2020 has been a great year for the Indie-stry. Publishers like Boom!, Black Mask, and Aftershock have been rolling out the good stuff. And I for one could not be happier. While I love stories from the big publishers, independent comics are a great breath of fresh air after a while.

Indie titles that have been discovered and are en route for development are even better. Getting noticed by large media publishers is a real step up the ladder for indie comics. That's when the real attention starts to shine their way. So, before these titles are too far out of our range, let's look at some awesome optioned Indies for 2020.

 

Spire #1 (2015)

Boom! Studios are really putting out great content, and not just now, but even in 2105 they were killing it. Spire #1 is an action-thriller, set in an indistinguishable time and in a very odd place. In the midst of the coronation of a new Baroness, a killer is on the loose in The Spire; Sha, as Commander of the City Watch, is called upon to bring the murderer to justice.

This was an amazing read, short, but something that is very hard to put down. It's really just surprising it took this long to catch some attention. And I hope it goes all the way to the big screen. Blue Ice Pictures is going to have a hit on their hands if they can transfer it well to the media.

While well-received, the initial drop for this comic was rather small. Retail shops ordered fewer than 10,000 copies. The variants are even fewer. Right now, this is still a $15 to $25 pick-up, but I'm not sure how long that will last if more news starts popping for this. As fans are well aware of just how compelling this story was.

Lumberjanes #1 (2014)

Boom! Box? Yes, that little studio in the basement of Boom! where all the gleeful, experimental comics are made. The exact place this unsurprising number came from. Originally supposed to be a very short mini-series, Lumberjanes took the market by storm and ended up being a six-year running comic. With the last issue slotted for September, we now start our goodbye to this wonderful title.

But we say hello to a new animated show coming to HBOMax. Since the news arrived, we are seeing real movement in this first title. Doubling in price since last week, this book is now in the $70 range raw. A 9.8 slab is running up near $200 and is very scarce. The lower print runs for this first issue is also a defining factor for how quickly this issue caught fire.

There are so many variants for this first issue that it really deserves its own variant guide. For now, though, I'll quickly touch on the Design Sketch Variant limited to only 250 copies. This black and white cover features some of the original designs for the characters we see on the page now. That is a very cool comparison to look at the side by side with the original cover.

Black #1 (2016)

We return once more to Black Mask and their 2016 release of Black #1. First optioned by Studio 8 back in April, Black #1 has become in demand once more. Recently receiving news that Warner Bros. acquired the rights to this title, we are seeing some more heat for this comic again.

At the moment, raw copies are still around $35. And a slabbed 9.8 will land near the $200 marker. However, this is still really cheap for a comic with room like this. Not only do we have two announcements in two years, but with it changing studio hands this often, it could mean that there are people who want to bring this to life.

There are a couple of really cool variants for the first issue, including the Fried Pie Iron Throne variant, which looks pretty rad. This variant is running near $75, while the virgin variant is hitting the $90 area. Limited to only 50 copies, the virgin variant has a very small print run, for those rarity collectors out there. At the moment there doesn't appear to be any on the market; however that could change any minute.

Wretches #1 (2019)

Bounty hunters, aliens, robots, and everything in between. That's what Scout Comics promises with its new sibling survival story. Set on an alien world, Shea and Sean must eke out a living while also trying to escape their dark past.

Earlier in the year, we received news that Wretches #1 is in development. While we don't have much more info than that at the moment, this is still a great time to get in on this 1st appearance of Shea and Sean.

Though the print count for this first issue was said to be rather low, (around 4,000), you can still find this for $15 on the Scout Comics website. Along with the other issues in the series. That being said, there is a Momoko Variant for this issue that is not on their website, and hovering near the $15 - $25 mark.

Final Remarks:

The amount of news and development projects for indie titles this year has been amazing. While options and news doesn't guarantee us that these titles will make it all the way to the big or small screen, it does give these otherwise smaller comics a chance to be seen and make a splash. So, make sure you keep an eye out for these great covers before they stop popping up in film and t.v.