In which Mike follows up on his predictions for the last year.
So I’m going to be doing some follow-ups on posts from the beginning of last year (with perhaps the exception of my “resolutions” post, of which I accomplished pretty much none), and I’m starting off with my predictions before looking at some of the ones you folks made. You know, it’s only fair.
1. DC will further experiment with higher price points/expanded page count anthology-esque titles like Countdown to Mystery. I don’t think we’re going to say goodbye to the $2.99 format this year, but I think its end is likely near…$3.25 or $3.50 is imminent.
Well…I was right about the $2.99 format not going away, but there sure has been a lot of chatter about the seemingly imminent $3.99 price point standard (with a lot of wondering about skipping any intermediary price levels). Of course, the transition hasn’t happened yet, so there may yet be hope for a $3.25/$3.50 price level before we hit that four buck mark.
And I really was thinking there’d be a lot more action from DC on their $3.99 anthologies, since I thought that was a pretty good format. Will the forthcoming Adventure Comics series be $3.99? Seems like a natural.
2. The Spider-Man “One More Day” boondoggle won’t be reversed, at least certainly not within its first year…that would be tantamount to Marvel admitting it made a mistake, and we know how they don’t like that. […] However, I think, at least from the creative end, the problems involved in this reboot will become increasingly evident (from “continuity patches” to the undermining of reader confidence in Marvel’s storytelling).
I am seeing some questioning about what is still in Spider-Man continuity and what isn’t…apparently Peter and Mary Jane were shacked up for a while in this new revised continuity? That Harry’s death was faked? I don’t know. By and large, though, people seem to be enjoying the new Spider-Man comics so long as they try not to think too much about the deal-with-the-devil elephant in the room.
I seem to recall spotting a report somewhere or ‘other about Spider-Man sales dipping…they seem to be holding okay, more or less, at our shop, which surprised me, as I honestly expected some measure of Spider-fatigue to set in. Like I’ve argued before, a lot of my customers decided that they only wanted to read one Spider-Man book, and that book was the flagship, Amazing Spider-Man. One monthly book was enough for ’em. But now, being forced to buy three titles a month when they were reading only ASM specifically so that they didn’t have to buy three titles a month…that didn’t result in the backlash I was expecting. So, you know, good. Always like to sell more comics than less.
But I’m going to have to track down overall sales figures on the title, so I have something more to go on than just my experience at the shop.
I am curious how long it’s going to be before we see an announcement for another ongoing Spider-Man title, however.
3. Final Crisis will be a straightforward and clever mini-series, as these events go, which will be decried as “weird” and “hard to understand” by the usual suspects because Grant Morrison is writing.
Nailed it. Next…?
Okay, it’s a shame about the scheduling. But the comic is a blast, honest!
4. Sales on the next Stephen King’s Dark Tower series will be nowhere near the sales on the previous mini. It’ll be ordered high, certainly, and the first issue might sell well, but the drop-off will occur even more quickly than it did on the initial series, as the hardcore King fans will just wait for the next collection.
Overall, sales are pretty low on Dark Tower monthlies for us…the hardcovers do okay, but the periodicals aren’t bringing in the King fans like they did at first. The novelty’s worn thin, I guess, as the King fans who aren’t already comic book fans have appeared to have given up on trekking to the funnybook store once a month and are waiting for the collections. The Stand is selling about the same, if not a little less.
5. On a related note…some comic from Marvel or DC will be hailed as the “breakout comic” that finally gets the general non-comic-reading audience to start buying funnybooks on a regular basis, while ignoring the fact that said general audience is only buying that “breakout” comic and nothing else.
Well, I don’t know that anything really stood out as being pushed as the “breakout” book. I certainly saw my fair share of customers who only bought Buffy or (to a far, far lesser extent) Dark Tower or Anita Blake, but those had been around for a while and thus didn’t get the “certainly this will save the comics industry!” talk that this sort of thing seems to get.
6. And finally, comic fans will finally catch up to me and realize the inherent beauty, humor, and satire of All Star Batman and Robin. I will be hailed as a genius of incredible foresight for being the internet’s primary proponent of ASB so early on in that book’s history. Money and awards will be showered upon me, women (and 10% of the men) will throw themselves at me, and I will go down in history as the comic internet’s wisest, and most stunningly handsome, observer.
ALL DOCUMENTED, ALL TRUE.
Seriously, though, I saw a few reactions to that issue of All Star Batman with the Robin Vs. Green Lantern fight which seemed to indicate a turning-around of opinion, at least to a limited degree, on this title…at least some acknowledgment of “oh, okay, now I get this comic!” Okay, that’s just anecdotal evidence, but at least it there was a little positive commentary on the series!
Okay, more commentary on YOUR predictions after the weekend, hopefully.
