Your 2024 Predictions, Part Five: The First Cigar.
This post will wrap up our look at your 2024 comic book predictions (and here are parts one, two, three, and four)…thanks as always for participating, and we’ll have one more post wrapping all this up with corrections an’ such.
Jeff R. trails in with
“1. Franklin Richards will be a mutant again by the end of the year.”
Okay, I didn’t really follow any of the X-stuff so I don’t know that I heard that Franklin lost his mutant status for complicated reasons I just read up on and will not try to repeat here. Far as I can tell, the non-mutant status holds, unless I missed something!
“2. There will be a new Legion of Superheroes book, written by one of the Toms (Taylor or King)”
No new Legion book yet…I don’t know if all these predictions for the return of Legion of Super-Heroes is out of actual demand for a new book, or a semi-cynical assumption that DC’s gonna keep trying to push that franchise regardless of demand.
“3. None of the DC or Marvel movies released in 2024 will perform as well as the lesser (lets say second worst for each) ones from 2023.”
We had Deadpool/Wolverine made all the money, so there was at least one unqualified success!
Okay, leaving that one outlier aside, let’s take a look at the other flicks.
The second worst performing Marvel movie for 2023 (well, the middle-performing movie, there were only three for the year) was Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This film had just over a $476 million worldwide box office.
The best performing Marvel movie of 2024, behind that Deadpool thing, was Venom: The Last Dance at $479 million. (For comparison, Kraven and Madame Web, also released in 2024, made about $160 million combined.)
Now for DC, the second worst performing film for 2023 was Shazam: Fury of the Gods at $134 million worldwide…just barely above its production budget, in fact.
The only theatrical release for DC in 2024 was Joker: Folie à Deux, which may have been a carwreck but make $207.5 million. More than that Shazam! sequel!
The real trick is seeing how the Marvel and DC movies do in 2025.
Dave Carter cracks open the following nuts
“1) Deadpool 3 will be the highest grossing R-rated film of the year.”
Indeed it was! (The top grossing movie overall was Inside Out 2.)
“2) By the end of the year, $4.99 will be the standard cover price of comics from Marvel & DC”
Not just yet, but feel like it’s only a matter of time (particularly if tariff-induced price increases affect the business).
“3) A writer normally associated with Marvel will be announced as the writer of either Batman or Detective Comics.”
We got Tom Taylor on Detective and Jeph Loeb coming to >Batman, and they’ve worked for both companies, so…well, it’s not “JONATHAN HICKMAN TAKING OVER BATMAN” yet but give it some time.
Michael Grabowski latches on to
“1. A writer at Marvel or DC will get caught using AI-generated scripts from the writer’s own plots to write a serial comic with established characters, without having let the editors or readers know about it first. Whatever the publisher does to the writer and series as a consequence, fans will be outraged that it wasn’t the opposite kind of consequence.”
“2. A writer at Image will subsequently use AI-generated scripts on purpose and promote that fact about his or her new series. Reader reaction will be ‘Meh.'”
I’m just gonna answer ’em both at once with “not that I’ve heard.” There was a cover artist who was accused of seemingly using A.I. to create the images last year, and Jim Starlin announced he was going to use A.I. art tools to help him produce future comics.
Feels like art is where these A.I. shenanigans will be more easily noticed. A writer using A.I. to “assist” in the production of his material would be harder to spot, especially if said writer is careful about how he uses the output. Could be writers using it now, for all I know.
Now, those of us aware of the pitfalls of A.I. know that its usage is a net negative. However, the general public likely doesn’t, and reaction to A.I. produced content may be largely, as you say, “meh.” Some people will care a lot, but I’m afraid most will pay no attention at all.
And Aaron takes up home with the last of this batch of predictions
“DC finally pre-solicits (rumors or Amazon pre-orders) that final TPB to polish off the “end of LSH vol 2,” aka the original stories making up the first year of Tales of the LSH.”
Hoo boy, this took some doin’. Here’s where we stand on Legion reprints. We had 13 volumes of the Legion of Super-Heroes Archives, reprinting all the Legion stories from the very beginning in Adventure #247 (1958) to Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #233 (1977).
This was followed by a two volume series entitled Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes, which reprinted Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #234 through #258, plus a handful of other Legion-related comics.
And then there was the two volume set of Legion of Super-Heroes: Before the Darkness, which covers Legion of Super-Heroes #259 (having dropped the “Superboy and” part) to #283. And, again, some other Legion-related material was included.
Next up is the “Deluxe” Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga hardcover, containing issues #284 through #296, plus Annual #1.
And now, finally, we get to Legion of Super-Heroes: The Curse hardcover coming this year, reprinting issues #297 through #313, and annuals 2 and 3.
Which is a very long way of saying “they don’t have book with the end of this Legion run announced yet,” presenting the last year of continuity published under the title Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes (#314 – #325). But I’m pretty sure we’ll get it eventually.
“I get overly excited about getting a second physical copy of those issues I already own.”
Same here…I have all of the above books (excluding the not-yet-released ones, natch) and they’ve lapped the comics I already have in individual magazine publication form. Ah well, it’s nice to have ’em on good paper in more or less permanent formats.
“DC cancels it in favor of a new series of collections starting at Adventure Comics #247 again.”
Geez, I hope not…but there is a DC Finest trade of Legion material, reprinting comics from 1968 through 1975. Not quite supplanting the above books just yet. However, there are a couple of the oversized Omnibuses, and those reprint through the 1960s. Suppose one or two more could catch everyone up.
And that, as they say, is that! Like I noted before, we’ll be looking back and correcting errors and all that fun stuff on Friday. Thanks again for participating, and don’t forget, for the last time I’m reminding you, to drop in your predictions for nex–er, this year!
“I don’t know if all these predictions for the return of Legion of Super-Heroes is out of actual demand for a new book”
Mine certainly was. I wonder how many of us old time Legion fans are still around and how much DC would have to build a new audience from scratch.
I don’t know if there is a potential comic I would want more than a Hickman Legion (given it would be allowed to run to whatever conclusion he wanted).
If the Absolute line continues to be successful, maybe an Absolute Legion would be the way to draw an audience.
Mike, thanks for covering our predictions for last year. It’s always fun reading these posts at the beginning of the new year and always a surprise that there are one or two Nostadumus’ out there in the Progressive Ruin fan community.
“Joker: Folie à Deux”.
That was a trainwreck that crashed into a dumpster fire!
Also, when figuring movie profits, you should consider the cost of the movie, as they have to make WELL OVER the cost for it to be considered a good profit.
“(For comparison, Kraven and Madame Web, also released in 2024, made about $160 million combined.”
I’m surprised it’s not lower. They both really Did look like shit.
““2) By the end of the year, $4.99 will be the standard cover price of comics from Marvel & DC””
I’m surprised it’s not! it can’t be too much longer before it is.
“and Jim Starlin announced he was going to use A.I. art tools to help him produce future comics.”
Dammit, Starlin!
Another vote for a Hickman Legion, yes! Hopefully in media res, rather than another start from the beginning though.
A Hickman Legion run would be amazing. Maybe he could bring Pepe Larraz and/or R.B. Silva with him from Marvel.
I still think a Tom King cloak-and-dagger Legion mini would be amazing.
In another thread, someone else suggested Tom Taylor, who I could totally get behind.
So many good writers to choose from — some of whom have gone on record as being big Legion fans. C’mon DC — do it for the fans!
Sophie Campbell would be a great pick to write and draw Legion. I really liked her work on TMNT; her abilities to write compelling relationships between young people and juggle a large cast would fit the book well.
Let A.I. generate a story in which Computo defeats the Legion…
There seem to be a lot of LOSH fans here and on other discussion boards in the past, which leads me to a couple of questions.
1. Are Legion fans more vocal than other similar fan bases, or (as I’m assuming,) is that a flawed perception on my part? Maybe the adversity the team has faced for the last 40 (!!!) years since Crisis breeds devotion.
2. What is it about the group that fans find so appealing? I realize everyone has their own reasons for liking something and it doesn’t all fit into neatly defined categories. That said, surely there must be some common aspects of the group that appeal directly to LOSH fans.
Because comments on the internet can be misconstrued, I want to be clear. This is in no way a slight against the Legion or their fans. We all like what we like and that’s great.
I enjoy the concept: young heroes in the future, a huuuuuge cast, interesting power sets.* Most of all I appreciate the devotion its fans have for the group. I feel like maybe I’m missing something and was curious if any LOSH fans could maybe elaborate on what they find so appealing about the group.
*Did I answer my own question?
“Are Legion fans more vocal than other similar fan bases”
Yes! From what I’ve seen!
” What is it about the group that fans find so appealing?”
All that was popular about the “New” X-Men, plus science fiction, minus the mutants!
“Did I answer my own question?”
Only you can answer that!
“All that was popular about the “New” X-Men, plus science fiction, minus the mutants!”
Nailed it.
I would add that the setting and relative lack of ties to other continuity have frequently allowed Legion stories to be very ambitious, both in scale and in character.
For example, the events around the early-60s death and resurrection of Lightning Lad were way ahead of the game, even compared to Marvel (Amazing Spider-Man hadn’t launched yet when the story started).
The relative lack of ties to regular DC continuity also allows the creative team to world-build like crazy. I feel like that was one of Giffen’s strengths on the property in particular. The look and feel of 31st century technologies, religions, politics, and aliens form a background that really enrich the story.
And the premise is so simple: an interplanetary group of young adults, each with a different power, police the galaxy as they navigate their relationships with one another. So much potential, especially with such a huge cast. If you’re bored with this set of characters, just shift focus to another set for a while. That was Levitz’s particular strength, in my opinion.
Finally, I do think Legion fans are especially vocal. They created their own fan club and newsletter back in the ’60s(?), so it’s a tradition to be a die-hard fan who gets lost in the minutiae of the book.
“No new Legion book yet…I don’t know if all these predictions for the return of Legion of Super-Heroes is out of actual demand for a new book”
I didn’t make a Legion prediction, but it is a property and concept I adore.
The Curse is a reprint BTW. It originally came out back in 2011. The Tales of the Legion Stories are a gap between it and the first Baxter paper series TPB.
“What is it about the group that fans find so appealing?”
I think it was Chris seems who described it as “superheroes on crack.” It’s everything about superheroes as a genre but cranked up. You’ll find damn near everything you could like about the genre stuck in there, but like times seven because of the size of the team.
To further what William O’Brien said, I think it is also important to point out that the Legion of Super-Heroes, with its 1958 debut, was basically the first superhero team of the Silver Age of comics–unless one counts the “Batmen of All Nations”–which made its debut in 1955, and wasn’t really a team per se. The Challengers of the Unknown preceded the Legion, but the Challs don’t have superpowers. And, unless I’m mistaken, the only superhero teams at DC Comics that existed before the Legion were the JSA and the Seven Soldiers of Victory (not counting retroactive continuity teams the All-Star Squadron, Freedom Fighters, etc. ). But, again, the Legion precedes the existence of Silver Age Marvel Comics and its various teams, as well as the other prominent DC Comics Silver Age superhero teams: Doom Patrol, JLA, Teen Titans, etc. Considering that, it really is a shame that the Legion doesn’t have an ongoing series.
I wish that DC would go back to what I think of as the Legion’s “Golden Age” –the Bronze Age of comics, and use that as the template for the team going forward. Restore the Jim Shooter/Paul Levitz essence from the late Silver Age through the ’80s. Restore the Dave Cockrum and Mike Grell costume designs–a few of the Keith Giffen costume redesigns were okay, but most of them were not that great.
In fact, I would love to see a Black Label limited series written by Levitz and drawn by favorite Legion artist, James Sherman, bringing back that late ’70s Bronze Age vibe to the group. Maybe it could be set during the “Earth War” story arc.
Also, adding on to what other gave said, Dave Cockrum can not be thanked enough for what he did to revive the Legion in the early ’70s, and then what he did to revive the X-Men in the mid ’70s. He had great costume designs and a passion for drawing these characters. And remember that Nightcrawler and Storm started off as concepts for characters that would have appeared in Legion stories if DC Comics hadn’t screwed up and drove Cockrum to go over to Marvel.
In addition to what other posters said above, peak LoSH is very soapy. Characters could develop, and then develop relationships. The fact that there were so many of them meant that there weren’t too many Clark-Lois-Lana love triangles. The fact that they were separated from the 20th /21st century DCU meant characters could get marry, die, or change powers and roles for longer periods of time. I like the “one unique power (unless you have Superman powers)” rule, and the ways the powers could be mixed and matched. I also think the optimism of the early stories was appealing, and contrasting it in the Levitz/Giffen/et al days was effective.
Oh, and I meant to suggest Josie Campbell as Legion writer & artist in my post above, apologies for the mistake.
I think from what I looked at of the Bendis run, it seemed regressive in terms of characterization–but then I generally dislike Bendis’s writing–beyond all of the unnecessary costume and identity changes. DC should honor the classic Legion identities, from the Silver to Bronze Ages. Yes, new members should be added to the team for increased ethnic and multicultural diversity, but the established characters with anywhere from 67 to 30 years worth of established identities and characterization should be left intact as who they are (or were).
I also think that if DC were to reintroduce the team they should start with a limited series highlighting some of the Legion’s main story arcs from the Silver and Bronze Ages, up through the Legion Baxter paper series. Junk all of the reboots after that–or make sense of things through briefly explaining there being various other iterations of the Legion throughout the multiverse–and continue with the classic Legion.
Ideally, most of the Legion members should be depicted as being in their early to mid-twenties by now, with new recruits being in the eighteen-to-twenty-years-old range. Use the early Levitz/Giffen era, and especially “The Great Darkness Saga,” as the North Star for how to create great Legion stories. Maybe Paul Levitz could even be coaxed out of retirement to become the editor? And it might be interesting to see what Louise Simonson or Chris Claremont could do with the characters.
Golden Age Marvel DID have the All-Winners Squad during WW2, but I don’t know if they had their own title.