Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Great storylines that will NEVER be made into tpbs

Though continuing storylines are very common in comicdom, most are fated to be forgotten and banished to the 50-cent bins with time. Not every “multi-part epic” can achieve the status of such greats as “The Phoenix Saga” or “The Great Darkness”. But to be honest all of my favorite storylines are relatively unknown. They may never be made into tpbs, but they are still gems to be fondly remembered.

Here's a few you should go fish out of the bargain bins:

(some SPOILERS if you haven't read these yet)


“The Final Option”
ALPHA FLIGHT (v1) #97-100

When the interstellar wanderer known only as “Her” finds herself on the run from intergalactic bounty hunters , she flees to our planet to seek the aid of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. But in her haste she mistakes the Toronto skyline for that of Manhattan, and crashes into Canada's largest city, causing Alpha Flight to investigate. She tells them her story, and they agree to help Her, despite the fact that the aliens chasing her threaten to destroy the city if they don't turn her over. Alpha Flight must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice to save a single person . And one member must choose to pay the ultimate price to save millions.
What I liked most about this story is that no punches were pulled. Too often in comics the heroes make grueling decisions without any consequences. But when Alpha makes the decision to defend Her no matter what the cost, there are real repercussions. The alien fleet attacks and thousands in Toronto die. The story makes one question the lengths to which super-heroes will go to protect one innocent person.


“The Extremist Vector”
JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE #15-19

Heroes Bluejay and the Silver Sorceress came to our dimension to prevent the nuclear holocaust that destroyed their world from happening here. They go to the two super-power nations and try to destroy the worlds supply of warheads. But they are captured by the Soviet government and locked away for months. As homesickness and insanity slowly grip her, the Silver Sorceress creates a portal to her ruined world. In doing so, she unwittingly enables the Extremists, the terrorists that destroyed her world, to pass over to ours. The Extremists waste no time, and quickly take control of the entire Soviet nuclear arsenal despite the best efforts of the Rocket Red Brigade. The Soviet Union calls upon the JLE to help, and what follows is one of the most dramatic fights in the history of comics. With hundreds of warheads in orbit the tension is thick enough to cut with a knife.
What I liked most about this story was that it didn't feel like just another “end-of -world” yarn. The stakes were very high, and the reader didn't forget that for an instant. And the characterization was top-notch too. The Extremists' insanity, the Silver Sorceress' anguish and the JLE's fear came through crystal clear. Though the “Giffen-era” Justice League is most remembered for its humor, it was his more “serious” storylines that shone through.


“Lost in Space-Time”
WEST COAST AVENGERS #17-24

Bad title notwithstanding, this was a great story. When the Whackos track down villain Dominus Rex, he defeats them..... by using Doctor Doom's time machine to send them back to the Old West!! When the WCA arrive in the past they are met by some of Marvel's cowboy legends like the Phantom Rider and Rawhide Kid. And though they still have the time machine with them, there's one problem: its rigged so it can only go BACKWARDS in time! The Avengers decide the only way to get back to the future is to go to ancient Egypt, when the Fantastic Four fought Rama-Tut, and hitch a ride home with them. (complicated ain't it?) But just as the team leaves the Old West, an insane Phantom Rider grabs Mockingbird as the rest of the team travels to the past! They're luck doesn't get any better as they barely miss the FF and their time machine is destroyed! The Avengers must bring into play some bizarre methods to return to the future. And when they finally arrive to rescue Mockingbird they discover she already escaped the Phantom Rider and put justice into her own hands.....

Kraven's Last Hunt (which ran through Amazing Spider-Man, Spectaculur Spider-Man and Web of Spider-man).

Grim and dark, but with amazing insight into Kraven that allowed readers to finally understand the character. After this story, I've always looked back on Kraven with fondness. And great moments with Peter and Mary Jane throughout the whole six issues.

This isn't one storyline in particular, but there was enough awesome stuff in Moench/Seinkevicz's "Moon Knight" to make a great tpb like the Werewolf by Night story, the Morpheus story and the "Manchurian Candidate" homage (I forgot the guy's name) to name a few.

Even though it faltered towards the end, the whole (all twelve issues plus the zero ish) of "Slingers" -- possibly the best example of a teen hero team book where the heroes really seemed like teenagers rather than young adults.

The "Cloak & Dagger" mini from the 80's.

That was TPBed...

speaking of Justice Leauge:
"the Teasdale imperative"
the 1st crossover with the JLI & JLE teams, i forgot what issues numbers they were in each groups books, awesome story line great artwork form Bart Sears and Adam Hughes,.
and i'll wager that the Titans/citadel saga will probably never be made into a TPB either.

Foiled again by the obscure TPB deity!

Have they ever done a TPB of any of Walt Simonson's run on Thor from the 80's? It holds up pretty well.

I think the early Infinity, Inc. might work, considering the success of the current JSA series.

I'd like to have a TPB of the run from Amazing Adventures in which Hank McCoy first became hairy and blue, with the Avengers issue where he first joined up tossed in. I have most of them but what the heck, I'm just tossing this one in for grins. It was a pretty major turning point for a fairly popular character which I'm guessing most fans haven't ever had a chance to read.

The Mark Evanier/ Dan Spiegle run on BLACKHAWK (#251-274 I think)

ATARI FORCE #1-20 + the Special

The Emglehart run on JLA (#140-something to 150 something?)

All-Star Comics #58-74 + the Adventure Comics stories

CANCELLED COMICS CALVACADE #1-2

BAT LASH (the Shocase issues plus his own title)

COMICS CAVALCADE ARCHIVES HC
Writers/Artists: Various
$49.95 US/$76.95 CAN, 276 pages


Hopefully this is reprinting what I hope it is.

I know they did "The Ballad of Beta Ray Bill" which kicked off Simonson's run, but I don't know if they ever collected the Ragnarok stuff.

Have they ever collected Perez' JLA work like Marvel did with his first Avengers run? That'd be pretty cool.