Tomorrow Image Expo returns to San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Cultural Center to share with retailers, media, and fans what the company will be churning out over 2014. Twelve guests have already been announced with a number of unannounced special guests expected to appear. The rumor in the Bay is that in all there will be 18 to 20 guests attending the event, so that means six to eight unknowns (I’m privy to two far flung guests who will be attending, but I’m not at liberty to divulge even though I’ve been chomping at the bit for two months. I can say if you’ve been on the fence waiting to buy tickets you’ll want to snap one of the remaining few up and come to the Expo tomorrow).
The most recent buzz to come out regarding the Image Expo is Robert Kirkman’s Skybound imprint teasing a “startling” new direction for Invincible. The Outhousers suggest this is likely Kirkman trolling Marvel’s relaunch fetish.
Bleeding Cool’s David Dissanayake is playing the speculation game with a post trying to guess who the surprise guests might be. They put money on: Grant Morrison, Darren Arnofsky, Jonathan Hickman, Warren Ellis, and Ales Kot.
I’m still hoping San Franciscan Justin Greenwood shows up to promote The Fuse. That title is one of the new books hitting shelves this year that I’m most excited about reading.
More info on Image Expo:
List of the 12 known guests
Details on variants that will be available
Programming schedule
Twitter accounts to follow: (I’ll update this list tonight and repost it early tomorrow morning. If you’re going and will be tweeting about Image Expo let me know by tweeting at @ashareduniverse and I’ll add you)
The hashtag is #ImageExpo
Ours: @ashareduniverse
Image: @imagecomics
Kelly Sue DeConnick: @kellysue
Brandon Graham: @royalboiler
Nick Dragotta: @NickDragotta
Rick Remender: @Remender
Matt Fraction: @mattfraction
Robert Kirkman: @RobertKirkman
Nick Spencer: @NickSpencer
Joe Keatinge: @joekeatinge
Wes Craig: @WesCraigComics
James Robinson: @JamesDRobinson
Paul Azaceta: @paulazaceta
Joshua Williamson: @Williamson_Josh
Mission Comics: @MissionComics
Superior Spider-Man: Do we need Peter Parker?
Why wonder if there’s a you when that you could be you?
My willingness to see flagship characters die and “remain dead” likely comes from growing up as a Green Lantern fan and being forced to accept the death of Hal Jordan. While 1993 saw headlines trumpeting the death of Superman it was insignificant when held up to the eventual fallout of Superman’s return. The original Superman returns, after only seven months “dead,” to find Jordan’s Coast City in ruins thanks to the combined forces of Cyborg Superman and Mogul. Jordan had been away from Earth during the destruction and finding the city destroyed begins a descent into madness. He seeks the power to restore Coast City by slaughtering the Green Lantern Corps. After taking their rings he becomes the villain Parallax for three years. His death finally comes in 1996 when, as Parallax, he sacrifices himself to reignite the Sun in “The Final Night.” Jordan remained dead until his soul returned as The Spectre in 1999 and eventually returning to his power ring in 2004.
Ten years is a longtime for such a well-known hero to not return to his namesake title (possibly topped only by Barry Allen). Prior to Peter Parker being purged from his body by Doctor Octopus at the end of 2012 the most recent gamble by Marvel was the death of Steve Rogers as Captain America in April of 2007. Impressively, Rogers stayed “dead” (he was actually frozen in time) for more than two years and when he did come back it wasn’t certain how soon he’d return to the shield. It was the first time since the death of Jordan that a major character known for carrying a title had been sacrificed for more than a year. Batman doesn’t count, because when DC “killed” Bruce Wayne at the end of 2009’s Final Crisis issue six it was only one week of wondering if he’d eventually return to the cowl (Wayne, much like Rogers, was also sent hurtling through time).
This is why the death and eventual return of Peter Parker is significant. Much to the chagrin of those calling for Dan Slott’s head Superior Spider-Man continues to be one of Marvel’s best-selling titles (you can read my previous defense of SSM here). It begs the question, do we need Peter Parker? That’s a hard question for me to write. Spider-Man was the first hero I ever made a monthly commitment to when my mother let me subscribe by direct mail to Web of Spider-Man in the late 80s. It’s difficult to comprehend a generation growing up without Parker and all of his idiosyncrasies behind the mask.
If we decide Peter Parker doesn’t necessarily need to come back it can’t be Otto Octavius forever. While he’s been taking strides to become a better person, including very noble advocacy on behalf of little people, he did kill Peter Parker and deserves to get his comeuppance. Who should take his place?
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