San Diego Con '06: day 2

From all reports, a fun first day. But Thursday is much less crowded than Friday or Saturday, we'll see what everyone has to say. I'll try to get reports throughout the day related to these events in today's con lineup. Tonight's the big debut for the animated show.

Friday
1:00-2:00 Spotlight on Jim Mooney
1:00-2:00 Warner Home Video's Superman Through The Ages
4:00-5:00 Bruce Timm Retrospective/Legion of Super Heroes
6:00-7:00 DC: 52: A Year in the Life of the DCU

• According to The Kingdom, the "Superman Through the Ages" panel was "The panel with Superman people, but really just about Donner's Superman II." He doesn't mention any Legion connection, but from the description I figured Yuri Lowenthal (the Legion's Superman voice actor) might have been there. CBR has more coverage.
  
  
• Here's an EXCLUSIVE camera-phone picture of the Timm/Legion panel, courtesy of Sidne Ward (better pictures coming later).
  
  
  
  From left to right, that's Linda Steiner (producer, at the podium), James Tucker (producer), Rob Hoegee (story editor), Shawn Harrison (Timberwolf), Kari Wahlgren (Saturn Girl and Triplicate Girl), Michael Cornacchia (Bouncing Boy), Yuri Lowenthal (Superman) and Andy Milder (Lightning Lad).
  
  First word of the Legion panel comes from LegionWorld poster "Kent Shakespeare", who has these things to say:
  

  • There will be 13 episodes, including a two-part finale based upon a classic LSH story; probably a Silver age story.
    
  • They're starting with a heavy Silver focus, but have picked and chosen from various eras. Various creators claim to be staunch longtime LSH fans. Someone (artist Chris Battista?) said, having worked on LSH for a year and helped reintro Superboy, he really praised the new cartoon.
    
  • It's young, inexperienced Superman, not Superboy, even tho the sole promo card still lists Superboy. They skirted talk about the Siegel lawsuit, so that's the most likely reason.
    
  • First season will feature several Fatal 5 stories; they avoided specifics on others.
    
  • They showed two videos; one, Kal is being knocked about by the Emerald Empress. Garth, intead of blasting EE himself, instead spends his efforts trying to coach Supes how to use his super-breath.
    
  • The theme they say they're going for is that Supes brings the spirit/innate paragonism to the LSH, LSH brings the experience and know-how to young Kal.
    
  • Brainy seems to be a machine - with a stretchble neck, and presumably other limbs.
    
  • Garth has a lighning-shaped scar/tatoo/whatever around his eye; it turns white when he's using his powers.

  
  Another LegionWorld poster drops these clues:
  

  morsels for now: Matter-Eater Lad. Familial Ranzz. Cosmic boy for 3 episode arc at the end. Triplicate Girl's voiced by Saturn Girl's voice actor.

  
  Someone found out the titles of Episodes 1 and 3: respectively, "The Journey Begins" and "Superman's Quest". The page with the list of episode titles at Wikipedia was updated within the hour. (Note: these are not the titles, according to director Ben Jones in the comment below.) That's Kari Wahlgren, who does the voice of Saturn Girl, who will also do the voice of Triplicate Girl.
  
  Wizard Universe finally got their report up, and it's a good one.
  

  The teaser showed off the Fatal Five, a shape-shifting Brainiac 5 and the Legion fighting to take down a Timberwolf gone feral. Hoegee described how the Legion depicted in the series is basically a club that’s just starting out and decide to be superheroes. They get in over their heads with the Fatal 5, and Brainiac decides to go back in time to find the greatest superhero of all time to help out—Superman. Unfortunately, they go back too far and get a young Clark Kent, still unsure of his powers. (A second cartoon clip showed Lightning Lad telling Superman to use his ice breath, to which Superman replied, “My what?”) The Legion teaches Clark to use his powers and Clark teaches the Legion how to be heroes. Meanwhile, he has to deal with the knowledge that there’s an entire museum dedicated to exploits he hasn’t even performed yet. Hoegee said just because you don’t see a character doesn’t mean they’re not in the Legion. In fact, the panel promised that Matter-Eater Lad will appear.

  
  
• A poster at the ComicBloc forums has this from the 52/A Year in the Life panel:
  

  It was pretty much the only major news from todays 52 panel at the SDCC, but the Legion will be showing up in the pages of 52 sometime soon ...

  
  But someone else asks if it will be the Legion or the L.E.G.I.O.N.?
  
  CBR has this hint:
  

  The Legion Of Superheroes may show up in "52". Rucka had a sudden revelation, seemingly on the panel, of how to do it.