Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in Yellow Springs, Ohio.  This week Bennett talks about three things he never thought he'd see that have come to pass in the new year, along with some odds and ends, all tied to past columns by the Comic Book Guy.

Ah, there's nothing quite like the first week of a new year; the holidays behind you, still trying to get used to being back at work and nothing horrible has happened (yet).  And, right off the bat, a couple of those annoying 'impossible' things have already come to pass.  I'm absolutely certain of almost nothing anymore, but I must admit I never thought I'd see some of the following come to pass; starting with the least likely first:

DC to finally collect Grant Morrison's Flex Mentallo, promising a Fall release for a deluxe hardcover edition rife with bonus material.  I recently reported its possibility (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Return of the Yellow Circle") but I'm still surprised.  It's one of my all-time favorite comics and I suppose I should be grateful but I'm guessing its success will be reward enough.  The combination of Morrison's name, a work that's been kept out of print for decades and a fairly high retail price will make this one a strong contender for top-selling graphic novel of the year.  Now all they have to do is start working on the inevitable action figures and, hey, while they're at it, why not turn Flex into the first Vertigo direct-to-video animated film?

The return of letter pages to DC Comics.  I know I've said "the Internet has rendered letter pages redundant" (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Torn From Today's Headlines") but I'm happy to see them back and not just for sentimental reasons; I'm all for anything that gives the pamphlet format more content (aka added value).  In an interview Dan Didio argued "the return of the letter pages will foster an increased sense of community among the company's readers", but me, I see it as (hopefully) a way of increasing communication between readers and the publisher. Because somehow just omnisciently "knowing" what they want hasn't been working out so well for them lately.

DC and Vertigo holding the line at $2.99 for their standard ongoing titles.  In an interview Jim Lee echoed "the suspicion voiced in many quarters that now-abandoned $3.99 price point was breaking the weekly comics habit for a dangerous number of consumers."  I won't deny reading that  was more than a little satisfying, seeing as how I've been saying something similar for quite a while (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--The Canary In the Coalmine Has A Cough").  Just to prove price can affect even the most grizzled comic book guys the last time I was in Super- Fly Comics & Games I saw a comic I'd completely forgotten about, DC Comics Presents: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #1.  "Wow," I thought, "an affordable collection of classic T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents stories, just the sort of support that the new miniseries needs."  But I blanched when I saw the price; $7.99, even for 96-pages, even with my store discount, doesn't equal "impulse purchase" given my current budget.
 
Oh, while I was there Super-Fly owner Tony Barry wanted me to pass along the store's December invoice numbers:

-- In the 2nd week of December the invoice increased 15% from the previous week.
-- In the 3rd  week it increased 15% again.
-- In the 4th, and remember this is 2 days before Christmas, it was up 40%.
 -- And in the 5th, traditionally the largest invoice of the month, there was a 40% decrease.

Maybe it's just us but something about those numbers doesn't seem right.

I've previously reported Archie was planning on reviving their L'il Jinx character (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Return of the Yellow Circle").  Well, it's happening and they're not sticking in the back of a random issue of Betty & Veronica.  Starting with Life With Archie #7, shipping in January, a grown up just plain Jinx debuts in "L'il Jinx Grows Up," by J. Torres, which starts with her first day at Rose Valley High School.  The series promises to "deliver real-world stories for real-world teens, reflecting the humor, issues, and problems of today's adolescents," which hopefully means things at her school won't be as pathologically benign as they are over at Riverdale High.

Well, I didn't get my copy of Image's Next Issue Project: Crack Comics #63 for Christmas, but given the series track record for lateness (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Christmas For Halloween"), I really wasn't expecting it to.  For me this year's big disappointment was not only didn't the first issue of Santa Claus vs. The Martians ship in time for the holiday but the entire series has been taken off the schedule.  But to help ease the pain while it's being rescheduled the entire first issue has been posted online (with page-by-age annotations; writer Benito Cereno really knows his Christmas lore); it's easy to find (just type the title into the search engine of your choice) and really, really good.

And lastly here's my New Year's Resolution; after this I resolve to not refer to so many of my previous columns again. 

The opinions expressed in this column are solely  those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.