Mondo Marvel, a convention circuit staple focusing on Marvel Comics product as a whole, kicked off that company’s programming at the third annual New York Comic Con. In attendance Friday afternoon was senior editors Axel Alonso and Tom Brevoort, writers Greg Pak, Dan Slott, Brian Reed, Marc Guggenheim, Fred Van Lente, Cable writer and incoming Immortal Iron Fist writer Duane Swierczynski, C.B. Cebulski, Marvel marketing’s Jim McCann and, hosting the panel, Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada. Spider-editor Steve Wacker and writer Jason Aaron were said to be arriving shortly.

Quesada started the panel by announcing September as "Terry Moore month," celebrating the Strangers in Paradise creator taking over Runaways with artist Humberto Ramos as well as Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane with Craig Rousseau.

Original Invincible creative team Robert Kirkman and Cory Walker's Destroyer was briefly discussed, along with the return of NYX by writer Marjorie Liu and artist Kalman Andrasofszky.

Quesada then announced writer (and BOOM! E-i-C) Mark Waid joining the Amazing Spider-Man writing team.

Getting right into the Q&A;, a fan asked about Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited service, and the lack of titles newer than six months. When asked if there were any plans for simultaneous "physical and digital release," McCann answered that there are no immediate plans for that, as the brick and mortar stores are still where Marvel wants their fans to pick up comics.

The next question was directed towards Slott. The fan said his favorite new character was The Gauntlet, and asked if he would be seen "wearing the costume he wore in She-Hulk #3."Maybe," answered Slott. The same fan asked about the possibility of Avengers: The Initiative one-shots, and Slott answered that Chris Gage is writing one about Hardball and Komodo coming out soon.

The next question concerned Marvel's "smoking ban" in comics, asking how Quesada could reconcile Freak's meth use in Bob Gale's recent Amazing Spider-Man issues. Quesada answered that Freak's meth use was not shown in a positive light, and if a writer wants to show the negative consequences of smoking, he's all for it - just no smoking seen in a positive light.

This led to a discussion of the "bleeped out" profanity in Marvel Comics, with Quesada saying that he feels there's been too much of it in Marvel titles lately. Brevoort added that there's usually "three times more" bleeped out curse words in Brian Michael Bendis scripts than ends up in the finished product.

A fan asked about Spider-Man's identity no longer being public post "One More Day," with Slott interjecting that Avengers: The Initiative #7 was still "tremendously important."

Quesada added that "you haven't seen the payoff yet" of "One More Day," and reiterated that 20 years of continuity "has not been wiped out." He continued by saying that between Mary Jane and Peter Parker's last kiss in the final part of "One More Day" and Peter Parker waking up in Aunt May's house in Queens in the epilogue, the interim time between those scenes could have been a split second or, perhaps, months.

One of the loyal "Clone Saga" devotees asked about Ben Reilly, with Brevoort saying, succinctly, "Ben Reilly. Still dead."

The Clone Saga fan also asked about the role of Taskmaster in Avengers: The Initiative, with Slott teasing that the character will be featured a lot more in the title coming soon.

The next question concerned a previously announced Dakota North mini-series, with Cebulski (its writer) saying that it's still in the works, but there is no new news at this point.

A fan - that came armed with sales statistics - noted the drop between previous volumes of The Ultimates, and the current Ultimates Vol. 3 #1. McCann discussed that the actual sales numbers and the estimates reported online often differ by "as many as 10,000."

Quesada also added the importance of second printings, subscriptions, and accounting for what titles do "in the trade paperback world." Quesada asked the fan to guess what the top subscription title is - he guessed Amazing Spider-Man, but Quesada informed him it was Marvel Adventures Spider-Man. Sometime before this, Avengers: The Initiative co-writer and incoming Thunderbolts writer Christos Gage quietly joined the panel.

Q: "Are there any chances of Squirrel Girl and Deadpool joining the Initiative?" Brevoort: "No, there's not."

Another question aimed at Dan Slott asked "Are we ever going to see any more Great Lakes Initiative specials?" Brevoort: "He has to write Spider-Man!"

Slott joked that he pitches ideas like "Great Lakes Skrulls," "Great Lakes Zombies" and "Great Lakes Ultimates" at every creative retreat.

A con-goer complimented Quesada on Marvel's "big events" flowing naturally into another. He asked about the creative process of such long-term planning. "It's a lot of planning, and a little 'Hey, remember that idea? Let's fit that in,'" answered Quesada. "Usually we're planned out, really solid, about 12 months," he continued.

Talking about the recently wrapped creative summit, Quesada said they're "locked and loaded" into 2010.

The same fan wrapped up by taking a shot at DC, saying that Marvel's events have a payoff and aren't "counting down" to the next thing. "You said it, not me," quipped Quesada.

The next fan complimented Marvel for Dwyane McDuffie's recent Fantastic Four run, and Stefano Casselli's art. But after sweetening up the panel, the fan then asked "why are so many of my favorite books late?" and saying that sometimes he doesn't even feel like buying them because they're so late.

McCann said that only two or three books are usually "that late" and "we're very aware of our problem children." "We make a very concerted effort to not solicit things before they're ready," McCann continued. "Late books are not a new thing, but we're definitely trying new techniques to avoid them."

Current Wolverine and Ghost Rider writer Jason Aaron silently joined the panel.

A common convention question - "When are we getting more Young Avengers?" - was next. Brevoort responded that "you're going to see the characters around the Marvel Universe quite a bit," such as in Secret Invasion #2 and #3, and Secret Invasion: Young Avengers/Runaways. Brevoort said he recently talked to Allan Heinberg about doing more with the characters, but they're going to do it "deliberately."

A question was asked about how Marvel approached characters "crossing the line." "The fun part is dancing on that line, but not going over it," said Quesada. "There's things that Daredevil can do that Spider-Man can't do. There's things that Punisher can do that Daredevil certainly can't do," he continued, adding that such diversity is part of the "beauty" of the Marvel Universe.

Duane Swierczynski was asked about delving into the "worst case scenario" for the mutant baby that Cable is carrying around post-"Messiah CompleX". "If you love the baby, sorry," the writer answered. "If you hate the baby, keep reading."

The same fan identified himself as "pro-registration," saying that he wasn't happy when Invincible Iron Man was described as Tony Stark's "redemption" comic, because the fan apparently doesn't see Stark as needing to be redeemed. Reed then added that he knows what Matt Fraction has planned for the comic, and that he's jealous he didn't think of the ideas first.

Quesada digressed that he's very pleased that "no matter how you fall on the registration issue," Iron Man is a definite "buzz character."

"Everybody wants to write him because he's so interesting right now," added Quesada.

The fan added concern that new readers might be confused about the sometimes radical difference between cover art and interior art in comics and also multiple titles for the same character. "We try to make our covers as outstanding as possible," says Quesada, adding that he doesn't think casual fans will be too confused if the covers are different than the interior art. He then addressed the second concern, saying, that he sees it as a possible confusion, but 99% of retailers do a great job in guiding new and potential readers to the right titles.

Plans for Man-Thing? Quesada: Not at the moment. http://www.newsarama.com/nycomiccon2008/Marvel/images/nycc_secret_invasion_2_f.jpg

Did the brief, fatherly relationship between Tony Stark and Peter Parker still happen post-"One More Day"? Brevoort: "Yes." Does Tony Stark know who Peter Parker is? Brevoort: "No."

A question was asked about the status of Smokin' Aces director Joe Carnahan's Taskmaster mini-series, with Alonso saying that it's still in the works and that they're coordinating things between that series and Taskmaster's appearances in Avengers: The Initiative.

The same fan asked which states will have their 50-state initiative teams revealed next. Slott said we'll see Hawaii's team in Avengers: The Initiative and McCann added that the new Hellcat mini-series will take place in Alaska. "You only need one person for Alaska," joked Slott.

Any plans for Apocalypse? Alonso said they're discussing new ideas for the character, but haven't nailed down how to use him at this point yet.

"Can you tell me about the second Civil War?" asked a fan. "What do you know that I don't," joked Quesada. Brevoort quipped "Mark Millar said it's going to sell twice as much as the original!"

Status of Jeph Loeb and J. Scott Campbell's Spider-Man project? Quesada says it's still being worked on and we'll hear more about it when the time is right.

The fan's next question concerned when John Romita Jr. will return to Amazing Spider-Man, with Slott reminding that it'll be in August and for six issues.

"Is Aunt May ever going to come to the realization she hooked up with a Skrull," a fan asked, referencing to the revelation of Jarvis being a Skrull in Secret Invasion #1. "After the pregnancy," joked Slott.

"Any chance of a collected edition of The Truth being pack in print?" McCann: "There's always a chance."

A question for Greg Pak - "Your run on Hulk was probably my favorite other than Peter David's. Any other projects coming up you can talk about?" Pak pointed to Skaar: Son of Hulk, debuting in June and penciled by Ron Garney. He also talked about The Incredible Hercules, and turned over the mic to his co-writer Fred Van Lente, who said the title will soon see "Hulk vs. Hercules" and that Bob Layton will be drawing part of the story.

Any chance of the new Scorpion showing up in Incredible Hercules, or somewhere else? Van Lente: "Yes, but not that I can say."

"Jason Aaron - why do you rock so hard?" asked an excited fan. "Thank you," Aaron said, demurely. The same person asked "Will we see Vengeance in Ghost Rider?" Aaron said "Maybe we'll see a vestige of Vengeance."

A fan called Ms. Marvel #25 "one of the best comics he's read in years," and asked Reed if price changes (Ms. Marvel #25 was $3.99) affect sales. "That's above my pay grade," answered Reed. McCann said that #25 had extra story pages, and still sold better than a normal issue.

The same fan asked if Ms. Marvel would continue to have flashbacks, as it did in #25, and Reed said that it will as the story necessitates it, but "we won't be like "Lost" and shoehorn it into every episode."

With that, Quesada called for a "two to three minute break" - as Marvel's next panel, focusing on Secret Invasion, was scheduled immediately afterwards in the same room.

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