ComicMix Six: Best NYCC 2010 Announcements
The ComicMix team was on the ground at New York Comic Con this past weekend – but we were having too good a time bumping elbows with the luminaries of the comics industry to report on every panel. But now that we’re back on the grid, here are the ComicMix Six best announcements to come out of the weekend.
Holding The Line At $2.99 – Easily the most-discussed announcement of the weekend were the Big Two each announcing their own initiatives for keeping their publishing line at a $2.99 cover price. DC is doing it by cutting story pages from 22 down to 20 and eliminating most co-features in their most popular titles, but reserving the $3.99 and up price points for “premium” titles like annuals and specials. For Marvel’s part, they’re not going as far, with only a commitment that all new titles launched in January will be $2.99 – but they say that they can be flexible on that price because of the success of their digital comics program. Which is a nice segue to…
Dark Horse, DC Destined for Digital – Dark Horse announced that rather than partner with Graphic.ly or other digital comics providers to serve as distributor, as the other major publishing houses have, they’ve put together a “proprietary bookshelf app” for web browsers and Apple iOS devices. The benefit of rolling their own store? No censorship and a $1.49 price point for single issues. Additionally, while specifics are hard to come by, Dark Horse says that they’ll be providing brick-and-mortar comic book stores with “exclusive digital content.” Meanwhile, DC reaffirmed their commitment to making digital copies of comics from their archive available and announced expanded support for day-and-date digital releases. DC also announced a Google Android app for their comics will be made available in the near future.
DC’s Bob Wayne, Hank Kanalz Get Promoted – DC mainstay Bob
Wayne got a new title this weekend – the former VP of Marketing and
Sales is now Senior VP of Sales. The news of his promotion came along
with word that DC’s print sales and marketing team would be staying in
New York. The Beat sees it
as a move to preserve continuity with the retail channel even as DC
Entertainment restructures around its new bicoastal model. Meanwhile, DC
also announced that the remnants of WildStorm would be re-forming as
the DC Digital Comics division, with former WildStorm VP Hank Kanalz taking the reins of command.
Bendis, Oeming Bring Takio to Marvel/Icon – The last thing anyone expected was for the Powers
team of Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming to launch a
brand-new creator-owned project aimed at readers of all ages, but it’s
looking like they’re doing just that with Takio.
The story of two adopted siblings who get superpowers and have to learn
to be a team, it’s about as far from either creator’s recent work as I
can think of. All the same, Bendis has said in interviews that he’s
channeling the spirit of early Ultimate Spider-Man, so maybe no one will
get torn in half in this one.
Richie Rich Returns At Ape – Richie
Rich might be the poor little rich boy after all – his many millions
haven’t been able to save him from relative obscurity for the past
several years. But his fate may be changing, as Ape Entertainment and Classic Media looks to launch
a new comic in early 2011 that sees Richie Rich trotting the globe as
an adventurer and spreading his wealth amongst the less fortunate.
CrossGen Returns With Waid – While
Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada wouldn’t confirm it, he strongly
implied that when Marvel brings back the now-defunct CrossGen universe,
brought under the company’s umbrella following the Disney acquisition,
Mark Waid would be returning to Ruse, his Sherlock Holmesian Victoriana
detective series. This is good news for anyone who read the original
series.
So that’s what stood out to us from New York Comic Con
2010 this past weekend – what were your favorite announcements? Consider
this an open forum.
The return of a Crossgen book is welcome news, but let’s see some new El Cazador, eh? If I recall, the book ended mid-storyline. I do remember greatly enjoying what I read of the book at the time.
The return of a Crossgen book is welcome news, but let’s see some new El Cazador, eh? If I recall, the book ended mid-storyline. I do remember greatly enjoying what I read of the book at the time.
The return of a Crossgen book is welcome news, but let's see some new El Cazador, eh? If I recall, the book ended mid-storyline. I do remember greatly enjoying what I read of the book at the time.