Looking Forward To 2011!

Last year I was pretty worked up about Dark Horse relaunching the Valiant characters with Jim Shooter, no less.  That's been largely disappointing, although I have affection for the Magnus: Robot Fighter book.

This year there is no single project that I'm really salivating for.  There are some items that have me a little piqued.  Here's what the publishers are pimping right now for March releases that are at least intriguing:

5 Ronin
Marvel Comics
Friend of the show Nick sent me some teasers on this, and they are GORGEOUS.  The Aja covers in particular are absolutely striking.  Peter Milligan is planning on dropping Psylocke, Hulk, Deadpool, Wolverine, and the Punisher into feudal era Japan.

All five issues will hit in March.  This is the kind of thing that has the potential to be special, although I'm not sure how special anything can be in the cacophony of white noise that Marvel produces these days.  I like the concept, and Peter Milligan is no joke.

Butcher Baker The Righteous Maker
Image Comics
Joe Casey and Mike Huddleston will bring us the massively aggro adventures of Butcher Baker in March.  You may recall Butcher Baker as the series of confusing and extraordinarily irritating teaser images that pounded you for the entire month of November.

I can't say much for the marketing campaign, and I find Joe Casey's work to be hit-and-miss.  But here's the thing: Joe Casey tries shit.  Joe Casey is not just cashing a paycheck, he's interested in playing with the medium, and seeing what shakes out when he plays rough with it.  I don't know if this will be must reading or not...but at least it will be different.

Look for lots of violence and a subversive savaging of said violence in these pages.  That sounds like fun to me.

Godzilla: Monster World
IDW Comics
I'm not sure how long you can sustain something like this, and they're pretending this is an ongoing.  It's not.  Barring some kind of miracle, it won't make 15 issues.  There's nothing more entertaining than watching a giant lizard stomp on buildings....for five minutes.  That shit gets rote very quickly, unless you're six.

But then again, they got Eric Powell from The Goon to write this, Alex Ross will provide some covers, and doesn't Godzilla sound like fun?  I think it's worth investigating just to see if Powell can find a formula that will generate something more compelling than rubble and radiation blasts.  This is another March Release.

Batman: Earth One
DC Comics
Geoff Johns and Gary Frank on Batman Elseworlds story?  Yeah, I can deal with that.  Hey, that Superman OGN was pretty good, and that Johns kid is no slouch.  There's no real time table for this which is slightly disconcerting.  Geoff Johns is a pretty busy guy these days, so one wonders how much of his time is actually going toward the project.

Right now the word on the street is still 2011, although nobody can say for sure when in 2011 that might be.  When they create the solicitation, I shall be ordering, though.  I know that for sure.

Secret Gail Simone/Ethan Van Sciver Project
DC Comics
Nobody seems to know what this 2011 slated project is, or exactly when it will be released.  To me, it doesn't matter.

I'm a little worried about Van Sciver's ability to meet deadlines.  But the possibilities are tantalizing.  Van Sciver, while not exactly a setter of pencilling land speed records, is pretty darned good with what does come out.  Gail Simone is writing Secret Six, the finest example of comics I know of currently being published.  Both of them have a kind of mischievous quality about them, and this thing could be seriously awesome in the most scandalous ways.

Van Sciver really really really wants to do a Plastic Man series.  My guess is that this won't be that, mainly because I think Ethan wants to write that himself.  If it is a Plastic Man project, I won't be disappointed.  Gail Simone knows funny.  Gail can do just about anything.  Whatever comes from those parents, I will abscond with it.  And pray it comes out in reasonable intervals.


Frank Miller's "Fixer" Project
Unknown Publisher
Frank Miller has been working on this "Batman takes on Al Queda" project since like, 1992, which isn't even possible as we understand time and space currently.  DC took a look at it, their balls instantly retreated into a natural orifice, and then they took a pass on the project.  Or Frank Miller decided he didn't want to do it at DC, depending on who you talk to.

The LA Times interviewed Miller back in the summer, I think it was July, and he claimed that he had changed the main character from Batman to a creation of his own called "The Fixer".  He also claimed to be a month away from completing the whole magnum opus, he just needed a publisher.

As far as I know, he still doesn't have a publisher.  But I can't imagine him just throwing the work away, and I can't imagine that nobody out there wants a piece of Frank Miller.  Listen, the guy might be certifiable at this point, but he's still Frank Miller.

There's speculation that the project represents the mad ultra-right wing ramblings of a violent lunatic.  Which doesn't sound quite like Frank, but I still say it sounds like exactly the kind of train wreck we'd all love to be there for.  The guy is out there now, you know?  This isn't your father's Frank.  This is the guy who finds out that Britanny Murphy died and immediately posts on his web page that she couldn't have had a drug problem no matter what that dit-durned witch doctor found in her system, because he liked her and she was a fine actress.  You can't make this shit up, folks.

Whatever Mr. Miller has tucked away waiting to be unleashed on us, it is going to be a spectacle and a delight.  You're telling me Avatar isn't primed for this, no matter how extreme it may or may not be?  It's a match made in heaven.  Frank has not been reliable lately, (whatever happened to that All Star Batman relaunch we were promised ages ago?) but if the project was about done in the summer, there's no reason to believe it can't hit the shelves some time this year.  I want me some Fixer!

- Ryan