Dan Didio hinted at another announcement earlier in the panel by accident, saying "Okay, so we got Battle For The Cowl - Oh shit! Cut that," before moving into a Q&A session where the new writer of Booster Gold was announced (creator Dan Jurgens is taking over writing as well as art), we were promised new focus on Aquaman, and given hints about the identities of future zombie supervillains in Geoff Johns' The Blackest Night (Will we see zombie Jor-El or zombie Earth-2 Superman? "Anyone dead is eligible," said Johns - Except for Garth Ennis' Hitman).

The announcement itself came in the form of a thirty-second video at the end of the panel, which showed a Bat-Signal shining on a coffin while the words "Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader?" appeared on screen. The story - written by Gaiman and drawn by Andy Kubert - will begin in January next year, but no details were given on where it will appear or in what form. But it's beginning to look a lot more like Batman's definitely going to disappear at the end of RIP, if not die outright...

After an introduction to the twelve guest-strong panel made the announcement confirming the longtime rumor of a Flash: Rebirth series (by the Green Lantern: Rebirth creative team of Geoff Johns and Ethan Van Sciver), Johns said that his favorite Flash was "all of them," and added that "If you guys like what we did with Green Lantern, hopefully you'll check out what we do with Flash... Just trust us. We're gonna try and take Flash and turn it into another epic like Green Lantern. It's all about who all of these Flashes are."

Starting an all-new rumor, Ambush Bug creator Keith Giffen asked the audience, " If you were to hear that Paul Levitz and I were returning to the Legion, what would you think? Just asking." Apparently, assembled fandom would like that idea, if the cheers and applause in the room was anything to go by. Does this mean that the favorite 1980s creative team is going to return to the title post-reality-warping Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds, or are fanstrings being plucked just to toy with the faithful?

Talking of strings being plucked, DC Executive Editor Dan Didio responded to a question about whether October's DCU: Decisions series, where the DC superheroes will endorse political parties, is expected to cause controversy and upset, by saying that "it's not the book you think it is. It's a book to inspire thought, change and ideas." Good to know that DC has mastered the art of political non-speak in advance of its release, at least.

Otherwise, everyone wanted to know what's happening with Batman: Suggesting that the "RIP" in Batman RIP may stand for "Replacement Is Possible," Didio caused very vocal upset from the room when he said "Okay, hypothetically speaking, what if Bruce Wayne was gone?" Another disappearance causing worry is Catwoman's, following the recent cancellation of her own series, but Didio told fans not to worry, as she'll become a regular cast member in Paul Dini's Detective Comics and wasn't really going anywhere:"She's very important to RIP and what happens post RIP," he added. Also due to make an appearance soon is Batwoman, as Greg Rucka - accompanied by a real-life Batwoman on stage - came the closest anyone has to officially confirming the existence of the Batwoman series he and JH Williams are working on, telling a fan "Magic iPod says, ask again in three or four weeks."

If you're waiting on news of Batman's health at home, however, you have far less time to wait; tomorrow's 2:15 Batman panel about the comics future for Gotham's protector is subtitled "No Rest For The Dark Knight." Sorry, Bruce.