“What’s cool” from Carol and John’s
We were recently asked to put together some information about what’s going to be ‘COOL” in the world of comics this year for Alternative Press and we thought we’d pass that info on to you, our fearless customers! It made me realize just how interconnected different projects in our hobby are, and how closely we are tied to the media machine. Comic collectors whether casual or hard core have so many opportunities to be apart of what’s actually cool before anyone else does. Here’s 8 things to look out for in 2013!
1. The Age of Ultron – Marvel’s big series for the summer featuring the Avengers, the X-men, the Fantastic Four and more as the Avengers classic robotic villain Ultron takes over the world in a day. A weekly 10 issue mini series starting on 3-6-2013 and brought to you by Brian Michael Bendis and 3 of Marvel’s top artist, Bryan Hitch, Brandon Peterson and Carlos Pacheco. To try and reverse Ultron’s take over some heroes go into the past and try to prevent Ulton from ever existing. (Just like the old, why don’t we go back in time and kill Hitler idea!) This just makes matters worse and creates different timestreams which will be illustrated by the three artists within the core title! Worried about crossover overload in a big storyline? No need! Marvel has promised to keep the crossovers below 10 comics total! Sick of spoilers? The ending of the series will be drawn be Editor in Chief Joe Quesada so that none of the other artists will know it!
2. Aw Yeah Comics Launch! We love the work of Art Baltazar and Franco Aureliani! These incredibly personable creators started independent then caught DC Comic’s eye and became the talent behind the cult classics Tiny Titans and Superman Family Adventures! Now with the cancelling of these two books they’ve decided to branch off on their own with Aw Yeah Comic, a new All Ages book! (All Ages is a new buzz word to describe a book that truly is for everyone, not just kids.) They started with a charming video to promote their Kickstart and asked for $15,000 to produce 6 issues. That money was earned in about four hours and they are currently at double their goal through the correct use of innovative incentives and a history of hard work! (Trying to put together a Kickstart? Here’s your model) Featuring Action Cat and Adventure Bug 12 issues are now promised with the debut issue coming out at C2E2 in Chicago April 26th-28th! They’ve got a ton of top line writers to help them out including Mark Waid, Brad Meltzer, Chris Roberson, and Jason Aaron!
3 .DC Bombshells: DC Comics has announced new statues with a theme that’s so great we can’t believe they haven’t thought of it before! DC Bombshells will be 40’s and 50’s style pinup statues of some of DC’s most beloved characters! Wonder Woman as Betty Page? Supergirl as Marilyn? Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are also in the works! DC has even hinted that this is only the beginning of the use of these characters designs!
4. Guardians of The Galaxy #1: Marvel Comics shocked everyone by battening down the hatches on it’s GOTG licenses after the success of the Avengers movie last year, signaling it to be the next big thing at Marvel Studios. With a movie not due out until 2014 we can slowly watch the hype build up on this movie over the 2 years. (Chris Pratt from Parks and Recreation will be the lead character Starlord!) With a cast including a giant walking plant and a gun toting Space Raccoon this property has every thing it takes to be a hit, but as opposed to a comic property being hot after the movie comes out, GOTG looks to do it before the movie. Guardians of The Galaxy #1 will be out in comic book shops with a giant release party including lots of freebies for purchasers on 3-27-2013! Written by Brian Bendis (yup, him again) with art by Steve McNiven (Civil War), you can says you’ve been into the Guardians way before the movie comes out!
5. IDW Comics to produce Cartoon Network Comics: IDW, who’s success last year with My Little Pony, (Don’t laugh, the book was their best seller ever and outsold Marvel Comics Uncanny X-men) has struck a deal with Cartoon Network to produce many of their properties such as THE POWERPUFF GIRLS, BEN 10, DEXTER’S LABORATORY, and the beloved SAMURAI JACK among others. Set to begin with the Powerpuff Girls later in 2013, the term ‘All Ages” has been applied too these titles too. The owner of IDW took it took it in stride when he overheard someone say the difference between a good comic shop and a great comic shop is the kids section. He’s applying that statement to his publishing company as well.
6. New Superman titles in June: The Man of Steel will hit theaters on June 14th, directed by Zack Snyder of Watchman and 300 fame. DC Comics will be releasing two new Superman books, Man of Steel and Batman/Superman. Man of Steel will be written by current Batman writer Scott Snyder and drawn by industry favorite Jim Lee. (Who drew X-men #1 in 1991, which is still on record as the best selling comic book of all time) Snyder hopes to bring his Batman storytelling skills to Superman by putting him in situations that require a logical use of his powers, like how to save 1000 people in a slowly collapsing building. Think the Iron Man 3 Superbowl trailer, as Tony Stark tries to figure out how to save 13 people falling from a plane when he can only carry 4. Batman/Superman will be about the two heroes early relationship written by Greg Pak (typically a Marvel writer) with art by Jae Lee, whose more known for his dark stylized work then his action shots. Both look to be pure winners coming out in June.
7. Thanos Rising #1: Since the ending of the Avengers movie comicdom has been abuzz with questions about who the villain was at the end. Comic fans shuddered with excitement when they saw Thanos, and even the new fan felt that something important was being revealed One of the Marvel Universes best written cosmic villains Thanos will not only be a part of the next Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy movies, he’s also slated to be a part of Marvel big story-line at the end of the year. But first we’re getting this 5 issue mini series starting on 4-3-2013! Written by Jason Aaron and drawn to perfection by Simone Bianchi (who’s painted artwork perfectly fits Thanos’ tone) this book will tell Thanos’ origin for the first time, and set the stage for what’s to come at Marvel Comics!
8. Free Comic Book Day 2013: The first Saturday in May, May 4th 2013! A day that’s now so legendary that movies are released to coincide with it, like this year’s Iron Man 3! Store’s all over the planet participate and hand out free comic book created especially for the day for free. Over 4.5 million comic books are slated to be given away this year, up from approximately 3.4 million last year. (We personally hand out over 20,000) Not only are the comics free, each store creates a fan fare around the day unique to it’s own location and demographics. This year we’ll have a preview of the new Scott Snyder Superman book, a collection of three Walking Dead stories that have never and will never be collected in graphic novel form, the first issues of Sesame street comics, Hello Kitty’s comic debut, SpongeBob, Simpson’s and lots more! Marvel’s ‘Infinity’ Book from FCBD is even an original Thanos story that sets up the future Marvel storyline mentioned above! (Infinity Gems?!) There’s actually over 50 books to choose from! While every comic shop participates to the level they can, a well executed Free Comic Day is the sign of a good comic book shop. It’s our holiday, and all you have to do to be a part of it is find out what’s going on around you and show up!
