THURSDAY, JULY 21
1:00pm -2:00pm (Room 6BCF)

World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft Swag Show: Blizzard Entertainment creative and licensed partners unveil and discuss World of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft-inspired products. In attendance:

• Chris Metzen (Blizzard Entertainment SVP of creative development)
• Nick Carpenter (Blizzard Entertainment executive art director)
• Christie Golden (New York Times bestselling author)
• Hank Kanalz (SVP Digital, DC Comics and World of Warcraft comics editor)
• Sean Gailey (creative overlord, J!nx Clothing)
• Cory Jones (Cryptozoic Entertainment president and chief creative officer)
• Kat Hunter (BlizzCon coverage moderator on DIRECTV)

Update - July 8: I have reached out to several new contacts at DC Comics and DC Unlimited. Interviews are good after SDCC, so keep an eye on the waves of info coming out after the event. I will open a thread to gather questions after you guys learn info off SDCC.

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• WoW, StarCraft II, Diablo III T-shirts
• World of Warcraft Books

Awesome. Here's hoping for some cool news.

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Interesting. What is getting "unveiled"?

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I'd put money on the Alliance and Horde graphic novels. If we're lucky we'll get the Pandaren comic too. We also might get some more info on Wolfheart but without Knaak there I'm doubtful.

Alliance and Horde are a must here.

As for "Panderans", I think it's a codename or Horde-related.

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Metzen: They are one of the ancient races of Northrend that we haven't spoken of before... because we hadn't made them up before. (laughter)

~Main: Expansion theorycrafting, Expansions list, The Age of Nightmare, Empire of the Tides (coming soon)~
~Fan ficton: Anachronos Journey: The Timeless Heir~ ~Geography of continents series: Old Kalimdor (original), Pandaria~
~Locations as zones series: Azjol-Nerub, Barrow Deeps, Zul'Aman, Demon Hunter zone, Caverns of Time~

Quite suprised with Blizzard honestly there at Gamecon to so its quite odd them being at both before Blizzcon . Lets hope for a Alliance and Horde comic starting soon.

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Ogres™

That’s kind of less an unveiling and more like a confirmation that they haven’t been abandoned lol.

I’m going to cross my fanboy fingers and hope “pandarens” is code for “new on-going Warcraft monthly.”

DC is launching an entrie new line of #1s, lets see a new "World of Warcraft" #1 too!

Moreover, with Wildstorm gone I’d love for them to announce a deal with a new publisher. They should go with IDW or Darkhorse, where licensed properties get a chance to really shine.

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Darkhorse would handle a Warcraft title perfectly. I'd be all for that.

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Khadgar: Prepare to heroically CTRL-E through the portal with me!

IDW has also been doing some amazing things with their licenses. They've stepped up in a big way. I really do think Warcraft would fit best with them.

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Company doesn't bother me, I just hope they get the same artist who they started with. (Was it Ludo lullabi? I forget) Even on the few occasions the plot got shaky, the art really pulled through. Those comics were my first warcraft purchase outside of video games and they were done on a whim. Best use of my money since I won a game of ebay for a buck.

Darkhorse was behind Diablo: Tales of Sanctuary, a pretty nice comic with 3 short stories. I think they did well.

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Metzen: They are one of the ancient races of Northrend that we haven't spoken of before... because we hadn't made them up before. (laughter)

~Main: Expansion theorycrafting, Expansions list, The Age of Nightmare, Empire of the Tides (coming soon)~
~Fan ficton: Anachronos Journey: The Timeless Heir~ ~Geography of continents series: Old Kalimdor (original), Pandaria~
~Locations as zones series: Azjol-Nerub, Barrow Deeps, Zul'Aman, Demon Hunter zone, Caverns of Time~

I agree, though it seems to me that DC kind of treats their licensed properties like red-headed step children. In IDW & Darkhorse, they are the main events. I just think Warcraft would get more of its due with one of them.

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As someone rather new to the world of comics, how exactly are they mistreated?

Also on another note: Do you guys feel the comic has to be about something really pertinent to the main plot, or would a side story akin to something out of Legends survive?

They don’t seem to get same promotion or resources dedicated to them, which is understandable since they’re not owned by the publishers. Is DC going to push Warcraft as hard as Justice League?

That said though, IDW and Darkhorse specialize in licensed comics. They seem to do more too, with properties often getting multiple on-goings and significant promotion.


I think that the storyline has to at least have some gravitas and some effect on the world or major characters to be relevant. Completely insular small-scale stories don’t have the same appeal to me. It makes them “skipable.”

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Ah, fair enough. While the promotion really doesn't matter that much, as long as its promoted on the Blizzard site (I can't really imagine a warcraft comic enticing anyone who wasn't interested in warcraft) the art can make a huge difference to the quality.

I share the same opinion, however that does certainly narrow down the list of things they can work with. There are few ideas that I think would make a great comic series in comparison to a great legends compilation.

I'd love to see something regarding:

- Arators quest to find his parents across Outland. Plot hook is the revelation of Alleria and/or Turalyon's location.
- Svens quest for revenge against his families murderers. Plot hook being learning more about the elusive Dark riders of Karazhan.
- A tale following Chen Stormstouts catalogue of Azeroth. Plot hook is learning more about Pandaren culture and/or Pandaria.

I have a lot more trouble thinking of Horde concepts, the game tells their story pretty well for the most part with few holes.

The Alliance comic actally was going to get into the Dark Riders and that.

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Forgot about that. Still can't say I'd expect much though, since it was the only compelling plot line and only relevant to one of the many characters they were peddling.

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• WoW, StarCraft II, Diablo III T-shirts
• World of Warcraft Books

Are you heading to SDCC, Med? I've got a friend who's a warcraft fan who's heading there and if you'd like I can get her to ask the questions for you.

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I wish I could go. I'm not able to cost travel expenses until I secure a job (not an easy task considering my limitations).

I emailed you back. It would be best to let Blizzard know she's coming and to expect her. I'll take care of that part after she contacts me.

I'm already in contact with a few people organizing the panels, so it won't be a problem.

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• WoW, StarCraft II, Diablo III T-shirts
• World of Warcraft Books

So definitely some comic news then. Excellent.

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I'd love for Dark Horse to get the license. I'm generally one of the Star Wars 'purists' - original trilogy, original version, nothing else - but I absolutely adore their Star Wars comics. Legacy was tremendous.

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I look forward to this with great anticipation, give me another warcraft comic of note, with the same artist!

I WANT to give them my money so badly, please let me give them my money....

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Same here brother. Give us a Warcraft Monthly again, please!


They do great work with their Buffy license and, obviously, with Hellboy as well. IDW as well is really doing right by GI Joe, Star Trek, Transformers, Godzilla, and soon TMNT. Lots of varied titles, lots of promotion, lots of attention.

Am I wrong in thinking licensed works don't get their due with DC though?

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DC owned Wildstorm when the deal was struct, but it seems Blizzard is wanting to get the OGN market going. Superman: Earth One has been on top sales for a good time, and that comic was released in November 2010 or so. Granted it was written by JMS so it has the name power and it's Superman, but Ashbringer sold well and the Worgen Hardcover is coming later this autumn.

Darkhorse's Mass Effect has been great especially since the game writers are working on that too, so Neilson and others should start writing comics too.

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