Return of the 1990s: The 20-Year Nostalgia Cycle is About to Turn Over

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There’s no question that the 1990s are back in comics. Many of DC’s New 52 redesigns have been likened to the early 90s Image Comics look, and creators like Scott Lobdell and Rob Liefeld, virtually absent from DC for years, are now on multiple books. The Extreme-verse is back. Valiant is relaunching.

And you know what?

There’s going to be more.

Remember When…?

Pop culture nostalgia runs in a 20-year cycle. The 1970s had Happy Days and Grease. When I was growing up in the 1980s, it seemed like everything was about how great the 1960s were. (Oh, the hoopla over the 20th anniversary of Woodstock…) By the 1990s, we had Dazed and Confused and That 70s Show, and of course the first wave of big-screen TV remakes of shows like The Brady Bunch. Over the past decade or so we’ve seen Transformers and GI Joe made into mega-blockbuster movies.

People in the prime of their careers can create new pop culture inspired by their childhood or teenage years and get it produced and distributed. People who want to revisit those years can finally afford to buy the new version of that Millennium Falcon playset they wanted when they were 9, or see that band in concert that they wanted to see when they were 15. People who have children want to share those things they remember fondly from their own childhood.

What we’re seeing in comics is merely the leading edge of the wave of 1990s nostalgia.

Now, I’ll bet a lot of you are dreading this. “But the 80s were good!” you’ll say. “The 90s sucked!” Continue reading →

Speed Reading: Art Round-Up

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And be sure to keep up with The Rogues Kick Ass and The Fastest Fan Alive!

Speed Reading: Convention Round-Up

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Links to items from or about WonderCon, Comic-Con International, Boston Comic-Con, and Emerald City Con

WonderCon Panel Write-ups

Emerald City Comicon Panel Write-ups

Speed Reading: Catching Up

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I’ve gotten a bit behind in these linkblogging round-ups, so I’m breaking the backlog up into categories. Here’s the first chunk of Flash-focused links from the last few weeks.

Flash and Others…

And finally, a reminder from @SpeedsterSite:

Flash Sales for February

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February estimates at ICv2 have The Flash #6 selling an estimated 68,061 copies, down 5% from the previous month. Given the high profile of the relaunch and the usual trend of series to shed readers over time, it’s hard to say what the numbers really tell us…but the drops are shrinking, the rankings are steady at #8, and it’s still ahead of the 57K sold by Flash vol.3 #6 and the 55K mark where volume 3 settled.

Numbers

Issue Rank Month Units Sold % Change
Flash vol.4
Flash v.4 #1 4 September 2011 129,260
Flash v.4 #2 5 October 2011 114,137 -11.7%
Flash v.4 #3 9 November 2011 90,417 -20.8%
Flash v.4 #4 8 December 2011 77,336 -14.5%
Flash v.4 #5 8 January 2012 71,611 -7.4%
Flash v.4 #6 8 February2012 68,061 -5.0%

It’s worth noting that we’ve had seven issues in a row with no delays and no creative team changes.

Update: I forgot to mention that, like last month, Flash didn’t appear in the digital top 10.

A few key articles covering past sales (with lots of numbers):

*What these numbers measure: US-only sales, wholesale from Diamond to comics retailers. They don’t count sales through bookstores, they don’t count international sales, and they don’t count how many copies were actually bought and read…but they do measure the same thing every month, which means they can be used to spot trends.

Checking In: Flash Movie Not Dead Yet

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Normally I wouldn’t bother reporting non-news, but it’s been a while since we heard anything about Warner Bros. plans for a big-screen Flash movie. Blastr recently talked to Dan Mazeau (Wrath of the Titans), who told them that despite Green Lantern’s disappointing performance, DC is still planning to move ahead with more super-hero films outside the Superman/Batman worlds, and “The Flash is very high on the list.”

“It’s like anything, though,” he continued. “It has to come together with the right cast. It has to come together with the right director and sort of the right moment, and so they’re trying to push the rock up the hill … hopefully there will be some news soon, but right now I can’t really say anything else.”

The Flash has been in development hell for years, having first been announced way back in 2004 as a David Goyer film. Writers and directors have come and gone, the tone has gone from dark to light and back, and even the starring character has changed. Goyer’s script included both Barry Allen and Wally West, Mazeau’s featured Barry with nods to Wally fans, and the latest version, written by the Green Lantern screenwriting team, is entirely Barry Allen. You can read the whole sordid history over at Flash: Ride the Lightning.

(Via The Comic Reel at CBR)