Posted in: Recent Updates | Tagged: Alan Moore, boom studios, dc comics, Diamond Comics, disney, geoff johns, HBO, Jim Shooter, litg, longbox, Lying In The Gutters, marvelman, miracleman, stan lee

The Tenth Annual Rumour Awards – SCOOP OF THE YEAR

Published Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:00:13 -0600

by Rich Johnston

Last updated Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:39:16 -0500

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SCOOP OF THE YEAR

So what were the best Bleeding Cool/Lying In The Gutters scoops of the year? There were a lot to choose from

The industry announcements such as Boom getting the Disney licences from Gemstone. That stuff was happening with Marvelman before Marvel's actual announcement, and details of a competitive other bid. Marvel instigating a special character policy. The new benchmark figures for Diamond Comics Distributors that changed the market overnight. Marvel dropping F-Bombs in kiddy comics. Valiant suing Jim Shooter from both sides of the suit. And the publisher of Yaoi Press being arrested for drugs offences.

Creative stories such as JMS was leaving Thor, Bendis and Fraction bringing us an X-Men/New Avengers crossover, Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons teaming up on a project, Chaykin and Romita's Shmuggy And Bimbo, Alan Moore writing new BoJeffries Saga, Carla Speed McNeil and Sarah Ryan working for Vertigo on Bad Houses and that Jonathan Ross was writing comics, and that it was with Tommy Lee Edwards and called Turf.

It didn't stop there. Supergod from Warren Ellis, an upcoming Avengers Academy series by Christos Gage, Valerie D'Orazio writing Punisher MAX, the new Shaky Kane comic Bulletproof Coffin from Image, Paul McGuigan, Grant Morrison and Stephen Fry working on a project together, Katee Sackhoff writing Versus and Dynamite signing Stan Lee to write comics for them.

More to come with (Dark) Siege from Brian Bendis and Olivier Coipel involving Thor. The return of Knights of Pendragon. The other Sentry origin. Brian Bendis getting caught out on the $3.99 price point on Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man. The biggest comics collection in the world opening to view. Amanda Conner making the Wizard Hot Artists list. That Asterix would continue after Uderzo's final volume. The interim period and eventual Return of Batman. The sixth relaunch from Wildstorm? Google celebrating comics. A first look at Neonomicon. The return of The Twelve.

There were the multi-media deals like the failed HBO bid for Walking Dead, Cla$$War The Movie, Marvel launching comics on iPhone publisher platforms, Longbox being installed on the still-rumoured Apple Tablet. Grant Morrison writing about superheroes. The much-denied-until-it-was-confirmed cancellation of Primeval, and then its recommission for 2011.

And then there were those interesting niggles. That Wednesday Comics would have four times the normal page size, believed by nobody, until officially announced. Matchmaking at San Diego. Robert Crumb causing controversy. How comics began to beat prose in France and America went comics literate. And the retiring of a famous comics pirate.

There were the convention fights. San Diego hotel block booking booked well in advance and the Hyatt no longer being the pro choice and the demanded expansion of the San Diego Conference Center. Wizard banning Square1 Press from their shows and Scott Kurtz kicking off at the fighting schedules as we exposed what was behind the Wizard/Reed fight at the core.

It's a shame no one got Misney in advance… (though I was the first to get a mashup image up!) and the fallout has continued to intrigue.

Big stories included news of a Michael Jackson-written comic book coming very close to winning. As did Marvel's John Turitzen confessing that the $3.99 was just there to maximise profits rather than be a reflection of costs. And possible future for DC Comics including a possibkle Justice League series by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. Of course catching scam artist Josh Hoopes in the act was very satisfying, especially getting him on tape.

But the biggest story, not seen as prominent at the time, was the scoop that Diane Nelson was taking over at DC Comics, something Nikki Finke would follow up on later. Which would lead to the biggest structural changes in the industry, with repercussions starting to be felt now, as DC employees received a memo telling them to expect announcements in the New Year, before getting a week off along with other Warner employees.