Article 41951 of rec.arts.comics.dc.universe:
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From: Aaron Thomas <ADT105@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.dc.universe
Subject: DC vs ... DC????
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 1996 17:57:55 EST
Organization: Penn State University
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Message-ID: <96093.175755ADT105@psuvm.psu.edu>
References: <4jdsbk$9df@news.ualr.edu>
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Sorry, this was supposed to go out earlier this week.
OTOH, birthdays are more important than the spreading of
news that must have been on every network by now.
 
DATELINE --- New York City
 
Following the heels of their economically successful
DC Versus Marvel miniseries coproduced with the Marvel
Entertainment Group, DC Comics has announced plans for a
new project.
 
Jenette Kahn {major SP? sorry - AT}, president of DC,
was surrounded by some of the biggest names in comics,
past (characters) and present (creative types).
"As you must know, DC is part of the Time-Warner corporation.
Earlier this year, Turner Communications joined our happy
family.  This created not only one of the largest cross-media
businesses in the world today, it also united two of the
biggest 'houses' in animation, Warner Brothers and Hanna-Barberra."
 
Before, Turner had acquired some of the Warner Bros. theater shorts
and ran them on their various television networks, along with classic
Hanna-Barberra shorts and newer H-B products like "Jonny Quest
and the Space Mutants".  Now, the two families of 'toons are united,
once again in WB's case, under one roof.
 
Paul Levitz, of DC: "Basically, we had a lot of fun doing DC VERSUS
MARVEL, but there were two major problems.  One, we had twice as much
bureaucracy to deal with than the enormous amount a crossover ususally
takes.  Two, we had to split the money too ways.  (laughter)
We decided to take a look at our properties and see what we could
meddle with.  Unfortunately, not everyone was as enthusiastic as we
were about disrupting their storylines to have a Real crossover.
So we ruled out the regular DCU and Vertigo books in one fell swoop.
Then one day Ted �Turner� walks in, taking the usual VIP tour,
trying to steal copies of Alex's work on Kingdom Come (laughter),
- coming this summer from DC] (more laughter)  Anyway, he comes up
to us and says, 'Why don't you do something more with those WB
characters?  I mean, two measly books?'  I smiled and said something,
but I saw KC 'Crossover' Carlson's eyes light up, and I knew that
an Idea was Born.  When I get back an hour later, I see ALL THESE
people, from James Robinson down to Tommy, the Copy Boy hovering
around KC like flies to honey.  It was... I'll let KC tell it."
 
KC Carlson: "We had been discussing a 'sequel' of sorts to DC VERSUS
MARVEL, but everytime we mentioned it around a certain creator,
he'd start describing, in detail, his plans for INFERIOR FIVE VERSUS
ANGEL AND THE APE. (laughter)  When I heard Mr. Turner mention the
Warner Brother characters, I thought back to that morning, when I was
watching "Scooby-Doo" on TNT.  Then I remembered - We own THAT]
As soon as they left I snagged a pencil and paper and wrote down
a few ideas - nothing concrete, no actual scripting, but what
eventually became the basis of a proposal for a series we're calling
 
                WARNER BROTHERS VERSUS HANNA-BARBERRA]
 
The basic premise is similar to that of DC VERSUS MARVEL, so there
won't me much time wasted on the How? of the matter.  This will
be a storyline like a 'classic' cartoon; it will be staightfoward
for the kids, but there will be plenty of parts that adults will
get.  There will be several mini-battles, in addition to the main
bouts that will once again be voted on by the public.
Currently, we have tentatively planned so far:
 
Marvin the Martian          Vs. The Great Gazoo]
Speedy Gonzales             Vs. Quickdraw McGraw as El Kabong]
Daffy Duck, as Duck Dodgers Vs. Jonny Quest]
Yosemite Sam                Vs. Dick Dasterdly and Muttlay]
Bugs Bunny                  Vs. Yogi Bear]
Pinky and the Brain         Vs. Scooby-Doo]
Road Runner                 Vs. Speed Buggy]
 
Currently we are sticking with the creative team from DC VERSUS
MARVEL, although this will probably change; Peter David won't write
Pinky & the Brain unless all the characters from books he writes
are drawn in, and Ron Marz wants to replace their opponent with
A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. (TWO MINUTES OF LAUGHTER])"
 
=======================================================================
That's about it, other than some lawyers explaining how they
"temporarily restructured" the licensing of the Hanna-Barberra
characters to Archie Comics to pull this off.
 
Any comments, from out there in racdcu land?
 
ObDC: This will affect DC the company, in that a lot of manpower
      will go into this.  In turn, that may affect the quality
      of the DCU storylines.  In addition, I've 'heard'
      (not really a reliable source, but...) that there may be
      a CANONICAL appearance of a certain POWERful TALKING
      Tiger...  so will it be Tiger-Man or Talking Tawny?
 
Aaron Thomas, who'd pay $3.95 for a well-written (when I don't
              say well-written, it is IMPLIED, people])
              THE GREAT GAZOO VERSUS MARVIN THE MARTIAN.

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