2013: A Comic Book Comeback

By Robert “Rob Base” Greenwood

Most sites do a year-in review (or the best of), but this time, I want to talk about the feeling of nostalgia and the return of comic book royalty.

With the massive success of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon show,

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it was only fitting that someone would make a comic based on it and IDW  knocked this series out of the park; not only making a tie-in comic, but continued the stories of TMNT past history.

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While, for the purist trading all the past works from Mirage and Archie comics, this is truly a come back in all its forms, making Turtle power and kicking bad guys back sides fun and entertaining once again.

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Next brings me to something I didn’t expect to ever see done. Once again, IDW comics grabs a property by the neck and brings in a winner with the remastered issues of The Maxx. That’s right, IDW and Sam Kieth have brought The Maxx to a new generation of fans and all Sam did was punch up the color palette.

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The remastered editions are not the “Star Wars” of the comic book world. All they have done is given the comic a prettier paint job and said this is what it is and we like that way!

I am so pleased with this series and I hope it finds and inspires a new audience.

IDW isn’t the only comic book company making good on history. Some do it by reinventing the way we look at comics.

Dynamite, for the better part of a few years, has taken pulp fiction icons and gave them a home to be heroes in.
But most recently, its crossover books are just amazing. With The Kings Watch leading the charge

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and  DC crossing paths with IDW on a Spirit/The Rocketeer,

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the past worlds collide and tell some fun and action packed stories.

If 2014 can continue this trend, then we are in a wonderful time for modern comic books.

Enjoy the New Year and Follow me on Twitter @AltMindz

ROCKETEER ADVENTURES Vol. 2 #1 Coming in March!

IDW to release second all-new anthology of Dave Stevens’ beloved character
The second all-new, all-fantastic Rocketeer Adventures series launches into stores in March! Each extra-long issue—boasting 25 pages of story and art— will feature covers by Darwyn Cooke and Dave Stevens. The first issue’s line-up includes Peter David, Marc Guggenheim, Sandy Plunkett, Stan Sakai, and Bill Sienkiewicz, with Arthur Adams supplying a pin-up.

The Rocketeer takes us back to another time,” said series editor Scott Dunbier, “one stuffed to the brim with heroism and thrilling adventures. Some might call these stories old-fashioned—and what’s wrong with that?”

Other contributors to the series include Kyle Baker, J. Scott Campbell, Eric Canete, Paul Dini, Michael Golden, Dave Johnson, David Lapham, John Paul Leon, Bill Morrison, Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, Chris Sprouse, Tom Taylor, Matt Wagner, Colin Wilson, and more. Rocketeer Adventures is in the current issue of Diamond Previews.

As with the first series, a portion of the profits from Rocketeer Adventures will be donated to the Hairy Cell Leukemia research. Dave Stevens, the creator of The Rocketeer, died of the disease in 2008 at the age of 52.

ROCKETEER ADVENTURES VOL. 2 #1 ($3.99, 32 pages; full color) will be available in March 2012. Diamond order code: JAN12 0408.