The Vertigo Spotlight panel kicked off with executive editor Karen Berger, Scott Snyder, Jeff Lemire, Brian Azzarello, R.M. Guera, Ryan Kelly and Bill Willingham rounding out the assemblage of talent on stage.

The first topic of discussion was American Vampire . Scott grabbed the microphone to talk about how shortly after the Black List arc, American Vampire would be taking a year off so Scott and artist Rafael Albuquerque can dedicate some time to other projects and recharge their batteries to get a sizable jump on what comes next. Issue #34 follows the Black List arc and will tease what’s ahead right before the book’s prolonged hiatus. According to Snyder, we’re at about the halfway point with the American Vampire story.“What happens in the Black List really changes the status quo for Pearl, Henry, and Skinner,” said Snyder. “So when we come back things will be different and the book will feel more accessible.” Snyder also took a few moments to talk about his new Vertigo series, The Wake. The series will be drawn by Sean Murphy and last for 12 issues. Snyder described the series as a horror/science fiction underwater epic that will explore ocean mythology.

Read more about The Wake

The discussion then moved to Bill Willingham’s Fables. Starting with issue #125, Fables will begin a new story arc called Snow White, where, fittingly, Snow White will act as the point of view character. “As is the case with Fables, whenever you have a story arc named after you, a whole lot of crazy crap is coming your way,” joked Bill Willingham.Willingham also took some time to discuss Fables: Werewolves of the Heartland, an upcoming original graphic novel delving into the past of Bigby, by Bill Willingham, Craig Hamilton and Jim Fern. When asked to describe the series without giving too much away, Willingham said, “It’s Bigby. He’s fighting werewolves. They’re in the heartland. And there’s a hussy in Bigby’s arms that isn’t Snow White.”The audience then got a little sadder and quieter when the cover to the final issue of Sweet Tooth was shown on the giant projection screen in the panel room. The cover displays an older, more decrepit version of Gus. “I’ve had the ending in my mind since the beginning,” admitted writer Jeff Lemire. “I’ve been putting everything into this book to make it something special. Thank you all so much for letting me get to issue #40.” The final issue, which is #40, will be a double-sized issue.Jeff Lemire also discussed his next Vertigo project: Trillium: The Last Love Story Ever Told. The 10-issue maxi-series will be written and drawn by Lemire himself, including a few painted panels. The series will debut some time in 2013. When asked to describe the plot of the book, Lemire said, “[Trillium] revolves around two narratives involving a botanist from 1,000 years into the future and a soldier from World War II who meet somehow and bring about the end of the world.”

Read more about Trillium: The Last Love Story Ever Told

Right before Bill Willingham left the panel for another obligation, he did reveal that a few characters from Vertigo’s Unwritten will crossover into the Fables universe. This will happen in Unwritten #50. If you’re interested in reading this bizarrely unique crossover, Willingham stressed, “you’ll want to be reasonable caught up with Fables and pretty much fully caught up with Unwritten.”The discussion then moved on to the upcoming horror anthology Ghosts. A slide was shown with an assortment of preview artwork from the book. We didn’t get much new information on the project besides the fact that the book features the last artwork Joe Kubert ever did before he passed.Next up, R.M. Guera talked about drawing the adaptation of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. “The plan is to have the first chapter out by December for when the movie releases. The book will be five issues long, all of which will be oversized,” revealed Guera. Furthermore, there will be a flashback-centric issue featuring artwork by Jason Latour. The comic adaptation of Django Unchained uses Tarantino’s original, full script. There will be plenty of scenes in the comic that didn’t make it into the final cut of the feature film.Lastly, Karen Berger took a brief moment to discuss the much-hyped Sandman prequel by Neil Gaiman and J.H. Williams III. The entire series will take place before Sandman #1 and will feature revelations such as who the parents of the Endless are.

Erik Norris loves creepy fans. You can watch him be one on Twitter @Regular_Erik or on IGN at Erik_Norris