Today definitely started off better than yesterday. Mostly. I stayed up later than usual last night due to an unnamed blogger ::cough::Clayton::cough:: This unnamed person got into town late, so we went out to have a few drinks, that turned into several drinks and at least one shot. There may have been more shots, but things got a little blurry about that time... Translation, the world was a little fuzzy this morning. All things considered, that is still better than being stuck in traffic.

World War Hulk banner

I admit to having been a DC fanboy the last several years, so I thought that going to a Marvel Panel would be a good place to start getting reacquainted with the Marvel Universe. This led to the first stop of my day being the talk on World War Hulk. In attendance were Joe Quesada, Greg Pak, Jim McCann, Tom Brevoort, C.B. Cebulski and Frank Tieri. I think this may have been the most people I have seen on stage all weekend.

I thought that World War Hulk would be a mostly self-contained event. Boy was I wrong. Everything starts off in the World War Hulk series. This will be the main focus of the storyline, but it will branch out into several other titles.

World War Hulk: Frontline will deal with with the event from the sidelines. It will be set up much like Civil War: Frontline.

World War Hulk: Gamma Corps looks at the world of people whose lives were made works by the Hulk and raises the question of "who is the villain of this storyline?"

World War Hulk: X-Men has a battle between Hulk and Juggernaut. Do we really need more details?

Avengers: The Initiative will also tie in as the heroes face their first real threat.

Heroes for Hire brings The Brood into the fray. Now I am very confused as these were always foes of the X-Men.

Iron Man will focus on Tony Stark and why he did the things he did that eventually set this storyline in motion.

Ghost Rider. Yeah I am confused as well. I guess we get to wait and see.

Irredeemable Ant Man. I don't even know this character, so I guess I have a lot of catching up to do.

Other volumes will include Marvel Spotlight: World War Hulk and World War Hulk: Gamma Files.

I was hoping for something a bit more self-contained, but it still seems that this could be a good place to start reading Marvel Again. It has ties to lots of characters that I know and some I don't so it can help me learn the current lay of the land. I know I missed the first issue of World War Hulk but maybe there will still one left at my store when I get back home.

Next up on my list was a panel on the DC Universe. Finally, something I am a bit more up to date on.

Yes, it is true: Flash #13 is the end of the current series.

The Green Arrow /Black Canary Wedding Special is on the way from Judd Winick and Amanda Connor.

Dwayne McDuffie will take over writing Justice League of America following the departure of Brad Meltzer.

Superman #666 is due out soon and takes Superman to hell.

Batman #666 will be out soon as well. Why does the idea of this one scare me?

Following Flash #13, we will get a new Flash #1. The next month we get Flash #231. I'd have to do some digging, but does this take us back to the numbering of the previous series?

This year will see the introduction of new colors of Kryptonite.

The Question is in the spotlight this fall with a mini-series based on the new version as well as a reprint of the now classic Denny O'Neill and Dennys Cowan stories.

All-Star Batgirl is not on the schedule, but is still in the works.

Sadly, Brad Meltzer is working on a new novel so we there will be no new comics from him for a while.

To end the day I went to a panel on Vertigo. Not much new was announced but there were a few titles that really have my attention.

Faker by Mike Carey focuses on four college students having a wild party, but the next morning they are now 5.

Cairo by G. Willow Wilson is due out in November. Not many details were available but more was promised at MoCCA next weekend.

Last on my list is The Un-Men by John Whalen and Mike Hawthorne. This title brings back several characters from Swamp Thing that we have not seen in years.

Noel Neill photoI ended my day by doing something I hadn't planned when the weekend started. While wandering yesterday I found a guest that I had missed on the list. Noel Neill (Lois Lane from The Adventures of Superman) was in a booth and signing autographs. I was a little upset that I had missed this and I had nothing for her to sign. As luck would have it, while having breakfast I noticed a store selling DVDs so I ran in and bought a season of the show to take back. I took my DVDs over and she was only too happy to sign for me. I honestly believe that meeting her was the high point of my day. I wonder if watching these shows when I was younger was the start of my Smallville obsession?

Click the images below to see the full sized versions.

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