Ten Things to Look Forward to in Comics: 2014 Edition

These are ten things to look forward to (or at least what I’m looking forward to) in comics for 2014. Some of these are happening and some are just guesses based on things said by creators.

1. More Multiple Warheads:

-Brandon Graham is absolutely my favorite artist in comics right now, and one of the most insanely creative people to be gifted with the ability to write and draw comics. As I’ve heard, there is another Multiple Warheads miniseries in the works set to come out this year, and if Alphabet to Infinity is any indication, it will be another showcase of highly stylized, extremely intricate art crammed chock-full of puns and interesting character studies. Also, look for the rest of his work on Prophet and his new indie series of miniseries 8House.

2.  Possible Return of Orc Stain

 – My other favorite artist in comics right now has got to be James Stokoe. For as slow as his work is, it is always worth the wait. You can spend hours just staring at the massive amounts of craftsmanship being put into these pages that are just so painstakingly drawn. The best examples of his work can be found in his Image series Orc Stain, which is currently at seven issues, with the 8^th issue possibly being released this year. If it does come out, it will be first on my to-read list.

3. Black Beetle: Necrologue

–The first issue of this was supposed to come out on the 15^th but got pushed ahead to an unknown date as of the moment of this writing, so the pain of waiting only thickens. Francesco Francavilla’s first Black Beetle miniseries for Dark Horse was awesome (and I got a letter published in it) horror-flavored noir with a love for the pulp stylings of the 40s. I’d buy it for the art alone but the guarantee that the story will be good has me sold.

4.  The End of Forever Evil

– As much as I’ve been liking it so far along the ride, Forever Evil really needs to hurry up and reach its end. I want to see what happens to Nightwing, who the hooded prisoner is, and more importantly, the big showdown between the Legion of Doom and the Crime Syndicate. These next few months are going to be huge.

5. The Return of Weeklies to DC

– I always feel DC is at their best or worst when they have weekly comics in the ongoing mix, but it’s always fun to see these intricate stories get put into the mix across 52 issues and it usually ends up being a game changer of a story. Both Batman Eternal and Future’s End have caught my eye, and I will be following them for the long run (or until they drop in quality).

6. More Creator-Owned Comics

– Look, as much as I like my DC and my Marvel and the superhero staples, the comics industry is slowly changing their model to have a bigger focus and/or priority on making creator-owned comics a bigger thing. Image seems to be the dominating force here, with many DC and Marvel guys like Remender, Gillen, Snyder, Kindt, Kot, etc. moving forward to do books where their stories will be uninhibited by editorial and character restraints. The freedom of creator-owned books is where the future of the industry is headed, even if they are a bit riskier to make.

7. Scott Snyder and Jock’s Wytches

– To expand on the last post, out of the books announced at Image Expo 2014, this looks to be my second favorite one overall (next to 8House). I trust Snyder and Jock to create a truly horrifying book and making the concept of witches an actually scary, horrific one. I think it launches in April or May, so keep an eye out for this one.

8.  Megg, Mogg and Owl

– If what I’ve heard from around the internet is to be believed, there will be more Megg, Mogg and Owl, the underground art comic (so to speak) by Simon Hanselmann. The stuff I’ve seen and read posted online was absolutely hilarious and something I vibe with, and technically this counts as a comic to look forward to, even if it doesn’t seem professional in the slightest.  I’ll let it speak for itself though.

9. Marvel diversifying its books (not just in characters but in genres too)

– I’ve seen some people (read: actually many people) complain about the diversification of Marvel Comics characters. And while I do understand the complaints to a point, many of them just come off as “you can’t change a character ever.” Isn’t that the kind of thought that’s been keeping superhero comics stagnant for years? You may say you get bored of superhero comics but when change comes you may cry out against it. That’s okay, because you may (or probably will be) ignored. I look forward to more LGBT and less white, straight male characters, as well as the diversification of genres (with Superior Foes and Hawkeye being the notable changes from straight forward superhero beat-em-ups).

10. More Women Working on Comics

– You know, this shouldn’t even need to be an item on the list. Women shouldn’t have to be a special section in comics. That’s segregationist in its very nature. They should be a part of the regular bevy of creators coming in and out of the industry making damn good comics. But unfortunately that’s not the case, with a good chunk of people working being men who don’t actively seek out female talent. Shout outs go to all of the women working in the industry right now and the up and coming ones. It’s time to bring the playing field to an equal level.

I hope you enjoyed this. Share what you’re looking forward to in 2014.