So there will be comics in 2010, which means that the comics industry has officially lasted about forty years longer than expected. Lucas has party favors. Here’s a look at some of the comics that will kick off the end of the century’s first decade, courtesy of Diamond’s Previews catalog.

Ever since it was announced that BOOM! obtained the Disney license, I’ve been hoping for some Carl Barks-centric trade paperbacks. Well, I kind of got what I wanted. Donald Duck Classics vol. 1: Quack Up is credited to Barks, and certainly will merit a flip-through. But let me clarify: I’m hoping for 100% Barks-created Uncle Scrooge collections!

I’ve been digging on Jason’s comics a lot lately, as anybody who reads my “It Came From the NYPL” series should know. Almost Silent is nearly 300 pages, in hardcover, of Jason’s superb comics, compiling four classics (none of which I’ve read yet) into one convenient volume. More pages, better price, I’m going to finally buy a Jason comic!

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Diamond Previews, if you’re not in here, you’re probably not in most comic shops and probably off the radar of the average comics reader (well, you’re probably off that radar anyway, but that’s another discussion all together). Let’s talk about some of the most interesting titles in the most recent, December-shipping catalog.

The Street Angel creative team, Brian Maruca and Jim Rugg, have a new 100-page hardcover, Afrodisiac, coming from Adhouse Books. I’m not really a big fan of pastiches of old exploitation films, as this appears to be, but Street Angel was a blast, so this is definitely a book to keep an eye on.

Bob Burden Studios solicits both Flaming Carrot Collected vol. 2 and Mysterymen Adventures vol. 1. Neither are really my thing, but Burden’s earned a pretty solid following and hopefully readers notice these two items. Along similar “not for me, but FYI” lines, Collins Design has a 1280-page (!!) compilation of every KISS comic of all time, titled (obviously) KISS Compendium. Gene Simmons writes the forward. Comics from Marvel, McFarlane, Dark Horse and more included within.

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Man, I remember being in college and being so new to comics that everything excited me, even the books I knew weren’t really that good. There was always another creator to discover, a tidbit of real or fictional history to uncover, something to make me want to peek inside nearly any cover.

Now, I’m just a sad, old bitter man, apparently, because I can barely find ten books in the entire Previews catalog that appeal to me at all, and several of those aren’t quite “Holy crap, I gotta have ‘em” type books. November, the oft acknowledged but never purchased “I guess if it’s a slow month, I’ll look at those” grade of book appears to be the highlight of the month.

Here’s the drill: I read Diamond’s Previews catalog, the primary (in many cases, only) source of comics for your local comic shop, so if a book’s not in here, it’s sadly going to be overlooked by most comic shops in America. I’ll point out the books that catch my eye.

Muppet Show: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson collects Roger Langidge’s four-part serial. It’s Roger Langridge, so it’s gotta be pretty good, although his first Muppet Show book has so far eluded my budget. But hey, slow month!

I’ve so far only dipped my toes into John Porcellino’s work, and I can see where he’s going, but so far, nothing I’ve read has quite meshed with my own tastes. His latest, Map of My Heart, is from Drawn & Quarterly. I’m actually happy to have an excuse to prioritize more Porcellino; I’ve been wanting to for quite some time now.

Fantagraphics has Dash Shaw’s new book, Unclothed Man in the 35^th Century A.D. I’ll read this one.

The Art of Ditko, from Craig Yoe and IDW, has some appeal. Probably more of a “hope it comes to the library” book than a buy-book, but I’d like to check out a nice selection of Steve Ditko comics.

Along similar lines, TwoMorrows is publishing Sal Buscema: Comics’ Fast and Furious Artist, featuring art and an extensive interview. Man, I love Sal’s work. Sign me up; the interview content pushes this past the Ditko book.

At Dark Horse, my days as a Star Wars fanboy are pretty long past now, but I did enjoy the Tim Zahn novels way back in the day. The Star Wars: The Thrawn Trilogy compilation of Mike Baron adaptations of Zahn’s novels may get a page-through. Although I probably have the original collections around here somewhere. I should dig ‘em about and read a little before committing any cash.

Nothing at all at Image, and only a few marginal titles from DC and Marvel interest me. Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson vol. 3 is … well, it’s Walt, and I love Walt’s stuff. ‘Course, I still haven’t read vol. 2. One of these days… Batman: The Cat and the Bat sounds like a lark, but more of a library rental. Probably the same with Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom, which got mediocre reviews but I dig Supes and the old Kirby Fourth World stuff, and Graymiotti’s written some fun stuff.

And … that’s it. Like I said, not much grabbing me this month. Anybody see anything I’m missing?

I think I missed last month (again) with this column, so my apologies for that. I know you’re all waiting with bated breath to know what comics I might buy, taste-setter than I am.

Let’s get right into it, starting in the back as I like to do.

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For the past months, I’ve been walking through the monthly Previews catalog from Diamond Distributors to spotlight some of the more interesting and more inane comics that might’ve slipped past your attention. I admit, it’s gotten a little tedious for me, so I’m going to try injecting a little more of myself into this month’s article and see how it goes. I’m only listing books that actually caught my attention, briefly why, and handicapping the chances of myself actually purchasing said book. Also, a caveat that I’m a trade-waiter, so if you don’t see your favorite serial here, it doesn’t mean I’m ignoring it. I’m very anxious for Dark Horse to collect Citizen Rex, for example, but it won’t be mentioned elsewhere in this article.

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Time, dear readers, to explore Diamond’s expansive Previews catalog for comics theoretically shipping in July 2009.

Glamourpuss #8 from Dave Sim is available through Aarvark-Vanaheim.

AC Comics has an omnibus edition of the first nine issues of Femforce from 1985, which I’ve never read but has been around for over twenty years, so it must have some fans. Amaze Ink/SLG ships Gargoyles vol. 2: Clan Building, with several issues of unpublished material.

Archaia Studios is apparently off life support, with the second Mouse Guard collection, Winter 1152 available in hardcover.

If you’re trade waiting, Roger Langridge’s The Muppet Show gets collected by Boom in July. Same with Mark Waid’s first Incredibles miniseries and Boom’s initial Cars series.

Big Questions #12 from Anders Nilson and John Stanley Library: Nancy vol. 1 highlight Drawn & Quarterly’s offerings.

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