March
2 Panels on Panels in NYC

A few more Vertigo announcements were made at the show.

* Mat Johnson, writer of the novel "Hunting in Harlem" and winner of the 2004 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, will write his first graphic novel, "Incognegro," a noir mystery based on true tales of undercover race spying in the Jim Crow South. A college professor and scholar specializing in the Harlem Renaissance, this is Johnson's second comics gig after having written last year's "Papa Midnight" miniseries.

* Writer Jason Aaron defied the odds and sold his first comics work, an original graphic novel about the Vietnam War called "The Other Side," as an unsolicited pitch to Vertigo. The book will be drawn by Cameron Stewart, best known for his work on "Seaguy" with Grant Morrison.

* A new Deadman is in the works from writer Bruce Jones, though this will be a completely different character than the one created in the 1960s.

Over at the Marvel X-Men panel, much was made of the upcoming ongoing series Wolverine: Origins, which will get into the hero's past now that he's regained all his memories in the wake of House of M. Astonishing X-Men, which just came out with a new issue by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday, will be a continuing title that will go on after that all-star team wraps up its plans for the next 12 or so issues.

Comic strips also got some play at the show, with a fun panel held by "Mutts" creator Patrick McDonnell. Check out the strip's website at www.muttscomics.com.

Writer/director Kevin Smith talked about his role in the Jennifer Garner starrer "Catch and Release," saying he enjoys just acting in projects like that and had the opportunity to ad lib enough of his lines to better reflect his personality. He also talked about his cameo on Canadian teen sudser "Degrassi: The Next Generation," saying he originally wanted to direct but was barred by doing so by rules attached to the funding of the show that require all major roles on the show to be filled by Canadians. That led to plenty of jokes about all the things he can't do because he's not Canadian.

I regretted having to miss some of the panels, including Saturday's Comics and Hollywood: The Crossover Continues panel with Platinum Studios' Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, and the Comedy Central and Spike TV Development Panel.