WonderCon 2025: Mark Waid: 50 Answers In 50 Minutes Panel Recap

Mark Waid is already one of the hardest working guys in the comic book business, with multiple titles running for DC Comics. And he took that energy to WonderCon 2025 with a panel where he attempted to answer 50 questions in 50 minutes. Could he do it??? Read on after the official synopsis of the panel to find out.

Mark Waid (JLU, Kingdom Come, Daredevil) is here for a rapid-fire, no-boundaries Q&A, answering audience questions about himself, his career, and comics in general! Will he get through 50 questions in 50 minutes? Come prepared to join in and find out!

Also, just to get this out of the way up front: Mark Waid is faster than me. So this panel recap is going to capture as much as possible, while not being a raw transcription of everything Waid said. Caveats out of the way, here we go!

1. How does he prepare to writing a major character? “You read comics since you were five years old.”
2. How do you take care of your comics? He put everything on consignment a few years ago, but has everything “important” in trade collections. During COVID he began to collect Silver Age books.
3. What do you think about Stucky? “I just made a joke once that Bucky had a crush on Steve, but it was a man crush… But somehow it got inflated very quickly.”
4. Gorilla Grodd, Martian Manhunter, and Another Telepath… Cage Match? Martian Manhunter wins.
5. Characters he wants in Justice League Unlimited? Orchid, Dial H for Hero will be “coming in sooner rather than later.
6. Artists he would want to work with, dead or alive? Steve Ditko. As for alive he’s not worked with Dennis… Callum? I missed this one.
7. Namor on the Moon, or Aquaman on the Moon? Namor wins, there’s no limit to his distance from water.
8. Has he read every DC comic ever? He’s read every Superman comic ever, and most Batman comics. “Wonder Woman, yes.” Also Flash, Green Lantern. “Have I read any good fiction books in the past twenty years? No.”
9. Characters sold their sold in Underworld Unleashed, will they ever get it back? “Not my responsibility.
10. The big chunk of kryptonite being introduced in Superman Unlimited? “That’s a question for Dan Slott.”
11. Favorite issue of 52? The issue where they introduce Blood Kryptonite, though only because that’s the first one he could remember.
12. First comic he ever read, and the first one that made him go, “oh my god.” Batman #180, it was the first one that came out after the TV show. “That stuck with me… I was a DC boy exclusively until 1970,” because there was no Marvel distribution in the South.
13. Thoughts and feelings on Bart Allen? “What? I created Bart Allen.” He has the original design sketch for the character on his wall.
14. Top three books that have made you cry? Death of Jean Grey; Superman #148, which he read as an adult and is called “Superman Owes A Billion Dollars,” where an IRS agent realizes Superman owes a billion dollars in back taxes; and the third one was a Superman novel titled Miracle Monday.
15. The biggest continuity twist to deal with in New History of the DC Universe? He notes that the previous history had 100 pages in 1986, he has 120 pages for 80 years. “I’m doing my best,” says Waid. “The hardest one to wrangle, besides Hawkman — nobody understands Hawkman,” is Wonder Girl. He also notes it’s the current DC Universe, not any of the pre-Crisis continuities, which helps a little bit.
16. Favorite moment from World’s Finest? Felix Faust makes Superman and Batman think they’re in hell, Superman snaps out immediately because he doesn’t really believe in hell, he believes in redemption. “I will also say that Dan Mora is the greatest artist alive.
17. Favorite memory of the DC implosion? In 1978, DC was doing a big expansion of the line with more books, which cost more money. None of the books were on the stands, but his neighbor’s cousin filled him in on what happened — that DC had to actually cut back because of lack of faith from Warner Bros. “That sucked.”
18. Do you have control over what marketing reveals three months in advance? “Yes, it does, I have to be a little more careful about following the solicitations, but not to the letter of the law.” He does have some control because he gets first pass at the solicits. “But I try to be circumspect.” He notes that when he did The Return of Barry Allen they did regular numbering so you wouldn’t know when the end was coming.
19. Something about an audio podcast, sorry.
20. Favorite Batman story? “To Kill A Legend” in Detective Comics, and “Heart of Ice” on Batman: TAS.
21. If you could write any book, what would it be? “I kind of can.”
22. How involved are you in the new Superman movie? He’s not involved, but “Everything I’ve heard gives me confidence.”
23. Were you a rabid Superman fan when the 1978 movie came out? No! He tells a story about being in a very dark place not caring “if I live or die” and he saw the movie twice in a row, and knew his life was going to have to do with Superman. “That connected to me at age 14 or 15, whatever it was… you could make a case Superman saved my life.”
24. Do you ever get bothered when someone doesn’t follow your canon? Yes, but “it’s just the rules of the game, you have to live with it.”
25. What is Superman’s social security number? He doesn’t have one, but Clark Kent does. 092-09-0616
26. Favorite TV show (I think?) First season of The Flash, which left it all on the table. There’s a picture of him the first time they said Speed Force on TV, full of joy.
27. Favorite version of Legion of Super-Heroes? Jim Shooter and Curt Swan. Waid knows who is taking the reins now for Legion and he has “confidence” in them. There should be news in the next few months.
28. Missed the question but… Mike Weiringo was one of the greatest artists who ever lived. “Every issue with Mike was a gem.”
29. What’s the most important thing about a comic book script? “They have emotion, they have heart, they have human moments because that’s all people care about.” He notes that early on he made the mistake that plot was the most important part, when it’s actually the emotion.
30. Favorite X-Men lineup? The Claremont/Byrne era. He adds that he’s not a Silver Age acolyte, he’s favoring that stuff because “that’s the nostalgic part of me.”
31. What was the most heated moment with a fellow artist or writer? Waid won’t name names, but in Marvel he was working on plot and dialogue. He turned in the plot in early December, the artist “dicked around,” and finally the book had to be dialogued on Christmas Eve. The artist threatened to punch him in the face. He also adds that Alex Ross and he had “heated moments” during Kingdom Come, but it was always about moving the story forward.
32. You ever miss working in comics journalism? “I really… Don’t? I enjoyed it at the time.” It helped him network with comics people, and the other thing that helped him was he was the gofer at conventions.
33. Do you get inspiration from places you don’t expect? Absolutely. Every morning he does the rounds on science blogs, but the most unexpected place is when watching a movie and it takes a surprising turn.
34. Favorite person he picked up at the airport? Dave Sim, one day after he divorced his wife, which “he wanted to talk about, a lot.”
35. Where did he sit? He sat in the front of the car.
36. Was it difficult to write the Justice League Year One without Superman? Not really because “those were the cards I was dealt.”
37. Favorite non-Big Two book? In the past few years, Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees by Patrick Horvath, and Luisa Now And Then by Carole Maurel and Mariko Tamaki. The latter because it’s a comic book that could only be a comic book.
38. How did the New History of the DCU come about? It was in the works before he came back to DC. “I made it abundantly clear I would burn that place to the ground if I didn’t do it.”
39. Will the characters from the ’80s and ’90s show up in JLU? “It’s possible,” Waid says noting that everyone has their favorite characters, and characters they missed because they didn’t read them as a kid. For Waid, it’s Firestorm who he can’t quite get.
40. Other Star Wars characters he would like to write? “No. I like Star Wars, but I’m not a huge enough fan that I feel like taking away jobs from someone.”
41. How do you feel about the last 15 years of Legion? He likes what Bendis did, and things after he took on the team. “Ask me that question in a year because I’ll have a much better answer.”
42. Favorite Steve Ditko? The shot of Spider-Man pushing Betty Brant away.
43. Best Superman artist in the last 80 years? Curt Swan is his favorite.
44. What character he hasn’t worked on that he has a file on? They’re not comic characters: Doc Savage, and Lone Ranger.
45. Favorite JSA character? Original Mr. Terrific.
46. An Amalgam character he would want to work on? Super-Soldier was “tailor made for me at the time.”
47. What does the Fantastic Four movie has to nail to get it right? “They have to find a balance between adventure and comedy… They need to do something truly imaginative that you have never seen before?” Matt Fraction told him, “you’re going to love this.”
48. Can you bring back Sugar and Spike to the DC Universe? He thinks they are sacrosanct. “You don’t touch those things that were one creator.”
49. Things you have to read? He owned a store in Indiana “where I may have just as well set my money on fire.” He goes on a riff about how digital means you’re competing with every comic ever, not just what comes out that week.
50. Best art in Daredevil that’s not Born Again? He likes John Romita Jr, and of course the artists he worked with.
51. Do you like Charlie Cox as Daredevil? He didn’t love him in the first two seasons but is loving this season. “The best episode so far is the bank vault episode.”
52. Favorite Superman villain and why? Lex Luthor. “I like the idea that Lex and Superman were friends as kids,” because “a core element of Superman is his loneliness.”
53. Can you bring back Snapper Carr? “I will find a place for Snapper Carr.
54. Books to get into DC for a fan who likes manga? He notes the Superman manga that came out the past few years, as well as the Batman and Joker one would be a great place to start.

And that was it! He did it, and with minutes to spare!

Comic Book Club Live Info:

Want to watch Comic Book Club live? We stream every Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. Come hang out, and ask questions of our guests (and us!). And you could potentially win a $25 gift card to Midtown Comics. You can check out a current list of upcoming guests and other live appearances on our Shows page.