Over the past week all the Star Clipper writers have been posting what they would like to see happen in comics in 2011. After reading Fleet, Paul, and Brent’s wish list, I realized my list is just a little different. I don’t think any of us like the constant string of deaths between the big two companies, Marvel and DC, but my problem is less with the death and more with the subsequent rebirth issue. Also, unlike the other writers, I don’t really care if the comic industry keeps doing crossover stories. I guess I’ve just accepted they’re not going to stop anytime soon. Still two of my favorite comics of 2010, “Siege” and “Shadowland,” were both small-scale crossovers events. I’ve got no complaints as long as the main story is self-contained in one book. It’s the tie-ins that drive me crazy.

Here are five things I’d like to see happen in the comic industry in 2010.

[One day you're going to see my face on the silver screen!]

5. No more pre-production limbo.

There are some comic properties that have been in constant state of television/ film pre-production since the mid-90s. The two big ones that come to my mind are Peter Bagge’s “Hate” and Garth Ennis’ “Preacher.” I say in 2011 either make them or abandoned the project. I would love to see Bagge’s character Buddy Bradley become a sitcom next to “The Simpsons,” or maybe it’s better suited for Adult Swim. Yet, there’s been talk of adapting “Hate” since MTV’s animation heyday in the 90s and it’s still never materialized. It’s the same story with “Preacher.” At least once a month someone comes into Star Clipper and ask about the rumor of “Preacher” becoming a television series. I would love to tell them it’s happening but the “Preacher” series has been in a constant state of limbo since the television writers strike in 2007. I want to see these projects get made or have a substantial step forward in 2011. I’ll only write about them again under those criteria. If it’s not going to happen let their legacy be known for the greatness of the comic not the television series that was never made. Also, please no “Preacher” movie. Anyone who’s read it should know you can’t fit that magnitude of the story into just one movie.

4. No Kamikaze for the Manga industry.

2010 was a tough year for the Manga industry. America’s largest Manga publisher Viz Media laid off 40% of it’s staff and shut down it’s New York City office. Popular series like “Naruto” and “Inu Yasha” veered into over 40 volumes and alienated new readers overwhelmed by the sheer size of the series. The last huge hit the Manga industry had was “Death Note” and that was in 2006. My hope for 2011 is that the Manga industry can last until 2012, at least so I can finish two of my favorite new series “Ikigami” and “Biomega.”

[This Cosplayer thinks Samus Aran should come to the big screen and blast Metroid in 2011]

3. Video game movies are the new comic movies.

I’m glad comic book movies have been taken seriously and are well made in the last decade, but 2010 had more comic movies bomb (Losers, Jonah Hex, Scott Pilgrim) then blockbuster (Iron Man 2, Kick Ass). Let’s move the gravy train over to video game adaptations and give comics a rest for a year. In the history of video game movies there has been few successes (I can think of maybe one: “Mortal Kombat”), but 2011 is the year to blow your 8-bit mind. In many ways, video game movies have everything comic movies have: A full storyboard, character design, completed script, track record of popularity, and a built in fan base. This year I want to hear “The Legend of Zelda” and “Metroid” are going to be made into films. After that we can go back to the next horrible X-Men spin-off film.

2. Repeat what works.

This might be obvious, but why stray from a successful formula. That’s exactly what Marvel did in 2010 with “X-Men: Second Coming,” which copied verbatim the formula of “X-Men: Messiah Complex,” and it was my favorite comic of the year. Marvel is doing it again in 2011 with “Age of X,” which sounds like an exact copy of “Age of Apocalypse,” minus Apocalypse. That was one of my favorite stories 15 years ago and still is one of my favorite stories now. I hope they can repeat the same success.

[Who will wield the shield, indeed?]

1. No more Death, Replacement, Rebirth, Confusion.

Much like the Godfathers song, “Birth, School, Work, Death,” Marvel and DC has created the similar motto “Death, Replacement, Rebirth, Confusion.” I don’t mind if either company wants to kill one of their popular characters, I just don’t what to see the next three steps. Recently that’s happened with both Captain America and Batman. Both characters died. They are replaced by their protégées (Bucky Barnes and Dick Grayson). Then Cap and Bat come back to life in some overwrought time-travel storyline and there are two of the same characters running around to everyone’s confusion, fictional and real world readers. This has to stop in 2011! I’m fine with death but leave the characters dead. DC brought Flash Barry Allen back to life and what’s happened to Flash Wally West in 2010? Nothing! DC mine as well kill Wally now. Moving forward comics need to respect the dead… and if Marvel ever tries to bring Nightcrawler back to life after replacing him with some second-rate version called “teleport-elf” and attempt to get me to read it by saying he wasn’t really dead but trapped in an alternate teleport dimension that he was only able to leave once all the X-Men gave up a little part of there soul to bring him back, I promise I’ll never read another X-title again. Even if it is “Age of X.”

-Jon

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