NYCC09: Day 2 - Johns, Manapul, Didio dish (update)

CBR talks to Geoff Johns about the new Adventure Comics:

CBR: Why is this project being released as “Adventure Comics” and not a “Legion of Super-Heroes” book?

GJ: I think it will be quite clear when the comic comes out, and we announce more about it, and when some more of the “Legion of Three World” issues come out. But there’s a reason it’s called “Adventure Comics." If you’ve seen the cover, there’s still some details we’re not revealing about it.

CBR: Brainiac, Lex Luthor and Bizarro are three villains we’ve seen you explore in “Action Comics.”

GJ: Really, it’s a culmination of what I’ve been doing with Superman for the last couple of years. It’s all spilling over to this book. Also, with me leaving “Justice Society of America,” Starman is coming with me to “Adventure Comics.”

CBR also talked to Francis Manapul about the new series:

CBR News: Obviously, you must be thrilled to be on “Adventure Comics.” Was your run on “Legion of Super-Heroes” with Jim Shooter what landed you the job?

Francis Manapul: Probably (laughs). I’d been talking to Dan Didio through out the summer conventions on what I could do next after “Legion.” We had bounced around a few ideas on characters and titles, but most importantly I gave Dan a short list of writers I’d really like to work with. Geoff Johns was at the absolute top of my list, and to my surprise, he wanted to work with me, too. Big thanks to Dan for making it happen. We then talked about what books Geoff was working on and where my services would be best suited. Initially, I was really bull headed for another book, but the more we talked about “Adventure Comics,” the more I got excited and the more in tune the book was with where I was going artistically.

CBR covers the DC Universe panel:

- What's the future of the Legion or the different versions of the Legion? Read the Superman books and "Adventure Comics. "

- What happened to the end of Shooter's Legion of Super-Heroes? DiDio: We don't cover that. It was a pseudonym at the author's request. We cancelled the book, finished it and shoved it out the door. Thanks for asking that. [see below]

Q: I was really looking forward to the end of Jim Shooter's run on "Legion of Super-Heroes." Can you tell us what happened there and why fans weren't informed of the creative change?

DiDio: Well, first of all, that is a pseudonym, it's done by request of the author and we really don't talk about it. We finished and cancelled and put the book out the door. I'm not really sure what the question is, but thanks for asking it.

Newsrama's coverage of the DCU panel didn't include that. Wow. Way to respect one of you franchise books.

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Update 2/9 Paul Newell pointed me to the updated version of the CBR report on the DCU panel immediately above. Andy Khouri, who wrote the original report, wrote this:

"Actually, DiDio did not say "shove." That was a misquote on my part, and was been corrected in the article. The accurate quote is as follows (emphasis mine)

We finished and cancelled and put the book out the door.

I don't know if that change makes all that much difference to you, but there it is for accuracy's sake. This is a consequence of the live-reporting process, whereby we transcribe and publish as fast as we can every few minutes during the panel discussion. 99% of the time, the information is accurately conveyed -- if not exactly word for word -- but in this case it seems the substance of DiDio's remark may have been improperly conveyed, so for that I apologize to all.

Thanks for reading."