20 December 2010

Predictions for 2020: Comics

In the next decade, younger comics writers and artists will come of age and break into the mainstream publishers. They’ll have grown up reading 90s stories and the Gambit, X-Force, Venom/Carnage era of Marvel will see a resurgence.

Digital will continue to get more popular, but maybe not from DC and Marvel. As big companies they’re naturally more skittish, while Dark Horse and smaller companies will be more creative. The iPad’s screen size and dimensions lends itself more easily to manga-sized comics, so expect to see that slightly smaller form factor catch on with direct-to-digital offerings. In general I don’t see print dying out until digital offers an equally-compelling product, which won’t happen as long as they’re merely shrinking existing art down by 25%.