Ringing in 2007

Hey there!

I'm Chuck, one of the new kids on this blog. I'd like to thank Vaklam for inviting me to participate. I grew up on DC Comics, and jumped over to the X-Men and other Marvel comics later on, but I enjoy books from both, as well as some independent and manga titles.

For my first post here, I thought I'd identify some comic-related things I'm looking forward to in 2007.

1. More books by Doug TenNapel. I remember when I first played Earthworm Jim and wondered who was coming up with the crazy, cartoony designs in it. TenNapel has produced several graphic novels that I've greatly enjoyed (Creature Tech, Tommysaurus Rex, Earthboy Jacobus, and Iron West). This year will see the re-release of his first comics work, Gear (which was adapted for animation as Nickelodeon's series Catscratch), as well as a new work, Black Cherry. This is a good thing.

2. Jeff Smith's Shazam project. I've been a fan of Jeff Smith's Bone series for some time, and my appreciation for the Golden Age Captain Marvel goes back even farther, so I've been anticipating Smith's take on the character since this project was announced a few years ago. Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil will be coming out as a Prestige Format mini-series beginning this February.

3. The finale to Planetary. It's hard to believe that I've been reading Planetary for this long, and there's only one issue to go. I had already enjoyed the work of Warren Ellis (including his work on Stormwatch and Authority that directly preceded this), but this title introduced me to John Cassaday's pencils.

4. More Essentials and Showcase volumes. I've really been enjoying the "phone books" that Marvel and DC have been producing. I cannot rationally explain the enjoyment I get from the reprinted Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, but the feeling is genuine. Upcoming highlights (for me, anyway) include the first Legion of Super-Heroes Showcase, and the second Luke Cage: Power Man Essential.

5. The Sinestro Corps. I'm not even going to try to explain this one. The potential for awesomeness is high; we'll see how the execution is before the end of the year.

There are also some items that have not been announced, but I'd love to see this year:

1. A series for Doctor Thirteen. DC's mini-series focusing on the Spectre, Tales of the Unexpected, is not hitting on as many cylinders for me as I had hoped; it's too bad, since I'm a fan of both Crispus Allen and the Spectre. However, the backup story in this mini-series featuring Doctor Thirteen has been excellent. Take a man who steadfastly refuses to believe in the supernatural--which can be hard to do in the DC Universe--and his teenage daughter, and throw them in with a frozen caveman, ghost pirates, and Nazi gorilla commandos, and you've got instant entertainment. More, please.

2. More Carl Barks collections. The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa reignited my interest in Scrooge, and I remembered some of those great duck stories I read as a kid, some of which were included in the Carl Barks Duck Tales collections that came out this year. This age of Peanuts reprints has inspired the collection of other material, such as IDW's Dick Tracy collection; this might be the time to compile an archive of the work of Carl Barks.

3. The original Monster Society of Evil. Captain Marvel's first encounter back in the Golden Age was a serial that ran in 25 installments, and I believe it was the first lengthy, extended comics story of its kind. (I'm sure some comics historian can correct me if that's not the case.) With a Shazam film in development, it might be good to get some more classic work in print. I appreciate the DC Archives series, but not everyone can afford to pick those up. I really just want the Monster Society of Evil story in one trade paperback.

4. More of The Spirit. I liked the first issue of Darwyn Cooke's new series, and I enjoyed the trade paperback collecting the best Spirit stories, but there's one more thing I want. Over a decade ago, there was a Spirit series done by rotating creators that paid homage to the original series. I can remember stories by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman off the top of my head. The Spirit: New Adventures was never collected into trade form, and I think there's a prime audience for it now.

Finally, there's one other thing I'm looking forward to this year, and that's the discovery of new books through the comics blogosphere. There are a number of comics that I never would have known about if I hadn't read about them on blogs, books like Street Angel, Iron Wok Jan, Smoke, Hikaru No Go, and Scott Pilgrim, to name a few, and I can't wait to read more.

This isn't everything I want to see this year (there's more Young Avengers, a third season of Venture Bros., and more), but it's a good start. Is there anything coming out this year that I missed? What are you looking forward to?