SDCC Day 1: DC Sophmore Slump? #0 Chance.

Gooooood morning (now afternoon — horrendous wi-fi, folks) Comic Connnnnnnnnnnn!

After a wild night where Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA-hosted a rooftop riot of resident evils, your pastor found himself on the floor of an unexpected hotel room; this fortuitous 3.75-hour carpet-face-cringed doze may just have been enough to deliver the Friday horror of Hall H. No pillow necessary.

What better panel for Jason Vorhee’s birthday today than Walking Dead? I only do this out of love for all of you parishioners.

That– and I might just be clinically incorrect. Might.

Call Day 1 a “win” for the DC Comics Universe. About now, there’s a general consensus that the New 52 was a success. Sure, some titles worked more than others (i.e. Superman’s already gone through 3 or 4 writers at this point; taking Jeff Lemire off Frankenstein a major bummer), but God Hates Geeks has always judged the “reboot” based on our pull-list. We buy more books. Then we dropped some. And Batman and Green Lantern remain the champs they were pre-Flashpoint – with an unexpected star none too slippery when wet: Aquaman.

The orange scale-clad Cod-Caper has been kicking ass for a couple years since Brightest Day, yet the networks haven’t noticed (besides HBO’s “Entourage”). Warner has had no talks (Justice League will probably come out when I’m living in a gated community). There’s yet to be a crossover spotlighting DC’s most consistent new title (he deserves it!). Geoff Johns still won’t give up that damn exclusive hat (only 1 was made). And, if you haven’t swam upstream yet for this terrific.. albeit ultra-quick read each month, the new #0 issues should shove New 52 naysayers on over to the dark side. The untold origins of Atlantis will be discovered — if Art ever finds it — provided by plenty of “poetry in water” via artist Joe Prado’s marine sketch intensity.

Now, the only thing missing from Aquaman is the New Bedford Portuguese Feast.

Arthur Currie also becomes a major player in the now current day Justice League saga. His demeanor on the cover of the supergroup’s zero issue shows son isn’t playing around; as the improved team dynamic shifts the character from “where he was, to where he needs to be.” With the dreadful team chemistry criticism now answered, Johns also promises celebrated back-up story hero Shazam into the mix. And, now his Green Lanterns not named John Stewart will pack heat in the free will-ridden Third Army arc. I guess you just never know when the energy in those rings will wear out.

Speaking of never wearing out his welcome, the Joker will return to a post-Talon (for now) world of Gotham. And he has just as much a problem torturing Batman as superstar writer Scott Snyder does…

He doesn’t: “I love him. But maybe I hate him too. I don’t know.”

Snyder also went on to claim this next Batman/Joker saga as “our Killing Joke. ‘Death of the Family’ will be our most probing story on Joker. Ever.” Especially now, since the villain will now portray the Gotham’s new “Man Without a Face” (who the Hell quotes Billy Idol in a Bat-article?), and has declared punishment – with a secret — on behalf of the forsakenness from Bruce’s recent memory.

Before the Bat meets his maker, he’ll have to regroup. Snyder adds that Master Wayne’s new status quo will finally see him setting shop somewhere other than the Batcave. He’ll become “the demon before the man,” as this fine jumping-on point will shadow Batman Begins. Perhaps inspired by The Dark Knight Rises as well (Snyder never hides his adoration for the films, video games, and toys concerning the Caped Crusader), the invigorated Batman will sport new Bat Armor, new Batarangs, and a new Bat Cycle.

We’re so there, man.

• After a mega closed-room demo at E3, we were able to get our hands on Injustice: Gods Among Us. Nightwing appears to be the new fan-favorite, while the addition of the Justice League’s Cyborg to this reverend proved the most interesting (to which even Snyder’s son loves most in Batman Lego 2). My matchup against a Batman fan proved an epic “World’s Finest” rumble, with Clark lighting Bruce up with a pair of orbit-shooting uppercuts that fantastically lead to double-ax handles back down to earth. These special move cutscenes thankfully don’t appear as often as, say, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and require basically the same button sequences. Our only hope is for a story mode that craps on the slim MK vs. DC Universe version.

• While Grant Morrison wasn’t around to charm the crowd with his broken “Britishcism,” the Batman Inc. news out of the panel spread word of the team’s origin stories; why Batman forced all these international cats to sport their cowls; and the dark painterly style of Frasier Irving returns to the Morrison Bat-lore.

• John Layman might write one of the most disgusting titles on the market with Chew, but he found his initial writing of Batman in the new Detective Comics “nerve-wracking.” He’s unsurprisingly going for a “fast-paced, self-contained” approach to Gotham, seeing how he rose to recognition as a creator-owned comic book writer. Layman also chimes that fans will only be half right in their expectations for our favorite long beak mobster in “Emperor Penguin.”

• A book that’s recently tied into the whole Gotham myth has been All-Star Western. Jimmy Palmotti and Justin Gray’s #0 issue will focus on the background of Jonah Hex (perhaps for those who jumped on ASW without ever reading the lead character). And Palmotti promises clowns. Hex will shoot lots of clowns. For those in the crowd who despise them, the writer proclaims you’ll finally be able to “get it out of your system.”

• The Scott Snyder show then continued with Swamp Thing (and then Vertigo’s American Vampire). “[Swamp Thing’s] horns remind me of (Animal Man writer) Jeff Lemire. ‘Antler Boy.’” Heh. You can tell the writer’s grown a lot more comfortable with the newfound success. Well, ain’t that a rarity!

Arcane is ready to make the New 52 version of Alec Holland famous with the new crossover. #0 promises a “perfectly set-up, twisted character study.” Snyder just beamed with pride about his little girlskin, and constant head-plopping. “And then I go with my kid. I’m normal, they’re just buried in the backyard.” Admitting his horrifying mental images prove trivial to adoring fans, “oh, he was so nice in the panel.”