Goodbye 2011

I wanted to first thank everyone for listening to our little podcast The Comic Conspiracy and for visiting Conspirator Brock.com to get a little more of the conspiracy this year and we hope to keep it going in 2012.
That being said 2011 was filled with so much I'm still shocked that the world didn't explode. What the hell happened this past year?

- Comics Conspiracy turned 18, and Ryan and I both turned 32.
- The Comic Conspiracy Podcast started.
- I read through over 78 graphic novels and books this year (only started counting in March). Highlights: the first three Song of Ice and Fire books by George R.R. Martin, Daytripper, Star Wars: Legacy trades, Batman: The Black Mirror, The Sixth Gun trades, the Grant Morrison Animal Man, finishing Transmetropolitan, and I also continued with the Walking Dead, Invincible and Scalped. So many good reads this year and I am still amazed that I read all of that plus single issues week to week. I am fucking fantastic! okay enough with the self ego boosting.
- I had my first bound collection of comics done by Herring & Robinson. Booster Gold does look good on my shelf. 2012 will see a bound Batman and the Outsiders on my shelf, yes!
- DC gave us Brightest Day and Flash point and then with the "New Rejiggered 52" they scared the crap out of us, and then blew us away with how awesome it was. DC has really done well for themselves in 2011 and they are heading into 2012 with a new out look on the world of comics and it seems to be working.
- Marvel was Marvel all year, and I think it can be summed up with two things: 1) that fight during San Diego Con between a Marvel editor and writer, and 2) the 15 jobs Marvel cut and then the next day posted like 21 internships for the same positions. We can only hope Marvel doesn't spiral even further in 2012 because it would be a shame to lose Marvel to its own devices or to the complete take over by Disney, both of these possibilities make me shiver in fear.
- Speaking of fear, Fear Itself was a complete bomb and Fearless is trying to clean up that mess. Does anyone care?
- We got to see Green Lantern in theaters and it was a steaming pile of shit. Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor and X-Men: First Class were amazing films that made the horror that was Green Lantern bearable. (This is funny that the DC movies sucked when the comics kicked ass; where as for Marvel the movies were amazing and the comics sucked ass.)
- The real push for Digital Comics started this year with Day and Date Digital books. We will have to see how this plays out in the years to come.
- Ryan got to go to San Diego Con for the first time ever this year and I went to Wonder Con for the first time this year too.
- My PS3 was fixed and I got to play the shit out of Killzone 3, God of War 3, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
- Rocksteady and DC brought us the video game Batman: Arkham City; which I also played the shit out of. Don't forget to visit Calendar Man tomorrow.
- And most importantly this year I became a father on Wednesday (New Comic Day) May 11th and it has been a wonderful experience to be a father and watch my son Brody grow up day by day.


To be honest I'm in awe of how much went on this year with the all the ups and downs. Overall, I am just glad to be done with 2011. I'm looking ahead to 2012 hopeful, excited and ready to make it a great year.

Happy New Year!

SDCC 2011 Thursday in Review

So much to talk about and hate on that has come out from San Diego Comic Con! Been watching the news from San Diego and I'm still processing all of the information, but here are some of the Day 1 highlights for you.





Clark and Lois No More

Lois Lane's new boy friend is Jonathan Carroll, a Daily Planet co-worker. According to the article from Bleeding Cool.com it seems Lois is rubbing this new hubby in Clark's face. I guess even if you have the perfect man the grass is greener on the other side. But they were never married in this new Rejiggered Universe...this screams One More Day but that's just me hating.


Batman Panel

Batman isn't really going through much in the way of changes according to the Batman Panel and Morrison had to run out halfway through to get to the Avatar panel, but before he did he said there would be tears. Overall the panel said that things will have a dark feel to them and that they are excited about where the Batman books are heading. Here are some High Res Art from the Batman Panel. I think the new Batman logo is horrid but that's just me hating.


DC's Thursday "The New Rejiggered 52" Panel

As I expected this was just another hype show for what DC is doing in September. One of the hype engines was if you asked a good question you could get a $100 poker chip from Wayne Casino. Here are some of the highlights I have an opinion on:

Didio said, "People talk about numbering, but those numbers don't matter if they end and there's nothing to replace them."
So, Action Comics, Detective Comics and Batman were going to end? Re-numbering is not the right thing to do with these titles Dan.

Paul Levitz apparently said "Fuck" during the panel. I wonder why.
Well I found out...“Number one for the third time! Going to keep doing it, until I do it right!” joked Levitz. “Cornell may have the medieval universe, but I have the whole damn universe to fuck around with.”
I have heard that Levitz vetoed this "New Rejiggered 52" back when he was editor-in-chief but it seems that he is stuck with what DC dishes out to him now. I gathered this from this quote:
"After Levitz said that his vision of the Legion's future era changes every chance he has to start fresh, DiDio opened the floor to questions."
I am definitely going to look into this more.

DiDio said that "the first 52 books are not the only things we're doing," but added that he didn't want to overload the market. He added that "we are not going to miss shipping on any of these books." DiDio noted that fans have stopped buying late titles, so DC is now committed to making sure books arrive at their expected times to hold fans' interest.
So, no late books. We have heard this before and as usual there are always late or shorted books. There I go hating again.

Clarifying a fan's question about Hal Jordan losing his ring yet being in the Justice League, Berganza said that "Justice League" is set five years in the past, as is "Action Comics."
Isn't Action Comics set 10 years in the past? Back to a time when Clark was the only super-hero? I'm confused.

Didio said, "Berganza has a timeline of the new DCU "that you will never see," but one that organizes the new universe. He added that real people "have history, but that doesn't mean you tell people about it all at once." Characters in the new DCU will reveal themselves in the same way."
Okay. Good to know you are with holding something that could help explain "The New Rejiggered 52".

All hype, no real substance from this panel, and nothing was explained again. Maybe tomorrow's panel will be better, but check out the DC High Res Art from Thursday.

Sources: Bleeding Cool.com and Comic Book Resources.com/


Flashpoint Panel

All that came out of the Flashpoint panel was that there will be a double splash page to get from Flashpoint to "The New Rejiggered 52" in issue #5.


IDW to Publish Star Trek / Legion of Super-Heroes

Star Trek / Legion of Super-Heroes is coming to a store near you in October. This six issue series released by IDW (not DC cause that would flood the market) looks to be pretty cool and I will definitely be picking this up! For more info go to, Bleeding Cool.com or Comic Book Resources.com.


Marvel "Next Big Thing" Panel

Avengers Origins...Don't care. Ultimate books...Don't care. Hulk Of Arabia...Sounds funn, but don't care. The Twelve...Could it actually get done and shipped on time? Probably not. More Deadpool?...Dumb! But there was an interesting thing that came out of this panel. Villains for Hire. Heroes for Hire written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning is being restarted as Villains for hire after Fear Itself and Spider-Island. This feels like the last installment of Heroes for Hire that was restarted after World War Hulk, but DnA have taken the current series and made it gripping and a great read. I laugh every time Misty says "Hero, are you for hire tonight?". I am going to check this title out! For more on DnA's interview about Villains for Hire check out Comic Book Resources.com

Some other things of note from Thursday:

- The new Alien movie "Prometheus" direct by Ridley Scott...Going to be awesome!
- Frank Miller returns to Empire city with "Holy Terror". Can't wait.
- Vertigo suffers from .1 numbering with .5 numbering...Who thinks this shit is works?
- The Sixth Gun to be a TV show on SyFy.
- Visualization art from the Avengers Movie
- Lots of other things.

Wow! I didn't know it would take this long to sort through the news coming out of San Diego. Need to step up my game. Friday looks even more jam packed with news. A comic book geek's work is never done.