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DC ENTERTAINMENT TO SHOWCASE "BEFORE WATCHMEN" AT CHICAGO COMIC & ENTERTAINMENT EXPO (C2E2)

Leading Entertainment Company Will Bring Top Talent to Preview Highly Anticipated Prequel

Norwalk, CT, March 23, 2012: DC Entertainment announced its plans today to bring some of the comic book industry's most iconoclastic writers and artists to Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) to discuss this year's highly anticipated BEFORE WATCHMEN comic book event. Although the first issue of BEFORE WATCHMEN doesn't go on sale until the first week of June, the announcement of all new stories building on the foundation of the bestselling graphic novel of all time is already the talk of the comic book industry. Among the creators who will be on hand to discuss why they signed on for the project and to answer fan questions will be Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo, Amanda Conner, Adam Hughes, J Michael Straczynski, and Len Wein.

"We've gathered some of the most talented writers and artists to expand on the stories of the most provocative comic book characters of all time," said DC Entertainment Co-Publisher and panelist Dan DiDio. "The hard part is waiting all the way until June to share the craziness with fans. We just might have to get people talking early about the importance of the five truths."

The BEFORE WATCHMEN panel will take place on Saturday, April 14, 2pm – 3pm. C2E2 itself will take place April 13 – 15, 2012 in the North Building at the McCormick Place Convention Center and convention officials are expecting this year's show to be fifty percent larger than last year. DC Entertainment will have a substantial presence on the show floor and further details about the publisher's considerable activities at C2E2, as well as information about additional guests, will be provided in a separate announcement.

"I always wait in eager anticipation to see what guests DC will bring to our show each year and I am never disappointed," notes Lance Fensterman, Group Vice President of ReedPOP and Show Manager for C2E2. "BEFORE WATCHMEN is one of this year's most eagerly anticipated publishing events and I'm glad that we can provide our audience with this great opportunity to hear from these incredible artists and creators. This panel will be a highlight at C2E2 and I know we will have a packed room. It is always a privilege to work with DC and I am grateful to them for making this possible."

BRIAN AZZARELLO has been writing comics professionally since the mid-1990s. He is the author of JONNY DOUBLE, BATMAN: BROKEN CITY, SPACEMAN and the Harvey and Eisner Award-winning 100 BULLETS, all created in collaboration with artist Eduardo Risso. The New York Times best-selling author's other work for DC includes the titles HELLBLAZER and LOVELESS (both with Marcelo Frusin), SUPERMAN: FOR TOMORROW (with Jim Lee), JOKER and LUTHOR (both with Lee Bermejo), SGT. ROCK: BETWEEN HELL AND A HARD PLACE (with Joe Kubert), FILTHY RICH (with Victor Santos), and most recently the all-new ongoing series WONDER WOMAN (with Cliff Chiang). He also wrote the Richard Corben-illustrated graphic novels Cage and Banner for Marvel Comics. Azzarello lives in Chicago with his wife, artist Jill Thompson, and twitters only when he has something to say.

LEE BERMEJO began drawing comics in 1997 for WildStorm Studios in San Diego at age 19. This project is one of three collaborations with Brian Azzarello, the first being BATMAN/DEATHBLOW: AFTER THE FIRE, LUTHOR, and The New York Times best-selling graphic novel JOKER. He has also done a number of other short projects, GLOBAL FREQUENCY (with Warren Ellis), SUPERMAN/GEN 13 (with Adam Hughes) and HELLBLAZER (with Mike Carey). He has worked primarily as a cover artist, doing covers for the VERTIGO CRIME line. Most recently, he's written and drawn the graphic novel, BATMAN: NOEL for DC Comics.

AMANDA CONNER started out in comics after working as an illustrator for New York ad agencies. However, loving comic books and cartooning the most, Amanda found work at Archie, Marvel and Claypool Comics early in her career. Her work for DC Comics includes BIRDS OF PREY, POWER GIRL, TERRA and WEDNESDAY COMICS. Amanda, artist/writer/fiance Jimmy Palmiotti and writer Justin Gray work together via PaperFilms, a multimedia entertainment studio, engaged in screenwriting, art production and development. Her work has also included Vampirella for Harris Comics, Painkiller Jane, and the creator-owned books Gatecrasher and The Pro (with Jimmy Palmiotti and Garth Ennis).

DAN DIDIO was named Co-Publisher of DC Comics alongside Jim Lee in February 2010. This announcement coincided with the naming of DC Entertainment's executive team.

Previously to being named Co-Publisher, DiDio served as Senior Vice President and Executive Editor, overseeing the editorial department for the DC Universe line of comic book titles. As the DC Universe Executive Editor, DiDio charted the ongoing adventures of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash and scores of heroes and villains; he also worked to develop new titles with the industry's premier writers and artists.

At DC Comics, DiDio has spearheaded such bestselling projects as BLACKEST NIGHT, GREEN LANTERN, IDENTITY CRISIS, ALL STAR SUPERMAN, ALL STAR BATMAN AND ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER and 52.

Before joining DC in January 2002, DiDio was with the computer animation company Mainframe Entertainment where he served as freelance story editor and scriptwriter for the television series Reboot and War Planets. Later he became its Senior Vice President, Creative Affairs, overseeing the development, distribution, marketing, and promotion as well as merchandising and licensing of all Mainframe's television properties. Among the television projects he developed were Weird-Ohs, Beast Machines, Black Bull's Gatecrasher and Jill Thompson's Scary Godmother. He began his television career in 1981 at CBS, where he worked at a variety of positions before moving to Capital Cities/ABC in 1985. At ABC, DiDio served as Public Relations Manager for the three New York-based daytime dramas, then moved to Los Angeles to become Executive Director of Children's Programming. In this post, he was responsible for Saturday morning programs and After School Specials and served as Program Executive on such series as Tales from the Cryptkeeper, Hypernauts, Madeline, Dumb and Dumber, and Reboot.

For over 2 decades, ADAM HUGHES has called DC Comics his home-away-from-home. A self-taught artist, his work has been seen in and on such titles as JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, WONDER WOMAN, CATWOMAN, LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, TEEN TITANS and many more of DC's most popular publications. Winning multiple industry awards doing the cover work he is known primarily for, Adam has illustrated over 150 covers for DC Comics.

J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI is a television writer/producer, screenwriter and former journalist for the Los Angeles Times and TIME Inc. He has worked on such series as The Twilight Zone and Murder She Wrote, and created Jeremiah, Crusade and Babylon 5, for which he may be best known. He has had five movies produced in four years: Clint Eastwood's Changeling (for which he received a British Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay), Thor (Kenneth Branagh), World War Z (Brad Pitt), Underworld Awakening (Kate Beckinsale) and Ninja Assassin (for the Wachowskis). His work has earned him two Hugo Awards, the Saturn, Eisner, Inkpot and the Ray Bradbury Award and many others. His comics work includes Rising Stars and Midnight Nation for Top Cow/Image, The Amazing Spider-Man, Supreme Power, and Thor for Marvel. His most recent work for DC Comics includes BRAVE AND THE BOLD, BEFORE WATCHMEN and the SUPERMAN: EARTH ONE graphic novel, which spent 37 weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List.

LEN WEIN is a veteran comics writer, editor and creator of such memorable characters as Wolverine, the New X-Men and the Human Target, as well as the co-creator (with Bernie Wrightson) of the Swamp Thing. In his long and prolific career he has written for hundreds of titles, encompassing nearly every significant character in the medium. He has also built a successful career in TV animation, scripting such hit series as X-Men, Spider-Man and Batman: The Animated Series.

For further information about guests and activities at C2E2 as well as purchasing tickets, please visit www.C2E2.com.

ABOUT REEDPOP: ReedPOP is a boutique group within Reed Exhibitions which is exclusively devoted to organizing events, launching and acquiring new shows, and partnering with premium brands in the pop culture arena. ReedPOP is dedicated to producing celebrations of popular culture throughout the world that transcend ordinary events by providing unique access and dynamic personal experiences for consumers and fans. The ReedPOP portfolio includes: New York Comic Con (NYCC), Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (C2E2), Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) East & West, Star Wars Celebration VI, Fantasy Football Fest, and UFC Fan Expo. The staff at ReedPOP is a fan based group of professionals producing shows for other fans, thus making them uniquely qualified to service those with whom they share a common passion. ReedPOP is focused on bringing its expertise and knowledge to world communities in North America, South America, Asia and Europe.