The upcoming year

So 2011 as a year may not go down as the greatest year in history, or even a year that people in general even want to remember. However, there were a few really good things that came out in my geek universe.

In the comic world, there were a few great moments. We had the complete DC Comics reboot in the for of the new 52. It has been a major success that far exceeded most peoples expectations. In the Marvel universe, there have been huge changes in the X-men Universe, as well as a huge push toward the Avengers movie next year. The Ultimates Universe has had some great changes wit the death of Peter Parker and a new multi-

ethnic Spiderman.

Movies we saw some good, and some disappointments for the geek world. Thor, Xmen first class, Captain America and Green Lantern were all released and had many geeks going to

midnight showings in IMAX and 3D.

A few books came out towards the end of the the year, most notably for me there was Inheritance by Chris Paolini, which was the fourth and final book in the Eragon series and the fourth book of the Wicked series, Out of Oz by Gregory MaGuire quietly was released.

Enough about last year. This blog is about some of what I am looking forward to this year.

Let's start with movies.

The Dark Knight Rises. If there is a lesson on how to do a fantastic

trilogy of a comic movie, this would be a great study. The Dark Knight has been very dark and it has really fit the Batman character. Because the director, Christopher Nolan, has been very clear that this is the end of his run with Batman at this movie, we can really see how far he can take the franchise. Because the villain that Batman will be fighting is Bane, I would really like to see not a happy ending. As most comic fans know, Bane did more damage to Bruce Wayne than anyone in history, going so far as breaking his back, which would be a logical place for the movie to end.

The Hobbit. Another geek heaven movie. After the huge success of Lord Of The Rings, it is

great to see Peter Jackson return to give this prequel all of the magic that it deserves.

The Avengers. Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 5 years, you would have seen the slow build up that has been orchestrated by Marvel Studios to set this movie up. My only thing that I am disappointed with this movie before I have seen it would probably be the fact the Edward Norton will not be returning to reprise his role as Bruce Banner/The incredible Hulk.

Men in Black III. So I like this franchise. I hope they don't screw it up

Amazing Spiderman. While I do agree that this franchise needed a reboot after the horrific Spiderman 3, I don't know how much that I really want to see yet another origin story of Peter Parker being bit by a spider and losing poor old Uncle Ben. Other than that, it does look good and the trailer in 3d looked really cool

Ghost Rider, Spirit of Vengeance. Still hate the idea of Nick Cage in

this movie, but I love to see Ghost Rider. It does look like a vast improvement over the last film, which I do think was a lot better than most gave it credit for.

In comics

I think that DC will continue to make the most noise with their new 52 this year. I also think

that we will see huge sales for the upcoming mini- series collections of Watchmen prequels. I really am hoping that these books are beyond incredible. The writers will have ENORMOUS shoes to fill. If they do it well, it will be another multi-million dollar undertaking by DC.

I have heard rumors that someone may be doing a Graphic novel adaptation of the Wicked Series by Gregory MaGuire. I would love to see these on the book shelves.

My Predictions.

With the release of the now more affordable tablets on the market, I think that the comic industry will be pushing more and more on Digital Comics. I think that by the end of the year, all digital comics will be at least a dollar cheaper than the floppy copies. I would also venture to say that they will be giving a digital copy away with more than half of the comics sold.

I think Marvel will be pulling a panic switch soon if DC keeps selling so many more copies than they are. I don't know that they will also try to do a huge reboot, but I do think they will be trying several very unconventional market strategies.

I think that Image, IDW and Dark Horse will be putting out a lot more books and will be attempting to really start to compete with the big 2