Comic-Con Roundup and Reactions

So my having a job that requires me to not be at a computer all day and then being busy to kick the weekend off left me a little late on some SDCC news that may have come out but I wanted to wait, as I did last year, until I had seen most everything I think I'm going to see about Marvel's Comic-Con this year. Still not sure I have and I'm certainly not sure that I actually heard everything that's been announced as is, which leads to my first point. I'm kind of underwhelmed? I don't know, maybe I missed some stuff, but here's what I think we've mostly learned from this year's biggest comic convention.

Gillen and Bennett heading ANGELA: ASGARD'S ASSASSIN
I'm not so enamored with Angela that I can find this the most entrancing news but readers know I do love Kieron Gillen, who will be joined by fellow writer Marguerite Bennett and artists Phil Jimenez and Stephanie Hans (who I quite like) for the new series. (fun fact, by the way, all my links will be from CBR because I'm too lazy to find multiple links, guys. Sorry)

Marvel debuts Ant-Man concept art, announce roles for Lilly and Stoll

With a new director (Peyton Reed) onboard and a 2015 release date still in place, Marvel has finally shown some concept art for the upcoming Ant-Man and announced that Lost's Evangeline Lilly will play Hope Van Dyne, daughter of Hank Pym, and House of Cards' Corey Stoll will play Darren Cross, a version of the villain Yellowjacket. The news comes even as they lose three attached actors. With Edgar Wright's departure from the long-rumored film, I find myself rather uninterested in all of this.

Marvel announces new SHIELD ongoing, written by Mark Waid
Though it seems like this may play a sort of bridge between the TV show (ugh) and the 616 Marvel Universe, writer Mark Waid advertises his new SHIELD ongoing as a sort of "stealth team-up," indicating that any superhero might end up working on SHIELD's behalf in the series. I like Mark Waid, I'm lukewarm AT BEST on SHIELD, and I really don't like that TV show, so we'll see what that all amounts to. Though I will say I'm irked that I indicate a comic title with all-caps and now I have a comic title referring to an organization that I write in all-caps. What is this business?

Guardians of the Galaxy sequel confirmed for 2017, Gunn returns to write and direct
July 28, 2017 is the projected date for the sequel to the still-upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, which is garnering praise from fans as its release approaches. I can't really make any sort of judgment on this news until I've seen its predecessor but I will say this wasn't a franchise I was really clamoring for. Maybe my mind will be changed but it feels like this just puts off another new potential franchise.

Guardians of the Galaxy cartoon confirmed for Disney XD

The newly confirmed animated series will join Ultimate Spider-Man, Hulk and the Agents of SMASH, and Avengers Assemble on Marvel's animated block on Disney XD. I'd be more interested in this news if I didn't hate every one of those shows (with the exception, perhaps, of the Hulk show, as I've only seen maybe one episode, which, admittedly, I didn't not like). I'd be interested in this if it were teamed with, oh, I don't know, Spectacular Spider-Man and Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which were both GREAT cartoons (I totally did know when I said I didn't).

Marvel teases new Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter information
Still don't care about Agents of SHIELD even with the hint that Mockingbird could show up at some point. She'll probably just be crappy, sadly. Agent Carter still excites me, though I'm a little put out by the quality of Agents of SHIELD so I'll have to hold off getting too excited about that.

Marvel announces new line of STAR WARS books, headed by Gillen, Aaron, Waid

As the rights to the STAR WARS comic universe transfer back to Marvel after decades out of their control, Marvel had a slew of SDCC announcements for next year's launch, including Kieron Gillen writing STAR WARS: DARTH VADER with artist Salvador Larroca, Jason Aaron writing STAR WARS with artist John Cassaday, and Mark Waid writing STAR WARS: PRINCESS LEIA with artist Terry Dodson. These are pretty big announcements and feels like a big business move for Marvel, putting three top writers and some big name artists on these properties instead of allowing them to carry their weight with name recognition alone. Gillen on a DARTH VADER book is particularly intriguing (though I don't love Larroca. Helped that the covers will be from Adi Granov). Still, the news isn't huge to me so who really cares?

Other comics kind of announced?
This is a little trickier to talk about since they're not really big announcements. They include an ORIGINAL SIN ANNUAL (why?) from Jason Latour, an ALL-NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA infinite comic from Dennis Hopeless, a few more tie-in books to DEATH OF WOLVERINE, tie-ins to SPIDER-VERSE, and others in that vein. Not huge books by any stretch. In fact, almost undoubtedly books I will roll my eyes at when I go to review them.


So that's the news I encountered. Did you guys see more? Did you, maybe, see more that made you excited instead of, you know, anywhere from mildly interested to completely uncaring? I don't know. Not so into it? The biggest news to me was...

Jordie Bellaire wins Eisner for Best Colorist
Totally well-deserved. She does phenomenal work where ever she is and where ever she is happens to be MOST BOOKS.

Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky win Eisner for Best New Series with SEX CRIMINALS
I really like SEX CRIMINALS and think it's a really fun and interesting book with some real and often surprising pathos. I was surprised to see it on the Best Series list but Best New Series seems apropos, though I haven't read many of the other contenders (I will note, perhaps controversially, that I don't think SAGA deserves as much credit as it gets. Do NOT get me wrong, I think it's a very good book, I just don't think it's the comics-changing epic it's often lauded as).

HAWKEYE 11 wins Eisner for Best Single Issue or One-Shot
Yup, no problems with that.

David Aja wins Eisner for Best Cover Artist
I have no problems with this, though I was personally pulling for Mike Del Mundo on X-MEN LEGACY. My girlfriend and I also talked about the likelihood of seeing Jamie McKelvie's name in this category next year (and winning this category next year). Every cover he draws (and right now particularly, he's got covers on MS. MARVEL, NIGHTCRAWLER, and THE WICKED AND THE DIVINE) is outstanding. Anyway, congratulations to Aja and all the other winners!