Day Two of the show began on a somber note, as the passing of creator Michael Turner late the previous night was confirmed and marked by memories and moments of silence throughout the day. CBR has posted a touching message from Aspen Comics Editor-in-Chief Vince Hernandez on the death of his good friend and associate.

On a lighter note, I started my day sharing an elevator with Angus Scrimm, the “Tall Man” from the Phantasm horror films. Apparently, Wizard World wasn’t the only game in town this weekend, as the Flashback Weekend horror film convention was also in town for its annual get-together of fans and celebrities of the fright-film scene. This made for a particularly surreal moment later in the day when the beginning of the horror festival overlapped with the end of both a senior-age Christian meet-up and a young couple’s wedding. At one point during the day, the line that had developed for the elevators included the bridal party, a buxom, blood-covered nurse, a massive, costumed Jason Voorhees (complete with machete and severed, bloody head of Freddy Krueger) and a trio of seniors who seemed very concerned that no one else in the hallway was making a big deal about the nurse and her companion.

On the show floor, one of the fastest sellers was an Alex Ross-designed t-shirt modeled after his iconic image of Clark Kent ripping open his shirt to reveal the Superman costume underneath it. The popular graphic replaced Clark Kent with Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, who was ripping open his shirt to reveal the familiar “O” campaign symbol. (more…)

During a late-afternoon panel at Wizard World Chicago, Devil’s Due Publishing announced today that it would be producing a Vampire Hunter D miniseries (titled “American Wasteland”) based on the popular anime/manga character. While the full creative team, length of the series and release date haven’t been finalized, DDP president Josh Blaylock will be serving as co-writer for the series, with new DDP staffer Jim Demonakos serving as editor.

I spoke with Blaylock about the project earlier today.

COMICMIX: So why did you target the Vampire Hunter D property?

JOSH BLAYLOCK: I think there’s something cool about him that transcends. It has a very hardcore fan following who are very faithful to the manga and the anime. In the ’80s there were only a few anime you could get ahold of, especially edgy animation. As a comic book fan, you craved that type of content but there was only so much you could get. There was Vampire Hunter D, Fist of the North Star… and D was this crazy, short cut-and-dry story that I got into way back when. It just seemed like it would be a lot of fun to do a Westernized take on him. I’m not talking about changing the look of the character drastically or anything like that, though.

CMix: What do you mean by “westernizing” the character?

JB: It has to do more with the art style more than anything else.

CMix: So will it be following the traditional format of manga with regard to reading direction and such?

JB: No, it will be done in the standard, Americanized style. I think it’s the kind of thing casual comic book fans who still follow manga titles still have a lot of interest in, because there’s a wider love for Vampire Hunter D than people seem to have for a lot of other manga titles. But we want to stay true to the character enough so that the hardcore fans will still still have an interest in the story, too.

CMix: what can you say about the story?

JB: The ink is just dry on this deal, but it’s along the lines of a typical D story: Lone wanderer winds up having to help some people, and so on. It’s very “Conan the Barbarian”… that sort of thing.

CMix: How closely are you going to work with Vampire Hunter D creator Hideyuki Kikuchi?

JB: Well, with Digital Manga Productions, we had been talking to them about doing some things for a while, and that was one of the properties we thought would be cool to do something with. I just threw the idea at them, and expected the creator to be a lot more protective of it, but he was all about it and wanted to go forward with it. Apparently, he loves to see the character played with and to see new things happen to him.

Previously on ComicMix, we brought you a photo gallery showcasing some of the “flavor” of the Wizard World Chicago show.

This time around, the gallery features some of the great costumes worn by fanboys and fangirls as well as some of the more “exotic” staff at the various booths. Heck, there’s even one or two celebrities in there just to spice things up a bit more.

As always, be sure to check back right here at ComicMix all weekend for new galleries from the show.  (more…)

I would like to take credit for getting Sony’s DC Universe Online to move forward back when I posted about the job opening at the development house responsible for the game. I would like to imagine that a ComicMix reader swooped in and kicked the project into high gear. I would like that, indeed.

But the reality is that the upcoming PlayStation 3 and PC MMO game was coming along just fine without my help. As evidenced by Jim Lee talking the project up with U.K. publication Edge magazine. Since I don’t live in the U.K., we have to give the Eurogamer.net website thanks for posting the details for the rest of the world.

Superstar comic artist and DCUO executive creative director Jim Lee described the game as "kick-ass hybrid between a traditional MMO and a first-person action console game". Instead of stepping into the role of Batman or Wonder Woman, you’ll create your own hero that will interact with the DC superheroes. Imagine foiling a plot by Lex Luthor to kill Superman. Or finding Green Lantern’s lost power battery. Or you could be a villain and fight the Justice League.

As for "realms," in the vernacular of MMOs, expect to play in Metropolis or Gotham City. Other locations may be announced down the road.

Player-on-player combat will be limited to arenas but can evolve into boss battles. That works quite nicely with comic book traditions. Two heroes fight due to a misunderstanding, then team-up against a common foe.

Speaking of crossovers, expect some to occur between the game and the comics.

"We can tie-in future DC tentpole events and translate the stories for the gaming world, and have them occur simultaneously," said Lee. "The possibilities are numerous and very exciting."

What would be more exciting is if Sony Online Entertainment decides to release some images next month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. Stay tuned.