NYCC: Cup O' Joe

Welcome to CBR's live coverage of Marvel Comics' Cup O' Joe panel at New York Comic Con. Check back to this page every few minutes for updates on all the news and surprises direct from Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, publisher Dan Buckley, marketing guru Jim McCann and editor CB Cebulski.

Joe Q opened the panel with Steve McNiven art from his and Mark Millar's upcoming WOLVERINE art.

It was announced Mike Choi and Sonia Oback are now exclusive at Marvel, and will join the rotating art team of X-FORCE.

Marvel-exclusive writer Duane Swierzynski will write issues 66-70 of PUNISHER MAX. Victor Gischler will write #71-75. For more on PUNISHER MAX, check out CBR's exclusive interview with all the new writers and editor Axel Alonso.

Quesada explained that based on a fan's suggestion at a previous Cup O Joe, Marvel will go bananas this fall with MARVEL APES. "Please, please buy this so I don't look like a fool," he said.

Quesada then turned the floor over to questions, the first coming from a fan who wanted to know if Marvel is writing CAPTAIN AMERICA to reflect the times we live in. Joe Q said no, that Ed Brubaker is just that good, and that life imitates Marvel.

A young fan took the microphone and said he previously suggested the Venom symbiote join with the Hulk, and indicated he was disappointed the story hadn't happened yet. "There is some cool Venom stuff coming up," Quesada assured.

Dan Slott then took the stage to perform a Ben Grimm impression that was met with resounding approval from the New York crowd.

Which Speedball is coming back? The Robbie Baldwin Speedball!

What is the status of Nitro? "He's a prisoner, and he will be used, probably in Dan Slott's The Initiative," said McCann.

"If Marvel had the opportunity, would they bid to be able to publish Superman stories?" asked a fan. Dan Buckley said they'd pay for Captain Marvel but not Superman.

Quesada announced that another series of Ultimate Annuals will be coming soon.

A fan asked about the status of Stephen Colbert's presidential run in the Marvel Universe. "Steve's a great guy and he LOVES Marvel Comics," Quesada said, explaining that Colbert demanded advance issues of Civil War before it came out. Jim McCann said that a Colbert campaign blog will appear on Marvel.com

When is Ant-Man getting his book back? "No plans."

Will the Ultimate line be rebooted? "I think we've kept the title count very low and the universe very tight. I think it's one of our best introductory line, I keep hearing from people who got into the Marvel Universe via the Ultimate line. But there's a HUGE upheaval coming in the Ultimate Universe. Some CRAZY stuff is happening at the end of this year."

Any chance of reprints of the original New Warriors material? "Maybe."

Any chance of Charlie Huston working on the Punisher? "No comment."

In response to a fan's question, Quesada said the most important things about being a comic book artist is draftsmanship and storytelling, citing Bryan Hitch, Stuart Immonen and John Romita, Jr. as the best examples at Marvel.

For aspiring writers, CB Cebulski said the best way to work at Marvel is to get work published at smaller companies and ashcans, as it's a lot easier to read a comic than it is a cold script, citing Daniel Way, Matt Fraction, Robert Kirkman and Brian Bendis as talents who started in indies, working for no money.

That said, Marvel is one of the few companies that accepts unsolicited submissions from writers via Marvel.com's submissions guidelines and mechanisms.

And Stan Lee just showed up. "I wanna know who decided to make Spidey single again?!" he bellowed. "Actually I think it's a great idea. It's caused a lot of talk and it will sell a lot of comics that I won't see a penny out of."

Lee then characterized his love for Quesada, saying the publisher gave a terrible speech in Lee's honor the night before. "Did you ever love someone for absolutely no reason?" he said.

Following Lee's departure, Quesada told his favorite Stan Lee story. As Quesada tells it, Lee called Joe Q up to say he'd just read the last two or three months of Marvel comics and said, "Joey, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

Quesada then admitted the real secret behind Secret Invasion is that nobody knew it was happening until Bendis told them he had been seeding the plot for years without telling anybody. "For shits and giggles, I wanted to say, 'nope.'"

Loners ongoing series? One of the stories in the House of Ideas Anthology book features Loners characters.

Quesada then received a call. He said, "No. Haven't seen it. Not for months." He hung up and remarked, "That was Dan DiDio asking where his market share was."

A fan then asked if there could be a three-way brawl between Hulk, Hercules and Thor. "A three-way?" Quesada laughed, before explaining, "We got four major hitters right now: Hulk, Hercules, Ares and the Sentry. So you're thinking along very good lines, but I can't give you a definite answer."

Any plans for Deathlok? "Yes, we have lots of plans to bring him back. I love that character," Quesada said. Axel Alonso was very enthusiastic, saying he'd been trying to bring Deathlok back since coming to Marvel.

Any plans to do another Halo miniseries? "Yes, there are plans to do another limited series."

A fan recognized Quesada for his work on an art auction to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Why would you create a character like Sentry who would be too afraid to leave his front door? "Every Marvel character has a yin-yang. How do you create a character that's so powerful but is also human like all the great Marvel characters. It's an interesting idea to play with, that he's agoraphobic. It's not something we've seen before."

When will Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk be finished? "We are still waiting for the final script."

Any plans to bring Thor back to the Avengers? Not right now, but eventually.

How long do you anticipate being able to stick to the publishing schedule of Amazing Spider-Man? "Right now, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Steve Wacker is kicking but -- he is in a mental institution, but he's doing a great job there."

Why did Cable and Deadpool break up? "Sales," Dan Buckley said. "I look at the sales and I just whack a book every six months, and Cable & Deadpool got whacked."

A fan proclaimed his preference of Bucky over Steve Rogers, and he was loudly booed and threatened with physical violence. The fan asked what role Bucky would play in Secret Invasion. Quesada said if the fan gave him the money for all seven issues of Secret Invasion, Quesada would tell him what happens.

Ongoing Young Avengers? "Can't talk about it."

What about Gravity? "There's going to be a very surprising twist involving characters from Gravity in the next couple of months."

When can we expect Ultimate One More Day? "The day Ultimate Spider-Man gets married!" said Quesada.

Quesada then projected one teaser image. "I can't tell you what it is, but it's going to be big."