In 2011, comic book fans reeled when The Human Torch was extinguished and choked when Peter Parker was killed off in "Ultimate Spider-Man." In return, we got Miles Morales, an African-American and Latino character who became the new Spidey. We also saw the start of the brand new DC Universe but the jury is still out on that one.
Last year also gave us some unexpected awesomeness with Rick Remender's "Dark Angel Saga" in Uncanny X-Force, illustrated by Filipino artist Jerome Opeña. It was undoubtedly the story of 2011.
This year, fans of the comic book world have a lot of fantastic things to be excited about. The most popular (even for the non-comic book folk) would be the release of three of the biggest superhero films namely "The Dark Knight Rises," "Amazing Spider-Man" and, of course, "The Avengers."
What people should know is that apart from the three films, there are more interesting things that will happen inside the pages of comic books!
Saga
The return of Brian K. Vaughan
A lot of comic book fans were miserable when "Y: The Last Man" and "Ex-Machina" ended. Brian K. Vaughan left the comic book world to write for the TV show, "LOST."
In July of 2011 in San Diego, fans who attended the Image Comics panel got the biggest surprise when it was announced that Vaughan would return to write "Saga," a new comic which has been described as "Star Wars" meets "Game of Thrones." With artist Fiona Staples, Vaughan says his "balls to the wall sci-fi book" will debut later in the year. He promises it's going to be epic!
Avengers vs X-Men
Avengers vs. X-Men
Marvel had these teasers last year reading, "It's coming." A few weeks later, they announced that the biggest event of 2012 was going to be "Avengers vs. X-Men." Or, Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk and Spider-Man facing Scott Summers, Emma Frost, Magneto and Namor.
Noticeably missing is the most popular mutant because it's still uncertain where Wolverine will belong since he's both an Avenger and an X-Man.
Marvel has pulled out all stops as the "architects" or its top writers have been tapped to write the story. The super scribes are Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and Jonathan Hickman. In the pool of top artists are Olivier Coipel, Adam Kubert and John Romita Jr.
It will be a 12-issue epic starting April with a new release every two weeks. Bendis and artist Romita Jr. are doing the first issue, which will be about the mutant named Hope. The Avengers want to take her into their custody while the X-Men want to train her. Both sides have a point but what happens when these titans clash? We'll all find out this April.
Comedian from Watchmen
Watchmen 2
There's no Alan Moore involved but DC Comics owns the Watchmen. The Hugo award-winning graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Dave Gibbons gets a sequel (actually a prequel but people are calling it "Watchmen 2") and it's probably the most controversial!
Dr. Manhattan, the Nite Owl and the Silk Spectre are back with a brand new team from DC Comics. If this is a prequel, then Rorschach and The Comedian should be back as well, but I'm just speculating. Sources have gotten leaked artwork from JG Jones and it looks like that this book will be out this year.
Those are just three of the amazing things that will happen in the world of comics in 2012! I'm sure there are lots more to come! #
NEXT WEEK! The greatest anime turns into a live action movie!