Decade in Review

[80sJunkie]

I didn't see a thread on this show, but I've been up since 4am...

Very cool episode. You guys always come up with topics that get me thinking. Don't know how you do it.

Anyway, here are a few comic things that I think have been significant in the past ten years:

1. Print on demand has helped a lot of indie comic creators self-publish. Don't need to Xerox your ballpoint pen masterpiece anymore (unless you want to.) If you pick up any of Danielle Corsetto's collected volumes, they look completely professional.

2. Computerized coloring has made some books look better than ever. Makes traditional coloring with a limited palette seem like Flintstone technology. The downside is that there is often less detail in the inked original art, if it is inked at all. There is also some bad, over-the-top coloring, but overall, I am a big fan.

3. Though not directly comic book related, CGI has helped a lot of superhero movies get made with effects that would have been previously impossible.

4. I love virtually everything that comes out of WB Animation Studios for cable TV and direct-to-video. Forget trades and digital comics. Give me 22 half-hour episodes of full animation every year for less than the cost of twelve $3.99 floppies anytime.

5. Two Morrows Publishing puts out various titles that are absolute love letters to comic book history. I can revisit the 70s and 80s with creator interviews, original art and behind-the-scenes stories with a level of nostalgia that just might surpass my original childhood memories.

6. Video games are also not directly comic book related, but titles like Ultimate Alliance and Arkham Asylum let you play your favorite characters like never before. Many games have a decent storyline to boot!

7. Zombies! From Walking Dead to Marvel Zombies to Blackest Night, most of it has been a really good read. Too many covers though...

8. I got out of comics in the 90s and came back 10 years later, so mostly I'm glad comics aren't crap anymore. Even if there are still 90s-worthy gimmicks out there, you can be blissfully ignorant of them while reading some of the best comics ever. I'm no scholar on the medium, and today's comics can't have historical significance yet, but I do believe that every week there is probably a comic or two that is as good as any comic ever published.

[JohnMayo]

I didn't see a thread on this show, but I've been up since 4am...

Very cool episode. You guys always come up with topics that get me thinking. Don't know how you do it.

Glad you enjoyed the episode. The idea for this was all Bob's.

Anyway, here are a few comic things that I think have been significant in the past ten years:

1. Print on demand has helped a lot of indie comic creators self-publish. Don't need to Xerox your ballpoint pen masterpiece anymore (unless you want to.) If you pick up any of Danielle Corsetto's collected volumes, they look completely professional.

Print on Demand is certainly new in the past ten years but I suspect it will be during the next ten that it becomes a major force. It still feels like the industry is feeling out this technology and while there have been some success with it, it doesn't account for a meaningful percentage of the overall sales either in units or in terms of the number of unique readers it reaches. Hopefully this will start to change over the coming years.

For me, my limited exposure to Print on Demand as a customer was a bit frustrating at it involved a six week turn around time from purchase to arrival. There are a few Print on Demand titles I'm interested in checking out that I'd buy without a second thought through Diamond Previews at even a $3.99 price point with the standard DCBS discount on indy items. But the $5 an issue price tag far exceeds my price tolerance. Hopefully the economics and logistics of Print on Demand will improve over time as well.

2. Computerized coloring has made some books look better than ever. Makes traditional coloring with a limited palette seem like Flintstone technology. The downside is that there is often less detail in the inked original art, if it is inked at all. There is also some bad, over-the-top coloring, but overall, I am a big fan.

Personally, I see digital coloring as a hallmark of the 1990s. Certainly it has continued to improve over the past decade but digital coloring is just the tip of the iceberg. Digital inking and drawing are also becoming more commonplace. I think Freddie E. Williams II only proves the point of how far digital art has come in the past decade.

3. Though not directly comic book related, CGI has helped a lot of superhero movies get made with effects that would have been previously impossible.

Very true. And superhero movies really kicked into high gear over the past decade. Movies like Hitchcock and My Super Ex-Girlfriend show the acceptance of superhero movies in Hollywood.

4. I love virtually everything that comes out of WB Animation Studios for cable TV and direct-to-video. Forget trades and digital comics. Give me 22 half-hour episodes of full animation every year for less than the cost of twelve $3.99 floppies anytime.

The current Brave and the Bold series is an excellent modern/retro-50s Batman series exploring aspects of the DC Universe I never expected to see in cartoon format.

5. Two Morrows Publishing puts out various titles that are absolute love letters to comic book history. I can revisit the 70s and 80s with creator interviews, original art and behind-the-scenes stories with a level of nostalgia that just might surpass my original childhood memories.

TwoMorrows has created a niche market with this stuff and seems to be doing well with it. Hopefully that success will continue.

6. Video games are also not directly comic book related, but titles like Ultimate Alliance and Arkham Asylum let you play your favorite characters like never before. Many games have a decent storyline to boot!

Things like the DCMMO could kick this up a level over the next decade. The question is if they will introduce new readers to comics or act as a time sink that draws people out of comics.

7. Zombies! From Walking Dead to Marvel Zombies to Blackest Night, most of it has been a really good read. Too many covers though...

While I'm still not a zombie fan, it is kind of funny that I've read all three of those titles...

8. I got out of comics in the 90s and came back 10 years later, so mostly I'm glad comics aren't crap anymore. Even if there are still 90s-worthy gimmicks out there, you can be blissfully ignorant of them while reading some of the best comics ever. I'm no scholar on the medium, and today's comics can't have historical significance yet, but I do believe that every week there is probably a comic or two that is as good as any comic ever published.

Now it a great time to be reading comics. There are stories and art coming out these days that push the boundaries of what can be done in comics. Unfortunately, too many of these are hidden behind gimmick covers and sales stunts that would have been better left in the 1990s.

[jonah]

Enjoyed the show a lot. Haven't really though a lot about how things have changed the last ten years or so. Think you hit a number of the highlights.

One I'd like to mention was Mark Millar writing the Ultimates, first series. Thought this was a great addition to the Ultimate universe. The ultimate universe itself reached zenith and then Nadir all within this decade as well. Almost like Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds. (Sorry, couldn't resist)

The onslaught of Sculptures and props this decade is also worth noting. Used to be primarily Bowen Designs for sculptures and a rare piece of memorabilia ... now there's high end captain America shields, Thor Hammers, Utility belts, etc.

And how about the artist and writers we lost during the decade; Michael Turner, Dave Cockrum, etc ... might be worth a podcast in itself.

Sorry, rambling. Code Monkey taking break.

[80sJunkie]

All the innovations and developments of the past decade have not translated into an equivalent quantum leap in comic book sales, but comic book branding achieved a steep upward curve in the last ten years, raking in tons of $$$ along the way.

Here's hoping that in the next few years, comic books get a lot cheaper and act as loss leaders for other merchandise. If comics were $2 or less, I'd be getting a lot more, and I would probably be spending any saved money on comic-related stuff with better profit margins.

[adampasz]

I'll echo Jonah in saying the ascension of Mark Millar, and the advent of "widescreen" comics was a major event of the decade, especially the first half. For me, Millar's politically tinged, blockbuster style really defined Marvel as much as, if not more than Bendis. Especially when it came to the events.

Aside from that oversight, great episode! You guys get better and better.