SDCC 2014 Hangover

This year’s San Diego Comic-Con was actually pretty tame in terms of huge announcements. The only publisher that was aggressively announcing new books during the show was Marvel Comics. This was a bit of a shame, as DC was lacking the usual surprise in order to keep fans interested.

Image Expo

It’s hard to deny that any publisher had a lack of immense pre-show announcements. The most interesting being Image Comics, who announced a LOT of titles at their Image Expo right before the show--12 to be exact. This announcement was entertaining, but featured a lot of new books from the same staples of creators. Some of them haven’t even finished their other titles yet. I would really like to see some new talent or stories on books from the publisher or a commitment to what they already have at the moment. I will continue to read the books that I am reading now, but will be slightly disappointed by the output right now. Where is Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue DeConnick? Remender has three books in Deadly Class, Low, and Black Science; and is adding another one going to be a positive connotation for his work output? There were a few titles that still really stood out like Valhalla Mad, Tooth & Claw, Intersect, The Humans, and most of the other titles. I just hope that all of these books will be able to ship on time, and see long and fruitful runs going forward.

Avengers NOW!

The Avengers NOW! initiative got a lot of press with the female incarnation of Thor showing up on The View. The one thing about this announcement that makes my blood boil in anticipation for the project is the fact that we never actually got a creative team from the upcoming series. As sad as I am to see Jonathan Hickman’s inventive Avengers Run come to an end, this is definitely the right way to take the book. All of these new heroes are interesting in their own right, and seeing them come together is going to likely be a great deal of fun. It is also refreshing to see Marvel really trying to diversify their line so aggressively. They never backed down this whole weekend from trying to market towards everyone. At some point, the movies need to catch up. It's also nice to see some big changes from the publisher. We can usually mark the way that these characters change decade by decade. Mohawk Storm was an awesome idea from the 80s that has been reintroduced with a certain sense of swagger today. I hope the publisher can continue to build off of some of these massive changes for a longer amount of time than usual.

The Multiversity

The Multiversity made a big splash at Comic-Con during their panel at the show. Seeing new material from Grant Morrison is essential, as he is one of the most beloved writers to ever grace the comics’ world. The maps that debuted at the show were wildly imaginative, and seeing the DC Booth decked out with art from the project got me more excited than anything else the publisher was advertising during the show. New artwork from Cameron Stewart and Frank Quitely is all that is needed for drool to drip down my face in a steady stream.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Studios had some fairly reserved announcements, aside from one huge one--a Guardians of The Galaxy sequel and release date. This is pretty interesting, as it shows that Marvel is 100% confident and sure that the film is going so well in the coming weeks and months at the box office. It also means that the company is not afraid to take on some of those weirder superhero movies that are going to be reigning in strong at the box office in the foreseeable future. This means there is likely a 100 percent chance that the new film is going to work. Another lovely piece of news was Joaquin Phoenix as Dr. Strange. The actor is the perfect choice for character, and was much better than some of the other leading men in talks with Marvel. The rest of their announcements, such as the Avengers: Age of Ultron footage, seemed pretty light. It was interesting to see such mass hysteria over the character poster that debuted down at the show, it was something that we all saw coming from the set photos and Entertainment Weekly reveal. Ant-Man had one important Comic-Con this weekend. The film has featured some massive problems after director Edgar Wright left the property. Now, the film has lost three cast members in the form of Patrick Wilson, Matt Gerard, and Kevin Weisman. Will the film ever be able to get back on its feet?

Star Wars

In what may be the best announcement next to Avengers NOW!, Marvel finally showed some commitment towards materializing the Star Wars’ license in a real and tangible way. Fans are now actually going to be able to read the about their favorite characters set during their original trilogy with their favorite writers. This really shows their love of the series, and how hopefully these titles will all least a great deal of time in the coming months. The best announcement was at the last, as Mark Waid was revealed to be writing a Princess Leia ongoing series. This once again shows Marvel’s clear and present manner in which they want to really stretch the line out, and let fans enjoy something different. Having the full series with superstars Jason Aaron and Cassaday, and Vader book with Gillen and Larocca is also lovely.

Overall

It would be nice to see DC with a greater and stronger output, or even some books from Valiant and friends, but the show still had a lot of stuff loaded into a short amount of time. Smaller places like WonderCon are much better places to reveal comic book series that don’t get much play here at SDCC. I hope everyone involved in the show had a good time, and really got the chance to have fun in their own way. While the film material was light this year, next year could be a whole different arena.