DC ENTERTAINMENT TO SHOWCASE “BEFORE WATCHMEN,” DC COMICS-THE NEW 52 AND VERTIGO AT KAPOW!

Leading Entertainment Company Will Bring Top Executives and Talent to UK Convention

DC Entertainment announced its plans today to bring some of the company’s top executives and creators to Kapow! to discuss the year’s highly anticipated BEFORE WATCHMEN comic book event, the record-breaking initiative that took the industry by storm this past September, DC COMICS-THE NEW 52, and the four new series from acclaimed adult imprint, Vertigo. On hand to discuss all things DC Entertainment will be Co-Publisher Dan DiDio, Vertigo Senior Editor and BEFORE WATCHMEN series editor, Will Dennis, Senior Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne, and a roster of major talent including Scott Snyder, Peter Milligan, Paul Cornell and Ian Churchill. This event, which takes place May 19-20, will be occurring only a small number of weeks before the release of the inaugural issues of BEFORE WATCHMEN on June 2nd.

DC ALL ACCESS - SPECIAL EDITION

Panelists: Dan DiDio, Bob Wayne, Will Dennis, Scott Snyder, Peter Milligan, Paul Cornell

Don’t miss this panel about the sure-to-be most talked about project of 2012, BEFORE WATCHMEN! Join DC Entertainment Co-Publisher Dan DiDio, Editor Will Dennis, and Senior Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne as they talk about this next game-changing event. They’ll also join writers Scott Snyder (AMERICAN VAMPIRE), Peter Milligan (HELLBLAZER) and Paul Cornell (SAUCER COUNTRY) to share the latest news on all your favorite Vertigo titles and discuss details about the new wave of Vertigo! No comics fan will want to miss this!

DC COMICS – THE NEW 52

Panelists: Dan DiDio, Bob Wayne, Scott Snyder, Peter Milligan, Paul Cornell, Ian Churchill

DC COMICS – THE NEW 52 is the industry’s most talked about industry-shattering event of the last year.  Although the landscape has changed, we’re not done making news!  Come by and be a part of history as DCE Co-Publisher Dan DiDio and Senior Vice President of Sales Bob Wayne discuss the books that are shaping the dawn of this new era along with some of the major talent writing and illustrating these titles, including Scott Snyder (BATMAN, SWAMP THING), Peter Milligan (RED LANTERNS), Paul Cornell (STORMWATCH) and Ian Churchill (THE RAVAGERS).

WARNING – this primer contains SPOILERS regarding previous issues!!! ROUGH PRIMER on ISSUE #24 of AMERICAN VAMPIRE (PART 3 of 4: “DEATH RACE”) by Scott Snyder TRAVIS 1955. 19 year old punk TRAVIS KIDD is a vampire hunter. One of the best. He’s a rogue. He doesn’t belong to any organization (like the VMS, the secret group in our series that has been tracking and eliminating all species of vampire for centuries). He has been approached by the VMS on many occasions, but he has always turned them down. He drives a 1955 Fury, and keeps an arsenal of vampire killing weapons in the trunk. He likes to dance alone his room to race records/rock and roll. And he keeps a set of wooden fangs in his bag – fangs he puts in himself when he takes down a vampire so he can “bite them back” before they die. Here is Travis fighting your vampire mom: RECAP: ISSUE 22 (part one of this arc) began with two cars careening through the California hills… locked in a death race. Behind the wheel of one car (the black one) was Travis. Behind the wheel of the other, we learned from Travis, was a mysterious vampire, one whom Travis claims killed his family and is responsible for every misery in his life. As the race barrels along, though, in the California hills, the story cut back to show scenes from Travis’ troubled past. So far, we know that he was institutionalized at a young age, in a psych ward. We know that days ago, he stole files on the main vampire he’s after – the one in the other car - from the VMS to learn the vampire’s location. And we know that a girl Travis was dating in order to learn more about vampires in the area – Piper – is tied up in the trunk of the car. In the final pages of our last issue, #23, we discovered the identity of the vampire in the rival car – the one Travis ha been hunting his whole life: Skinner Sweet. One of the stars of our series, Skinner is a new breed of vampire – an American Vampire – with powers and abilities different from Carpathian (classical) vampires. As for his bio, he was a vicious outlaw in the Old West, until a run-in with classic vampires accidentally left him infected. But instead of coming back as one of them, he came back as something new, something more powerful. And he has been causing mayhem throughout the 20th century ever since. Last we saw him, though, he was dying on a cliff on an island in the Philippines during WWII (see AV 13-18 in Vol. 3). How Skinner survived that ordeal is a mystery. As is his connection to Travis. All we know is that Travis wants him dead, and Skinner is always up for a challenge. So check out AV 24, out today. Don’t be a goddam square. Here’s the opener. The brunette is Travis. The blonde is Skinner. Root for your favorite. S

Longtime AMERICAN VAMPIRE fans know that there are many different strains of vampires and they are all vulnerable to something different. Sometimes wood…sometimes silver…sometimes… But the vamps spawned right here in the good ol' US of A (a species known as HOMO ABOMINUM AMERICANA if you want to get technical about it…) like SKINNER SWEET and our gal PEARL are only vulnerable to one thing: GOLD. A fact that Pearl learned WAAAAY back in issue 5. Remember that. It’s important. Crucial information to know for AMERICAN VAMPIRE 23 in stores THIS WEDNESDAY 1/25. Trust us, you do NOT want to miss this…