As 2009 draws to a close and 2010 is set out before us, we here at Comics Price Guide wanted to take a look back at some of the biggest news stories to hit the world of comics and pop culture in 2009. The stories range from major company mergers to emerging technologies in the industry, and everything in between.
2009 was a big year for comics, and without further ado… The Top 10 of 2009:
10. Comic in the Digital Media
2009 saw an amazing influx of comics expanding outside of the printed page and entering the world of digital devices. The number of comic reader applications for mobile devices have increased in both quality and accessibility over the course of the last year. In addition, the preview of the iTunes-like digital comic software, Longbox Digital, at San Diego’s Comic-con International got fans excited for possibility of more affordable comics that can be stored digitally. Although this is still an emerging technology, as far as comics are concerned, fans can look forward to much new advancement in 2010.
9. Political Comics
While political comic books have always existed, 2009 was truly the year of Obama. While the President graced the covers of numerous magazines he was also found on many comic covers and storylines throughout 2009. Marvel Comics’
Amazing Spider-Man #583 featured five printings of the book and received mainstream media attention. The President also appeared in Savage Dragon #145, Youngblood #8, Obama: Inaugural Edition #1, Army of Darkness: Ash Saves Obama #1, Barack Obama: The Road to the White House, and countless other comics.
8. Top Selling Books of '09
2009 was a great year for comics, in terms of both sales and storytelling. Geoff Johns redefined death for the DCU with his Green Lantern epic, Blackest Night; Norman Osborn covered the Marvel Universe in his Dark Reign, a company-wide crossover that touched ever corner of the Marvel U; Image exploded with two sellout titles in that of Chew and Viking, each of which returning to press for multiple printings.
7. X-Men Origins: Wolverine Leaked on the Internet
In 2009, online piracy made its biggest news since the early part of the decade with the leak of a working print of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Hitting the Internet weeks before the film was scheduled for release, the film was downloaded by more 1 million people across the U.S. Although the cut was unfinished, missing nearly 10 minutes of footage and key digital effects and had not been edited, that did not stop the Internet-save from downloading the DVD-quality film.
Vowing to prosecute those responsible for the leak, Fox received an early Christmas gift on December 10, 2009. After eight months of investigation, the FBI arrested Gilbero Sanchez on charges of violation of federal copyright law for uploading the film to the Internet.
6. Comic Movie Numbers
After the blockbuster year in 2008 featuring Iron Man and The Dark Knight, 2009 included numerous comic related films which saw strong domestic box office results. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen took the top spot at $402,111,870. Star Trek $257,730,019; X-Men Origins: Wolverine $179,883,157; G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra $150,201,498; Terminator Salvation $125,322,469; Watchmen $107,509,799; and Astro Boy $19,343,100. The upcoming films of 2010 should give comics a jump-start in the New Year with Jonah Hex, Iron Man 2, and Kick-Ass leading the way.
5. Boom!'s Big Moves
2009 was a great year for Boom! Studios. Under the direction of Ross Richie, the studio has thrived and continues to put out some the best comics outside of the Big Four. In addition to their successful creator-owned properties, Boom! managed to increase their license properties (which already consisted of Farscape, 28 Days Later and Die Hard) with the acquisition of the Disney license.
Richie took it one step further at this years’ Retailer Summit with his challenge to “Prove Bill Wrong.” The campaign, directed at Diamond Comic Distributors’ VP of Purchasing, Bill Schanes, challenged fans and retailers to make Boom! Studios a top five publisher in 2010 by continuing to support the publisher by stocking Boom! Studios comics in their stores. With the first steps in their 2010 marketing plan already in place, Boom! Studios look to be the publisher to watch for this coming year.
4. Vintage Comic Market
While the economy has had a difficult year, the back issue vintage comic book market has thrived. When Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses featured comic auctions in the 1990s a million dollar sale would have been a monumental feat. Today it is not uncommon to have several major auctions being held within a month and over several million dollars worth of rare comics and comic art being sold. eBay, conventions, and private transactions moved along at a solid pace overall. CGC saw continued strong submissions with Signature Series receiving increased submissions and numerous notable comics signed by notable Hollywood personalities including Megan Fox and Robert Downey, Jr.
ComicConnect.com – Multiple copies of the first appearance of Superman were sold by ComicConnect this past year. This key comic showed that even in a bad economy comics were seeing super sales. Highlights included Action Comics #1 CGC 6.0 $317,200; Action Comics #1 CGC 2.5 $121,000; Action Comics #1 CGC 1.8 $94,001; Action Comics #1 CGC 4.5 Extensive (P) $71,088; and Amazing Spider-Man #1 CGC 9.4 $104,200.
ComicLink -Sales were strong across the board with key highlights including Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 8.5 $122,000; Amazing Spider-Man #5 CGC 9.8 $97,000; Avengers #1 CGC 9.4 $72,555; Batman #1 CGC 8.0 $100,000; and Fantastic Four #12 CGC 9.4 $76,777.
Heritage Auction Galleries - Their November 2009 auction total $4.8 million dollars with key highlights including Incredible Hulk #1 CGC 9.2 for $125,475, Detective Comics #31 CGC 5.5 Crippen Copy realize $26,290, and Showcase #22 CGC 9.0 sold for $59,750. For the year the Heritage Auction Galleries Comics division total sales were just over $19 million dollars.
Metropolis Comics- Another solid year with key comics leading their sales with highlights including All-American Comics #16 CGC 4.5 $42,500; Detective Comics #27 CGC 4.0 $115,000; Detective Comics #27 CGC 7.5 $100,000 (Restored); Detective Comics #27 CGC 7.0 $50,000 (Restored); Tales of Suspense #39 CGC 9.4 NM $118,000.
Pedigree Comics – Their Grand Auctions saw key Silver Age Marvel leading the way sales for the year included Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 9.2 sold for $190,000; Tales of Suspense #39 CGC 9.4 brought $114,990; Incredible Hulk #1 CGC 9.0 realized $100,000; Fantastic Four #1 CGC 8.5 brought $75,100; Tales to Astonish #27 CGC 9.2 sold for $32,500; Amazing Spider-Man #34 CGC 9.8 realized $25,250; Fantastic Four #10 CGC 9.6 brought $27,999; Daredevil #1 CGC 9.4 sold for $23,251; New Mutants #98 CGC 9.9 sold for a record $12,250; and X-Men #94 9.8 brought $27,779.
3. Million Dollar Art
The sale of Frank Frazetta’s oil painting “Berserker” for $1,000,000 in a private transaction made big news this past year. The artwork was published as the cover of Conan the Conqueror from the paperback book series. According to reports the previous record price for a Frazetta painting was in the $250,000 range. He now is one of only a handful of modern illustrators to reach the million-dollar level.
2. Nickelodeon Acquires the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
This past October, Nickelodeon announced their acquisition of the global right to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Mirage Studios for $60 million. Nickelodeon, which is a part of Viacom, Inc., also announced their plans for a CG-animated television series, along with a feature film, for 2012. These two new ventures are aimed at bringing in a new audience for the popular characters.
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles property, created by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird in 1984, also celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 2009, making this a big year for the Heroes in a Half Shell.
1. Disney/Marvel and DC Entertainment
Back in September, the comic industry was shocked by the announcement that the Walt Disney Co. had made an offer to buy Marvel Comics, which include their library of characters, Marvel Entertainment and Marvel Animated, for the sum of $4 billion. The announcement had both fans and creators reeling at the possible repercussions of such a merger. On December 31, 2009, shareholders of Marvel Comic met and approved the purchase of the company by Disney for $4.3 billion. This will surely be one the biggest stories to follow in the coming months, so be sure to check back with us for all the latest.
In response to this major announcement from Marvel, Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WB), the parent company of DC Comics, announced that the comic publisher would be restructured into DC Entertainment – a separate division charged with strategically integrating the DC Comics business, brand and characters deeply into all of the company’s businesses. In addition to this major announcement, fans were shocked that WB replaced Paul Levitz as president and publisher of DC Comics, installing Diane Nelson as president. Nelson, who helmed the franchise management of Harry Potter for WB, will oversee the utilization of DC characters across all media platforms.
According to Warner Bros. this announcement was planned for after the first of the year, but its timetable was accelerated in response to the Disney/Marvel announcement. With major announcements already pouring out of the publisher, DCE is another company that is sure to rock the boat in 2010.
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