2010 Year in Review
Avengers Assemble!
Marvel Studios made of one the biggest and most talked-about announcements at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con International immediately following the Captain America/Thor panel and gave fans their first look at the amazing ensemble cast of The Avengers.
Samuel L. Jackson and Robert Downey Jr. took the stage to introduce the world to the team that Marvel Studios had been building since 2008’s Iron Man. Many of the actors who would portray these iconic characters have been in place for some time, but this marked the first time these actors appeared together on one stage. In addition, the confirmation of Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye and announcements of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk and Joss Whedon as the film’s director made for major buzz—not only at the convention, but throughout the comic world.
The Walking Dead Raises Ratings on AMC
With the two-hour series premier debuting on Halloween night, AMC introduce television audiences to the character-driven tale of the survival during the Zombie Apocalypse. With an initial season of only six episodes, The Walking Dead continued to build momentum—and an audience—from week-to-week, while keeping viewers on the edge of their seats and introducing new characters and plot line from that of the comic series.
With a second season approved and spectacular ratings throughout the first season, The Walking Dead set a new precedent from what fans can hopefully expect from future comic adaptations.
IDW: Diamond’s Fifth Column
In March of 2010, IDW Publishing became the first company in 14 years to be elevated to the status of a “Premier” company at Diamond Comic Distributors. The classification, which was first establishing in 1996, had previously been restricted to the Big Four comic publishers (i.e. DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and Image).
Recognized for their continued growth from year-to-year, as well as building one of the strongest editorial, marketing and business teams in the industry, IDW was able to break a threshold that no other publisher has achieved in more than a decade.
CrossGen’s "Marvel"ous Return
Also teased during this year’s Comic-Con International was return of the CrossGen line of comics through Marvel Comics. The confirmation came earlier in this month as Marvel Comics announced the return of two classic CrossGen titles, Ruse and Sigil, under their new imprint.
After Disney purchased Marvel Comics in 2009, it had been long speculated that the titles of the CrossGen universe may reappear through Marvel (as Disney purchased the rights to all characters in 2004 after the company declared bankruptcy). CrossGen featured some of the most critically-acclaimed titles, many of which ended abruptly when the company ceased publishing.
Wizard World Expand Convention Schedule
Despite the economic downturn felt around the country, including the offices of Wizard Entertainment, Gareb Shamus has continued to expand the Wizard World convention schedule leading into 2011.
After purchasing several pre-existing shows (including the Big Apple Con and the Mid-Ohio Con), as well as adding shows in New England, Central Canada, Atlanta, New Jersey, New Orleans and Connecticut, Wizard will be hosting 13 different cons in 2011. In additions, Wizard’s convention site is advertising that show is Cleveland, Nashville and Cincinnati are all “Coming Soon.”
Top Sales in the World of Vintage Comics
The vintage comic book market continued to see strong sales in regards to key and rare comics in 2010. For the first time, the market saw several million-dollar sales that have now moved comic book through the glass ceiling that the field has never broken before.
eBay, conventions, and private transactions continued at a decent pace with non-key comics and lesser-desired material sold with discounts from retailers. CGC continued to see strong submissions overall and celebrated their tenth anniversary. The company also certified the two record breaking million dollar comics that were sold this past year. CGC’s Signature Series also continued to see strong demand. Signings included the cast of the Walking Dead, Sam Kieth, Mickey Rourke and Sigourney Weaver with Celebrity Authentics. The company also certified two new comic pedigrees including the Sascha News and the Savannah pedigree.
ComicConnect.com/Metropolis Comics were the first vintage comic book dealer to break the million-dollar mark by selling two copies of the first appearance of Superman for record prices. Their top sales include: Action Comics #1 CGC 8.5 $1.5 million; Action Comics #1 CGC 8.0 $1 million; and Detective Comics #27 CGC 6.0 $575,000
ComicLink saw strong sales, with many record prices across the board. Key highlights include: Batman #1 CGC 9.0 $315,000; Amazing Fantasy #15 CGC 9.0 Curator Pedigree $140,000; and Superman #1 CGC 5.0 Nova Scotia Pedigree $135,000.
Heritage Auction Galleries also saw the trend of key comics selling for record prices as they broke the million-dollar barrier with the sale of the first appearance of Batman. Top sales for the year include: Detective Comics #27 CGC 8.0 $1,075,500; Detective Comics #27 CGC 7.5 $657,250; and Detective Comics #27 CGC 7.0 $492,937.50.
Pedigree Comics saw a string of strong sales throughout the year. Highlights include: Fantastic Four #1 CGC 9.4 $210,000; Fantastic Four #1 CGC 9.2 $143,000 White Mountain pedigree; and X-Men #1 CGC 9.4 $100,000.
Digital Comics Continued Growth
The ever-changing digital marketplace continued to grow in 2010 as DC and Marvel comics expanded their digital comics presence through Comixology’s mobile devise applications. Dark Horse announced their own digital comics platform through their website which will launch after the first of the year. In addition, several other digital comic readers debuted allowing comic fans to read their comics on any computer platform, including programs for Mac, PC and Lynix.
As an unfortunate side effect of these new emerging technologies, comic sales at brick-and-mortar shops (as well as online stores), saw a drop in sales consistently throughout the year. Some of this has to do with the precarious nature of the economy, but illegal downloads have also contributed to this drop in sales. It would seem that in 2010, comic creators have really felt the bite of online piracy—a subject that is nothing mew to the music and entertainment industry.
Kick-Ass: Second Most Illegally Downloaded Film of 2010
The film adaptation of Mark Millar’s superhero story has become something of a new gen cult film; attracting more than 11 million illegal downloads from torrent sites in 2010. This is only second to Avatar, which grossed roughly 25 times the box office revenue that Kick Ass saw.
Despite the illegal nature of the digital downloads, this is quite an achievement for a property with very little mainstream consciousness and beat out Iron Man 2 (which featured a character who has been around for more than four decades) by nearly 3 million downloads.
DC Comics Celebrates 75 Years
DC Comics is one of the oldest publishers of comic books in the United States and 2010 marked their 75th Anniversary of publishing. Celebrated across the country from San Diego Comic-Con to Bloomingdales in New York City, this anniversary is major milestone for some of the most iconic characters and creators in comics.
What began as National Allied Publications, by Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson, as expanded over the last 75 years to became an entertainment powerhouse. Moving beyond publishing to encompass film, television, video games and many other forms of media, the company officially became DC Entertainment in 2009 and has lived up to its new name in spades in 2010.