Kelly Sue DeConnick (Bitch Planet) and Robson Rocha (Supergirl) are taking over Aquaman as the new creative team, as revealed during the DC Meet the Publishers panel at SDCC today. DeConnick, who is one of the most exciting (and absolutely brilliant) writers currently working in comics, will become the first woman to write the hero's solo book. 

The writer plans to take Aquaman in a whole new direction that sounds incredibly exciting. In fact, DC co-publishers Dan DiDio and Jim Lee compared DeConnick's first arc to the seminal Batman: Year One origin story by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. 

"It’s in many ways an examination of who the character is, kind of in the vein of Daredevil: Born Again and Batman Year One," said Lee.

In DeConnick and Rocha's story, Aquaman wakes up on a mysterious island with no memory of how he got there or who he is. During his journey on the island, he meets other sea creatures and castaways that have been forgotten and abandoned on the island. The story will also deal with Aquaman's relationship with his mother, Atlanna, who is absent from his life. 

DiDio noted that the story is not a reboot of the current Aquaman book, unlike the upcoming Green Lantern relaunch from Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp. DeConnick's story will continue the story Abnett started. 

Aquaman just hit issue #38 this week. DC veteran Dan Abnett has been on the book since the Rebirth relaunch back in 2016. DeConnick's arrival marks the first major creative shift for the character in two years. Rocha most recently drew Aquaman #35. Abnett is scheduled to continue on the book through issue #40. 

No date or issue number has been set for DeConnick's arrival on the book. We'll keep you posted as we learn more!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

"Nightflyers is a haunted house story on a starship. It's Psycho in space." - George R.R. Martin

Nightflyers stands as one of George R.R. Martin’s more intriguing pre-Game of Thrones space science-fiction offerings, starting as a 1980 novella, eventually inspiring a schlocky limited-release 1987 film adaptation. However, it appears that the Literary God of Death’s old property is about to be reincarnated as a television series over at Syfy. 

Last year, the genre-aimed NBCU cable outlet ordered a pilot for Nightflyers, which has since expanded into a series pickup (Netflix has first run rights outside the U.S.). Additionally, Nightflyers recently received a bountiful boon of €850,000 ($1.1 million,) from the Irish Film Board and will soon begin filming at Limerick’s Troy Studios.

Nightflyers Trailer

The new SDCC trailer for Nightflyers has arrived! Check it out:

Previously, Syfy also released three short teasers (via Collider) that give a great sense of both the production value of Nightflyers, as well as the tone. Check out these glimpses into this creepy science fiction series...

And here's a longer trailer...

Nightflyers Release Date

Nightflyers has yet to set a release date. However, the series is currently in the midst of production in Ireland.

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Nightflyers Story

Per the official synopsis:

NIGHTFLYERS follows eight maverick scientists and a powerful telepath who embark on an expedition to the edge of our solar system aboard The Nightflyer – a ship with a small tightknit crew and a reclusive captain – in the hope of making contact with alien life. But when terrifying and violent events begin to take place they start to question each other – and surviving the journey proves harder than anyone thought.

A bit of recent Nightflyers news saw a new occupant ascend to the proverbial Iron Throne of the George R.R. Martin adaptation series. That’s because its appointed showrunner, Daniel Cerone, dropped out of the series, reportedly over creative differences, says THR.

Jeff Buhler, will step in as showrunner, likely signaling a smooth transition, since he’s been with the project since the very beginning as its writer and executive producer. Buhler wrote the 2008 Bradley Cooper-starring horror film The Midnight Meat Train, with movie projects in the pipeline such as Descendant, Black River and horror thriller remake film Jacob’s Ladder, as well as a revival of horror film franchise The Grudge.

Moreover, to ensure said smooth series transition, Syfy is reportedly bringing onboard (as a consultant,) Terry Matalas, writer and co-creator of the cable channel’s imminently-ending series, 12 Monkeys, who also brings experience from his time on Nikita, Terra Nova, Star Trek: Enterprise and Star Trek: Voyager.

Nightflyers Cast

Phillip Rhys is the latest addition to the Nightflyers cast, reports Deadline. Rhys will recur on the series as Murphy, who is described as “a top systems tech engineer” who become inconsolably disturbed upon learning that “an L-1 telepath” is amongst the Nightflyer’s complement.

Rhys, an English actor, appeared in the 2015 Doctor Who Christmas special as Ramone, one of the episode’s titular “Husbands of River Song.” He’s also fielded TV runs on 24, Nip/Tuck and Survivors, along with guest spots on Rosewood, Glee, CSI, Bones and Warehouse 13.

With Syfy's early-January announcement of Nightflyers’ full series order came the reveal of the show’s cast.

Gretchen Mol will headline the series, playing Dr. Agatha Matheson.

Mol, who burst on the scene as a late-1990s it-girl from roles in Donnie Brasco, Rounders and The Thirteenth Floor, and steamed up the small screen in the 2005 HBO biopic, The Notorious Bettie Page, has made her presence known with recent television runs on Chance, Mozart in the Jungle and Boardwalk Empire. She notably appeared in last year’s Oscars-accruing drama, Manchester by the Sea. She's also booked to appear in the upcoming USA drama series Yellowstone.

And here’s the supporting cast:

Eoin Macken (The Night Shift) as Karl D’Branin

David Ajala (Fast & Furious 6) as Roy Eris

Sam Strike (EastEnders) as Thale

Maya Eshet (Teen Wolf) as Lommie

Angus Sampson (Fargo) as Rowan

Jodie Turner-Smith (The Last Ship) as Melantha Jhirl

Brían F. O'Byrne (Million Dollar Baby) as Auggie

Nightflyers Details

Jeff Buhler, of The Midnight Meat Train and the upcoming horror thriller remake Jacob’s Ladder is the showrunner; a position to which he was promoted, after Daniel Cerone (The Blacklist, The Mentalist) dropped out.

Mike Cahill (I Origin) will direct the pilot.

Onboard as executive producers are Gene Klein, David Bartis and Edge of Tomorrow and The Bourne Identity franchise blockbuster director Doug Liman, all of whom are representing production company Hypnotic, which Liman co-owns with Bartis. Alison Rosenzweig and Michael Gaeta of Gaeta Rosenzweig Films along with Lloyd Ivan Miller and Alice P. Neuhauser of Lloyd Ivan Miller Productions are also onboard. 

Netflix is also a co-producer on the Syfy project; a privilege that will yield the streaming giant first-run rights outside the U.S.

Additionally, George R.R. Martin himself will be a credited executive producer on the series.

“We are looking forward to diving deeper into George R. R. Martin’s chilling world of Nightflyers,” Bill McGoldrick, executive vice president of scripted development for NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, said in a July statement. “The script that Jeff delivered encapsulates this classic sci-fi horror story and adapts it to a platform where we can truly explore the depths of madness.”

Robert Jaffe, who wrote the screenplay for the 1987 Nightflyers film, is onboard the series as a producer. It doesn't look like Martin will be involved with the series, at least for now.

The story of the George R.R. Martin-conceived supernatural space thriller is set on the eve of Earth’s destruction, depicting the travails of the crew of the most advanced ship in the galaxy in the titular spacecraft the Nightflyer. Adrift in space without a planet to call home, the goal of the surviving humans is to intercept a mysterious alien ship which is believed to hold the key for their survival. However, as the ship closes in on its destination, it becomes apparent that the Nightflyer’s onboard AI and its elusive captain – with mysterious motivations – may be leading the crew on a primrose path ending in the hopeless, horrific darkness of deep space.

The genesis of Nightflyers occurred with George R.R. Martin’s original 1980 novella of the same name, for which he received Japan’s Seiun Award in 1983 for Best Foreign Language Short Story of the Year. The story was subsequently collected as the title entry in Martin’s 1985 Nightflyers collection. The 1987 film adaptation, directed by Robert Collector (Jungle Warriors), starred perennial 1980s movie love interest Catherine Mary Stewart and Dynasty’s Michael Praed, manifesting with a limited release that grossed a paltry $1.145 million dollars at the box office (and sent Martin back to television to write for Beauty and the Beast).

Probably the biggest early news of an already busy San Diego Comic-Con has been the release of the first trailer for Titans, the original live-action series created exclusively for DC's new DC Universe streaming service. The show stars Brenton Thwaites and Anna Diop as Robin and Starfire among others.

If you haven't watched it yet, check out the trailer below:

Now that you're all caught up, it's time to break down this trailer to find all of its secrets. There will be spoilers and baseless speculation starting now:

We start in Haly's Circus, returning to the scene of Robin's parents' deaths. Haly's is where Robin grew up as a member of the Flying Graysons, a trapeze act, until they were killed by a mobster who was extorting the circus.

Raven (Teagan Croft) is our first link in the trailer to the seminal Marv Wolfman/George Perez New Teen Titansrun that is basically the foundation for everything we know and love about the team. She was introduced by the duo in 1980 as the daughter of Trigon, a giant badass demon who ruled his own realm. Raven is an empath, with the power to sense other people's emotions. But that's not the only way that power has been portrayed in the past...

I'm not sure if it's the way they cut the trailer or if it's actually how the show is going to go, but Dick Grayson (Thwaites) is apparently a cop or a tech for the cops in this show. This wouldn't be the first time he took up that gig. In the comics, Dick Grayson was a member of Bludhaven PD back around the turn of the millennium.

Robin's outfit is very Tim Drake. Drake, the third and best Robin, was also the first to dramatically redesign the Robin outfit away from the booties and tights outfit, and into something more functional. And by functional, we mean "the R is a throwing star." This redesign was handled by a team of artists, but it was eventually Neal Adams and Norm Breyfogle who contributed the most.

Starfire (Diop) is another character created by Wolfman and Perez. Koriand'r is an alien princess sold into slavery by her sister who escaped and came to Earth, and eventually found her way to the Titans.

Intellectually, we knew it was coming, but still, seeing a live-action Hawk (Alan Richtson) and Dove (Minka Kelly), especially Dawn Granger as Dove, is nuts. The original team of Hank and Don Hall was created by Steve Ditko back in the '60s. They showed up a bit and never really took until Don was killed in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Following that reboot, Karl and Barbara Kesel and Rob Liefeld reimagined Dove as Dawn Granger.

We also get a good look at Beast Boy! Created as part of the Doom Patrol in the late '60s, Gar Logan changed his name to Changeling when he joined the Titans, but he went by Beast Boy in the enormously successful Teen Titanscartoon of the mid-aughts, so that seems to have stuck. He'll be played by Ryan Potter.

As we started to talk about before, Raven's empathy powers have occasionally veered into "emotional vampire" territory. That seems to be the case here.

There's a strong horror vibe running through this entire trailer. Raven's backstory lends itself to it, coming almost straight out of a set of horror tropes. It's going to be interesting to see how the team follows through on this.

For more news from San Diego Comic-Con, including a comprehensive list of who besides Batman Robin doesn't give a fuck about, stick with Den of Geek!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Geoff Johns took advantage of his SDCC Spotlight panel to reveal a few projects he's working on, including a new Shazam ongoing series and the highly-anticipated "Three Jokers" comic he's been teasing since that famous issue of Justice League back in the New 52 era. A three-issue miniseries titled Batman: Three Jokers is indeed on the way, written by Johns and drawn by frequent collaborator Jason Fabok. 

The mystery of the Three Jokers began in Justice League Vol. 2 #42 when Batman asked the Mobius Chair (look it up because I'm not getting into it here) about the Clown's real name. Its answer was cryptic at best: "There are three." 

Johns shared during his panel that the Mobius Chair's answer should be taken literally. There are in fact three Jokers running around the DC Universe. Batman: Three Jokerswill shed light on the mystery of the Joker and will star Batman, Jason Todd, and Barbara Gordon -- three characters deeply affected by the Clown Prince of Crime. 

"I’ve never really done a Batman story beyond Batman: Earth One, and if I’m going to tell a Batman story, I want it to be amazing and cool and something no one’s ever seen before," Johns explained. "This is a story about the shared pain between Bruce and Barbara and Jason and the way that some scars heal wrong and some heal right. I think of this as a Joker story.

"By the end of this series, Bruce and Joker will have a relationship that is completely different than the one they have now. There’s a really fun scene where Joker drives this truck and he gets to the woods and he goes up to this cabin in the woods and there’s another Joker standing there in the door wearing a Hawaiian shirt and the Joker who drove up says, 'That’s my shirt.'"

Johns noted that the book will be in-continuity despite the fact that it's being published under the DC Black Label imprint. 

No release date has been set for the book. Johns did reveal the first piece of art for the series:

More news on Batman: Three Jokersas we learn it!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

When the archaeologists opened the tomb of high priest Imhotep in the 1932 classic film The Mummy, they didn't drop over and die. Their faces didn't melt off like they did in Raiders of the Lost Arc. The curse of the Scroll of Thoth followed ten years later. Mostafa Waziry and his team of mummification and restoration specialists opened the black, granite casket they found in Alexandria, Egypt, last week.

“The sarcophagus has been opened, but we have not been hit by a curse,” Waziry, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council for Antiquities, announced, according to the BBC. "We've opened it and, thank God, the world has not fallen into darkness. I was the first to put my whole head inside the sarcophagus... and here I stand before you ... I am fine."

Fine, except for the sewage.

The 30-ton black granite sarcophagus, which dated to a time after Alexander the Great conquered the area in 332 B.C., contained three mummies, which decomposed after sewage water "leaked through the grove in this area," Dr. Mostafa Ministers, Secretary-General of the high council of Antiquities, said on the Ministry of Antiquities Facebook page.

Shaaban Abdul, who specializes "in the study of mummies and skeletons, confirmed that the initial preview of bone structures suggests that they are most likely to belong to three officers or military soldiers, where one of the skeletons found a blow to the arrow," the Facebook post adds.

The red liquid appears to have entered the sarcophagus through a crack on its right side. Analysis of the skeletal remains is ongoing. Some observers believed it could contain the corpse of Alexander the Great. The line of pharaohs who ruled after Alexander the Great's death in 323 B.C. stretched to Cleopatra VII, who killed herself in 30 B.C., when the Roman Empire took over Egypt. It is believed the people buried in the tomb may have died in battle. The exact age of the skeletons is unclear. Any objects buried with the skeletons could have been destroyed by the sewage.

The sarcophagus was discovered in the Sidi Gaber district of Alexandria. Archaeologists were inspecting the site before construction took place. It is the largest found in Alexandria, measuring nearly 9 feet long, 5 feet wide and 6 feet tall. It was found covered in a thick layer of mortar. So far no inscriptions or works of art have been found on the outside or inside of the sarcophagus. An alabaster head of a man was found near the sarcophagus when it was discovered but no other relics have been found.

The mysteries of ancient Egypt are coming clear in the country and beyond. A 2,200-year-old gold coin with a depiction of the King Ptolemy III, was recently unearthed. A statue of a Nubian king with an inscription written in Egyptian hieroglyphics was found at a Nile River temple in Sudan. An artifact depicting the female pharaoh Hatshepsut surfaced in the U.K.  A marble head depicting the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius was found in Southern Egypt.  Tattered remains of an ancient priestess were found in a 2,500-year-old Egyptian coffin long thought to be empty, was found in Australia. The oldest tattooed female Egyptian mummy was discovered in the U.K. More than 40 mummies and a necklace containing a “message from the afterlife” was found in an ancient cemetery in Egypt.  

The sarcophagus was transferred to Alexandria National Museum for conservation and further study.

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Over the last two years, DC Comics has found its soul again. Kicking off with the Rebirth one shot in spring 2016, DC combined a kind of back-to-basics approach to its heroes with a knack for matching the right creative teams to their characters. We've had some potentially all-time great creative runs on Green Arrow, Batman, and The Flash, potentially all-time great comic series such as Mister Miracle, and recent all-star launches like the Brian Michael Bendis Superman books and Scott Snyder's Justice League.

But where has Shazam been in all of this? Back in January, DC publisher Dan Didio said that DC had "the right team, we're just waiting for them to be available." Well, the book is finally happening!

Coming this November is a new Shazam series from Johns and Dale Eaglesham (Fantastic Four, Detective Comics). The new book spins out of backups that ran through early arcs of Johns' Justice League, the book that launched the New 52 in 2011. The stories reset Billy Batson and his world, recasting Batson as a mouthy ass with a heart of gold who eventually realizes that his foster siblings are the most important thing to him. He then shares his power with them, creating the new Marvel family and imbuing each with a piece of his power.

The artist on those backups is Johns' art partner on Doomsday Clock, Gary Frank. Likely due to the intricateness of the art on that Watchmen sequel, though, Frank is unavailable for this new Shazam book, so the art duties will be handled by Eaglesham.

Eaglesham is an industry vet, having drawn some of the best issues in "No Man's Land," the year-long 1999 event in the Batman comics that saw Gotham isolated and removed from America because of an earthquake and a feckless, incompetent government; some of the best issues of Jonathan Hickman's epic Fantastic Four run; and some of the best issues of Johns' run on Justice Society of America. So he's not bad.

Johns recently freed up from his executive duties to focus more on writing and was the writer of the New 52 Shazam reboot, which is the basis for the 2019 movie starring Zachary Levi in the title role. Usually, when there's a movie about to drop, DC puts together a big launch for a character, so we're likely to see something special when this new Shazam series hits.

Here's the official synopsis from Johns' website:

Billy Batson and his surrogate family; Mary Bromfield, Freddy Freeman, Darla Dudley, Eugen Choi and Pedro Pena unlock the mysteries of the Rock of Eternity and delve into the secret worlds of magic to discover their ultimate destiny!

Johns took to the stage at this year's SDCC to reveal a piece of art from the project:

For more on Shazam or any of his component parts - Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles or Mercury - stick with Den of Geek!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Fantagraphics announced at 2018's San Diego Comic-Con that The Comics Journal, the incredibly influential magazine about comics, will return to print in January o2019. Issue #303 will be the first print copy of the magazine since 2015.

TCJ was founded in 1977 by Gary Groth as a home for more highbrow discussion of the medium than was commonly available at the time. Two new managing editors take the reins with this upcoming restart: Kristy Valenti and RJ Casey.

“The Comics Journal had been a near-monolithic force in my life and I think its absence has been felt by more people than just me,” said Casey. “I'm beyond excited to bring new voices, new ideas, and a new enthusiasm to the Journal."

Valenti said, “With the knowledge and skills I've gained over the last 15 years co-editing nearly 50 issues of the print edition of The Comics Journal, I am excited to help push the Journal forward and continue its evolution. My goal is to usher in a new era of comics criticism to further explore where the comics medium is going.”

In addition to being a medium for thoughtful and detailed criticism of the medium, The Comics Journalwas also a critical front in the battle for creators' rights. The Journal was home to the only reporting on the industry's aborted unionization push in the 1970s and led the charge against DC and Marvel for their mistreatment of Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Jack Kirby, dedicating the entirety of their February 1986 issue to thrashing Marvel for the company's ongoing dispute with the King. And while their web presence has maintained that distinct voice and perspective, their print return is a welcome development and desperately needed.

For more comic news industry coverage from SDCC and beyond, stick with Den of Geek!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

At his spotlight panel at SDCC 2018, Geoff Johns confirmed that the Titanslive action show will see appearances by Donna Troy, Jason Todd, Superboy and Lex Luthor when the show premieres later this year.

Conor Leslie plays Donna Troy, the first Wonder Girl created by Bob Haney and Bruno Premiani in 1965. She was an orphan rescued by Wonder Woman and raised on Paradise Island, given powers by Purple Ray technology. She sank into a continuity morass with 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths,and modified into a Molecule Man-esque character who remained an early member of the Teen Titans.

Curran Walters will play Jason Todd. Todd was the second Robin, a street tough brought in by Batman to replace Dick Grayson in the Batcave. Todd met Batman while he was trying to lift the tires off of the Batmobile, and after a stint as Robin, was killed by the Joker and also a telephone poll of readers who decided (by a margin smaller than a percentage point) to kill him.

Todd was resurrected in 2005 as the Red Hood, a cross between Batman and the Punisher, in the landmark "Under the Red Hood" story. He remains a major character in the DC Universe today, and has made appearances in multiple mediums, most recently as a sneakily top-tier character in the NetherRealm DC fighting game, Injustice 2.

Superboy had been hinted at in casting calls for the show earlier in the year. The cast sheet for "David" talked about a super-strong young man kept in a lab, which matches the origin Johns gave to Superboy in his touchstone mid-aughts Teen Titansrun. The original Superboy was just Superman when he was younger, but that origin was erased by Crisis on Infinite Earths. A new clone Superboy, Kon-El, was introduced in 1992 following Superman's death as part of the "Reign of the Supermen" storyline. Conner (as he came to be known) joined the Titans after a stint on Young Justice when Johns took the helm of the book, and it was revealed that his DNA was a mix of Superman and Lex Luthor's. This story was picked up on screen in Young Justice,the outstanding cartoon that is also being resurrected as part of DC Entertainment's streaming service.

Lex Luthor needs no introduction, of course. It sounds like the villain will be up to his old tricks when he finally arrives on the show. Johns didn't give a timeline for when we might see Luthor but he did confirm it was part of the plan. 

"I pitched [Dan DiDio] the Superboy/Lex Luthor thing -- which we'll get to [on Titans] eventually," said Johns during the panel. 

For more on Titans, SDCC, or for a detailed Injustice 2tier list (Grodd is top tier THERE IS NO ARGUING), stick with Den of Geek!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog might need to update its name for a new medium. 

Today in Hall H at Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog 10th Anniversary Panel, Dr. Horrible creator Joss Whedon revealed that his 2008 web series would be returning as a comic book for Dark Horse. The book will be called Dr. Horrible: Best Friends Forever and will be released on November 14. 

"What a pleasure it is to be back in this world, putting words into these characters’ mouths and saying, ‘say these words, mouths’ and then they do,” Whedon said. “Each member of the Hammerverse—sorry, Doc, that’s what it’s called, he registered it—is a delightful, bigger than life character, but more importantly, on a very human level, they’re idiots. You will thrill to their adventures and weep for their pain, or maybe not weep, maybe just, I don’t know, itchy nose. Based on Actual Events."

The comic will feature art by José Maria Beroy (Versus) and Sara Soler (Red & Blue) with colors by Dan Jackson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), cover art by Fábio Moon (Two Brothers) and a variant cover by Francesco Francavilla (The Black Beetle). Here is a first look at the cover.

According to a Dark Horse press release, Dr. Horrible Best Friends Forever will feature the team up of Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer as they try to take down the time temptress, Hourglass.

Back when Dr. Horrible Sing-Along Blog debuted in 2008, it was more of a creative writing exercise than anything else. The writer's strike that briefly shut down the film and TV industry was raging and Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and much more, wanted to see if he could successfully produce a series for the web on his own and for cheap. Turns out he could with the help of brothers Zack and Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog followed Neil Patrick Harris as the titular villain Dr. Horrible. Dr. Horrible vlogged his way through life as he tussled with his nemesis, Captain Hammer (Nathan Fillion), and fell for the girl at his local laundromat, Penny (Felicia Day). 

Some of the terminology is now dated (when's the last time you said you were going to go check out a "blog?") but the characters and concept have stood the test of time. Let's see what other mediums we can fit Dr. Horrible into like Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Snapchat or Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along YouTube Unboxing Video.

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Tom King's Heroes in Crisis is the next big event comic from DC and it's a very dark one. The story follows a handful of heroes who have checked into Sanctuary, a mental health treatment center for superheroes suffering from PTSD. The center is located in rural Nebraska, with Kryptonian technology and AI based on Wonder Woman built using Batman's money. It's a place where heroes suffering from trauma relating to their work can go for talk and exposure therapy so that they can get back to helping people.

The story begins with a mass shooting at Sanctuary because it's 2018. Several superheroes are murdered and it's up to the survivors to figure out the cause of the senseless violence. Speaking at a Heroes in Crisis event at SDCC, King explained that the real inspiration behind Heroes in Crisis was the nervous breakdown he suffered in 2016 after the death of his grandmother, who raised him. 

"I was broken, I didn’t realize how brittle I was," said King of spending the last two years in therapy in order to cope with his PTSD due to his time with the CIA in Afghanistan and his mental health. "I don’t feel like I created Sanctuary, I feel like I discovered it."

You can check out some preview pages from Heroes in Crisis above. 

Booster Gold and Harley Quinn are two of the featured characters. Harley's presence in Sanctuary isn't readily explained, but Booster's is likely due to the mental trauma from his adventure in an alternate timeline that he created as a "wedding gift" to Batman. Booster saved Thomas and Martha Wayne and inadvertently created a horrifying nightmare where Dick Grayson was an armed-to-the-teeth Batman and everybody was being killed by the Joker.

Clay Mann, who most recently drew the double date issues of Batmanwith King, titled "Superfriends," will be telling most of the main story. Mitch Gerads, King's art partner on the utterly incredible Mister Miracle, will be popping in for brief examinations of the psyche of superhero patients of Sanctuary.

And because this book is titled "Crisis," it's extremely likely that a Flash will die, according to King. Fortunately, there is an abundance of Flashes in the current DC Universe.

For more on Heroes in Crisis, including a betting market on which Flash is likely to perish (Avery Ho is currently trading at .60), or any other news from San Diego Comic Con, stick with Den of Geek!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Tom King might be the master of breaking down superheroes and building them back up. He did this with The Vision, Mister Miracle, and is currently in the process of doing it to Batman, the one dude who needs no more breaking. But there's one superhero who will suffer King's pen, but won't get a chance to come back stronger than before: The Flash. 

It was revealed during a special Heroes in Crisis  event at SDCC that King means to kill the Fastest Man Alive in the upcoming DC crossover series about superheroes dealing with trauma. Speaking about the dark miniseries, which tells the story of a mass shooting inside of Sanctuary, the help center where superheroes go to cope with mental health issues. The survivors are left to pick up the pieces of the disaster and figure out why someone would commit such a terrible act of violence. 

This is King tackling our real-life issues from the massive scope of a "Crisis," a word that has a huge significance to the DC universe. King explained at SDCC that his story is much more personal than the usual epic event series that carry "Crisis" name. But one thing that Heroes in Crisis and other Crisis events have in common is that a Flash will die in the story.

"You can’t have a Crisis without a dead Flash, explained King. "And that’s all I’m gonna say about that."

Most famously, Barry Allen died during the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986, making way for his protege, Wally West, to become the next Flash. Once again, a Flash is destined to die, but King did not reveal which Flash will meet his end. At the moment, there are two heroes operating as the Flash -- the usual incumbent Barry Allen and the original Wally West, who recently returned to the DC Universe after being erased from continuity during the New 52 relaunch back in 2011. There's also Kid Flash and Impulse, who just popped back up to in The Flash #50. Basically, there are a lot of dead Flashes to choose from. 

We'll keep you updated as we learn more about the fate of The Flash and Heroes in Crisis!

Read the Den of Geek SDCC 2018 Special Edition Magazine Here!

Batman is getting a new suit and it looks pretty familiar. DC revealed at SDCC that the Dark Knight will don his black trunks once again and an all-around more classic look than what we've seen recent years. Gone are the purple hues of the cape and the black and yellow Bat symbol on the chest. The utility belt is yellow once again. It's the old Batman we all grew up with.

DC showed two pieces of art working showing off the suit's return to basics. One is from Lee Weeks:

And here's the other from Tony S. Daniel:

While we're not sure what the Weeks art pertains to, Daniel's piece is the cover of the upcoming Batman #55 (out on Sept. 19), which features a team-up between the Caped Crusader and Nightwing, who has been hanging around since Catwoman left the Dark Knight at the altar earlier in July. It remains to be seen if the issue will also explain why Bats is changing his look. It's probably the heartbreak. 

In reality, the suit redesign is almost certainly meant to tie in with the fact that Detective Comics #1000, a massive anniversary issue from DC, is scheduled to hit racks next March. Superman received a similar redesign back to his classic look for this year's Action Comics #1000, red trunks and all.

DC seems keen on bringing characters back to their roots for these big milestones. We doubt Batman will enjoy the big creative shake-up that Superman did with Brian Michael Bendis, especially since Tom King is absolutely killing it on Batman at the moment and we don't want him going anywhere. We'll take the trunks as long as we can keep King. 

The Batsuit redesign arrived in 2016, just in time for the Rebirth relaunch. The suit was designed by Batman veteran Greg Capullo. We talked to Capullo about that suit at length when it was first revealed. 

Interestingly enough, there was already a sense the Batsuit was going to change even before the DC announcement. We wondered if DC had stealthily snuck in a redesign in the pages of Doomsday Clock. The suit the Bat wears in the Geoff Johns/Gary Frank miniseries is a bit different than anything else we've seen. Ultimately, that seems to just be a stylistic thing, as DC has settled on something a bit more retro. 

More on Bat vigilante fashion as we learn it!

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At the Bat Family panel at SDCC, DC Comics announced that Pete Tomasi and Doug Mahnke will be taking over Detective Comicswith issue #994, just in time for the mega-anniversary issue #1000 coming next March. Both Tomasi and Mahnke have worked on Batman comics before.

Most recently, Tomasi worked with regular collaborator Patrick Gleason on the Rebirth relaunch of Superman. Their book focused on Superman and his family dynamic with Lois and Jon. Prior to that, he and Gleason worked on Batman & Robin, the book with the unenviable task of running parallel to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's deservedly heralded run, and Grant Morrison's generational Batman, Inc.And despite that, Batman & Robin was so good that we will likely see a sample collection of it in 10 years a la the Legends of the Dark Knight omnibuses collecting Jim Aparo or Len Wein or Steve Engleheart.

Tomasi and Mahnke last worked together on an arc of Supermanthat guest starred Frankenstein and his Bride, two characters who largely owe their popularity to Mahnke's work in the Seven Soldiers series. They had an extended run together on Green Lantern Corps. Mahnke has been one of DC's best and most reliable artists for the better part of a decade.

No word on any story details yet. For more on Detective Comics, or for a detailed discussion of Mahnke's design of the Miracle Machine from Final Crisis, stick with Den of Geek!

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The Marvel Knights imprint is one of the most significant lines of superhero comics to have ever been created, and 20 years after its launch, Marvel has decided to resurrect it with one of its hottest young writers in charge.

Donny Cates (God Country, Thanos, Venom) was announced at SDCC as the "showrunner" of the relaunched Marvel Knights imprint. And while no titles were announced at the show, some of the creators Cates is bringing in were. Joining him are Tini Howard (Assassinistas),Matthew Rosenberg (4 Kids Walk Into A Bank), and Vita Ayala (The Wilds).

Marvel Knights was created in 1998 as Marvel Comics was entering bankruptcy. Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti were contracted to create comics with a collection of lower profile Marvel characters, which at the time included Daredevil, Black Panther, the Inhumans, and Captain America. You can probably see where this is going: the Marvel Knights stories with these characters are legendary and foundational for their popularity today.

Daredevilwas launched with Kevin Smith writing and Quesada drawing, and was later adapted wholesale by the Netflix series. The Punisher story was "Welcome Back Frank," by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon, and is probably the most famous Punisher story of all time. It was also later adapted wholesale by Netflix's Daredevil. Black Panther came from Christopher Priest and is one of the best comics of all time, a run that inspired much of the movie from earlier this year. And Inhumans was routinely one of the top selling books of the time and was the first of a thousand Jae Lee head tilts.

The success of the line was so great that Quesada was promoted to Editor-in-Chief shortly thereafter, and he helped lead Marvel out of bankruptcy and to become one of the most valuable entertainment companies in the world.

For more on Marvel Knights, stick with Den of Geek!

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Two new Star Wars comic series were announced at the Lucasfilm Publishing panel at SDCC and they're both unexpected projects that bring a new scope to the franchise's comic book line.

The first is a MASSIVE undertaking at Marvel. Three books will combine for 30 issues across the Prequel, Original, and Sequel eras. Each issue of the 30 will spotlight a different character from that era, and each era has a different writer attached. Jody Houser (Faith, Mother Panic) is writing the Age of Republicbooks; Greg Pak (Mech Cadet Yu, Storm) will be writing Age of Rebellion, and Tom Taylor (All-New Wolverine, X-Men Red) will write Age of Resistance.

The first issue, from Houser, looks to have art from Luke Ross, her art partner on Star Wars: Thrawn.It features Darth Maul. No launch date or other artists have been announced yet.

The second book is Star Wars: Tales from Vader's Castlefrom IDW and Disney. It's an offshoot of IDW's all-ages Star Wars books from Cavan Scott (Star Wars Adventures) and Derek Charm (ValiantHigh ) that sets popular characters from Star Wars in Vader's castle for ghost stories.

"Vader terrified me growing up, and I can’t wait to add to the legacy of Star Wars’ villain, providing frightening new scares for the next generation," said Scott. 

In a completely unfair development, the book will also have covers from Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife with Archie,Detective Comics). Tales from Vader's Castleis out weekly in October to coincide with Halloween.

For more from the Star Wars comics universe, stick with Den of Geek!

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Two upcoming Star Wars books will expand the world of the prequel films. 

As revealed at SDCC, Lucasfilm will work with various authors on a series of canonical prequel Star Wars stories. The announcement began with the reveal of Queen’s Shadow; a novel by E.K. Johnston that dives into the history of Padmé Amidala.  The story seems to take place sometime between The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones and will follow Amidala as she transitions from being a Queen to being a senator. 

That's one of those Star Wars stories that hasn't been properly told before, and it will certainly be nice to have more information on what happens in that mysterious time frame between the first and second prequel movies. Queen's Shadow is set to release on March 5, 2019.

The next confirmed prequel novel is called Master and Apprentice. We know less about this one, but this Claudia Gray novel will focus on Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn's adventures prior to the events of The Phantom Menace. Given that the pair seemed to be early into their master/apprentice relationship in that film, we're going to assume that this book will pick up around the time that the two Jedi were paired together. 

Master and Apprentice is currently scheduled for release on February 26, 2019. 

At this time, Lucasfilm did not reveal any other canonical prequel books that are in the works. However, it's certainly not unreasonable to suspect that some kind of expanded stories are in the works. For one thing, we've never known a company to leave Star Wars money alone, and it just makes sense that the studio would be interested in using these books to create some healthy distance between film releases. 

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It seems that Justice League #6 will give us a rare - and possibly controversial - look at The Joker's childhood. 

As announced at the SDCC Justice League panel, this Scott Snyder and Jorge Jimenez will dive deep into The Joker's past. While the extent of The Joker's role in the story wasn't fully-revealed, a single panel from the comic already has fans buzzing. 

The panel in question features the modern-day Joker surrounded by four smaller images showing parts of his past. Two of the images are pretty standard (The Joker as the leader of the Red Hood gang and The Joker as a failed comedian), but the bottom two images are something we haven't really seen before. While the visual of The Joker walking into his school isn't mind-blowing, that picture of him microwaving what seems to be a live bird is pretty fascinating. 

After all, this visual could be interpreted to suggest that The Joker has been mentally unhinged for a very long time. This may conflict slightly with the popular idea that The Joker's situation in life was largely the result of one truly bad day that snowballed into something much worse. Of course, when it comes to The Joker's past, there is always room for interpretation. 

Speaking about the issue, Scott Snyder said that he intends to "focus on Joker" in this upcoming issue and loves being able to treat Batman as comic relief given that he has "wrote him so seriously for so long.”

It's too early to say with absolute certainty whether or not this issue will attempt to offer some kind of "definitive" version of The Joker's past, but given that the subject of The Joker's history has long been the source of lively debate, we imagine that this upcoming Justice League issue will inspire some heated conversations. 

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Rebellion Developments, the game publisher who has owned the rights to Dredd and the larger 2000 AD comic book universe since 2000, announced in August of 2017 that it is partnering with IM Global Television to produce a television series called Judge Dredd: Mega City One, and now news from San Diego Comic-Con tells us that comics writer Rob Williams has a pilot script at the ready with a full two years of plot broken out as well.

Rebellion creative director and CEO Jason Kingsley will executive producer the show with Brian Jenkins. “It’s been really exciting to be working with Rob on the pilot,” Jenkins said in a statement via THR. “We have a really talented team here at Rebellion Productions and I’m really proud of them. Jason and I have been busy looking at locations and laying out season one as we gear up, to move forward into pre-production.”

Kingsley said in the same statement, “I’ve read the pilot script by Rob and the team, and got that same thrill I did when I first discovered Judge Dredd. As we drive this project forward I’m always surprised by how much effort goes on behind-the-scenes to bring something like Mega-City One to the screen. I’m very pleased with how the whole project is coming together and looking forward to more exciting announcements in the coming months.”

The new series is described as a drama focusing on a team of street judges, law enforcement officers who act in a dystopian future as judge, jury, and executioner of criminals. The series is set in a grim 22nd century where the eastern seaboard of the United States has morphed into one giant sprawling metropolis called Mega City—the last refuge for law and order on an otherwise smoldering cinder. The series is also promised to deal with modern problems in its futuristic setting, including domestic terrorism and the tensions between the super-rich and disenfranchised.

Judge Dredd: Mega City One Concept Art

IGN has revealed concept art for Judge Dredd: Mega City One, and it looks appropriately noirish. They also show that the overpopulation of Mega City One will make Blade Runner look like a cozy paradise since the first image of the "Democracy March" shows even the suspension bridges in the sky are overcrowded. You can also see in the background that the people pollution has even drowned out the Statue of Liberty.

The second image, meanwhile, revels in the city's grimey underbelly, complete with an apparent lowlife's arrival in the city's dark and high-contrasted shadows.

Judge Dredd: Mega City One Cast

Karl Urban recently appeared at Star Trek's Las Vegas convention to chat about a whole bunch of things, which inevitably ended up including his possible links to Judge Dredd: Mega City One, the planned TV continuation of the 2012 cult classic movie featuring the 2000 AD antihero. 

Urban revealed that “I am in discussions with them about that. I told them that if they write the material and give Dredd something to do and give him a function, I will be there. I would love to.”

Though Pete Travis' Dredd performed poorly in cinemas, it gained further popularity on its home release, and fans of both the film and John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra's character have been championing a return to Mega City One ever since.

More as this develops.

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Judge Dredd: Mega City One Trailer

A video was released to explain how this may be the most exciting—and lasting—attempt to put Dredd in live-action yet.

Judge Dredd was previously portrayed onscreen by Sylvester Stallone in an ill-fated 1995 action movie and again by Urban in the 2012 cult classic. The character and his universe were created by John Wagner, Carlos Ezquerra, and Pat Mills in 1977’s 2000 AD #2.

Judge Dredd: Mega City One Release Date

No release date has been set for Judge Dredd: Mega City One. Our guess is that it's still a ways away as the show is currently in early development. 

At the Supergirlpanel at San Diego Comic Con, the show's cast and crew confirmed that they were following through with their teased bad guy for season 4. Manchester Black, the telepathic bastard who has plagued Kara's cousin for almost 20 years, is joining the show. He'll be played by David Ajala (The Dark Knight, Doctor Who).

Manchester Black was created by Joe Kelley and Doug Mahnke in 2001 for Action Comics#775. He was originally a pastiche of Jenny Sparks and the rest of The Authority, a Wildstorm Justice League analogue that was ultra violent and cynical about the purpose of superheroes. Kelley and Mahnke created him as a direct expression of that millieu for Superman to rebut in "What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?"

Black continued to appear in Kelley's Justice League Eliteand was eventually converted into a full Superman bad guy. His most recent appearance was in Supermanaround his 25th post-Rebirth issue, corrupting Jon and several cows in an attack on Clark.

He is a telepath and telekinetic, with very precise, fine control over his telekinesis, something Superman has turned around on him on multiple occasions. This should be an interesting villain for Kara to fight - his cynicism is actually his defining trait.

For more on Supergirlseason 4, stick with Den of Geek!

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"Haunted places have long been a staple in Stephen King's writing," opens the new 25-minute long video documentary The Search for Castle Rock. "That's because the location that inspired his writing have dark histories themselves." Hulu dropped the video, which explores the backstories to their upcoming series Castle Rock, at San Diego Comic-Con, according to io9.

The production team traveled to Maine to highlight the locations and events in the small towns of Durham and Bangor, Maine, where King grew up and explain how they influenced his works. The documentary features interviews with King, along with Sissy Spacek, who played the title role in Carrie in 1976, J.J. Abrams, the series creators, and Stephen King specialists.

Castle Rock is a psychological horror series set in the Stephen King multiverse. The series stars Spacek, André Holland, Bill Skarsgard, Melanie Lynskey, Jane Levy, and Scott Glenn.

The novels Cujo, Needful Things, The Body, Shawshank Redemption, It, Salem’s Lot, The Mist and many other King books are set in his childhood hood. As frightening as they are, King still lives in the area.

You can watch the documentary here:

The first three episodes of Castle Rock premiere on Wednesday, July 25, on Hulu.

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