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2009 is done. Put a fork in it and put the long box away with all your 2009 material and get ready next week as the first comics of 2010 come out. Yet looking at this New Year, new decade, what can we expect?
I have no idea.
I mean there is no crystal ball present, and I'm not clairvoyant, but I do tend to pay attention and in looking toward what we know and what is to come I have some predictions I think you can guarantee will come true.
- Blackest Night will end big for the Green Lantern universe. For the DC Universe I cannot say, but expect at least a reformation of the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians as their "big secret" that Nekron hinted at comes out. We will see this probably revealed in Blackest Night #6 with the climax of the mini series being dealt, and then the heroes finding out that they messed up and have to figure out a different way to win. Standard stuff, but of everything 2009 Blackest Night has not disappointed. Ballooned, perhaps, but not disappointed.
- War of the Supermen will not be as self-contained as it is advertised. Sorry DC, don't buy it. The same was said of Green Lantern, but there will be more crossovers for War of the Supermen then what is initially promised between Action Comics, Superman, Supergirl, and probably Adventure Comics. The crossovers sell too well and we can guarantee that low selling titles, like R.E.B.E.L.S., Doom Patrol, Booster Gold, they are likely crossover material. Green Lantern too . . . especially considering they showed up in Superman World of New Krypton. Will this mini see the return of Superman as the only Kryptonian? Probably not, but we will see probably a return to fewer Kryptonians on Earth, around 5? Either way the Free Comic Book Day book being War of the Superman means that DC will pin several of their books to this crossover.
- Expect Marvel to go the same way on a smaller scale. Siege will not be the last crossover for Marvel, Second Coming is coming soon too (ironic), but we will see another larger "family" crossover in late fall. Guaranteed, but what shape it will take? Not sure there. I look forward to being surprised there. Doomwar, Siege, and Second Coming will take a lot of momentum, and money, but they will only last for so long . . . the later part of 2010 will have something there. Maybe a Spider-Man crossover? Hard to say.
- Image will continue along, but Image United #6 will probably ship in June. Not over the top late, but late. With that many artists involved how it cannot be late is impossible to say. For those who enjoy it, like myself, it will be a great ride, but slowed down at the end. To everyone hating it, or ignoring, why do you care? :
- Geoff Johns will be writing a Justice League title by the end of the year. With Ivan Reis drawing? Likely, maybe even with Jim Lee on an arc, but Justice League, like Justice Society, will have two books. It will sell like crazy, probably Blackest Night numbers, hence why we can guarantee it.
- Bruce Wayne will be back as Batman, though to stay I'm not sure, but it will be a large arc in Batman & Robin and Batman that will leave Detective Comics and Batman Streets of Gotham with tie-in or material set earlier. Now will Bruce be back permanently? I would bet on it. Dick has a place without being Batman, Bruce . . . not so much.
- Steve Rogers will not be back as Captain America after Siege. He will become head of S.H.I.E.L.D. or H.A.M.M.E.R. or whatever . . . Bucky will stay as Cap, though for how long . . . that is debatable.
- Now the Avengers books . . . that one I can't predict. We will still have four Avengers books, with Bendis writing at least two, with the big three in one or both, but beyond that membership wise? I have no idea. Thunderbolts is the title I wonder about continuing with Dark Avengers prone to being maybe an X-Force type book . . . possibly. On that one I could be very wrong . . .
- Dark Horse will be milking Buffy Season 8's last issue for everything they can. Expect a mini, one shot, or something to be published around that same time and I'm betting that after the mini, while we wait for the likely 2011 launch of Season 9, a mini or series of one shots will be published set probably during or before with earlier stories to take place. Buffy has become a huge cash cow for Dark Horse and they won't let it take five to six months off without something to fill that spot.
- Willingham writing Angel will launch it into a top 40 or 30 spot in the sales. The first issue sold out in two days, and is a PHENOMENALLY good read (and I say this as someone who read and LOVED Angel After the Fall . . . )! Willingham's name will bring a lot of readers to, what most call, Buffy's "little brother" in terms of titles but Willingham on the title will give many readers a reason to check it out when Buffy is not a regular on the shelves. Actually most readers will probably not wait that long.
So those are my predictions for the New Year . . . I'm not willing to predict for the decade but most of my predictions, I bet 70%, are very likely to come true. I'll try and check back on this around summertime to see if I was at least partially correct.
Happy New Year,
And if you have any comments of questions e-mail me at vdf1@hotmail.com
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