“The future will soon be a thing of the past.” – George Carlin.

§ January 10th, 2012 § Filed under predictions § 59 Comments


It’s a new year, a time for a new beginning…and time again for your predictions! Once more I am asking you, the Progressive Ruin reader, to make your comic book industry predictions for 2012. Please drop ’em in the comments, while keeping these three requests in mind:

1. Don’t read the other predictions before entering your own.

2. Don’t criticize other people’s predictions.

3. Don’t predict any real person’s death.

And that’s about it. I might do a post discussing some of these 2012 predictions later on, but considering how the last time I did this said discussion went on for days and drove everyone crazy…I’ll probably keep it brief this time. But at least it’ll give all of us an opportunity to talk about what predictions seem likely and which seem…well, not so likely.

So please, if you have a prediction or three, just plunk ’em down in the comments here and we’ll see how you did next year. Assuming, of course, Planet X doesn’t crash into Earth when the Mayan calendar ends in mid-December.

Tomorrow or the next day (depending on how my bloggin’ time is) I’ll start going over last year’s predictions and tally the hits and misses. (HINT: Just at a glance, we had a better average than most professional “psychics!”)
 

image from Nancy #159 (September 1958)

59 Responses to ““The future will soon be a thing of the past.” – George Carlin.”

  • Roger Green says:

    Despite mediocre reviews, the Avengers movie will win its opening weekend box office. But it won’t have legs. I’ll be bored all summer reading about how the movie makers screwed up.

  • ExistentialMan says:

    1. Marvel will not relaunch its entire line in 2012.

    2. Watchmen 2 will top the sales charts but have little staying power over the long-term beyond the initial trade sales.

    3. Mike Sterling’s hair will get even better.

    4. Comics in general (from all publishers) will continue to be awesome all year long.

  • Jay V says:

    DC’s big event will be a 12 issue mini series called “12 Funerals and a wedding”. Every issue will feature a different character suffering a grisly fate, and a previously deceased character will be brought back with a new costume. At the end, Wonder Woman and Power Girl get married.

  • Alex says:

    1) Paolo Rivera drops off of the ongoing Dardevil title; a new artist comes in, and my interest in the title plummets. Mark Waid still writes it solid, but it no longer remains Marvel’s flagship book.

    …. I can’t think of any other predictions. And I hope mine doesn’t come true!

  • I predict that I won’t read any new comics in 2012 but I will still continue to be enthralled and amused by Progressive Ruin.

  • 1. Marvel will retake the market share and Diamond Top 10 from DC.

    2. DC will cancel low performing titles and replace them with concepts that didn’t come in the first wave and but people were asking for (Captain Marvel, JSA) and some they might not have (Challengers of the Unknown, Adam Strange)

    3. Bob Harras will hire more creators from his tenure at Marvel. Most outlandish prediction? Peter David being hired at some point to write Supergirl. Expect J.M. DeMatteis to get work as well.

    4. The Dark Knight Rises will earn less money and be less well received critcally than The Dark Knight. It will still do great business and be a great movie, but since it didn’t surpass The Dark Knight in grosses and praise, it will be deemed a failure and experience media and Internet backlash.

    5. That being said, Warners will want to lock in plans for the post-Nolan future of the franchise, and will announce a reboot while DKR is still in theaters. A name director such as Sam Raimi or Guy Ritchie will be given the task of rebooting the franchise.

    6. It will be announced that the two Marvel films Disney has scheduled for 2014 will not be Guardians of the Galaxy and Inhumans as is rumored. There is a chance neither film will get a spot. The two spots most likely will be taken up by some combination of these three films: A sequel to the Avengers, a sequel to the Incredible Hulk, and/or another reboot of the Punisher franchise.

    7. Warners will push another long in the works DC property in to active development. Either Flash, Captain Marvel or Swamp Thing.

    8. Every article written about digital comics will mention somewhere that the death of paper comics is imminent. But paper comics will survive the year. There will be more of a focus on digital-only content that is vital to continuity, however, to try and convince more readers to migrate there.

    9. The film world will have a quieter presence at SDCC this year, a sign of an inevitable shift of focus from Hollywood back to comics.

    10. NYCC, however, will experience an upswing of movie companies peddling their wares, especially studios with big holiday releases.

  • Steve says:

    Hmm, this is tough this year. Everything that comes to mind is sort of obvious and doesn’t really feel like a prediction (“DC will cancel a bunch of New 52 titles and then launch some new ones”). Oh well…

    1) More than 90% of the comics released each week will be released the same day in digital and print.

    2) Marvel will not copy the New 52 in terms of either rebooting their continuity or relaunching their whole line.

    3) Marvel and/or DC will launch an ongoing book based in the continuity of one or more of their movies.

    4) A front-of-Previews publisher will experiment with digital prices lower than print. (I mean, aside from those cases where print is $3.50 and digital is $2.99 because iTunes only likes prices ending in 99 cents.)

    5) A group of higher-profile Big Two writers and artists will publish creator-owned work through a new imprint at an existing publisher.

  • Birdman says:

    A lot of the independent titles that have been making strong inroads into the market will be wooed by the Big 2.
    D.C. will use those titles to launch another “Vertigo” line to keep up the “New 52” charade, but develop other titles not in continuity to keep fan base happy.

  • Mike Nielsen says:

    1) We still will not have a collection of the Miracleman stories that everybody wants.

    2) Showcase Presents Tomahawk will be announced.

    3) There will be a crackdown on internet piracy from Marvel and/or DC. And it won’t really change anything.

  • googum says:

    I don’t think Marvel will cave and do a 52-style relaunch, nor do I think DC’s Vertigo relaunch will take off. (I’d like to be proved wrong on the latter.)

    A smaller publisher–IDW, perhaps–will decide to go big on digital, with huge discounts even on day-and-date. There will be a lot of hurt feelings and name-calling, but it’ll probably be successful. The majors will use digital as a try-out for new talent (the way they used to be given annuals or fill-ins) to generate cheap content.

    Whether it’s done for penny-pinching reasons, or to find a scapegoat; Marvel will do some housecleaning this year. Some big names will be politely but firmly shown the door; but their replacements will all be conservative choices.

    As usual, I think I’m less predictions, more safe bets…

  • Chris K says:

    In light of Marvel’s cost-cutting measures and their related unwillingness to keep a strong backlist in print, they will outsource their collected editions department. Due to their strong track record with classy archival editions and, more recently, with Disney properties, Fantagraphics gets the gig. Reality implodes.

  • Frowny says:

    1) Multiversity will fail to appear, and at some point Grant Morrison will get sick of getting jerked around by corporate. (If I remember the pitch correctly, it’s been made impossible by the Crises having never happened anyway.)

    2) Alan Moore will say something (possibly sensible, possibly off the deep end, depending on whether or not someone asks about Watchmen) that pisses many people off. The usual suspects will go through the “Man, what happened to you, Alan Moore? You used to be cool.” schtick. Alan Moore will continue to not care.

    3) I will hate myself while buying the conclusion to his Supreme as drawn by (ack!) Erik Larsen.

  • philip says:

    The “big two” will start to cross the $4 barrier on regular monthly titles.

    8 of DC’s “New 52” titles will be cancelled.

    Somebody will finally get to the bottom of digital comics sales and we will learn that they are just so-so. The novelty will wear off for most people and the numbers of regular/repeat digital comis buyers (for new comics) will be minimal.

  • philip says:

    Superman gets his old costume back.

  • 1.Snapper Carr will be the main villain in the next big Dc event comic book.
    2.Cable will come back in some big way. Maybe some secret Micheal Turner cover will be revealed.
    3.Hellboy will rock your socks!
    4.That Magnet you found at that gas station with the 2012
    warning hurriedly scrawled with sharpie? Totally accurate! ;)

  • Gordon says:

    Rumors will begin to swell mid-summer of a DC crossover between the “new 52” universe and the pre-reboot universe, claiming that when Flash “combined the timelines”, that spun off a completely separate earth.

    In addition, DC will focus on the next great franchise: Swamp Thing, choosing to focus on developing movies, toys, and other media. They claim, “We should have listened to Mike Sterling sooner – our bad”

  • Jeff R. says:

    We won’t know anything more about the Woman in Purple at the end of 2012 than we know right now.

    Ultimate comics will come to an end, and they’ll probably actually blow up the entire planet/universe as it goes. (Possibly some refugees end up on 616, possibly not.)

    X-factor will be cancelled/end. Peter David will end up writing a book in the Avengers franchise.

    Hellblazer #300 will be the final numbered issue; after that the vertigo version of the character will be in miniseries. There may be a new #1 featuring the DCnu version of the character around the same time.

    Mage III will be announced.

    Scott McCloud will release a fourth XXXXXX comics book.

  • Gareth Wilson says:

    All of the TV shows based on comics characters will be cancelled after less than 13 episodes.

  • Jerry Smith says:

    – DC will announce a return to pre-New 52 continuity, featuring the tag-line “The New Old 52.” The new/old line will rerelaunch in January 2013 with all new #1s. Most importantly, Batman and Superman will get their underwear back.

    – IDW, running out of licenses for TV shows, will announce a “San Pedro Beach Bums” comic.

    – All comics from Marvel and DC will be 32 pages or fewer at $3.99 by December.

    – The Vision will be the new break-out character at Marvel, and the Creeper will be the new break-out character at DC. Sorry, that was just wishful thinking.

    – Bendis will publish one issue of Scarlet and one issue of Powers. If that.

    – There will be a month where Matt Fraction will write every book published by Marvel that month.

  • Casey says:

    DC will go back on the their new continuity in some fundamental way. Hawkman’s continuity will, ironically, be more consistent than any other characters’.

  • Rob H. says:

    -The digital exclusivity deals like Amazon/DC and Marvel/BN will end and both comics companies will release pretty much the same content on both devices

    -Digital comics won’t break out this year, though.

    -Marvel will release an insane number (like 500+) of digital GNs, while DC keeps their digital GN output relatively low.

    -Superman Inc.

    -American Vampire, or some new Scott Snyder property, will be optioned and possibly film a pilot.

    -Walking Dead (the show) gets canceled

    -Powers does not get picked up by FX

    -Having dropped all Avengers writing, Bendis writes four ongoing X-men titles.

    -Having no female-starring titles, Marvel will instead have every team book led by a woman at least once. This means Black Widow will be Captain America for one issue.

  • Steve says:

    Much like the 2nd Suicide Squad TPB, Resurrection Man will have a 2nd TPB solicited but never actually come out. Thanks DC!

  • Michael G says:

    1. A number of long-time comics bloggers will “retire” from daily or even regular posting as real life pressures and social media interference combine to reduce the significance of keeping a regular blog.

    2. Fantagraphics will break into digital comics with some version of either Hate or Love & Rockets.

    3. ok, I peeked at Jay V’s comment up at the top. Not only will Wonder Girl marry Power Girl, there will be a limited variant edition with them making out on the cover.

  • Dan Wars says:

    Superman gets his regular costume back, Aragones starts doing a new Groo book, Marvel finishes, or at least comes closer to finishing their mini series The Twelve.

  • Steven E. McDonald says:

    Superman: The Man Of Steel tanks in its opening weekend, with a domestic return of < $15 million.

    The Avengers opens well, but doesn’t break $100 million in its domestic opening. This throws doubt on future big-budget Marvel movies.

    Marvel’s production arm starts making plans to do second-string properties at much lower budgets. Ant-Man finally gets a start date, Iron Fist is brought back to life without Ray Park, and someone finally makes a decision on who’s playing Luke Cage. On the TV side, The Hulk and Alias Jessica Jones both die quiet deaths. The Marvel block on Disney XD, however, does very well.

    The DC Universe block on Cartoon Network starts out well, but falls off fast.

    By the end of the year 26 of the New 52 will have been canceled following continued writer/artist changes.

    The Earth-2 Justice Society will finally debut early in the year.

    DC will quietly do some resetting of the Nu52 timeline because the five year thing is driving everyone nuts.

    By the end of the year expect Hal Jordan to be the one true Earth Green Lantern.

    Marvel will get the film rights to Fantastic Four back…and not be able to do anything with them.

    Squirrel Girl’s profile will continue to rise during the year. By the end of the year she’ll have her own ongoing, a TV pilot, and a porn parody will be in production.

    At MorrisonCon, Grant Morrison will out himself as a three foot tall and remarkably hirsute alien who’s been traveling around wearing a flesh suit for all these years. She will have no explanation as to why the voice translator has a Scottish accent.

    Marvel will start another Avengers book — featuring Agent Coulson.

  • MrJM says:

    Prediction: In 2012, I will once again spend more money on hard liquor than on comic books.

    — MrJM

  • CW says:

    I predict Nickelodeon will debut an animated series based on the “Crossed” comic books from Avatar Press.

  • Bear says:

    1. Bendis’ departure from the Avengers titles will result in a relaunch featuring the “classic” line-up. This team will add new members swiftly, become a bloated mess, spawn many tie-ins and generally be met with a feeling of “Wow, never thought I’d miss Bendis.” The titles will be relaunched again.

    2. The New 52 will continue. New titles will be added, old titles will be cancelled, and blogs will still be filled with commenters swearing the whole thing was a mistake and the old universe will return any day now.

  • Bret says:

    All political disputes will be decided by THUNDERDOME.

    Comics will continue to shrink in market share and rise in price. Night of the Owls will not be very good.

    Avengers and the Dark Night Rises will unexpectedly cross over in the middle. No-one will know why.

  • DavidG says:

    “3. ok, I peeked at Jay V’s comment up at the top. Not only will Wonder Girl marry Power Girl, there will be a limited variant edition with them making out on the cover.”

    And approximately 10 minutes later a digitally altered version where they are both nude will be available online.

    Someone will do a massive crossover event in which the hook is the world is going to end in December 2012. The world will not actually end. The event will be lame, and all the new characters and reboots that come out of it will suck.

  • Cole Moore Odell says:

    My predictions for ’12:

    Cliff Sterret will debut a strip about a gruff, homely old man named Paulie, making his way through life without any pals

    Rudolph Dirks will continue his successful run on the Katzenjammer Kids without interruption of any kind

    Up and comer George McManus will briefly become a household name thanks to his charming new strips “Rosie’s Beau” and “Love Affairs of a Mutton-Head,” but will run out of steam fast and disappear from the comics scene by year’s end

    Winsor McCay will also leave the world of comic strips having exhausted his imagination

    Tired of the nonsense produced by his washed-up cartoon man George Herriman, W.R. Hearst will tire of comic strips and abandon the field to his competitors

    Oh, wait, *2012*

  • Batfatty says:

    DC will stage a multi-universe, apocalyptic story all to retcon the editorial disaster of doing away with Batman’s outer underwear.

  • Mike Zeidler says:

    Mike Sterling will finally get around to reviewing the ultra-special edition super-long director’s omnibus cut of the Watchmen movie.

  • Mikester says:

    Mike Z. – Oh man.

  • Dwayne the canoe guy says:

    In AllStar Western we will see a story where Jonah Hex sires a bastard child for Harvey Dent’s ancestor, a storyline that was declined for Jonah Hex V2.

    Sluggo will be challenged to a deathmatch by Tubby. During the battle they will be struck by lightning as they fall into the lake and will emerge as the moss encrusted mockery of merged small boys known as Swamp Slubby. Little Lulu and Nancy will join forces and enlist the aid of Gyro Gearloose to help stop Swamp Slubby from killing Unca Scrooge, for whatever knows greed burns at Swamp Slubby’s TOUCH!

  • Dwayne the canoe guy says:

    Also, the lost 192 minutes of the Jonah Hex film will be found and the movie will be recut and released by the Cohen Bros. The film will be a commercial and critical success and Megan Fox will appear for only ten seconds where she opens the door and Hex shoots her dead while saying “Yuh trade easy, woman. ” Crowds will cheer.

  • Rob March says:

    Doom & gloom variety: I predict that yet another title I really enjoy will be cancelled. Because that’s how I affect the comics industry. In the worst case version, it would be Sweet Tooth, which is one of my favorite books.

    Hop & change variety: My one man crusade to get people to read more odd comics (usually from Fantagraphics) continues to pick up steam, helping Mike sell maybe 4 or 5 more volumes over the course of the year. Fine, in truth, they’ll probably all be bought by me.

  • philip says:

    Trying to clarify my digital vs. print thing from earlier: digital will cannibalize print. Digital comics won’t bring in a significant amount of new readers (at least not on a consistent/ongoing basis), but will siphon off Wednesday regulars who now have tablet computers.

  • Dave says:

    1) Image comics will rise in prominence and market share, led by Millar and Quitely’s Jupiter’s Children (the first issue of which will be in the Diamond Top 20) and supported by a number of high-quality under-the-radar comics that will finally start to catch on. Oh, and Walking Dead collections, which will continue to sell in huge numbers.

    2) DC will lower the standard price on their digital comics backlist (older than 1-year) to 99¢. Other publishers will follow, except (stubbornly) Marvel. Day-and-date digital comics will continue to be priced at cover price.

    My pie-in-the-sky prediction: Fantagraphics announces a Matt Howarth’s Complete Bugtown project, with chronological collections of Howarth’s Bugtown stuff in several huge (300-400 page) volumes.

  • Rob March says:

    Did I really write Hop & Change? Damn my eyes!

  • Oh, what the hell? This might be fun:

    Marvel or DC will go direct-digital with a comic that was unprofitable in print and had to be canceled, just to burn off the completed inventory and justify a collected edition. They’ll mess it all up completely, though, by charging digital buyers the full $2.99 or $3.99 cover price. It won’t sell, but the collected edition will still see print.

    The “Hawk and Dove” TPB will include the 7th and 8th issues. (It’s due out in August, so there’s plenty of time to change its contents yet.)

    A lower-priced iPad will be seen as a great boon to digital comics and sales will rise, though not exponentially. We’ll never know, though, since the publishers don’t divulge that information.

    Diamond won’t go bankrupt, though at least two major Steve Geppi-related Financial Difficulty stories this year will start raising that question again.

    Diamond Digital will flop and be canceled as a cost-cutting move, though Diamond will deny that reason.

    DC and Marvel will cut costs by signing fewer exclusives and letting many of them lapse. A new rush of “mainstream” creators will start creator-owned works at Image as a result. By this time next year, an entire wing of Image Comics will look like Marvel/DC 2010. Kirkman will grab at least three of those big names for Skybound.

    I will write another 52 Pipeline columns.

    The lack of diversity in superhero comics will continue to show itself, with no diabetic characters introduced in 2012.

    With the Avengers and Batman movies coming out this year, the Superman movie will be forgotten until it suddenly shows up one Friday night when nobody is looking. Only the nerds will skip “Brides Maids II” or “Hangover III” to see it.

  • Adam Farrar says:

    After Avengers vs. X-Men: Loeb will write a new on-going, probably Cable. The Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning cosmic stories (last seen as the two Annihilators mini-series which ended the last week of 2011) will not continue but be replaced with a new Nova series.

    Some softball pitches to coordinate with the Avengers movie: Hawkeye will get an on-going title. Loki will get a mini-series that has nothing to do with the Journey to Mystery title.

    DC will do an Amethyst title that will hopefully be all-ages and self-contained.

    The relaunch of the Extreme titles will mean Alan Moore’s “Supreme: Story of the Year” will finally be back in print.

    The new Watchmen comics will be a huge financial success.

    DC’s recruitment of Marvel’s creators from the 1990s will continue with new work from Danny Fingeroth, Terry Kavanagh…

  • Andres says:

    DC’s $2.99 line will crack no later than mid-year.

  • DC will continue producing 52 separate monthly titles, canceling titles but quickly replacing them with new books that keep the total at 52.

    In December DC will announce that starting in 2014 they’ll no longer be printing monthly comics but will instead produce 52 separate 80 page books (done in the same format as “Love & Rockets”) retailing each at $14.99. So the 52 different monthly titles will now be 52 weekly (one book a week) 80 page TPB.

  • Mike Zeidler says:

    Mikester wrote:
    > Mike Z. – Oh man.<

    Don't pretend you don't own it! I'll assume today's "store break-in" was just another feint in trying to get out of it. :D

  • My 2012 predictions:

    -Ghost Rider will be relaunched, with Johnny Blaze as the book’s protagonist.

    -A new, rebooted and more realistic Wolverine movie will be in the works. Hugh Jackman won’t be starring as Wolverine this time, though.

    -Much like in that one Brad Pitt movie, Mike Sterling will continue looking younger and younger and nobody will find it odd at all.

    -The Avengers books without Bendis won’t sell nearly as well.

    I got some 2013 predictions too, do you take those? I like to think ahead.

    -The new major event in the Batman titles will be the death of Alfred Pennyworth. This will cause Batman to be on edge all year, until all the 5 or so Robins intervene. At the end of the year, Bruce will find an orphaned old manservant who will become the new Alfred.

    -Meanwhile at Marvel, the biggest event in years, with multiple tie-ins will be the death of Wolverine (this may happen in 2012 though, I’m not sure, Mike. In that case he’ll return in 2013, just in time for the movie to come out).

    -Mike Sterling will look as young as ever, but the guilt over not writing a huge post every day will have an impact on his psyche. The ventriloquist dummy from his childhood will come back, representing the repressed side of Mr. Sterling. It will take over the shop and lash out at customers trying to sell Mike 90s comics. Whenever Mike is sick or doesn’t have time to post, the dummy will post single photos of it’s favorite old pogs. It will not affect Progressive Ruin’s popularity in the slightest, though.

  • Rob S. says:

    DC will announce the expansion of the Earth 2 books in the new 52 (currently Earth 2 and World’s Finest) to include a separate book set in the past, with superheroes fighting Nazis. It might or might not be called “All-Star Squadron.”

    DC will slowly add more back-ups to its books (and raising the price to $3.99), including Green Lantern, Flash, and Justice League International.

    More Milestone and Wildstorm properties are given a shot at a title. We’ll see Icon, Shadow Cabinet, and Zealot.

    Steph Brown and Cass Cain fans will continue to be disappointed and vocal. Heckler fans will continue to be disappointed and quiet.

    We’ll see a Wally West, Kyle Rayner, Connor Hawke team-up. Alternate Earth or DC Comics Presents reprint?

  • Boosterrific says:

    Bah, I’m already over 2012! I’m skipping ahead to 2013: Progressive Ruin will run a fortnight’s worth of blog posts recapping the reviews for 2012 in a disorganized, rambling manner that will be equal parts un-illuminating and hilarious.

    (Try that prediction on for size, you “free will” philosophers!)

  • Valdemiro says:

    In 2012 Brian Michael Bendis finally collaborates with Kevin Maguire on the Avengers. They then create a headshot panel so beautiful it makes mere mortals weep.

  • Andres says:

    I should do a Doctor Who prediction for 2012:
    The ‘fans’ will hate it. Not the fans who post multiple times a day on tumblr about the show or the ones that helped it be the highest-rated show on BBC America. You know which ones I’m talking about.
    If the next series has a story arc they’ll complain it’s too ‘arc-y’; that every story deals with x or y. If there’s no arc they’ll complain the stories are all throw-aways. They’ll complain the 11th Doctor does stuff for ‘cool’s sake’ forgetting Tennant wore suits with sneakers and x-ray glasses.
    The (SPOILERS!!!!!!!) new companion/companions will be compared incessantly to Sarah Jane or Jamie, the phrase ‘worst ever’ will be thrown around. These people have never met Adric.
    Steven Moffat will be called a hack, he will be compared to RTD at ever turn. All the crappy episodes under RTD’s run will be forgotten. Moffat will be called a sexist…or not. Or both.
    The show will be called ‘too confusing’. “It’s supposed to appeal to kids!” Forgotten will be the fact that kids DO get it. If the story is too kid-friendly then it will be called ‘dumb’.
    By the second-to-last episode of the series ‘fans’ will start predicting the end of Doctor Who again.

  • Glitchy says:

    DC will suddenly discover the pre-teen girl “princess” market (possibly thanks to the Super Best Friends and Amethyst shorts). Because of this, editorial mandate revamps Starfire back to something closer to her animated Teen Titans persona.

    This also leads to a My Little Pony/DC cross over that just defied all forms of logic, but was very pastel.

  • Kid Kyoto says:

    DC will try a black and white manga-style phone book anthology with several 100 pages each month. The best series from that will then be colored and reprinted in TPBs.

    Real publishers like Scholastic Books will continue to make OGNs that outsell anything by DC or Marvel, mainstream comic fans will continue to ignore them.

    The EXTREME! Studios relaunch (Youngblood etc) will barely put out 3 issues before sinking quietly into the darkness.

    The Superman film will bomb.

    Superman will be back in his traditional suit about 15 minutes after the film closes.

    New rumors of a Wonder Woman film which go no where.

    The Avengers film will actually be quite good.

  • Ben says:

    DC will announce that Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics will end in early 2013, the same month as Batman Incorporated v2 #12 ships. Morrison will simultaneously announce his retirement from writing comic books.

    The Avengers movie will be mildly entertaining but strangely empty of any engaging emotional content, just like all of Marvel’s movies since Iron Man. The announcement of their post-Avengers movie slate is met by bewilderment (by comic fans) and blank stares (by the general public) as ‘big guns’ like Ant Man and Guardians of the Galaxy are rolled out.

    The Dark Knight Returns animated movie(s) will, like almost all of DC’s DVD movie fare, be entirely unsuitable for kids to watch. But…

    …DC will unexpectedly find a long-dormant property that hits big time with the (actual) kids, probably via the DC Nation slot on Cartoon Network. What the hell, lets just say Amethyst. My daughter would *love* that show.

    China Mieville’s Dial H for Hero revival will be excellent and universally liked by the comics blogosphere, but commercially it will fail dismally and be canceled by issue 8.

    Dan Slott will replace Brian Michael Bendis on the Avengers books, as Bendis takes over Amazing Spider-Man. Marvel will continue to pimp the hell out of Matt Fraction despite the fact that (Casanova aside, though that doesn’t even really count) he has never written a good comic book for them.

    The Ultimate Comics ‘free download’ thing is a dismal failure (though we never hear about it) and the whole line is shuttered either in late 2012 or announced to in early 2013.

    Vertigo will announce that Hellblazer will end with #300 and the death of John Constantine.

    And finally, Sony will release a ‘skin’ for DC Online that make it both bearable to look at and as though it was all drawn by Carmine Infantino. More a wish than a prediction really…

  • Steven E. McDonald says:

    …I do know I’m going to be mocked for the Superman: Man Of Steel boix-office prediction, considering that the damn thing doesn’t come out until 2013.

    So let’s just say that I got one in early for 2013…or that I was being silly. Your choice!

  • random surfer says:

    Late Dec/early Jan: Mike Sterling will ask people for preditions for 2013. He will comment on the predictions made for 2012. He will say this one is stupid and/or pointless.

  • Niel says:

    Tony Daniel will be taken off Detective Comics, as they will have found someone even worse.

  • Agreed says:

    Yeah, man, Tony Daniel was pretty bad.

  • John F says:

    Boy that Avengers movie sure tanked, huh guys?

  • Mikester says:

    John F. – Some of the predictions were right, some were wrong. That’s just how it works out. “People are going to burn out on superhero movies” just happens to be a relatively common motif in forecasts such as these, and isn’t particularly surprising in this case given how a film like The Avengers was fairly unprecedented, and was being written/directed by someone who hasn’t had much box office success with previous films he’d been responsible for.