In the last week of 2006, I was an incredible smart-ass and decided to treat the weekly shipping list like chicken entrails or tea leaves, using it to predict what would go on in the comics industry in 2007. Mostly I just wanted to take the piss out of the comics industry (as I am wont to do) and crack a few easy jokes… Going back over the archives today I was kind of surprised at the… accuracy… of some of my predictions though. I suppose that’s why I get paid the big bucks? Anyway, you can find the original predictions here, but I wanted to call out some of the ones I got right:
NOV060196 52 WEEK #35 2.50
2006: 34 weeks of mediocrity, only 18 to go. Omen for 2007: A constant top-20 presence proves once again that people would rather have a constant stream of pablum than a great meal that takes some time to prepare. Look for much more of the same next year…
Yikes. Called that one.
AUG062018 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #537 CW 2.99
2006: Spider-man shows face, penis, to world. Omen for 2007: This was just a blip. Superheroes will remain faceless eunnichs for nerds to project themselves onto. DON’T WORRY.
I’ve never been so happy to get one wrong. While I’m not really one for his work normally, I’d like to thank Alex Ross for giving characters packages every once in a while. Of course, fanboys completely lost their shit when it happened, causing the illustrations to be altered before they were printed… So I’m going still going to count this one as correct…
JUL062970 BARRONS GRAPHIC CLASSICS TREASURE ISLAND SC (C: 0- 8.99
2006: Savvy small publishers and major publishing houses alike realize that there’s a huge gap in the book market featuring adaptations of classic literature, and race each other to the shelves in their bid to ‘update the classics.’ Omen for 2007: Adaptations almost always suck, horribly, and 2007 will be the year that everyone finds that out, hopefully.
Yeah, I fucked that one up (damn my optimism). We’re getting more classic literature adaptations than ever (thank you, public domain) and for every solid and artful adaptation like Neil Babra’s take on Hamlet, we end up with a line of factory-style creations that bring nothing to the table except some pretty mediocre art and poor storytelling.
AUG062033 CIVIL WAR #6 (OF 7) 2.99
AUG062035 CIVIL WAR 1 FOR 75 TURNER SKETCH VAR #6 (OF 7) (NE PI
AUG062037 CIVIL WAR FRONT LINE #10 (OF 11) 2.99
AUG062034 CIVIL WAR TURNER VAR #6 (OF 7) 2.99
2006: Marvel’s Civil War topped the sales charts, coming off of the poorly-received and ultimately-disappointing House of M crossover. Omen for 2007: Marvel’s World War Hulk tops the sales charts, coming off of the incredibly late and ultimately-disappointing Civil War crossover. No one learns anything.
2008: Marvel’s Secret Invasion tops the charts coming off of the only-a-little-late and ultimately-disappointing World War Hulk crossover (seriously, no one liked that last issue). Care to make a guess for 2009?
SEP063297 COMICS JOURNAL #280 9.95
2006: The Comics Journal continues its return to becoming an essential industry periodical by actually engaging the industry as a whole, and increasing coverage of manga, female creators, new mainstream, and ‘outsider’ comics artists. Then Dirk leaves for the internet. Omen for 2007: Well, at least Dirk’s still on the internet.
Yeah, I’ll stand by that one.
MAY051534 HELLSHOCK DEFINITIVE ED VOL 1 HC 49.99
2006: Holy shit, this is actually coming out. And just in time for… oh, wait, that was last week. Omen for 2007: Joe at Dynamic Forces does not, in fact, buy me a blue drink after me making fun of the company on my blog. That’s more of a personal sort of omen, but, important nonetheless.
I just wanted to mention that Joe did not, in fact, buy me a blue drink in 2007.
NOV062300 IRON MAN HYPERVELOCITY #1 (OF 6) 2.99
2006: Not enough Adam Warren on the stands. Maybe not ANY Adam Warren on the stands, except for an introduction (!) to the American Mangaka book, and that’s simply unacceptable. Omen for 2007: Perhaps between this and Warren’s forthcoming graphic novel for Dark Horse, Empowered, everyone will wake up and realise just how good of a creator he is. He made Gen 13 REALLY, REALLY GOOD. Do you know how hard that is?
Well, unfortunately Iron Man: Hypervelocity didn’t do much for anyone, but Warren’s Empowered has become a bonafied hit! It’s actually one of our best-selling Dark Horse books overall, and I couldn’t be happier for Warren, who’s a very talented creator.
SEP063658 NAOKI URASAWAS MONSTER VOL 6 TP (C: 1-0-0) 9.99
2006: What a great, great year for manga. Seriously. All the Tezuka (so much Tezuka!), all of the Viz Signature books are great. 3 releases from Fanfare/Ponent-Mon, a new Tatsumi from D&Q, Tokyopop is putting out some great books, and Dark Horse’s ‘horror’ line skirts the edge of J-Horror to bring some really solid, off-the-wall stuff. Great year for manga. Omen for 2007: None of it sells, and all you fuckers get the umpteenth variation on LONELY NERD FUCK-UP MUST TAKE CARE OF 40 SEXY LITTLE GIRLS; HIJINKS ENSUE. Serves you right.
Sometimes I don’t want to be right.
I mean, we got some amazing mature manga in 07 but there were a number of disappointments too… And there are so, so many more lonely nerd fuck-up manga.
AUG062095 POWERS #22 (MR) 2.95
2006: Brutal schedule this year guys, and all of those issues where Bendis used ‘stand-up comedy routines’ to yell at fanboys? Kind of soured me on the series for a while there. The current arc is very good though, and two issues in three weeks means that the book MIGHT JUST get itself back on schedule. Omen for 2007: Bendis takes on more projects. Oeming takes on more projects. Issues solicited for November 06, January 07, and February 07 all do manage to be released in calendar-year 2007. Maybe even a trade, the crystal ball is a little fuzzy at this point. Or sad, one of the two.
Looks like it really was both a fuzzy AND sad situation in 2007. Despite promises mid-way through the year that the series would be going monthly AND feature more pages, so far that plan hasn’t actually gone into effect, with the last 3 issues coming out in October, November, and… March 5th 2008. 2007 saw the same 6 sporadically released issues of Powers make it to the rack as did the 6 issues in 2006… At last count there were two issues of the series and an annual that are officially late. With only one issue in the first 3 months of the year it looks like good intentions don’t count for much.
NOV060289 SCALPED #1 (MR) 2.99
2006: Wow. Awkward. I kind of don’t want to put this out for sale on Thursday. Omen for 2007: Vertigo’s new series I Got Jewed does not perform as well as expected.
I had a huge problem with the title of the series Scalped (and probably more-so with the title “incognegro”, a Vertigo original graphic novel last year). But the series is really strong, and continues to sell alright in single issues and trades at the store, with very little of the uproar I was expecting. I’m still not cool with the title though.
NOV062326 UNCANNY X-MEN #482 2.99
2006: The X-Men had a vibrant creative re-launch spiraling out of a senses-shattering event that left the team changed… FOREVER.
Omen for 2007: The X-Men have a vibrant creative re-launch spiraling out of a senses-shattering event that leaves the team changed… FOREVER.
Omen for 2008: The X-Men have a vibrant creative re-launch spiraling out of a senses-shattering event that leaves the team changed… FOREVER.
Omen for 2009: The X-Men have a vibrant creative re-launch spiraling out of a senses-shattering event that leaves the team changed… FOREVER.
Omen for 2010: The X-Men have a vibrant creative re-launch spiraling out of a senses-shattering event that leaves the team changed… FOREVER.
Omen for 2011: The X-Men have a vibrant creative re-launch spiraling out of a senses-shattering event that leaves the team changed… FOREVER.
Omen for 2012: The X-Men have a vibrant creative re-launch spiraling out of a senses-shattering event that leaves the team changed… “WE MADE GODS AND JAILERS BECAUSE WE FELT SMALL AND ASHAMED AND ALONE,” HE SAID. “WE LET THEM TRY US AND JUDGE US AND, LIKE SHEEP TO SLAUGHTER, WE ALLOWED OURSELVES TO BE…SENTENCED. SEE! NOW! OUR SENTENCE IS UP.”
Hope springs.
– Christopher
We’ll see…
Given the implications of Spider-Man swapping his sexy wife in exchange for his old, doting mother (aunt), theoretically for the purpose of making the character easier for young (or at any rate immature) fans to relate to… I’d say your reading of the omens was right on. 😉 Good post, good to have this blog back on the job in recent weeks.
52 was a constant stream of pablum? Everyone is allowed to have their opinion on the book but I think it’s safe to say objectively that 52, love it or hate it, became it’s own unique thing standing out on the racks, full of bizarre ideas and characters.
Actually, Marvel screwed me from seeing old Peter’s wrinkled wang in the trade paperback of REIGN. Damn you, Marvel!! Men have penises, especially viewed when sitting up nekkid in bed!!
Thanks Chris for posting the original, unedited version waaaay back…
Oh, and the X-Men thing? Unless Joss Whedon is signed until his last living days to a book, I am done with the mutants. Good bye, last regular Marvel title I ever collected, Astonishing X-Men.
Powers? Still love it. Wish it were out more often. Maybe Bendis can drop all them crappy Marvel titles he’s been phoning in.
52? I wouldn’t line my cat litter box with that rag or any of it’s spin offs. Not a single DC title is on my pull list. Go figure.
The most fascinating thing about 52? It made Greg Cox, who smartly sliced out a lot of the extraneous bullshit for the novelization, look like a good writer.