MEGACON: TOP COW PANEL

ORLANDO -- Ron Marz, Top Cow Productions' go-to writer, and artist Kenenth Rocafort represented the publisher at a panel at MegaCon on Friday.

Following are highlights:

* Marz praised Rocafort for their collaboration on the Velocity mini-series, noting the fourth issue is done.

"I try to know who I'm writing for. I can't really feel like I'm doing my best job on the scripts unless I know who's going to draw it," Marz said. "For Kenneth's scripts, I break down the scripts into panels with no dialogue. it allows him to intrepret more. it's the writer's responsibility to give the artists what they want and allow them to do the best job."

* Marz said Magdalena is getting back on schedule, with David Marquez helping Nelson Blake on the art.

* Marz said Witchblade #144 will retell Sara's origins for the first time since the comic started 15 years ago.

"It's not a strict retelling," Marz said. "it gives a different persepective to her origin, diary written by her old partner, Jake McCarty, who's dead."

* Marz said he and artist Stjepan Sejic are teaming four a four-issue start that will lead into the double-sized Witchblade #150.

* Marz said Whilce Portacio has complated drawing Artifacts #7 and is partway through #8. Jeremy Haun is drawing #9-12, and Marz said he is already at work on #9. The artist of the double-sized #13 remains a secret, Marz said.

"I'm having a ball writing it," Marz said. "It's a cool project to do despite having two dozen characters to juggle. I've tried to maintain a throughline with Sara Pezzini and Jackie Estacado's daughter being kidnapped and I keep coming back to them. In #8-9, there's stuff going on between them that brings their relationship to a different point, which will not be the easiest thing."

* Marz said Pilot Season has transformed from trying out new characters to "let's try out different stories," noting it's hard to break new concepts and characters in a crowded marketplace.

"Magdalena, we're continuing it, but it's hard to get anyone to pay attention to it when there are 15 Batman books and 13 Thor books out there," Marz said.

* Marz said it's important for Top Cow titles to remain on schedule. "The industry as a whole needs to get books out on time to get the audience satisfied," he said.

* Rocafort said his next Top Cow project will be Weapon Zero, written by Rob Levin. "It'll be out at the end of year," he said.

Marz said the Echoes collection will match the collected edition of Tumor from Archaia in format.

* Marz said it was important to make Artifacts a "ground-floor read," that even someone unfamiliar with comics could pick up and undestand.

* He noted that by the end of Artifiacts, "a lot of characters will be in different places." Although there won't be an Artifiacts #14 or a sequel, Marz hinted that other projects could spin out of it, but he couldn't talk about them.

* Marz said there be more Cyberforce. "Hopefully there will be more Velocity, because that's the coolest character we've got," he said.

* Marz said he thinks the future of comics is digitally, although he said "there will always be the Wednesday warriors" who go to the stores. He said he thinks a possible balance is single issues digitally with collections in print.

* Marz said Top Cow had double-digit projects in development in Hollywood, which means "there might or might not be a movie." He said he feels confident there will be more Top Cow movies, "but I don't know which ones it will be."

* Marz described the second Darkness video game as "times 10" from the first one. Marz said he worked on developing a Witchblade video game, but it remains in development.

* Marz said he would like to write a comic-book story that would connect with the Witchblade anime.

* Marz said Rocafort's art is completely unique and different, is very much his own and is driven more by design than classic story-telling, although his story-telling is clear.