By Ryan Penagos
We're posting live from the Stephen King panel here at New York Comic Con.
Stephen King just entered the room to thunderous applause and a standing ovation.
The panel kicked off to a Q&A session.
A fan asked if the comic has spoilers for fans who haven't read the novels yet. King's reply said there are no spoilers whatsoever. It's like not watching the "
Wizard of Oz" because you know the ending. Aapplause and laughter ensued.
Another fan asked if he could donate $100 to King's favorite charity in exchange for a signature on his comic. "No," was all King needed to say. The crowd loves him.
The line for questions is now at least 25 people deep.
The next fan asked if the comic has lived up to King's imagination. "I'm just in awe," he said. "I can't draw a stick figure that looks like a person. It's very gratifying to see this happen."
What are the chance of getting more Dark Tower comic series. "It's up to them, man," said King. "There's always more stories." Quesada chimed in, saying that licensing deals are usually very tough. But this is different. It's very easy. "We kept going, 'It can't be this easy. It just can't!' It's a really wholly creative and collaborative environment. Hopefully we'll do more."
Is this a retelling or an expansion of the stories we've already read? "Where the story goes from here," said King. "That's a question for the people working on it. It's a question for Robin."
Joe keeps referring to King as "His Lordship"
King was asked if he'd ever be interested in working on a Marvel character. "I never say never to anything," replied King. "If something came up in my mind, these are the people I'd go to." But it doesn't look likely right now.
Another fan thanked King for selecting him for a writing contest. Very cool!
King joked about writing a fingerless Gunslinger. It was as much a surprise to him as anyone else!
King and Peter David just high-fived!
Numerous fans have signed off to King with the salutation, "Thankee, sai."
One fan said King is her idol and she's shaking just being here. She also asked if there would be a character in the comic series. Jae Lee joked and said there's little chance of seeing King in the book because he's bad with likenesses. Jae rocks.
King just went off on a tangent and talked about how great the art is.
What scene does he want to see envisioned in film or in the comic?
When coming up with his characters, does he see them? "I never see them," said King. "I don't really see characters. It's like I'm behind their eyes." Joe shared an anecdote about an early meeting where King left the visual decisions in Jae's hands. Very cool!
King said he redid the first book because his vision became clearer as he went along. There could be more rewrites to come! "I'm a really instinctual writer. I don't work from an outline" He used outlines way back when, but not so much anymore.
"The difference between me and Jae is Jae holds everything back and I let everything go." King called Jae anal. Burn!
Will there be Marvel characters in the comic aside from
Dr. Doom? "We might toss it into the mix. Don't mistake us for people who know where we're going."
Oh, hey. Stephen's wearing a Shaun of the Dead t-shirt. Everybody applauded!
Would any other King novels make it to comics? King said they've been kicking around "The Stand!"
Where was the moment that told you all it was really cool? The "geek" moment. King said going to the Marvel offices was like going to Disney. That's when he knew. Jae said, "right now." Jae & co. were brought in by Stormtroopers. We must have missed that! For Joe, the real moment was in a meeting with King early on in the process, seeing the story flow from King. For Peter David, it was getting King's hand-written notes on his script. Color artist extraordinaire Richard Isanove talked about a harried moment where his equipment crashed and he had to rush to get things together.
Isanove was asked about working on the project and the collaboration. Isanove joked around about working with great artists and totally burned Joe.
A fan asked if King has to get in a mindset to work on a specific type of book. "No, when you work on a book, you get in that mindset."
The panel ended to a standing ovation and more applause. Great stuff!
These weren't the only questions at the panel, though. Keep checking back on Marvel.com for audio and video directly from the panel! And don't forget to stay up to speed on all of our
New York Comic Con coverage.
