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What’s Next? (A Look At The Upcoming Decade)

By | December 13th, 2009
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Now that our The Decade According to Multiversity project is now over and the decade itself is coming to a close, a whole new world of uncertainty is opening up. At the beginning of the 2000’s, we had only heard of three of the top 10 ongoing series, one of the top four writers had pretty much never been heard of, and Bryan Hitch, John Cassaday, and Frank Quitely were virtual unknowns in the world of comics.

In short, the world of comics is one of extreme unpredictability.

Does that mean I won’t try to predict what the next decade holds?

Of course not.

See after the the jump for who and what I think will be the tops in the next ten years.

Best Ongoing Series: The Unwritten (Previous decade: Fables)

It seems fairly fitting that my choice for what the best ongoing series over the next decade will be is something that is considered quite similar to our choice from the current decade. Mike Carey and Peter Gross’ Vertigo title The Unwritten, upon previews, was oft compared to Bill Willingham’s storybook influenced Fables title. The comparison makes sense as well given that both titles had ties to literature, characters that may or may not be actually from the pages of books, and many other fantastical ideas.

It compares very well to Fables in another way, and that is of the quality of craftmanship the creative team has imbued upon the book. This is an expertly made comic that is thrilling, fun, scary, surprising, and always well told. Mike Carey has taken a concept that started out as one thing and spun it into an entirely different subject, as his tale of Tom Taylor and his literary legend father has now turned into one of a nefarious organization and Taylor’s attempts to survive and uncover the truth. It’s wonderful stuff, and the concept has turned into a living, breathing organism that manages to seamlessly transition from plot point to plot point with the greatest of ease.

I suppose the only question for me is whether or not Carey and Gross have enough material to work with to last the decade, but to be honest, I feel as if this comic could end up being every bit as good as Preacher, Y the Last Man, and Fables before it and become a top title of the respective decade regardless just out of sheer quality. I can’t wait for the next decade if only for more of this exceptional work.

Runner Up: The Walking Dead (because you know it’s going to be awesome forever)

Best Writer: Matt Fraction (Previous decade: Brian Michael Bendis)

Matt Fraction has already developed into a very prominent writer in this decade. His work on Casanova, The Immortal Iron Fist, Uncanny X-Men, and Invincible Iron Man has earned him accolades from all angles, and at the very least made him a point of much discussion amongst comic fans (i.e, his work on Uncanny and how we here have reacted to it).

It’s unquestionable that this is an absurdly talented writer we have here. The main reason why I’ve selected him isn’t that talent strangely, it’s a unique aspect of his skill set that very few writers seem to hold. His ability to weave titles together and have a grasp for the whole of the universe he works with has him verging on the class of Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns and Brian Michael Bendis. In fact, as word comes out that he may be the next writer of Thor, it appears Marvel agrees with me. If he starts the decade as the writer of the flagship X-title and two of the Avengers trinity’s solo titles, he’d already be write up there with anyone in the game. That he has the chops to eventually follow up Bendis on any Avengers title and keep coming out with elite creator owned work makes me think he’s the perfect choice to be the writer of the next decade.

Runner Up: Jonathan Hickman

Best Artist: Francis Manapul (Previous decade: Frank Quitely)

Continued below

Anyone that has read Multiversity for a while knows that we love Francis Manapul. He did an interview with us a while back and we’ve loved every single thing he’s released. His style has progressed to the Rockwell influenced style he’s employing currently on Adventure Comics and will be rolled out in the hottest debut title of 2010 with Geoff Johns’ and his latest collaboration on the Barry Allen Flash title. It’s the type of title that could be a huge step for an artist’s career and lead him to even bigger projects later on.

Of course, with artists, writers and comics as a whole, our favorite could be something we’ve never even heard of. That’s where the excitement comes from, and I for one am unbelievably excited to see what the next ten years will give us.

Runner Up: Gabriel Ba/Fabio Moon


//TAGS | The Decade According To Multiversity

David Harper

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