Marvel Comics teases its upcoming titles and begins to pull back the curtains on their overall future plans while facing legal woes, DC’s New 52 expands and changes with new titles and art teams, a double dose of digital news, and new books for kids from a likely source and two not-so-likely sources. This is Super Folk, Publishers Weekly’s news column for all things superhero.
Oh, Marvel, you big tease.
In what’s been its wont of late, Marvel Comics continued to push its upcoming books and “line-wide events” with a flurry of teasers, interviews and announcements, starting with a 7-page preview of the first issue of its big Spring event, Avengers Vs. X-Men. The preview (available on Entertainment Weekly) wasted no time in portraying the magnitude of the series, with Captain America and Iron Man warning the President of the United States and his joint Chiefs of Staff of the Phoenix, and the imminent, global-scale danger it presents. A danger so imminent, apparently, that halfway through the forewarning, the Phoenix touches down on Earth, forcing the heroes to begin assembling a force to combat it. AvX is Marvel’s debut event for 2012, and judging by the publishers big PR push (the release date is over a month away), coupled with the scale of the story, Marvel is certainly going big with this one.
But before they start duking it out with a bunch of mutants, the Avengers are getting a new book by two creators that know a thing or two about Marvel’s premier superhero team. Avengers Assemble is a new series by Avengers vets Brain Michael Bendis and Mark Bagely that doesn’t break the mold when it comes to storytelling, but instead promises some good old-fashioned Marvel action. Most notably the series will feature the same team of heroes that star in the upcoming Avengers movie, and will provide a convenient place for fans of the movie to satisfy their Avengers craving before (and after) the big screen adaptation this Summer.
In what seems to be a most serendipitous display of timing, Marvel revealed the return of Captain Marvel in Secret Avengers #27, out in April, and will tie-in with the events of Avengers Vs. X-Men. This comes following the news that DC Comics will begin to refer to its character named Captain Marvel exclusively as Shazam.
Marvel also gave a sneak peek of the first issue of the upcoming Age of Apocalypse ongoing series, written by David Lapham and illustrated by Roberto De La Torre. The book spins out of the recent Uncanny X-Force storyline, “The Dark Angel Saga,” and gives readers another look at the post-apocalyptic alternate universe in which mutants must literally fight for their survival. Age of Apocalypse #1 hits stands in March.
Finally, in an interview with Comic Book Resources, Marvel Publisher Dan Buckley broke down the publisher’s strategies for 2012, addressing some fans’ concerns over Marvel’s supposed neglect of “second-tier” characters as of late, due to bigger, more recognizable properties garnering attention (he pointed out some successes, but did admit to 2012 being a year of “big franchises”), as well as its notorious position on collected editions (he acknowledged this, but assured that progress was being made).
Added Dimensions of the New 52
DC Comics continues to expand the New 52, announcing the first string of 48-page annuals to be released this May, and will provide some backstory to the title's upcoming crossovers. First, Teen Titans Annual #1 kicks off the Teen Titans, Legion Lost, Superboy crossover focusing on the mysterious, adolescent-kidnapping organization, N.O.W.H.E.R.E. The crossover, by Teen Titans creative team Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth, will also involve and lead up to the new title, The Ravagers. Next, to coincide with the hinted crossover between Animal Man and Swamp Thing, Animal Man Annual #1, written by Jeff Lemire and illustrated by Timothy Green II, will shed light on the history of Swamp Thing’s forces of “The Green,” and Animal Man’s “The Red.” Finally, DC announced Batman Annual #1, written by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV and with art by Jay Fabok, which introduces a new Mr. Freeze who is curiously linked to the nefarious Court of Owls, the antagonist to the Dark Knight in the “Night of the Owls” crossover.
The publisher also revealed some first issue covers to the upcoming World’s Finest and Earth Two series. The former, which stars heroines Powergirl and Huntress, is drawn by George Perez and gives the first look at the New 52 Powergirl and her costume, which seems to have undergone a “modest” change. Earth Two promises to hail the return of the storied Justice Society of America, but its variant cover by Ivan Reis shows three characters with an uncanny resemblance to Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. However the slight differences hint at something more, and many fans are speculating that the three are actually Superboy, Dick Grayson and Donna Troy, the second generation of DC’s primary heroes.
Smallville fans, rejoice! DC announced that the hit TV series, Smallville, which ended with season ten in 2011, will continue in comics form, beginning digitally this April and in print in May. The series is being written by former Batgirl writer Bryan Q. Miller and artist Pere Perez.
Finally, DC announced a July 3 release date of Batman: Earth One, written by Geoff Johns and with art by Gary Frank. The long-awaited series will reimagine the origin of the Caped Crusader, and presumably tell of an unexplored aspect of Bruce Wayne’s life, much as its predecessor, Superman: Earth One did for Superman.
DC Tweaks the Formula Again
The New 52 creator shake-up continues, as DC announced a number of artist changes on its books.Most surprisingly, Travel Foreman is leaving Animal Man (the critical darling of the New 52) as of issue #9 with Steve Pugh (who drew the series in the 1990s) taking his place. Foreman will begin working on Birds of Prey with issue #9, while current BoP artist, Jesus Saiz, moves to Resurrection Man, also with issue #9. Current Resurrection Man artist, Fernando D’agnino is moving on to Suicide Squad, which just so happens to be crossing over with Resurrection Man at that time.
The More Things Change…
During the launch of its New 52 in September last year, DC Comics hired A.C. Nielsen to conduct a nationwide survey of DC readers, to find out who exactly was buying their books. The publisher finally unveiled the findings which mostly affirm what is known about the comic book fanbase. 93% polled were male, and only 98% were under the age of 18 (and predominantly 18-44). Not too surprising, but definitely more extreme than one would expect. The more significant numbers, though, referred to the percentage of lapsed and (the highly coveted) new reader. Over 70% were lapsed DC readers, and less than 5% were new. Finally, 57% of those considered digital readers bought print books, while only 15% of print readers bought digital. Most of this data shouldn’t come as much of a shock, but it's certainly not the numbers DC was hoping to see, considering the supposed aim of the New 52 was to bring in new, more diverse readers.
Digital, Digital, Digital
Entertainment industry news site ICv2 revealed its estimates for 2011 digital sales, which tripled to $25 million over $8 million in 2010. The growth rate doubled in the latter half of 2012, based on the site’s predictions halfway through the year, and can be attributed to many companies adopting a same day digital and print publication. Other factors include increased platform compatibility and added publicity/ visibility. Interestingly, the increase in digital sales does not seem to be radically affecting those of print, as many have feared it would.
But what about the Children?
The past week saw the reveals of new comic series for children from some likely, and unlikely names. First, DC Comics announced Superman Family Adventures, a new all-ages title starring the extended Superman family (Superman, Supergirl, Superboy, Krypto the Superdog) by the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning team behind Tiny Titans, Art Baltazer and Franco Aureliani, to be released in May. Baltazar and Aureliani are two guys who know their kid comics, but what about Mark Millar and Garth Ennis? Both writers, known for their ultra-violent, swear-filled, mature comics are releasing two separate children’s books. First, Millar has Kindergarten Heroes, about a group of superhero five-year-olds being released by UK publisher Books Noir, while Ennis has started a Kickstarter project for ERF, about a group of sentient primordial oozes.
