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By Jason Bourgeois
Ok, that title sucks, but it is five in the morning, and that's the best I got.
This is it, the end of 2006. The end of Grey Matter's second year. And what a year it has been.
2006 has seen attempts by both of the big guys to reach out to a wider market, bring in more sales, and generally pad their bottom line, for good or ill. On that basis, it's been a very good year for comics. Comic movies continue to be huge, and I'm very comfortable in saying that they will stay the course in 2007, especially with Spider-Man 3 shaping up quite well, at the very least. Sales on comics have been, for the most part, very strong, or at least stable, with sales on titles reaching levels that have not been seen for some time. Smarter men than I, and with more free time and effort to put into it, could possibly research and say it's false inflation due to variant covers, but even so that still has a lot of money exchanging hands. That's good for comics companies, and comic stores. This is, arguably, the strongest the industry has been since the mid-90s.
Every year since 2000, there's been a group of people saying that the comic industry is this close to imploding, and there will be no comics in due course. Well, here we are, six years later, and there are multiple titles selling in the 100k range and above, a goal that was near unattainable back then. And yet, these people still bring about their prophecies of doom and gloom. These things go in cycles of booms and busts, and right now we are riding very high on a boom. Granted, this means a bust is coming, someday, but it's hopefully a long way off, and we'll recover from that one too, like we did after everything fell in the 90s. We survived Marvel going bankrupt, I'm sure comics will be around for a long, long time.
As I usually do around this time of year, I wanted to give a bit of a look back over the year, at some of the things that made me smile, and made this year worthwhile for comics. While I compiled the list, I found a few things that surprised even me.
- First off, Heroes. I won't go into it too much since I covered the show very thoroughly last month. For those just wandering in though, or who may not have read November's piece, here's a short on why: Comics going mainstream, and weekly. As much as I love the recent batch of comic movies, they are ultimately unfulfilling. They're two hours at most, every few years, and usually only last three movies, and then go dormant. Until someone comes around ten years later, revives the property, but starts entirely from scratch and tells the same old stories. The time is right, and I have been longing for a weekly tv show that's good, and is a live-action comic book. And surprisingly, it wasn't Marvel or DC that delivered my fix, but a completely unique and original - in the sense that they're not an existing team - group of characters that have come up to fill that void. Heroes has nailed that need perfectly, and is truly a comic book on television, without being campy or cliche.
- Giant crossover events. This one surprised me the most. I'm not a big fan of Civil War, but the effect it has had on the industry this year is undeniable. It has brought huge notice from old fans, new fans, and the mainstream, and sales on the main book and all it's crossover titles have been simply huge. The most amazing thing is seeing a few books actually maintaining a chunk of those sales. Once in awhile, crossover events work.
- New characters. As the comic industry goes on, it occasionally needs new blood, both in terms of creators and characters. Last year saw a number of new creators come into play, but this year was the year for characters. My personal favourites to hit the scene are Batwoman over in 52, and the Teen Titans newest member, Miss Martian. Ok, yes. My predilection for redheads is showing, but with Marvel killing off Jean Grey every other week, and a few other falling by the wayside, I've needed a fix. While Batwoman has been reduced in the media to "She's a lesbian!" hype, the character herself has managed to not be defined solely by that trait, and the fact that she likes the boobs has not come up in her last few appearances, as is appropriate. The trait is a part of her character, but hardly defines her. Unlike Chuck Austen's protrayal of Northstar a few years ago in Uncanny X-Men, who made it a point to make sure we knew he was gay every few pages. And with all the death and destruction in the DC Universe this past year, Miss Martin's spunky, cheerful attitude, especially from Geoff Johns, is quite the breath of fresh air. And she's just so gosh darn cute!
- The aforementioned comics boom. Thanks to events like Civil War, Infinite Crisis, and 52, comic sales are going strong for the first time in years, and that's just great for the industry, even if I don't like everything that's going on in those books, or in the companies themselves.
- She-Hulk volume two making it past issue 12. Any longtime reader of my columns remembers my love of Dan Slott's She-Hulk series. Seeing the second attempt at the book last longer than the first has brought me nothing but smiles, and the book has been just as high quality as the first, remaining one of Marvel's most fun, and yet most continuity following book.
- Official handbooks. I love information, and I'm sure I've mentioned it before, hut having the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe back makes me very pleased. In addition to the OHOTMU, Marvel produces themed books regularly, either to cover an event, or subject, making them often be part of the Marvel universe itself, such as their recent book on the players involved in Civil War, being written in character as files for the Civil War initiative. There's almost two handbook type books every other month, if not more often, and this pleases me to know end. I hope DC will follow this, and start giving us a new volume of Who's Who soon.
- Comics on DVD. Digital is the future, and Marvel's efforts to put entire volumes of comics, so far including Uncanny X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Avengers, out on DVD-ROM is a great idea. This allows the folks who want books on their computer to legitamitely purchase the back catalog, and makes a long-lasting backup that will outlive paper in far better condition. The big two need to do a bit more work to get in front of the whole digital comics movement, but this is definitely a start.
Those would be my highlights for 2006, even if I'm sure I missed some.
Here's hoping 2007 has just as many, if not more cool stuff for us in the coming months. I'm most looking forward to Spider-Man 3, the Preacher TV show coming to HBO, Speedball making it through Civil War all right (Even if that seems unlikely, my fingers are crossed), and if I'm a good boy, I hope Santa gives me a Guardians of the Galaxy revival for Christmas.
Happy holidays, everyone!
Jason M. Bourgeois
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