Live Q&A w/ DC Publishing Staff of ROUND ROBIN, Tues 4/6 @12pm PT/3pm ET!

[DC_Community]

Starting 2021-04-06T19:00:00Z we’ll be hosting a LIVE Q&A with the very DC Publishing staff that brought Round Robin to life! Combined, Liz Erickson , Katie Kubert, Andrew Marino, and Michael McCalister share nearly 40 years working at DC to get the incredible stories we all love on the shelves.

Now, they’ve joined forces to bring you the epic bracket campaign, ROUND ROBIN! If you haven’t had a chance to cast your votes for which of 16 tales gets published next, be sure to check out Your Complete Guide to DC’s 2021 Round Robin Brackets.

What have been some of their greatest challenges in the comic book publishing industry? What inspired the Round Robin campaign, and how did it come together? Ask these questions and more in the comments below, and return 2021-04-06T19:00:00Z to see their answers posted LIVE!

PLEASE NOTE: While they will try to get to as many questions as possible, we will only have them for an hour. If they don’t get to all your questions, maybe we can talk them into returning in the next few weeks!

[HubCityQuestion]

Hey, DC Staff! First of all, I just want to say how much I love these ideas to get us involved in the creative process. Getting to name Nightwing’s dog was one thing, but this is a whole new level. I feel very encouraged about you coming to us for input about the future of the DC Universe.

There is one part of this selection process which has already stirred some controversy though, and I was hoping we could address it – and that’s the inclusion of Justice League Queer in this competition. While it’s regarded among us already as one of the most highly anticipated pitches, queer communities have been marginalized within these spaces for so long that it feels disheartening that they have to rally votes for their own representation – especially against the likes of ever-popular concepts such as the Batfamily in Robins, as they are in this first round. Asking us to vote on an ambitious, queer title such as this one can feel regressive, harkening back to the days not so long ago when queer rights were considered an issue to be left “to the voters” (and sadly, in many cases, still are). So why was it decided to pit Justice League Queer for survival against these 15 other titles?

[Jay_Kay]

First, I want to say thanks for not only coming here to talk to us, but for trying this unique opportunity to bring out something new into the DC Universe.

To be clear, are these titles we’re voting for all meant to be on-going series, or are they mini-series? If they’re mini-series, are they all the standard six-issue minis or will there be a variance in the amount of issues?

[TheQuestion101]

I just want to say thank you for opening the decision making process up to the fans.

[darkstarz]

Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions and an even bigger thank you for taking a HUGE chance with letting the fans decide what book will be made.

Was there ever any title that you have regretted not greenlighting? Regarding Justice League: The Totality, how much coordination went into this series with the other Justice League books coming out at that time?

[Atomic_Hound]

You aren’t going to go Oprah on this are you? “You get a series, and you get a series, and you get a series”, etc?

[RexRebel]

Thanks for letting fans participate, but I am curious why we can’t vote here and have to go to twitter or instagram, as I noticed some members don’t have those accounts? Thanks again for letting us participate in this.

[RexRebel]

As to actual questions on the pitches.
1.Just out of curiosity why include the Big 3 in the choices as votes for them, I assume will take away from some of the lesser known heroes?
2. Were these actual pitches for regular stories for the supporting characters and main characters in their respective lines, or were these specially created for this competition?
3. What happens to the losing pitches, do they go to the Vault for future Tales from Ambush Bug, I hope.
4. Being a bit older than most of the folks here, I do remember a time when queer was used as a derogatory term(And still is by some), was any thought given to using another term instead, like Pride or something else which is descriptive of the community you are trying to depict?

[NYJt3]

Hello and welcome.

First I’d say thanks for doing this. It’s very cool to be a part of it.

My question is why did you decide to do a fan bracket battle for new release? What lead to this idea?

[Starman814]

While these seem like great pitches, it would be helpful to know a creative team as well. Any idea when we might hear who will be involved in the making of these books? It could possibly sway my voting.

[Row.Harper]

Thank you all for being here and answering questions! I’m very excited about all these series. My original question was what @HubCityQuestion asked about JLQ (But not nearly as beautifully worded). So my question now is:

Some of these pitches include lesser known/used characters like Nightrunner, Etta Candy, Jesse Quick, and Ambush Bug. Is there any chance that, even if they don’t win this competition, that we will see these characters in another place in the DCU? If not their own series, at least in someone else’s series?

Thank you so much for doing this competition and letting us help pick a series for DC’s future! I hope more events like this happen here on DCUI.

[HubCityQuestion]

Andrew Marino! We just got finished reading The Totality together, a work which involved collaboration between a LOT of artists. How did you keep them all coordinated, and what were the biggest challenges in putting this Justice League relaunch together?

[RexRebel]

Andrew Marino, I loved having different teams do the League and the Legion, in the books, it made a marked difference in each group’s tone, I felt. How did y’all come up with the idea of doing that or was it just a result of scheduling?

[Quadpen]

Hey! I love the idea behind the round robin (there’s an obligatory reference here)
My question is, would there be a possibility that the non winning comics would be released or are they going to be shoved aside never to see the light of day again

[millernumber1]

A couple questions:

1. Since this is a PM chain, are answers being sent directly to the questioner, rather than added to the chain?

2. Some have speculated that the 1 page and 10 page previews of the titles are already produced, and will be released as an anthology similar to the New Talent Showcase at a later date - is there any truth to that speculation? My own reading of the schedule is that there’s time built in to produce those previews, and only the two finalists will get the 10 page previews produced, but I am not sure. It would be cool if all of the previews are produced and released as an anthology!

3. What was projected engagement with this project, and what would be considered successful? Has engagement met or exceeded those targets?

[JaguarLoosy]

Slightly tangential, but this is among the many reasons I would like to see a regular anthology series from US publishers (a la 2000AD or Heavy Metal). Stories that might not justify the sales of an ongoing could find a space in such a book and creators who may not otherwise find a voice could be published. DC already does this for holidays, have they considered such a thing as a long term ongoing? (Sorry for the partial response, hit send by accident).

[MiscellaneousSoup]

I know that I would love it if the rough outlines were released, say, for Ambush Bug.

[FelixLeiter]

Andrew - thank you so much for taking the time to answer some of our questions! I have many but will try to whittle them down a bit:

1. Can you take me through the process of editing a multi-issue event like this? When you’re working with so many different creative people - writers, artists, colors, letterers, etc. what is the workflow with regards to story, script, layout, art, etc? If you decide to make a change in a panel in issue #4 that sets off a domino effect of changing events/panels in earlier issues how is that addressed or handled?
2. Which Justice League character is the best and why is it Hawkgirl?

[KookieSuperApe]

Hi, publishing staff! Thank you very much for taking the time to join us and answer our questions. My questions:

1. How were the first round match-ups determined? How was it decided which pitches would face off against each other in the first round?

2. Were these existing pitches that you decided to turn into a tournament, or were the pitches created specifically for the tournament? That is, did the pitch ideas come first, or did the tournament idea come first and then you asked for pitches?

[Jurisdiction]

1. What inspired you to hold Round Robin?
2. Did you come up with the storylines we choose from?
3. Out of the options given, which storyline would you vote for?