This past weekend I attended C2E2 and I’m so glad I did. I was fortunate to meet up with my friends from the comic book podcast community, including Around Comics, 11 O’Clock Comics, iFanboy, Comic Geek Speak, Comic Timing and Raging Bullets. The McCormick Place venue was just the right size with nice wide aisles and plenty of room to shop and meet the creators in Artists Alley. As for vendors there were not too many collected edition specific dealers and I didn’t find any $5 trades deals, but for the most part you could find all of the latest trades and hardcover that have been released in the past few years for a reasonable price. l’ll have more news and fun stories to tell on the podcast later this week, but for now, here are some highlights from the show.
Collected Edition news was scarce which is expected since more focus is put towards the monthly side like DC’s Brightest Day and The Return of Bruce Wayne and Marvel’s Heroic Age, Avengers and X-Men titles. However I was able to debunk the rumor that the Marvel Essential line is going away. I had a chat with Jim McCann and Arune Singh and they were surprised that there was talk of such a thing. They both assured me that they, Jen Grunwald and David Gabriel have no plans to discontinue the line. Also, Marvel’s long awaited Acts of Vengeance Omnibus has not been officially solicited but should be soon. No concrete time frame given.
On the DC side of things I ran into Dan Didio Saturday night and asked him about the fate of the DC Archive program. I explained to him that many of us are disappointed in the lack of Archives and told him that those of us who buy them are very loyal to this particular brand. Didio was very understanding and said that the Archive program will continue at it’s current pace and only slowed down so DC could try out new lines like the Library and Deluxe Editions and see if they were viable products. He went on to say that all the hardcover lines are being reevaluated (which also means the Absolutes) and he appreciates the support. He and DC know that these are niche books and are not cheap to make nor are they cheap to buy and wants the fan favorites of old to be brought out in a very nice presentable way, like the newly announced Legion of Super-heroes: The Great Darkness Saga Deluxe Edition.
Oni Press will be releasing an anthology based on the Nick Jr. series Yo Gabba Gabba. The 128-page trade paperback will feature art by Matt Loux (“Salt Water Taffy”), Vinny Navarette (“Dear Dracula”), and Julia Vickerman, who does the storyboards for the television series. “Yo Gabba Gabba” art director Parker Jacobs is the artist for the cover of the first volume.
Christos Gage’s Absolution (Avatar Press) will be released in trade paperback in July.
Top Shelf’s Marshal Law Omnibus by Pat Mills and Kevin O’Neill is running behind due to production. It should be out late 2010/early 2011.