Bob Harras and Bobbie Chase pull back the curtain on the biggest news from DC Comics

Art by Joe Quinones

If you want to know what's happening in DC Comics, B&B is the place to be -- especially if you're a fan with a burning question about the New 52!

The DC E-I-C since 2010 and Senior Vice President since December, 2012, Harras has spent decades in the comic book trenches working as an editor for the Big Two. Promoted to Editorial Director last year, Chase also has a long history of working in comics, her tenure at DC marking her return to the medium after several years of working in children's and other publishing.

Taking a dip in the online waters of the CBR Message Board, Bob and Bobbie answer your questions about the New 52, DC Comics and everything in-between, pulled from inquiries posted on CBR Forums, with one question chosen from users who submitted several for this first round. If you'd like to ask Bob and Bobbie a question for next month's Fan-sized B&B, then head to our special thread and ask away.

This month, Bob and Bobbie tackle questions ranging from the future of DC's multiple imprints to the possibility of seeing new adventures starring Wally West and other characters from the pre-New 52 DCU. So without further ado, let's get to your queries!

DC plans to continue to launch new titles with an eye towards appealing to the audience that has embraced series like "Animal Man" and "All-Star Western" as well as the Superman and Batman reader base

Josie Campbell: Bob and Bobbie, to kick off the first all fan-question edition of B&B, we're going to start with a question a lot of fans have been wondering about as it pertains to characters not currently being used in the New 52. Starting our conversation, user finfangfool asks, "People have often asked about the possible return of old favorites from the pre-New 52 Universe (or Post-Crisis, whichever you prefer), and have often been told there are no plans or they wouldn't fit in plans for current DC Comics. I was wondering if you'd consider a book set in the pre-New 52/Post-Crisis universe and outside the 'real' Universe, featuring characters like Wally West, Donna Troy, Cassandra Cain, Connor Hawke, Miss Martian, etc.?"

Bob Harras: I would say to fingfangfool that no, we won't be considering that -- we only have one universe, and that is the universe we are presenting right now.

ian33407 asks: "As there are a 'Dark Line' and a 'Edge Line,' can we expect a 'Crime Line' (focused on street-levels characters like The Creeper, Vigilant or -- maybe I'm dreaming -- 'Gotham Central')? And in the same spirit, a sci-fi line as well where we could have ongoing titles of characters as different as Lobo and Kamandi, New Gods or Adam Strange?"

Harras: ian33407, it's very interesting -- we have plans for a lot of those characters, quite honestly.

Bobbie Chase: And genres!

Harras: And genres. It's very interesting, we had a very specific conversation this week about some of these character's you've mentioned. So ian33407's got some sort of mystical connection to the bigger picture!

Chase: Great minds think alike! [Laughter]

Jumping to the old Wildstorm universe, Tekkaman Blade queries, "Wildstorm properties such as Warren Ellis' 'Stormwatch' and 'The Authority' are seeing new hardcover editions as of late. Is there any possibility that other Wildstorm titles such as Jim Lee's 'Wildcats,' 'Divine Right,' and 'Gen 13' or even Ellis' 'Planetary' could get standard sized hardcover releases also?"

Harras: I think those are great ideas. We'll turn 'em over to our collected editions department. We do a lot of great collections of our archival editions and material, this may be some great ideas for them!

Chase: And back at you Tekkaman -- what would you buy?

While we're on the subject of universes that have been absorbed into DC, Tachyon217 wonders, "When will we see additional characters from Milestone, [such as] Icon and Hardware in 'Justice League;' Xombi in 'Justice League Dark;' Static in 'Teen Titans;' or Iron Butterfly, Donner, or Blitzen on 'Stormwatch?' Better yet where is Shadow Cabinet?"

Harras: Very good questions! Again, I can't really answer it, but these things have been discussed.

DC will continue to collect classic Wildstorm series, like Warren Ellis' upcoming "Stormwatch" trade paperback

In light of DC's cancellations and new book announcements, user mal-adjusted asks, "Every time there's a cancellation announced, the next wave of replacement launches seems to have more and more franchise titles in them, i.e. more Batman and Bat-family books and now more Superman books. While I appreciate that big franchise books sell, it seems that you are limiting your range of titles (assuming you want to stick to only 52 ongoings) and in the future we may not get gems such as 'Animal Man'/'Swamp Thing'/'All-Star Western' because of new Robin/Red Robin/Alfred titles. I'm not trying to hate on the Bat books, I get several of them myself, but is it wise to forego original, unique titles for more of the same?"

Harras: I think that you'll see we have a wide variety of genres coming up. We haven't given up on launching books like "Animal Man," "Swamp Thing" and "All-Star Western" because we like the unique flavor they give the New 52. That is not ending, and in the next few months you'll see some titles that are not connected to the core franchises that mal-adjusted was talking about. And there may be some titles that will be! [Laughs] But we'll still keep different things coming out going forward.

Staying on the thread of the franchise titles, InformationGeek wants to know, "Batman has like five different titles and Superman has two, soon to be three later this year. So, I'm wondering, what are the chances that Wonder Woman will get another title for herself?"

Harras: And we can tell InformationGeek this is something, again -- and this is a very strange conversation [Laughs] -- there is nothing on the drawing board right now, but it is definitely something we have discussed. Again, especially the world that's being created for Wonder Woman in the book, we see great potential there.

Chase: Exactly.

Harras: But we're just in the discussion stage.

Chase: And that's just this week!

Harras: Yes! So! Nothing going on here! [Laughter]

Moving to specific characters, user Toboe asks: "Is there any chance we'll see Kaldur'ahm back in the comic books as Aqualad any time soon?"

Harras: I'm not aware of any plans of him showing up anytime soon, to be very honest.

Chase: I don't think any writer is working on him.

Finally, user CrimsonRain666 brings it all full circle and asks, "We are now over a year past the start of the new line. I'm wondering will DC stop calling it the 'New 52' in the near future?"

Harras: No plans yet, but I just want to say that New 52 is more than, and I will not be dancing when I say this line, it's more a state of mind then a label on a title. It's more about how we approach these characters and what we do going forward. It's kind of our inner mantra, to tell you the truth.

Chase: What we call ourselves, too.

Harras: Sure. And I just want to say one thing, I didn't say "churn" once! [Laughter] Thank you!

Chase: Until next time!

If you'd like to ask Bob and Bobbie a question for next month's Fan B&B then submit your question to the CBR B&B Fan thread.