posted February 26, 2003 02:30 PM               

My revised prediction:
Superman in World's Finest v.1
Batman v.6
All-Star v.9
Plastic Man v.5 (I'm less certain of this one)
GA Starman v.1
Hawkman v.2
Supergirl v.2
World's Finest v.3

posted February 26, 2003 02:42 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by James Friel:

My revised prediction:
Superman in World's Finest v.1
Batman v.6
All-Star v.9
Plastic Man v.5 (I'm less certain of this one)
GA Starman v.2
Hawkman v.2
Supergirl v.2
World's Finest v.3

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I hope you're prediction is correct, because the only book on that list I'd *really* want to get on release day would be Plas V5. A schedule like this would give me some breathing room to go back and get things like Enemy Ace and Aquaman, which I missed on initial orders.

And I find myself hesitating on buying older Archives because I'm waiting to see what the next $19.95 back-to-press book is going to be.

posted March 05, 2003 12:48 PM               

As far as Doom Patrol goes, I'm betting DC will use a version of D. Stepp's rationing logic--given that it's only potentially a 5-volume series, I think they'd make the book bi-annual. Those series that currently come out every year benefit from much longer publishing histories--Plas, LSH and (to a lesser degree) All-Star could afford to be annual not only because they've maintained their popularity many volumes in, but because there's just so much material to publish. Published annualy, Doom Patrol would be done in just four years. There's an argument to be made for striking while the iron is hot, but I think DC would like to know there's a book it can go back to for semi-guarranteed strong sales ten or more years from now.

This makes me wonder how the eventual ending of the All-Star Archives line with V11 will affect continuing sales of the previous volumes, if at all. Will knowing they're all published and attainable encourage more people to pick up the books, or will the interest fade with the absence of anything new to look forward to?

posted March 05, 2003 12:56 PM            

I'm sticking to this prediction, however modifying it from Charlton content to a Creeper-based archive. An earlier post brought this up as a candidate -- and with the Vertigo Creeper launch, this just makes too much sense.

posted March 05, 2003 06:00 PM            

quote:

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Originally posted by James Friel:
Any other thoughts? I keep thinking I must have overlooked some Golden Age probability, since this year looks a bit light in that department, but process of elimination keeps the number of likely candidates down.

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I don't have the time to really think a lot about this now.

I had an idea the other day, but I'm not sure that it is a good idea. Bob has suggested that we might not see All-Star on an annual basis. Maybe we'll see Comic Cavalcade 1 this year instead of All-Star.

As far as NTT goes, here's what Bob G. said on 2/3 (Thanks to gothamcityfan for his index to Bob's answers):

quote:

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the second volume of the Archives, probably in 2004.

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posted March 05, 2003 06:11 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Marty Raap:
...I'm hoping (and believing) that we'll see Starman #2. That's great with me -- I'd love to see a series finish up. Hopefully we'll see more series actually completed in the future.

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posted March 05, 2003 06:27 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by John Moores 3:
All-Star and Batman are always first day buys for me. For some reason, I keep thinking an Adam Strange archive is imminent. I don't know why....

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At last years (Phila.) Creation convention I spoke with Carmine Infantino about (among other things) the possibility of an Adam Strange volume. At that time he indicated that there had been some interest from (some source) at DC but that it wasn't a go after all. I guess things could have changed since then (July was it?) so it is still conceivable that it could appear this year. I would love to see it but remain doubtful.

Carmine and I would also love to see Detective Chimp reprinted in some capacity. He laughingly felt that it would not ever happen, but said he enjoyed doing that feature more than any other.

As far as first day buys go, the upcoming Spectre is one for me. Of the others listed so far on this thread Hawkman #2 would also be one for me.

But where oh where is Silver Age Superman for this silveragesuperfan?!

posted March 06, 2003 05:24 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by James Friel:
As I said above, I'm starting to think we will see Starman 2 in '03, and I very much hope we do.

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It would be great to see Starman #2 this year.
Apart from there not being enough follow-up volumes of Golden Age JSA characters so far, who would knock back Jack Burnley and Mort Meskin art?
Plus it's a completed in two volumes archive line.

posted March 06, 2003 12:20 PM               

This doesn't change my opinion on how many DCU volumes we should expect this year--I still think 13 is the most likely number, with a good chance of 14.

It sounds as if Elfquest will involve very little production work on DC's part. I'd imagine that the main way it would affect the scheduling of other DC Archives would be DC's reluctance to flood the market with material that competes with other DC product, and since the Elfquest audience isn't the Golden Age DC Universe audience, I doubt that will be a major factor in Archives scheduling.

posted March 11, 2003 03:58 PM               

There will be 14 DC Archives this year.

posted March 11, 2003 07:05 PM            

The months that are open:
Jun
July or September
Oct

We'll get at least 1 Elfquest book, probably in July; DC'll want to strike while the iron is hot, and that Newsaram interview mentioned the Pinis have the proofs back from the printer, so this should happen pretty quickly. That puts Tor in September, and the doubled up DCU months are June and October. We saw Enemy Ace and Shazam last October, so that's no big stretch.