Like any other year 2011 was filled with its shares of ups and downs. The comic book industry is no exception to this statistical inevitability. With a myriad of revamps, reboots, game changers, and awe-inspiring events odds are 2011 will go down in the books as one of the most influential years in comic history.
“Three”
In a Fantastic Four arc entitled, Three, 2011 began by killing off one its most beloved characters, the Human Torch (aka Johnny Storm). Women wept, Newspapermen wrote about it, and our hearts ached.
Brightest Day
The first several months of 2011 were a bit slow after the death of Johnny, but as the juggernauts began their prelims and the ball got rolling the events started to roll out and mount. The sequel to Blackest Night and the yearlong maxi-event by DC entitled, Brightest Day, wrapped in April leaving fans pondering, “What’s next?”
Marvel Studios’ Thor
Starting out the movie season Thor hit the ground running and ‘thundering’ hard. Marvel was reported as being “worried” before the launch of Thor due the picture’s eponymous character being less known than Marvel’s other characters. At the end of the day, however, it was Thor who had the last laugh. Marvel Studios’ Thor made the top twenty list of grossing films in 2011 beating out X-Men: First Class, Green Lantern, and Captain America. Even Hal’s ring couldn’t construct a shield strong to hold back Mjolnir’s wrath.
Fear Itself
Marvel kept the ball rolling, by following up their successful films with the summer comic book event, Fear Itself. A seven-part miniseries that had the whole of the Marvel Universe in fear of the future. Even in January as I write this, the aftermath of this event is still being felt with Marvel’s Battle Scars and the Fearless.
Flashpoint
In tandem with Marvel’s Fear Itself DC rivaled back with their own mini simply titled, Flashpoint. Acting as the catalyst and precursor to the relaunch of DC’s entire continuity the beautifully crafted Flashpoint was a wonderful romp through an alternate timeline created by none other than the Flash!
X-Men: First Class
Marvel Studios’ X-Men: First Class was a great romp through the origin stories of Professor X and Magneto. It was one of those films where it seemed as if it wouldn’t work, because most the cast was uninitiated into the X-Men film-verse and it didn’t follow a specific comic book arc, but with excellent writing and superb casting X-Men: First Class was a fan favorite.
War of the Green Lanterns
While Flashpoint was unfolding Geoff John’s Green Lantern volume was experiencing an altercation of its own in the form of a war--The War of the Green Lanterns. In a spectacular arc that included all three Green Lantern runs the four Earthmen who call themselves Lantern were thrown into an epic battle against the breath of the entire corps.
Warner Brothers’ Green Lantern
Green Lantern starring Ryan Reynolds as the film’s bravado pilot (released during the summer) received mediocre to positive reviews and drew in enough views and tickets to spur the development of a sequel. Whether you hated it or loved it expect Warner Brother’s to bust out a sequel within the next couple of years.
Captain America
Personally my favorite superhero film of the summer, Captain America, starred Chris Evans as Cap during the closing days of World War II fighting such classic villains as the Red Skull and Hydra! One of the biggest buzzes about the Captain America film was Marvel Studios after-the-credit teaser for 2012’s the Avengers!
DC’s New 52
Perhaps the largest event of the year was DC’s complete reboot of their entire lineup. Once Flashpoint wrapped up September saw the complete canceling of every single DC comic book and the launch of 52 new series, including the long running Detective and Action Comic runs. With almost every character receiving a reboot and the continuity being bumped down to a scant five years fans were ecstatic, shocked, and trepid all at the same time. With only five months into the new DC Universe reactions have been mostly favorable. Only 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths can compare to the major changes that DC made across the board.
X-Men Schism
It was a big year for the X-Men and in the highly acclaimed miniseries, X-Men: Schism, Wolverine and Cyclops split the X-Men creating two separate groups with their own agenda and serials. Wolverine and the X-Men hit IGN’s top 100 comics of the year, and seems to be a must have for any Wolverine or X-Men fan. Definitely a fun read thus far.
Spider-Island
Spider-Island is an event that ran from August to November of 2011 that within the main Spider-Man canon that centered on the mass infection of Manhattan, which gave everyone spider powers! Leaving Spider-Man overwhelmed and not so unique anymore. The arc started slow, but quickly developed into one of my favorite events of the year.
Batman: Arkham City
The Dark Knight received many accolades this year in response to Rocksteady’s sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: Arkham City. The game includes countless characters from the Bat Family as well as a free roam style of gameplay that greatly expanded upon the previous title with hours upon hours of twists, turns, and side adventuring.
Fantastic Four #600
As the fiftieth anniversary of the Fantastic Four loomed many were wondering how Marvel’s longest running series would celebrate considering the famous quatro had been disbanded and reformed as the Future Foundation. Well it turns out Marvel had a plan up their sleeves all along and with the release of Fantastic Four #600 Johnny Storm was returned to the Marvel Universe and the solidification of two Fantastic Four titles was firmly cemented with the two acclaimed titles being headed by one of Marvel’s elite, Jonathan Hickman.
The Dark Knight Rises – Prologue
2011 wrapped up solidly with another round of new DC 52s and a gift from good ol’ Nolan. With the release of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol on IMAX moviegoers were given a special treat in the form of a six-minute preview of Nolan’s epic closer to his Batman trilogy. After numerous critiques and late night jokes concerning Bane’s horribly muffled voice the general consensus was “not bad.”
Throughout all of the crazy and interesting events Spokane didn’t miss a beat. Merlyn’s downtown held numerous events gathering comic book and sci-fi fans from across the city to celebrate comic books whether it be for free comic book day, the 24-hour comic book challenge, or a screening of the first episode of Walking Dead.
Spokane’s IMAX also had a big part in Nolan’s screening of the Dark Knight Rises Prologue, because without our city’s IMAX the advanced screening of the prologue would never had occurred. We were one of only thirteen theaters in the US that had the chance to see Nolan’s preview before everyone else. Also, the Spokane Comic-Con rocked it out this year, and the turnout was incredible. I was lucky enough to hit the con and enjoy in what our fair city has to offer--Involved people who like to put on a show and showcase what they love! It was a great year to be a comic book enthusiast and as a Spokannite it feels like we’re not just a dot on the map anymore—we’re Spokane!
Peace out 2011, and welcome to the party 2012!
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