DC Comics has announced its line-up for Comic-Con@Home 2021. This marks the second year that San Diego Comic-Con is taking place online. In an ideal world, this will be the last online convention that the company holds as hopefully, the real-life event will be able to take place next year.
DC has set up Infinite Frontier to be a gigantic spanning event that will last beyond the end of the year. Naturally, with such big plans ahead, every comic that they release will be somehow important to the grander scheme of things. Therefore, events like Batman: Fear State not only will tackle its own story but will answer some of the major burning questions that have defined the Batman side of the Infinite Frontier era. It’s an exciting time to be a comic book fan. Make sure to not miss any of the panels as DC tease some of what’s to come.
DC Comics will be bringing some of its biggest creators with the hottest new projects to Comic-Con@Home 2021. Throughout the weekend-long event, fans will be treated to sneak peeks of upcoming Infinite Frontier‘s titles’ issues. Attending the panels will be the creative teams behind the respective comic books. This year, the panels boast an all-star line-up of some of DC Comics’ most prolific writers and artists. They have chosen to highlight the biggest titles that fans have been eagerly awaiting to read. Check out the full slate of DC’s Comic-Con@Home 2021 panels below:
Batman: Fear State
DC Comics’ first panel will be held on Friday, July 23 at 1 p.m. PT. Gotham Group editor Ben Abernathy will be hosting the creative minds behind DC’s upcoming event, Fear State. The Batman: Fear State panel will feature John Ridley (The Other History of the DC Universe), Mariko Tamaki (Dark Detective), James Tynion IV (Batman, The Joker), Stephanie Phillips (Batman: Urban Legends, Harley Quinn) and Tom Taylor (Batman: The Detective, Nightwing). The group of driving forces behind Batman’s next adventures will talk collectively about what’s coming for Batman in Fear State.
Fear State is coming this fall as Scarecrow’s plans for Gotham reach their climax. All of Batman’s comics will be joining together as the event unifies the various lingering plot strands that have been set up. During the Comic-Con@Home 2021 panel, the creators of the Batman-family books will discuss their individual plans for how Scarecrow’s vision and the rise of the Magistrate will affect the future of comics. Additionally, according to DC, Fear State will set the status quo for the year ahead.
DC Horror
On Friday, July 23 at 4 p.m. PT, DC Editor Katie Kubert will be talking about the publisher’s new line of horror comics. Kubert will be joined by James Tynion IV (The Nice House on the Lake), David Johnson-McGoldrick (The Conjuring: The Lover), Bill Sienkiewicz (The Conjuring: The Lover, 30 Days of Night), and Matthew Rosenberg (The Joker Presents: A Puzzlebox, Task Force Z). The panel will explore the already-released horror comics, while going into further detail about the future of DC’s scariest stories. Currently, The Nice House on the Lake looks to be a hit for DC Horror along with The Conjuring franchise’s first venture into the medium. It’ll be exciting to hear what they have planned for the rest of the year in horror comics.
Superman
DC’s third panel will spill into Comic-Con@Home 2021’s second day as the Superman panel takes flight on Saturday, July 24 at 11 a.m. PT. This is sure to be one of DC’s biggest and most anticipated panels as Superman: Son of Kal-El #1 is set for release just three days after. The series will follow Jonathan Kent as he takes on the Superman mantle from his father. This move has been something that the publisher has been pushing for since Future State made Jonathan the future Superman. DC Editor-in-Chief Marie Javins will be leading the all-star panel with multiple Eisner Award-nominated writers Tom Taylor (Superman: Son of Kal-El), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Action Comics) and Grant Morrison (Superman and the Authority) as guest speakers.
As mentioned, this might be the weekend’s biggest event for DC Comics as the Superman trio of writers talk about their hotly anticipated projects. Taylor will surely be asked to discuss how Jonathan Kent fits into DC’s plans for Superman and what makes the new Superman special compared to his father and all other iterations of the character. Meanwhile, Kennedy Johnson will be talking about his continuing Action Comics run, which currently sees Superman in the midst of preventing a war between Atlantis and the U.S. Superman legend Grant Morrison will be making his return with a new four-issue miniseries that will pick up on the recent happenings in Action Comics. All three books are heavily tied together, so it’ll be very exciting to hear them talking about their broader plans for Superman this year.
Dark Knights: Death Metal: The Soundtrack
On Saturday, July 24 at 2 p.m. PT, moderator Gwarsenio Hall from Two Minutes to Late Night will host Scott Snyder, Tyler Bates, singer Chelsea Wolfe, and drummer Brann Dailor for the Dark Knights: Death Metal: The Soundtrack panel. This panel will be different from the rest as it will not necessarily be focusing solely on comic book talk. However, Snyder is sure to indulge in his creative vision for what was Dark Knights: Death Metal. They will be talking about the new album, which is inspired by DC’s best-selling comic book series. DC has teased that fans will be given insight into the origin of this comic book-inspired soundtrack.
DC Wonder Woman: Wonder Woman Across the Multiverse
DC Comics’ final panel of Comic-Con@Home 2021 will be held on Sunday, July 25 at 11 a.m. PT. The panel will led by DC Associate Editor Brittany Holzherr and will feature Becky Cloonan (Wonder Woman), Michael Conrad (Wonder Woman), Stephanie Williams (Wonder Woman 1984), and Alitha Martinez (Immortal Wonder Woman). They will be talking about Wonder Woman’s place in DC’s current comics and what the future holds for her. It must be noted that they will not only be discussing Diana Prince’s Wonder Woman but the other Wonder Women of DC’s multiverse as well. That includes DC’s new crown jewel, Yara Flor aka Wonder Girl, despite her book’s writer not being present.
DC Comics is holding nothing back when it comes to its impressive line-up of panels at this year’s Comic-Con@Home. Obviously, there are many more books that are being currently worked on that link into DC’s greater plans, like the new Infinite Frontier miniseries. However, only a limited amount of panels can be held and these five that were chosen cover some of the biggest developments coming in DC Comics over the next year. Links to view the panels will be available when Comic-Con International announces its schedule in the coming weeks.
