December 13, 2009
FFF Results Post #192—Review
On Friday,
CR readers were asked to "Name Five Important Events In Comics This Year." This is how they responded.
Tom Spurgeon
1. Disney Buys Marvel
2. Changes At DC Comics
3. Newspapers in Free Fall
4. Shojo Beat Canceled
5. Five-Year Anniversary Of Danish Cartoons Publication
*****
Marc Arsenault
1. John Allison ends Scary Go Round and begins Bad Machinëry
2. Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk is completed
3. Last issue of Planetary comes out
4. David Mazzucchelli releases first new work in over a decade
5. King City resumes publication
*****
Nat Gertler
1. Diamond's new minimums kick in, seriously changing the game for the smaller publisher.
2. Paul Levitz exits the big seat, just as events he oversaw cause DC to dominate the top of the sales chart.
3. The Kirby family moves to get his copyrights from Marvel. Or Disney. Or whomever.
4. Almost every week, something came out that would've been The Reprint Project Of The Year 15 years ago.
5. Boom reminds people that with the right talent, even a licensed kiddie book can be fine stuff.
*****
John Kovaleski
1. MAD goes from monthly to quarterly
2. Disney buys Marvel
3. Nickelodeon Magazine canceled
4. Editor and Publisher canceled
5. People STILL want to kill other people over cartoons
*****
Jamie Coville
1. Digital Comics for iphones opens up with multiple outlets.
2. Shamus goes to war on the convention circuit.
3. Diamond raises minimums for distribution.
4. Watchmen GN penetrates many retail establishments that don't normally carry graphic novels and sells millions.
5. Kodansha pulls licenses from publishers, starts publishing in America.
*****
Michael Grabowski
1. Crumb's Genesis an apparent sales success
2. Archival comic strip collections continue to increase number of offerings
3. Weekend opportunities to celebrate comics with hundreds to thousands of like-minded readers, creators, and publishers on the increase
4. The Comics Journal ends traditional periodical print format in favor of website
5. Borders and Barnes & Noble manage to stay in business another year
*****
Buzz Dixon
1. The Frazetta Caper (c'mon, this one has it all: World famous artist, nasty family feud, attempted theft of millions of dollars worth of paintings by smashing down a heavily fortified museum door with a backhoe...)
2. Disney Buys Marvel ("Outside of the improvement, you'll never know the difference." -- G. Marx)
3. Changes At DC Comics (I'm convinced this is the result of somebody at Time-Warner finding out DC turned one of their toy licenses into a rapist)
4. The Digital Future Becomes The Digital Here And Now (save a tree, stop reading print)
5. Diamond Tells Indies To Kiss Off (this would have been fatal 5 years ago, but thanx to #4 it's merely problematic)
*****
John Platt
1. Larry Marder's entire Beanworld saga returns to print
2. Larry Gonick completes his 30-year masterwork, the Cartoon History of the Universe
3. Kramers Ergot invades the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror
4. Warren Ellis kills his Bad Signal email list
5. Stan Lee starts Twittering
*****
Don MacPherson
1) DC begins to nibble away at Marvel's dominant market share
2) Disney acquires Marvel
3) Smaller publishers such as Boom! Studios, IDW and others demonstrate long-term viability with licence acquisitions, strong original works.
4) Warner Bros. forms DC Entertainment, puts Diane Nelson in charge
5) Shamus vs. Reed: The Con Wars Begin
*****
Gary Usher
1. Paul Levitz out at DC
2. Eric Reynolds role/title expanded at Fantagraphics
3. The Comics Journal magazine canceled, reborn as online iteration
4. George Tuska R.I.P. and given the respectful memorials his long career deserved
5. Publication of
Toon Treasury Of Classic Childrens Comics and Abrams ComicArts' progress in general
*****
Dave Knott
* The Comics Journal switches to a primarily on-line format
* Threats of Angouleme festival cancellation due to funding issues
* Gareb Shamus announces a 2010 New York comics convention scheduled for the same dates as Reed Expositions' similar show
* Numerous efforts by publishers to increase comics distribution via online methods and mobile devices
* Disney buys Marvel
*****
I took a pass on responses that involved directly self-promotional answers; they're in the letters column. No hard feelings; my call.
*****
Five For Friday will return in 2010. Thanks to all that participated in 2009.
*****
*****
posted 3:00 am PST |
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