So I don’t know which is more disturbing:
…or 2) that Richie Rich is totally ripped:
So I received a call very early Thursday morning telling me the store alarm is going off, and the police are there waiting for me to show up…and when I finally arrive, I see that our glass front door had been smashed. Some of you may remember that this has happened before…but unlike that instance, which just apparently vandalism, this was definitely burglary. All they got away with was a five-year-old laptop computer that didn’t have any vital information on it, but still…it’s a drag.
Thus we had a morning of sweeping up glass and calling around for replacement glass…and unlike last time, we should have the new glass within a day, instead of waiting for it forever.
This is my long-way-’round of explaining why my 2011 predictions post for today will be slightly truncated. I know, I know, I could probably let it slide a day and you’d all understand, but I need to distract myself, and hey, I got a blog, might as well use it.
Speaking of which: now, I know everyone just assumes I am the all-knowing master of all things comic book-related; flawless and magnificent. Alas, I am only a mere human, just like you…well, maybe a little better than you. However, I can make mistakes and forget things and just plain miss things outright, and my post yesterday was no exception. For example, I either hadn’t known or simply forgot that, unlike what I said yesterday, there were some digital-only releases as indicated by Randal and Dr. Polite Scott in the comments.
I have repeatedly admitted that I am not up on digital distribution stuff, beyond 1) it exists, and 2) Marvel and DC are directly marketing it in comics they’re sending to comic book stores, so I really don’t know a lot about preferred formats and such, so I appreciate it that Bruce and Kevin have attempted to clue me in a bit on all this.
Once again, taking the long-way-’round: if there are any more predictions that I don’t know enough about to comment upon, I may very well call upon one of you folks to chime in and help me out. I know the thing right now is to deride and eschew comments sections (ahem), but by and large, the readers who engage with me here in my comments sections have usually been helpful and funny and interesting. Yes, yes, in every pile of Star Wars figures there’s the occasional Ric Olie, but for the most part, I think my comment sections add to the experience rather than detract. Well, aside from the occasional death threat or crazy person. Or maybe because of.
Hmm. Almost left myself some time to actually go back over those predictions. Lemme get going on those. But first…don’t forget, I’m still taking your predictions for 2012!
All government will be replaced by Thunderdome.
I suspect some of us would have preferred this.
Superman will decide to walk around the world after walking across America. He will spend the majority of his time mocking the less fortunate and spitting in their faces.
With that collar and armor he kinda looks like he’d be the kind of super “hero” who’d do this. But nah. Not yet.
There will be a public apology for the commercial failure of Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Whether it will be the public writing a letter to Edgar Wright, or Edgar Wright and Micheal Cera releasing one of those hostage videos at gunpoint apologizing to Universal for under-performing is unclear at this time.
I think I’ve mentioned before that I actually liked the Scott Pilgrim movie, even though the comic doesn’t really do anything for me. And I was a bit surprised that it failed that badly, given that you’d think a movie featuring Michael Cera repeatedly getting hit would be more popular. There were some comments from the head of Universal that were…okay, not an apology, but at least an acknowledgement that the film should have done better.
Also, the new Dr. Who will be good.
I thought it was pretty good. Your Who Mileage Will Vary, of course.
But really, most people will only notice the Thunderdome thing.
Can’t people just get beyond Thunderdome?
Quick predictions – Steel is NOT going to die, but John Stewart is. There’ll be a funeral issue where the other Green Lanterns agree that he was the most soldierly, like a true soldier, and his past as an architect – wimp of the professions – will be erased once and for all. Probably he’ll be back as a Red Lantern within the year, blowing away some dudes with a sniper rifle.
I’m surprised this didn’t happen. Give it another year.
Some comics will be sold for $4.99, but only if they have really amazing pinups at the back.
We did get some $4.99 annuals, regardless of pin-ups. Did the Hellblazer annual have pin-ups? Man, I’d rather have another page or two of comics than more pin-ups.
Vertigo will die off. Archie Comics will do a series where Archie goes to Heaven and also Hell, in a format similar to the Betty/Veronica marriage. Reggie will be revealed as a Satan.
Vertigo’s still hanging in there, and while Archie didn’t do this story, I can’t think of any reason in the world why they shouldn’t.
A Drunken Bakers movie will be announced, directed by Lars Von Trier and starring Ken Stott and Paddy Considine.
I wasn’t familiar with the Drunken Bakers…until I looked it up and now I want this movie.
They’ll reprint all Hugga Bunch comics in a big absolute edition hardback costing $299.99 including free hug.
If someone gave me three c-notes for a Hugga Bunch collection, I’d definitely hug them.
Marvel will have Mickey and co visit their universe.
Not yet…but I expect some kind of crossover at some point. I mean, don’t you?
Marvel will give the x-men a break with cross overs. right after they have jean grey come back from the dead as dark phoenix one more time and wreck havoc.
No break for the X-men yet. And Phoenix is still dead…but not for long, I’m sure. I mean, that’s pretty much her deal, yeah?
marvel will finaly bring scarlet witch back in the avengers fold sane.
Leading back towards that, probably, if I’m understanding that Wikipedia entry about her involvement in Avengers: Children’s Crusade properly, but perhaps someone more versed in this material can let us know.
dc not only will kick marvels butt sales wise digitaly but will have Oracle back walking around . the death of barbara a fake out to restore her walking.
I’m not sure how the two are connected, but…as I understand it, the publishers are still being cagey about exact numbers, unless something got out there that I didn’t see, so any butt-kicking is as yet unresolved. …Barbara Gordon is up and walking again, thanks more to New 52 Reboot than any faked-death plot. (Though we haven’t seen the explanation of her cure yet.)
dc will also have swamp thing return in his own title and Mattel will give him his own dc classic wave. wave 25
Yes on the new title, no on the wave of figures…but we got a new deluxe figure that as far as I was concerned was its own wave.
Joaquin Phoenix will be hired to write a high-profile book, while ten genre-breaking, critically-acclaimed books will be canceled.
I get the point here, but I don’t think any Big Name Celebrity Comic came out and received an inordinate amount of attention to the detriment of better books. It sort of feels like that time has kind of passed for now.
Ryan Reynold’s Green Lantern media blitz will receive a second wind in time for dvd sales when John Boehner is caught in a Sassy Larfleeze costume during a fundraiser.
Please tell me this didn’t happen and I missed it.
Somebody will create something moving that sends me back to the comic shop looking for another fix.
Well, only you can tell me if this happened, Decker. Let us know!
Marvel will continue f – word – ing up Spider – Man by telling the story that was SUPPOSED to be told in BRAND NEW DAY. And, yes, this will make things even more confusing and contradict all stories before it. Deal with it. Additionally Marvel will go from one big mega – crossover to two every year. And the price for singel issues will go up to 4.99 now including 20 extra pages from the New York City phonebook – collect them all.
None of that happened…though in the case of the $4.99 Marvel book, I will add “yet.”
DC will kill of another big character then bring him back – before the end of the storyarc – only to kill him a second time. Now for real…yeah, right. At least they don´t f – word up the GREEN LANTERN movie. At least the original Batsymbol will stay awhile.
I think Flashpoint sort of pushed back any big “DEATH OF [DC HERO NAME HERE] stories for now. As for the Green Lantern movie…er, sorry, friend. And I’m pretty sure the Batsymbol won’t be going anywhere for the foreseeable future!
Savage Dragon will still be one of the best superhero comics and still be ignored by most comic readers. Who will keep buying the big two megacrossovers instead – while bitching about it. Same thing with Invincible and other good independent books.
…Pretty much a “hit” here. Savage Dragon is kind of an overlooked gem now, isn’t it? Erik Larson just keeps doin’ his thing, and it just keeps getting weirder and more amazing.
All the people who claimed none of the CrossGen books were any good after the company went bankrupt will be bitching that they aren´t as good now that Marvel does them. They will still buy them.
In my experience here at the shop, folks seemed to like the new CrossGen just fine. I didn’t pay attention to how the general worldwide reaction was.
A comic book starring a water-skiing, flame-thrower wielding cat will becomes a surprise cult hit.
This only happened in a world I’m not fortunate enough to live in.
At least one comic book will be published on lunch meat. At least one.
“I thought I had a comic here to read while I enjoyed my honey ham sandwich, and now I can’t find it!” …COMIC MEAT TRAGEDY.
One major DC or Marvel superhero character will be changed into a woman. Not replaced by a female version. Changed into a woman.
…Not in any comic I read. Did this happen anywhere that I know about? I mean, aside from the more “adult-interest” titles?
The Captain America or Thor movie will provide an easter egg which suggests a Marvel heroic character not even hinted at previously in movies or casting news will be in “The Avengers.” And that character will be Rocket Raccoon.
There was an Easter egg in Captain America with the original robotic Human Torch…could it be…? …Nah.
In the next big cosmic event for DC, the Spectre will be taken down first.
I don’t think the Spectre was in Flashpoint, but then I only read the issue that had Swamp Thing in it. Spectre’s been pretty much a no-show for a while…maybe he’ll pop up in that new Earth 2 book.
I predict that Marvel will publish an entire Spider-Man comic story in a digital format only. No print version of that story will be announced or made available, at least not in 2011.
Given my track record regarding my knowledge about digital comics, I hesitate to answer…but I’m pretty sure I would have at least heard of this had it happened. And if it hasn’t happened yet…I’m sure it will soon.
Personally, I’m holding out for the return of ‘Mazing Man in a new Seinfeld/Swamp Thing crossover comic…
It wasn’t in a Seinfeld/Swamp Thing crossover, but sure enough…frighteningly enough…’Mazing Man came back. That’s enough for me to point at Adam and call out in terrified tones “Sorcerer! Sorcerer!”
And that’s about that for now. I’ll wrap this up on Sunday, hopefully. Yeah, I know, it’s a three-parter. Sorry, gang!
Okay, I didn’t see any easy way through this except by just going through all the predictions, so…well, that’s what I’m a’gonna do. Let’s see if I can get through last year’s predictions in just a couple of posts so I don’t drive everyone crazy.
And I’m still taking predictions for 2012…make your pal Mike work for his blogging dollar next January!
Let’s start with my predictions, because it’s my site, so there:
I think DC will hold the $2.99 price through the year, because not doing so would certainly look bad for them, wouldn’t it?
Well, yeah, they did, but this was probably a “gimme” given the promotional push they gave to the whole “holding the line at $2.99″ thing. A couple of books went to the $3.99 price point following the New 52 relaunch, but by and large, most of DC’s books are still at the lower price. And this year a couple more titles are going to the $3.99 format, but still, DC’s holding on to that $2.99 cover price across the majority of the line.
Sales will continue to suffer on redundant books (i.e. the thirteen or so Thor mini-series, for example) but no one will learn any lessons from this.
This was more me griping than really making a prediction, though I will say DC’s multiple Batman and Green Lantern titles seem to be doing okay. For now.
Someone will put out a complete edition of William Overgard’s Rudy. (Hey, let a boy dream.)
DENIED.
A new Swamp Thing series will be announced by the end of the year, firmly planted (heh) in the DC Universe. And it will turn out to be awesome.
Well, well, well…whaddaya know. I’m not sure I’m going to throw the word “awesome” at it quite yet, but we’ll see once we start getting some actually Big Green Swamp Machine action goin’ on in there.
The rerelease of Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s Flex Mentallo in a new collected edition will be met with confusion and fear from the usual suspects.
Um, well, this would require the book having come out. …Maybe this year!
And I think Wizard will end its print edition and move solely online…if it continues to exist at all.
Ayup. …Actually, I have no idea if the online version is still happening.
And now, on to what you guys had to say:
not a prediction- but I would love a year where a powerful character or entity isn’t easily bamboozled and ‘taken over’– skrulls, black lanterns, chaos and other things become tiresome!
where’s me plots based on sexy mayors!?
Pretty sure we didn’t get a year without a character getting “taken over,” as that’s Standard Superhero Plot #17. Can’t think of any specific examples, but considering I just read a new comic this very week with that plot device, I’m pretty sure it must have happened at some point last year.
And we’ll probably have to wait on the Dark Knight Rises film before we get any “sexy mayor” plots with Nestor Carbonell as Gotham’s Mayor Garcia.
Joe Quesada will end his reign as Editor in Chief at Marvel. He will be given another job within the Disney Company, higher up. He will be replaced by a Disney insider, not currently someone working for Marvel.
Half a hit, with Quesada definitely being replaced as Editor-in-Chief, but by another Marvel dude.
Marvel and DC will be forced to merge, due to low sales, creating a new company called Marcy. The best-selling book will be their team up book, Brave & The Two-in-One.
Oh, you. …Actually, I wonder if there will ever be a circumstance where the two companies would merge? Maybe if Warner Bros. sells DC to Disney, and Disney shooshes ‘em all together into a big ol’ comics goulash. “WALT DISNEY AND STAN LEE PRESENT BATMAN AND THE JUSTICE AVENGERS IN ‘IF THIS BE THE KRYPTONIAN ETERNALS!’”
Swamp Thing will return, but in the mainstream universe. His story will become far less cerebral as he regularly interacts with folks in Spandex.
A HIT, A VERY PALPABLE HIT. That Search for Swamp Thing mini certainly wasn’t very cerebral…in fact, it was pretty dumb…but the current series isn’t that bad, I think. Swampy was also certainly interacting with the superhero crowd in all that Brightest Day brouhaha and that Search mini…and there were a handful of cameos in the first New 52 issue, with Alec Holland talking directly to terribly-costumed Superman.
DC will lose patience waiting for everyone to flock to their titles now that they are all $2.99, and we’ll see a line-wide increase to $3.99 announced by October 2011.
A miss, thankfully, primarily because of the success of New 52 relaunch which I don’t think any of us really expected. (The relaunch, not the success, though I suppose it applies to both.)
There will be a lot of flailing about with the industry finding a digital platform and model embraced by the readership at large. Nothing major happens in 2011, as I still think we have another year before an iTunes model pops up that dominates industry wide.
I’m still not 100% “up” on the digital thing, as I have my hands full selling physical products, though I think DC and Marvel directly marketing comics with digital download codes through comic shops counts as pretty major.
Pogs come back in a big way!
Oh thank God this didn’t happen.
At least one independent publisher will go completely day-and-date with digital releases.
Dark Horse did, I believe, and I’m pretty sure Archie had already.
Marvel and DC won’t go fully day-and-date, but one of them will try it with an *ongoing* series (priced the same as the print version).
A hit, I think, with the previously-mentioned comics with prepacked download codes.
The Thor and Captain America movies will make a ton of money, but not quite as much as was hoped for, leading some to question whether the superhero movie is dead and whether Marvel’s strategy in that arena is sound, even though they make a ton of money.
Well, according to Box Office Mojo, Captain America made about $370,000,000 ($140,000,000 budget) and Thor took in $450,000,000 ($150,000,000 budget), so they turned a profit, I suppose, depending on what other promotional expenses and whatnot is involved there. So while some folks in comics fandom will continue to predict the superhero film genre is kaput, I think it’s still got some life in it.
Fear Itself will make a relative ton of money, but not quite as much as hoped for, leading some to question whether the event comic is dead and whether Marvel’s strategy in that arena is sound, even though it makes a relative ton of money.
I will note that the sales on the most recent Fear Itself series Fearless ain’t a patch on its parent series. I think the strategy of keeping certain events going on way past the initial rush of interest and excitement is the lesson to be learned here.
DC will launch another new ongoing Superman book.
Technically, I guess they did, even if they were just relaunches of previously existing titles. But I expect we’ll have to wait for the whole New 52 thing to shake out before any new ongoing Superman titles pop up. (Frankly, though, I hope they don’t…two is plenty.)
Dynamite and BOOM! move to the “front” of the Previews catalog.
Not yet! But they’re at the beginning of the alphabet, so they’re not too far away!
1) Grant Morrison will be revealed for the acid tripping megalomaniac he truly is.
I know some people weren’t happy with some comments he make in his Supergods book, but I don’t know that was the result of megalomania.
2) corollary to the above, Morrison books will drop in value and regard when he flashes crowds at ComiCon panels, convinced that like Batman, he needs “world-wide exposure”
Don’t think any of that happened, but I’m reasonably certain that would have driven up sales on Morrison books!
3) Xmen comics will become a convoluted, confusing, self referencing mess that…well. um. nix that that one. thanks.
I think I’ll be nice and refrain from commenting on that one!
4) Although the ramp up to digital has begun, most companies still won’t be able to see past the iPad, and the expense of that device will prevent any meaningful adoption of digital/mobile comics distribution. In a misguided conception that the willingness to pay iPad prices extends to everything else, publishers will assume they can set any price they want. (relates only to digital distribution)
Gah, I really don’t know enough about this stuff, as my eyes just kind of glaze over whenever people start talking about “digital platforms” and such and hey, those little furry things running around my feet don’t have anything to do with me so I’ll just ignore them, said the dinosaur. I do know that nobody ever seems to like the price points of any digital releases from the big companies, so I suppose that last part of the prediction seems to ring true.
5) Price wars between publishers will calm down, settle at 2.99 and 3.99, and everyone will still complain about it. (justly so)
Prices still at about those levels! And nobody likes that $3.99 price point (unless it’s for a thicker comic…which most of the time it isn’t).
6) JLA will be cancelled, lacking editorial directives that can make a cohesive book.
Again, technically true. I’ll let you decide if the current Justice League book is cohesive or not.
7) BOOM Studios will have their reach exceed their grasp, licensing things that they can’t really support in the market. (this will be disappointing to me)
They seem to be doing okay so far. Hellraiser, Planet of the Apes, Elric all have modest but loyal followings, and Peanuts seems to be off to an okay start. Nothing earth-shaking or blockbusting, but they sell.
8) Walking Dead will have season two, and rabid fans will boycott it.
I haven’t heard any boycotts yet, but just from what I’ve gleaned from online reaction, people are reacting less well to the second season than the first one. Heck, people started disliking the series with episode two, as anything was bound to suffer in comparison to the premiere.
9) Robert Kirkman finally goes bat-sh#$ loco, buys out all the other Image partners, renames it Kirkman’s Image Comics, and ban any creator from working on any book anyone else has ever done before.
As amusing as this would have been, alas, it did not happen.
10) http://www.themeangeek.com will gain precisely 1 listener, raising comics awareness to three whole people.
I hope I helped at least at little in you achieving this goal!
1)At least one major publisher (though not necessarilly one of the “big two”) will start digital only releases on some (or maybe all) titles.
2)One of the second or third tier publishers will go out of business or be bought out by a bigger publisher.
3)The return of licensed character titles to the big two.
Haven’t heard of any digital only releases, aside from maybe some back catalog material on previously-released print items. Maybe I missed something? And there are so many comic publishers I’m sure someone went out of business, though I haven’t heard of any acquisitions. But then, I wasn’t keeping track. …Some follow-up on your predictions this is turned out to be, huh?
As far as licensed properties go at Marvel and DC…when I discussed this last time, I mentioned all the Stephen King and Anita Blake and such that Marvel had, but I forgot about DC’s various video-game tie-in comics. I suppose those count. But DC pretty much gave up on The Spirit and Doc Savage, I guess.
1) DC’s new pricing policy (and Marvel’s unwillingness to really match it) will put it within spitting distance of #1 company by volume.
Pretty sure they passed Marvel briefly, didn’t they? At any rate, they’re neck ‘n’ neck last time I checked.
2) Marvel’s Fear Itself event will generate interest at first but fizzle out when it doesn’t offer anything new and all tie-ins are $3.99 or $4.99.
The main Fear Itself series did okay, but the multiple minis were a bit too much, and didn’t do nearly as well. A lot of the tie-ins were $2.99, though, which was nice.
3) The Cap and Green Lantern movies will do well at the box office without translating into any significant sales bump for their respective comic franchises. Thor’s Asgardian setting won’t translate well to the big screen and will be critically shunned and poorly attended.
Swap “Green Lantern” for “Thor” and that’s pretty much what happened. Green Lantern‘s sales have remained strong, though not due to any movie bump. I didn’t notice any movie bump on any of these titles, actually.
4) Marvel will continue to dick around with Dr. Strange in the pages of the Avengers and fail for yet another year to give him his own ongoing title. Pissed off Strangefans will hex Marvel by the powers of the Vishanti and the company will end the year in flames, literally.
I don’t know if you would call Defenders his own ongoing title, but hey, it’s monthly and he’s in it. Fans are having some words about it, however.
Sudden & dramatic collapse of brick & mortar stores, both mainstream & speciality shops (such as comic book shops). Existing stores that survive will do so by either offering services to readers (such as B&N allowing one to browse through any e-book they offer while in their store, thus encouraging people to buy a Nook & regularly visit the B&N coffee shop; or in the case of comic book/pop culture stores to offer gaming, etc.).
Stores are still hanging on so far, thankfully! Our store has offering gaming stuff for years, so a little diversification never hurt anyone. …Let’s see how things go this year, though. This is definitely an economic climate that is not friendly to small business.
More Omnibi.
Yeah, there were plenty of these. Even with the economy the way it is, we’re still getting plenty of high-end reprint projects from both Marvel and DC. Of course, no one’s buying these monsters at the suggested retail price (anywhere from $75 to $125), but still, these are some pricy items for this marketplace.
More Vertigo characters in DCU.
Thanks to the New 52 and Brightest Day, we’ve got…Shade the Changing Man, John Constantine, and that big green plant fella. At least.
Hopefully more than one Milestone character gets an ongoing (IE, in addition to Xombi mini)
Again, thanks to the New 52…just Static so far.
Marvel will have some events.
There was also some unrest in the Middle East, I understand.
I have a sneaky suspicion that Dark Horse, of all companies, will revolutionize the digital comics arena. The comiXology model will remain the same for DC, Marvel, Image, and the rest for now.
Dark Horse certainly stirred up some hoohar with their digital announcements, at any rate.
The summer superhero movies will perform well enough but not fantastically, causing studios to mine more past properties in hopes of making a quick buck (get ready for the Strawberry Shortcake movie in 2012!).
Most superhero movies did reasonably well, but studios mining past properties is probably just business as usual rather than a reaction to how the films did. More of a “what did well before? What else can we do that’s just like that?” situation.
Marvel and DC will stop producing direct-to-video films as the public grows tired of the superhero genre.
Not quite yet…I suspect that the superhero genre will play out eventually, but so long as there are still superhero films coming out that are relatively well done and entertaining, the occasional clunker of a film is just seen as “a clunker of a film” and not a death-knell for an entire genre.
The recently announced Carl Barks collections by Fantagraphics will receive public attention on the Today Show via Al Roker and become selections in Oprah’s Book Club. The widespread exposure of clever humor and commentary by 50-year old Donald Duck comics create a nationwide movement of crazy alternative-energy initiatives and treasure hunting.
In a good and just world, this is what would have happened.
Honestly? I reckon 2011 is just going to trundle along, without any monumental success (a new direct market comic breaks a million in sales or downloads first week) or colossal failures (DM collapses, Marvel or DC cancel 75% of their line) and be mostly more of the same. The water isn’t quite hot enough to boil that frog, but he hasn’t hopped out, either.
In a way, DC did cancel about 75% of its line…and then replaced them with even more titles! The New 52 relaunch was probably the most notable success of the year, and one that I sure didn’t see coming.
Marvel will have a mild uptick in trade sales for Thor and Captain America; but they’d have to, after flooding the market. Green Lantern may have a harder climb for that: imagine a mythical ‘new reader’ bounding out of the GL movie and into, say, Blackest Night. No.
Marvel might have had some increase in trade sales, like you said. I did see an upswing in GL sales, mostly in Sinestro War and, yes, Blackest Night trades. And in reprints of the current (well, then-current) GL series.
And even though it’s become obvious Comic-Con applause doesn’t translate directly into box office numbers, no one changes their behavior in the slightest. Well, you don’t have to be Karnak for that one…
Weren’t there stories about some movie and TV companies slightly scaling back their Comic Con participation? I seem to recall that. But I bet you’re right, and people will still presume success based on fan reaction at events such as these.
DC’s $2.99 price point won’t hold. People will start predicting digital comics are just a fad (this is after sales die down like they have been for digital magazines).
Well, it’s holding so far, despite, as mentioned before, having a couple of titles bumping up to the $3.99 level. We’ll see how things go over the next year or so. …And I’m sure folks are calling digital comics a “fad”…hell, comic books themselves are a fad from early last century that are still hanging on, somehow.
Jack of Hearts is brought back to life and takes his rightful place among Marvel’s heavy hitters (2 series by end of year) Now to push for Stingray in 2012.
Well, yeah, kinda. Not so much with the “heavy hitter” part.
…The Green Lantern movie will be critically panned, but commercially successful.
You were half-right!
The Superman books will reintroduce elements from the new krypton storylines.
Blame the New 52 for getting in the way of this one.
The Beat blog will return to be as interesting to read as it used to be.
I’ll let you decide if this one is a “hit.”
1) At some point Grant Morrison will be done with Batman and then there will be incredibly ham handed attempts to return the character to the status quo in time for the new film.
Morrison doesn’t appear to be quite done with Batman, but I’d say cancelling everything and doing a huge relaunch sort of counts as “hamhanded.”
2) For some stupid reason, Steve Rogers will be back in the Captain America costume in time for the new film.
I didn’t read it, so I don’t know how stupid the reasons were. But he’s back in costume now…right? Was it in time for the movie? I lost track.
Doom and gloom predictions! Right before Skynet is activated and we all die in a fiery jamboree the $2.99 price point will be eradicated and all comics will cost $3.99 and up. On the brighter side i foresee more original graphic novel releases this year! Also I’ve been wondering how many different Batmen will we have in the Dcu.
1. WRONG. 2. A FEW. 3. ONE. UNLESS YOU COUNT BATWING, THEN TWO. UNLESS BATMAN INC. STILL “COUNTS,” THEN LOTS.
…I know next to nothing about digital comics, but my guess is that Dark Horse or possibly Dynamite will move to that arena. I also predict that, given the storyline of Superman: Earth-One, that specific world will be DC’s Earth-1990s. (Not being snarky, I honestly believe that each Earth-One GN will be terrible.)
Dark Horse certainly did. And…yeah, Superman: Earth One sure sold well, but boy did it get some negative reviews.
Mike Sterling will email me to tell me how much I owe him for the variant editions he obtained for me.
Right Mikester?
…Um, oops?
The gap between print and digital will continue to shrink, making more new books available sooner in digital format.
“Day and date” seems to get thrown around a lot, so I’m guessing it’s shrunk as much as it’s going to (until “day and date before” becomes the norm).
We’ll see the end of “events” for a while and a return to good, long-form storytelling (okay, that’s really a “hope” more than a prediction and though it is unlikely, please just let me have this).
Oh, silly philip. Even DC’s relaunced universe has got somethin’ in the works.
There will be just enough new work from Los Bros Hernandez to make me wish there was more new work from them.
This is never not true. I always want more work from the Bros.
DC will still not know what to do with Wonder Woman.
I made my opinion on the topic clear, but it’s selling and everyone likes it, so pay no attention to me.
DC will guerrilla market a one-shot via leaked uncolored pages, wherein Swamp Thing returns to the main DCU, but he is wearing tights and is traveling across America with his perky goth girlfriend Death. The comics intarwebs will collapse upon itself in an orgasm of hate.
Then it will turn out to written by Grant Morrison and Warren Ellis over a weekend trapped at an airport hotel. It will be the single most awesome thing all year, but will fail to cover the authors’ expenses on alcohol.
Wishing this were all true doesn’t make it so, alas. Except for the “collapsing in hate” part…I totally would have loved and supported this comic.
By the end of 2011, the original Fantastic Four will be reunited. Duh!
Duh, indeed!
Gin Genie will make her long-awaited return to the Marvel Universe.
And then team up with Iron Man.
You are a cruel man. Iron Man did team up with some booze, though, so you’re close. But sadly, Gin Genie is still dead.
Without Dirk Deppey’s daily links roundup, traffic to TCJ.com will crash by at least 90%.
I’m sure that wasn’t the case, but I certainly miss Mr. Deppey’s Journalista, as do many online comic fans.
Smaller, more independent press comics focusing on non-superhero fare will begin to become more prevalent and receive more press, since superhero comics will be seen more as “movies-in-the-making”.
Haven’t really seen this happen yet, as superheroes are more flashy and get more attention and thus make for better “news” stories in the Real World (which I’m assuming you’re meaning by “press”). But indie graphic novels and comics still get some good critical assessment in places like the A.V. Club and such, so they’re not being ignored. You’re just not likely to see the Associated Press syndicate a story about, I don’t know, a new issue of Palookaville (and more’s the pity).
The trend towards “graphic novels” made specifically to be turned into other media (30 Days of Night, anyone?) will increase, with a plethora of celebrity-driven “vanity projects” arising (one example – Ron Jeremy’s CAPTAIN HEDGEHOG)
Gah. …Anyway, I haven’t seen too many celebrity-spawned projects some down the pike. There’s Heart but that’s hardly taking the world by storm at the moment.
The repeated use of ironic quotation marks, “…, anyone” and “meh” will gradually fade, as more articulate comics/pop culture aficionados emerge online, thereby causing nerd critical sites (and Mike Sterling’s Empire 4.0 tumbler thingie) to disappear.
Estate 4.1, thank you, and it didn’t disappear…it was, um…resting. And I wish “meh” would fade, because seriously, that makes me want to hit someone with my truck.
Next franchise for DC to exploit: Joel Schumaker’s SWAMP THING. (Sorry, Mike)
As I said before…A+ WOULD SEE AGAIN.
Dan DiDio and Brian Bendis will both wrestle a bear at a convention…and lose.
If this happened and nobody told me, I’m going to be pissed.
Finally, Mike Sterling will still be seen as the greatest comics blogger in the multiverse.
I probably had a chance at that, except for the fact that this look back at 2011 predictions is going on for another day, at least.
So I was working on my “let’s look at your predictions for 2011″ post and responding to every single prediction and it was going on forever and I’d already pretty much provided commentary on most of the predictions last year. (Click on that “predictions” tag at the top of this post to check it out, if you’d like.)
Instead, I think I’m just going to go over some of the “hits” you guys got, and keep it short ‘n’ sweet…but of course I decided this way late at night, and I need to get my beauty sleep. (To become even more beautiful, of course.) Thus, that’s what I’ll do with tomorrow’s post. Or at least start on it, because I expect, in true patience-trying Progressive Ruin fashion, I’ll go on way too long despite trying to keep it at a reasonable length.
In the meantime, here’s a scan from Walt Disney Showcase #46 (September 1978), a comic I’d never seen prior to last week, containing a Dan Spiegle-illustrated adaptation of the film The Cat from Outer Space:
Anyway, please keep your predictions for 2012 coming…I think I learned my lesson and won’t be doing extensive commentary on your predictions ’til next year, when it’ll actually be appropriate.
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!”)
So a fella dropped by the store the other day with an armload of comics that he wasn’t interested in selling…he just wanted to give them to us, so that they’d be our problem instead of just another pile of stuff he’d have to deal with. I was kind of busy when he came in and just told him “sure” without getting a good look at what he had, ’til about a half hour later when I finally had a chance to glance through the stack and see an awful lot of “Death of/Funeral for/Return of” Superman books. Most of them are destined for the bargain box, some of the lesser-conditioned copies will probably end up in, ahem, “the gentlemen’s library and washroom,” and then there’s this:
I don’t remember if it was on this site, or on the Twitter, or maybe just in an email to a friend (which you better not have read!) where I noted that while the cheapie Death of Superman trade DC rushed out right after the event had gone through some incredible number of printings, like twelve or fifteen or something like that, you could (at the time I was making this observation, a few years ago) still reorder the World Without a Superman book from Diamond Comics and receive a first printing. (It’s since been replaced by an edition with a $19.99 cover price.) So they printed a lot of these books, and I wonder if this cut-price package was, while also being good marketing to take advantage of heightened interest in the Superman franchise, a desperate attempt to clear out some warehouse space.
One thing that amused me…the need to indicate that Action Comics #1 was a “(REPRINT).” Probably because you just know if that “(REPRINT)” wasn’t there, someone was going to complain that they didn’t get an original Action #1, and then there’d be lawsuits and all sorts of unpleasantness and who’d want that. Although I notice that no such consideration was taken to indicate the “SUPERMAN #75 THE HISTORIC ISSUE OF SUPERMAN’S DEATH” included in this package was a fourth printing:
Also, when you get right down to it:
Peeking at some of the faces visible on the cover of the trade:
So, anyway, the Death of Superman…nearly twenty years on, and there’s still no escaping from it. I expect that after I die, my condemned spirit will wander the world like Jacob Marley’s, weighed down by chains attached to long comic boxes filled with Adventures of Superman #500.
…courtesy Young Love #122 (November 1976):
So Trevor A asked in a comment yesterday if I’d discuss some of DC’s post-New 52 titles and how they’re doing in this brave new retail world. The two he mentions specifically are The Shade and Huntress, and…they’re both doing…okay, I suppose, with Huntress selling just slightly better. They’re definitely at the low end of the sales scale when compared to the New 52 line…not as low as Static Shock or I, Vampire, but maybe around Voodoo levels. Not great, but they seem to be consistent from issue to issue at least, enough so that when I heard that talk about The Shade mini-series possibly getting canned halfway through, I was a bit surprised. It doesn’t seem likely now, as that would be definite egg in DC’s face if they had to cut a mini-series short so soon after their big publishing initiative.
Plus, not that I’m some big publishing marketing genius or anything, but I’d think there’d be a payoff in finishing the mini and collecting it into a trade as a companion to the Starman series it spun off from. …Which of course begs the question why they wouldn’t just go straight to graphic novel format to begin with, but that wouldn’t be a strategy they’d take with a third-stringer like the Shade, I’d imagine.
Well, that went off on a tangent a bit. So, Trevor A, what I’m trying to tell you is that those two series at least are selling okay, if not great. Other post-52 series like T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and My Greatest Adventure are selling about as well, with Penguin: Pain and Prejudice being kind of the surprise hit, necessitating multiple reorders to fill back issue requests.
In other news:
Now on with part two of my “so how is all that new 52 hoohar doin’ five months on” overview, following up on that long-ago post where I asked you, the faithful reader, what you thought of them. Part one was yesterday, in case you forgot, and in case you didn’t, I’m sure I’ll link to part one once or twice more.
Grifter – Now had I been thinking, I probably would have ended yesterday’s post with Grifter since this is one of those titles I don’t really have anything to say about, beyond that it’s selling at all which is nothing short of a shock. Another one of those titles that isn’t generating a lot of buzz or attention but still has a small, stable following.
Hawk and Dove – Gotta give it to Rob Liefeld, he’s still on the book. And it’s maintaining…not great sales, but certainly respectable sales, and our customers do seem to be enjoying it. So, hey, that’s fine with me.
I, Vampire – Unfortunately, probably one of the two poorest selling titles of the new 52 for us. Vampire backlash from the comic fans, maybe? Perhaps seeing it as too…pandering, or something? I don’t know. Even the Constantine appearance in the latest issue didn’t do anything to spark interest.
Justice League – The best seller of the bunch, and, as I said before, it’s actually improved a bit since the debut. Okay, it’s still big, loud, and stupid, but it’s big, loud, stupid and entertaining. The mindlessly fun box office blockbuster of DC’s current line-up.
Justice League Dark – I’m not even quite sure what’s going on in this book…probably one of those titles that benefits from reading successive issues at once rather than with a month between, losing the nuances. Not that there’s a lot of “nuance” here, but c’mon. Still, oddly enjoyable and it’s Peter Milligan writing Shade the Changing Man again, and there’s gotta be value to that.
Justice League International – Haven’t looked at it since I didn’t finish reading the first issue after losing interest halfway through. Sells about a third of what Justice League does, which means it’s got some reasonable sales.
Legion of Super-Heroes, Legion Lost – I honestly think it’s probably time to mothball the Legion for a while and make people miss ‘em. Seriously, despite the occasional sales bump that comes from yet another reboot/relaunch (like, oh, say, the New 52 #1s) sales always drop right back down to where they were before. And I do mean “down.” Maybe it’s just us…maybe our local Legion fans have simply just dwindled in number. But that their comics do occasionally spike in sales tells me that at least part of our customer base is interested in the Legion, they’re just not interested in the Legion comics coming out right now.
Men of War – Another of the lower sellers, probably not surprisingly, though the people who do read it seem to enjoy it quite a bit.
Mister Terrific – Noted before that this book was kind of a disappointment for me…and apparently not just for me, as some of the prerelease excitement for this book among our customer base had us thinking it’d do really well…which it didn’t. Well, okay, that’s not fair…it did okay, and it’s still maintaining some lower mid-range numbers, so it has its fans.
Nightwing – Kinda surprised the hell out of me when I found out how well this book was selling for us. Not Action/Justice League numbers or anything, but certainly well up there. Lot of you kids out there are Nightwing fans, I guess.
OMAC – Such the best comic. A total Jack Kirby riff, and rightfully includes a credit for Kirby in the book now (which was overlooked in the first issue). Lots of noise and punching and crazy characters and even pulled off a two-page splash in the latest issue which didn’t make me immediately think “hey, you’ve only got 20 pages, cut that out” because it was awesome. Does okay for us, a lower mid-range title, but the folks that read it love it. As well they should.
Red Hood and the Outlaws – One of the better sellers at first, though it’s dropped just a bit. Despite all the fanguish about Starfire’s particular…portrayal in the first issue, we were getting the most requests for this title from our female customer base. Also, one of the employees is really into this title. Maybe a little too into it.
Resurrection Man – A lot of our longtime customers were equal-parts happy and surprised to see this title come back. Not a big seller, but selling more than I expected a revived non-big name title from a decade ago would.
Savage Hawkman – People want a Hawkman title, but it doesn’t appear to be this Hawkman title. Started off okay, but has seen some attrition and drops from comic saver files over the last month or two. It’s just not catching on, unfortunately. Still selling well enough, but probably needs a change in direction right quick to hang on to the readers it has.
Static Shock – The other poorest seller of the relaunch for us, which surprises me a bit. Are people seeing the name “Static Shock” and associating it with the cartoon, and thinking that they don’t want to read a “cartoon adaptation?” Is it maybe just too little, too late past the character’s peak popularity? I honestly have no idea.
Stormwatch – Didn’t really expect this to sell, but it’s doing fine. …Pretty much all I have to say about it, really. Some folks are surprised DC went with this instead of another Authority relaunch, but I’m kind of Authoritied-out so I’m glad they didn’t.
Suicide Squad – Started strongly, dropped about a…third, maybe, in sales, but even so still selling above-average numbers for the New 52 titles. Another one of those comics where the online reaction to the comic was belied by actual sales. Had a lot of people asking about it in the first month or two.
Superboy, Supergirl – Both these Superman tie-ins are selling quite well, with Supergirl having the edge. Supergirl is also getting a lot of back issue requests.
Superman – I can appreciate that George Perez is trying to give people their money’s worth with each issue, cramming as much story in there as possible, but it still feels like it’s getting in the way of telling the story. Like I said, it’s improving, and with a creative team change imminent, it’s very possible these problems will go away…or be replaced by whole new problems, but we’ll see. Sales were strong at first, and are slightly less-strong now, though still doing very well. Probably selling at about two-thirds of Action.
Swamp Thing – Another surprise from the New 52, where, like Animal Man, it’s selling a lot more than anyone would have predicted. And in our store’s case, I promise it’s not because of me pushing the book, honest! Kind of wish that the long, slow build-up to the eventual Return of Swamp Thing (no relation) was maybe a little faster-paced (and the lack of Swamp Thing thus far has cost the title a reader or two at the shop), but response has mostly been very positive for this series.
Teen Titans – That initial promo image was pretty roundly mocked, and rightfully so. However, the series is selling fairly on par or slightly more with the last Titans series or two, and I’ve had a pal or two whose tastes I trust tell me that it’s actually a better comic than you might have thought given that initial negative buzz.
Voodoo – A lower seller from the New 52, which shows nekkid gals can’t sell everything. Has its fans, and while not a big seller, it’s a consistent one, and that’ll do.
Wonder Woman – I really had a negative reaction to the first issue, as we were given a dark, moody and violent Wonder Woman comic instead of one that perhaps could sell to that potentially large audience of little girls that maybe, just maybe, might be interested in a character that, as pal Dorian has so accurately described, is a superhero who is also a princess. Sounds like printing money to me, but that’s not the audience DC wants coming into comic shops or buying comics online, so oh well. (And while we get little girls wanting superhero comics in our shop, I suspect we’re more the exception than the rule.) But, Wonder Woman is selling very well, and people I respect are telling me it’s good, so don’t pay any attention to me.
…
Overall, even with my being a bit of a Negative Nelly here and there, the new 52 relaunch has been a net gain for DC, with relaunched titles generally selling at or over what they were selling before, and several of the new titles maintaining consistent, if not always heavy, numbers. Despite a few clunkers here and there, a not unexpected result on some of the non-superhero…or less traditionally-superhero…books, this relaunch is doing well for us, and it’s certainly stirred up interest from our customer base, not just in DC Comics, but in comics across the board, which is definitely welcomed. In a marketplace that’s been relatively moribund for far too long, any excitement about the comics themselves, in the stories and characters as opposed to simply just as investable commodities, is something I’m glad to see. (Not that there weren’t some people with dollar signs in their eyes when all these new #1s were cranked out, but that period came and went fairly quickly.)
And besides, it was all worth it just to put Swamp Thing back on the stands. All worth it.
