.

* Winick said he's just gotten back to the drawing board and has a Barry Ween story in mind.

* DiDio said that the Teen Titans lineup should pretty much stay the same.

* DiDio said Martian Manhunter will play "a very prominent role" in Final Cris.

* Busiek said that side characters such as Alfred will become increasingly important as Trinity moves forward.

* DiDio said the Red Lanterns should be coming soon.

* Winick said Tempest is coming back in Titans. "Not right away, but he's coming back," he said.

* Jimmy Olsen, as a giant turtle boy, will be showing on the cover of Countdown to Final Crisis #2 fighting Darkseid.

* Plans for the 50th anniversary of Legion of Super-Heroes? "We'll come up with something, I promise," DiDio said.

* DiDio said he's looking for Supergirl to become integrated into more of DC's kid projects.

* DiDio said he enjoys the Milestone characters and would like to do more with them, but it's a business issue. "We've worked on this over the years," Carlin added.

* DiDio said Hawkman will be playing a large role in the Rann/Thanagar: Holy War than Final Crisis.

Busiek said Hawkman will be in Trinity beginning with #6.

* Plans for a Power Girl monthly? "There's a story in Justice Society where Power Girl goes to visit Earth-2. How that story resolves itself could lead to other stories involving Power Girl," DiDio said.

* DiDio said he would gauge interest for the future of Harley and Holly.

* DiDio said he couldn't promise any more killing of teen characters with Final Crisis coming up.

* The tagline for Final Crisis: "The Day Evil Wins."

* Busiek said Trinity will explore why the three characters are together and why they are as important as a group.

* The Flash Rogues will come back from Salvation Run with a "renewed sense," DiDio said. The Rogue mini-series will tell their involvement in the death of Bart Allen.

* Will there be a Karate Kid mini-series? "There will be a great disaster in Countdown," Carlin said.

* Andy Kubert is working on the second issue of a four-part mini-series. DiDio said he has a project that will be announced later this year that will surprise people.

* Busiek said there is a Lex Luthor mini-series in the work that hasn't been scheduled yet.

* The Alpha Lanterns are "all over the beginning" of Final Crisis, DiDio said.