Okay, I lied, here’s Part Two…
…on Wednesday, instead of Thursday, like I said. Turned out I had a little more free time to write this post than I was expecting. …Well, this is more like Part 1 1/2 because I’m gonna do a short one today, covering just a few more of your 2012 predictions from last year. And remember, I’m still looking for your comic industry predictions for 2013!
Googum googumed
“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.)”
As noted already yesterday, and as I’m sure some of you have noticed, Marvel did follow DC’s lead in restarting a bunch of their books, only 1) not doing them all at once, and 2) not being a complete reboot, as it was in some cases with the DC titles. …As for Vertigo, if anything, it’s kinda/sorta barely hanging in there, and with the loss of several of its ongoing titles, it’s now pretty much a Fables imprint. Well, okay, that’s a slight exaggeration, but c’mon.
“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.”
I don’t know if any indie print publishers went the cheaper-on-day-and-date route (though Stewart has a few things to say about digital discounts, particularly compared to international exchange rates, here)…but I know a lot of publishers are doing plenty of digital-first releases. A handful of DC’s titles are basically just reprints of previously-available digital comics. And just to show you how much I generally pay attention to that sort of thing, I hadn’t realized DC even had that many digital-only comics.
“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.”
Not yet, I don’t think. There certainly are a few names I don’t recognize on some of the bigger titles, but, like, Bendis and Hickman and Waid and Fraction as others are all still doing major work for Marvel.
• • •
Chris K had the following beautiful vision:
“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.”
Oh, damn, imagine a Fantagraphics Complete Millie the Model series. Fully recolored. Nice glossy paper. …A tear comes to one’s eye.
• • •
Frowny frowned
“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.)”
Multiversity still hasn’t popped up, no, but I suspect DC will still publish it anyway, regardless of it not matching up to current New 52 continuity. That would probably be a feature, not a bug.
“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.”
I’m not even going to check; I’ll just give you a “hit” on that and move on.
“3) I will hate myself while buying the conclusion to his Supreme as drawn by (ack!) Erik Larsen.”
Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself! I’ve plugged Supreme on this site a couple of times…I think it’s a hoot!
• • •
Philip begat
“The ‘big two’ will start to cross the $4 barrier on regular monthly titles.”
Well, there’s a bit of a slow creep, so it’s happening…Batman jumped to $3.99, for example.
“8 of DC’s ‘New 52’ titles will be cancelled.”
Close! I think it was more like 10: Men of War Mister Terrific, O.M.A.C., Hawk and Dove, Blackhawks, Static Shock, Voodoo, Captain Atom, Resurrection Man, and Justice League International. And a few more were announced but still have an issue or two left, I think (Frankenstein Agent of S.H.A.D.E. and Blue Beetle). I’m sure I’m forgetting some.
“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 comics buyers (for new comics) will be minimal.”
I haven’t seen much talk about actual numbers, but then I haven’t been following the digital comics news, as you might imagine. I am curious about the amount of overlap between print buyers and digital readers.
“Superman gets his old costume back.”
Hold on…we’ll clearly have to wait for the near-universal negative reaction to the shortsless costume in the new Man of Steel movie before this will happen.
• • •
Former Employee Aaron cruises for some bruises with
“1.Snapper Carr will be the main villain in the next big DC event comic book.”
I assume he’s the power behind the evil throne in any major DC event, snapping behind the scenes.
“2.Cable will come back in some big way. Maybe some secret Michael Turner cover will be revealed.”
Cable came back, but it remains to be see how big a way. Cable and the X-Force sales have not impressed yet so far.
“3.Hellboy will rock your socks!”
Hellboy has not rocked my socks, but he certainly jazzed my cravat.
“4.That Magnet you found at that gas station with the 2012
warning hurriedly scrawled with sharpie? Totally accurate! ;)”
I thought I’d posted a scan of that magnet here, but I guess not. So, I have pulled it off my fridge, where it’s been for the last three years or so, tossed it on the scanner, and here you go…DON’T LOOK DIRECTLY AT IT:
This represents exactly what happened at my house last December 21st, by the way.
• • •
Gordon beheld
“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.”
I don’t know if any such rumors spread, but I would have been surprised if any such crossover would have happened this quickly, while they’re still trying to get the New 52 thing off the ground. …I think unless the New 52 starts flopping horribly (and despite what folks might think, it hasn’t reached that point yet) I don’t think DC will start trying to call back alienated fans that desperately. And if they do, I think we can consider that the death knell of DC, given the “this is our last chance” vibe the whole New 52 initiative gives off.
“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'”
So many people have realized they should have listened to me before it was too late. So many.
• • •
Okay, that’s enough of that. More prediction commentary in the next day or so. Yes, I know you can’t believe how lucky you are.
“As for Vertigo, if anything, it’s kinda/sorta barely hanging in there, and with the loss of several of its ongoing titles, it’s now pretty much a Fables imprint”
VertiFables! Fabigo!
That recent hardcover was good, though.