Comic-Con 2024: Jim Lee & Friends DC Panel Recap

San Diego Comic-Con is underway, bringing a slew of updates in the worlds of movies, television shows, comics, and more. For the third year in a row, DC’s presence at the event includes the Jim Lee and Friends panel, a showcase for a number of surprises across the DC brand. This year, that not only included comics, but a few teases of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios. Here’s what happened during DC’s Jim Lee and Friends panel.

Lee takes the stage and introduces three current architects of the comics: Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, and Tom King. Snyder previews the Absolute Universe and his Absolute Batman. He wanted a gruff Batman who isn’t part of the system at all. He’s committed to the book for two years; the Absolute line will be a “ticking clock” for the whole DCU. Williamson talks about his Superman run, says DC wanted new stories, new heroes, and new villains in the core line as well as Absolute. Williamson wanted to explore Lois Lane, the matriarch of the SuperFam, getting powers. On the topic of the All-In flip book: the Superman side will have the hopeful side of the DCU and the return of the Justice League, the opposite side is Darkseid and the Absolute Universe. Scott wanted to call it “DC AF”, or Absolute Frontier, but that got vetoed.

Lee teases a “collective” vision for the DC Universe that represents all of the editorial team and creators. He reveals that Rob Levin is the new Batman editor. Lee reveals his variant covers for Absolute Superman and Batman, as well as Mark Waid and Dan Mora’s Justice League relaunch. 

King talks Wonder Woman and Trinity — King says he both loves and hates Snyder and Williamson for being so good. He compares Snyder’s DC return to John Cena returning to WWE. He had to up his game, teases Wonder Woman #14 is the biggest WW issue in decades, bigger than the wedding in Batman #50. Trinity is born, it will be her first appearance in main continuity, her “father” will be revealed as well.

Snyder wanted the new initiative to be like Rebirth, a “giant party” to celebrate how great superheroes are. They announce Absolute Green Lantern from Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay, which will be a “first contact” story impacting multiple Lantern characters we know like Hal, John, and Jo Mullein. “Complete reimagining” of the property.

Elseworlds and Black Label get shout-outs, Lee argues Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen would have been Black Label if they were published today. Brings out Jeph Loeb, who praises the plans are “incredible” and “new and different”, and says that fans should not buy a few books from the other company to prioritize these. Loeb talks about his first SDCC experience with Challengers of the Unknown and his first experience meeting Lee, which led to him meeting Tim Sale and working on Batman: The Long Halloween together. Sale was working on Batman: The Last Halloween when he passed away, and the book was shelved for some time. It was ultimately decided it would be revived as a tribute to Sale, instead of trying to replace him. There are ten artists, who he will reveal and talk about more at tomorrow’s Gotham panel. Lee did a Tim Sale tribute cover; it will be the first cover to the first issue. We’ll finally find out who Holiday is.

DC Horror Presents: David Dastmalchian is brought out to promote Creature Commandos. He messaged Lee and met up with him in London and talked his ear off, pitching the idea directly to him. He fell in love with the team as a kid reading comics in Kansas City. He finds it “surreal” that he is in the comic space after collecting for so long. He loves writing and sees it as a discipline. Lee’s variant cover for the first issue is revealed. A New character is created for the series: Dr. Barbara West. Everyone is under the direction of a “very mean” Wade Eiling. The series is timeless and unrelated to the Creature Commandos animated show, the two projects were conceived separately, to the point where Gunn didn’t even know about it at first.

Coincidentally, via video message, James Gunn reveals that he is days away from wrapping and will take a one-day vacation before moving to Peacemaker Season 2. He introduces the Creature Commandos trailer, saying the team was at the top of his and Peter Safran’s list when deciding what to adapt in the DC Universe. He calls it a taste of what the entire DCU has to offer. The trailer plays.

There’s a second video message from Gunn, who teases the new DC Studios logo. He and Safran “knew exactly what we wanted it to be” when they took over DC Studios. He jokes it will be familiar to some DC fans — because it is the classic bullet logo. Lee admits has PTSD from the logo because it was on the top of his first rejection letter from Dick Giordano. The new logo will be on all DC comics in October, and everywhere else by January.