An Intense Moment at C2E2

I attended the DC Comics Panel at this past spring's C2E2 comic book convention. I can remember similar panels in earlier decades when the speakers were very willing to spill the beans about comic news regarding upcoming releases, but in recent years the trail of crumbs has slowed to a trickle (and how many metaphors can you mix in one sentence?).

But you take what you can get and I was pleased to hear the enthusiasm of panelist and new Swamp Thing writer Charles Soule as he spoke on the dais about his premise of The Whiskey Tree in a near-future issue. After each creator on the panel said a few words about their current projects the floor opened up for Questions and Answers.

Audience members lined up at a microphone in the center of the room for a turn to ask something of one or all of the individuals up on the stage. Many of the questions were funny or silly but then a certain teenager got his turn at the front of the line and the proceedings turned far more serious.

The young man identified himself as a burn victim. He asked why portrayals of burn victims in comics are always so predictably one-dimensional with the person turning to a life of crime to seek revenge. Couldn't a burn victim just as reasonably devote his life to doing good and to trying to prevent what happened to him from happening to others?

Whoa. The panel was taken aback by this flash of real life that the young man had blinded them with. For a number of long and slow moments nobody said anything.

Then it was Mr. Soule who broke the silence. He thanked the young man for the question and he said that he is always on the lookout for ideas that he can use in future stories and he told the young man that he had made an excellent point. So impressive!

That day marked the first time I had ever laid eyes on Mr. Charles Soule and I left that panel room with a high regard for the gentleman.