Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Your favorite CANCELLED series

What book (or books) do you miss the most that should've stayed on the shelves? Lord knows that lately there's been a lot more fodder considering the lifespan of titles these days.

For me, the books I miss the most are:
-- The Question: although he's finally coming back this year, it was one of the best superhero/crime books out there ("Sandman Mystery Theater" is there also).
-- Alien Legion: One of the grittiest "gritty" books of the '80's. It was the "Dirty Dozen" of comics -- you really had no idea which character would live out the next storyline.
-- Slingers: Joe Casey was doing something really special with modern teenage heroes there.
-- Heroes for Hire -- Luke Cage and Iron Fist just belong together - look at how many times they've been unsuccessful apart.

Power Company, followed by the Thunderbolts.

Vext and Inhumans. I'm sure there's more but I can't think of them right now.

And Drake, did you hear that The Question is going to be making an appearance on Justice League Animated this next season? He'll be voiced by Jeffrey Combs of Re-Animator fame.

Power Of The Atom -- the only time The Atom really stood out as a solo hero, in my opinion.

El Diablo -- the early '90s series about a hispanic hero in a small, Texas town. It took realism to unprecedented levels in a super-hero comic.

The sadness of seeing a truly excellent, yet seemingly unpopular title cancelled. How I know this pain.

My fave dead mags:

THE RAY by Priest - truly one of the greatest and most confusing comics of all time. Chicken suits, Vandal Savage, Teen Angst, Fishnet Stockings, Engrossing Plots and Excellent Dialogue - This one had it all, as well as eye-catching Howard Porter and Jason Armstrong pencils. Sigh. I miss you, Ray.

IMPULSE by Mark Waid - before Waid left, Impulse was my favorite comic in the post-Ray years. Waid managed to portray a different Impulse than others, giving him a personality above & beyond the 'Act before you think' mode that later writers cast him in. And the pencils by Humberto Ramos were absolutely awesome; heavily cartoony, but oh-so-fitting.

JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE and STEEL by Priest - another couple of titles that I truly, deeply loved, for all that I often was let scratching my head. The interpersonal drama seen between Ray, Gypsy, Triumph and J'Onn J'Onnz was awesome, and the final page of the final issue almost had me in tears.
Priest should be cloned for the ages.

QUANTUM & WOODY by Priest ... Ah sheesh. I should just admit it. Anything by Priest is really really good, and destined to be cancelled really really quickly. Q&W had slick pencils by MD Bright , and managed to lampoon the entire comic industry without resorting to farce. Actually, who am I kidding? The whole comic was a farce - it's just a shame the comic company (Acclaim) behind it was also a farce, and Q&W were lost. Peace On, Noogies....

More as they come to mind.

Oh my, there's been several.

YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE Daddy to Marvel's X-FORCE/X-STATIX, this book showed that you could mix cartoony art with VERY adult themes.

CHASE It Spawned the idea of 'The Justice Experience', a concept that fascinates me to this day (this was the team that existed in the 60s/70s after The JSA and before the JLA).

THE HECKLER Would have loved to have seen what further insanities TMK would have inflicted on poor Stu Mosely. The closest thing to a Bugs Bunny superhero comic I've ever seen.

VEXT There's gods for farting and inappopriate exhibitionism? Yep.

HERO ALLIANCE Published by Innovation and featuring the first comics work of later Legion greats Immonen & Pearson. Heavy on the T&A, but they didn't discriminate between male and female T&A so it was cool. Some wonderful ideas throughtout this series, which had a decent-size run for an indie (17 regular issues, an annual, a special, 4--iirc-- quarterlies, the 3-issue "End of the Golden Age" mini and a couple of solo-member 1-shots).

MAJOR BUMMER Why this book wasn't a massive success I'll never fathom. Hysterical writing by Arcudi, stunning art by Mahnke. I damn DC to this day for cancelling it!

DOOM PATROL The latest incarnation. Another Arcudi-written book with stunning uber-stylistic art by Tan Eng Huat. I sure miss Ted, Ava, Cliff and the gang...

"Promethea," eight months (four issues) from now. For once, I'm getting my grieving done in advance!

I did miss the "Ms. Marvel" solo series, pulled out from under us '70s Carol fans with no warning after issue 23, and only shortly after Dave Cockrum's ab fab redesign of her getup.

I had read that he's going to be making an appearance, but I hadn't heard the casting news -- thanks, LL! I wonder if he's going to follow the Ditko or O'Neil model?

Hmmm, a few off the top of my head:

Vext, Black Condor, Chase,

re: The Question

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere he's making an appearance...just can't remeber which book or if it's his own book...dang!

re: cancelled books

NYX is supposed to be cancelled by issue 6. >sigh< I really liked that one...oh well, 4 issues to go...

Oh, so many!

I second mentions of Vext and Black Condor.

I'd add to the list:

'Mazing Man: a great slice of life book that very rarely crossed the line into too wacky for its own good.

Amethyst: Amy rocked before Keith Giffen destroyed her. And fantasy comics are making a comeback.

Arion: See above about fantasy comics.

Power Pack: But take them back to before they got too involved in the Marvel universe. PP is the only Marvel book I've read more than 2 consecutive issues of, so I thought introducing other Marvel characters just mucked it up. I liked last year's mini.

Suicide Squad- The Ostrander series rocked and with great characters like Vixen, Vertigo and Deadshot. I still miss this book!


L.E.G.I.O.N - A series begging for a comeback


Infinity INC- One of my favorite series of all time and now would be a great time for a comeback!


ThunderBolts-this series should have never been cancelled glad its on its way back!

New Warriors- another seies ripe for a comeback!

1. Zot! I wish it could have gone on longer...

2. I really loved The Shadow by Andy Helfer in the 80s. Mmmmmmm.

3. Hourman

Was "Zot!" actually cancelled? I thought McCloud ended it on his own. Either way, that series is in my top 5 all time favorite books.

do these have to be titles that were cancelled, quite quickly ???

because this one went on for quite a long time, but i really loved the .... "ALL STAR SQUADRON" !!! i miss that !!!

Matthew.

Nah, there're no rules -- feel free to reminisce about any old book that you miss.

Me too Matt I loved All Star Squadron!!!!

Sorry.. forgot the 'canceled' part of the question and just thought about series I missed, and I had never been as upset about a series ending its run as this one. It is my number 1 favorite series ever, and McCloud did indeed end it on his own, albeit with an indication that he would return to the world of Zot (which he has done on his website).

I loved All-Star Squadron, too, but it was gutted by Crisis.

Speaking of Innovation, I miss their Lost In Space series. It continued the adventures of the Robinson clan past the TV series. A major arc was even being written by Bill Mumy, and a two-issue spin-off called Project Robinson was half published when Innovation shut their doors.

i miss _new warriors_ when fabian nicieza was writing and mark bagley was pencilling. it got very dark after that point. and the second series was enjoyable, but ended too quickly. i actually miss seeing firestar in a monthly comic (now that she's rarely seen in avengers when she should've been part of x-men a long time ago).

and _thunderbolts_ too.

Chase. Intriguing main character, and a fresh aproach to how heroes are seen in the DCU.

Challengers of the Unknown. The Steven Grant update. Odd stories, including one that featured Hypertime before it had a name.

L.E.G.I.O.N. I liked the "Space Opera" concept.

There's a ton of them over the years, but here a couple (most have been mentioned already):

Chase- something different and interesting. I wish it could have went longer, it seemed that D. Curtis Johnson had a lot of things he wanted to get to.

The Ray- this book made me a Priest fan for life

Black Condor- I remember my Dad just loving this title

Outsiders- I miss Geo-Force, Kitana, and especially Looker. I loved the second series, even though it only lasted two years.

Suicide Squad- one of the best comics of the eighties, when I re-read these, it feels so fresh and exciting.

The Question- a gritty well-written book. Denny O'Neil at his best ever.

Power of the Atom- out of ever DC character, I want the Atom to have his own title the most. I love the character and have an extensive Atom collection, and I just HATE when he goes into comics limbo. I think he should always be in JLA too, like J'Onn J'Onnz.

Firestorm- this is the second character I'd like most to have a comic again. I love the original Firestorm series. However, I need to have Ronald as Firestorm (rumors of an upcoming Firestorm comic say a new person will be the hero- if that's the case, I ain't buying it), and I like the original Firestorm costume, one of the best of his era.

For Marvel:

Thunderbolts- no reason for this to have been changed the way it was. Marvel's freshest idea of the whole nineties, and it's saving grace for a few years too.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned this one yet, at least I didn't see it mentioned...

Legionnaires Wouldn't we all like to see a second, monthly Legion title again?

Young Justice Peter David had a nack for getting in goofy ideas that made me giggle. I enjoyed this book.

Deadpool Who doesn't like a wise cracking one line guru with a healing factor? I loved alot of writers on this title, but Priest's and Kelly's stick out in my mind the most.

Martian Manhunter I haven't seen anything by Ostrander that I haven't "dug". MM was a nice read every month.

Hour Man Peyer might not have many fans around here, but I like him. His HM had me giggling alot like PD's YJ did. He always seemed to be taking the title in an unexpected direction, that is until they cancelled it. That, I expected.

PADs Supergirl. OK so 80 issues is a good long, solid run by any standard but I could have carried on reading it forever (as long as PAD was writing it of course). I've never been a fan of the Super family but Linda was just so different from them, and from most other heroes as well, they I was constantly waiting for the next issue. Sure the plots were convoluted and it wasn't the most new-reader friendly series but it was still one of the best comics out there. Plus fabulous art from Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs, and some nice work by Ed Benes as well on his few issues. Plus PAD had two possible ways to story could continue, one which he won't tell people about in case he decides to use it elsewhere and one which would have had Linda become Superwoman, Kara stick around as Supergirl and Power Girl join them to become Blonde Justice. Now how cool would that have been?

And Young Justice too. Great sereis, really funny but with some incredible emotional and dramatic moments too (the whole thing with Arrowette in 15 was superb). And then they go and cancel it so they can re-launch another crappy Titans series which I've already dropped because every single character is completely out of character (even Changeling who Geoff Johns apparently adores) and the plots are the biggest pile of pish i have ever read. Well OK it's not quite that bad but I damn sure prefer to have YJ back instead.

Hey Bevis! Haven't seen you around much lately, we missed you!

Aslo these:

Young Justice: best teen super-group title in awhile (discounting the Legion)

The Spectre by Ostrander and Mandrake- I was satisfied with it's end and am glad that they were able to end this series, so I don't want Jim Corrigan back. But what a damn good series! Best Spectre stories ever IMO, with Ostrander really making the Spectre, Jim Corrigan and religion itself very satisfying characters in the book.

And of course:

Sandman
Preacher

I can't even describe how much I love those two books and how often I re-read them. Great stuff, I could never get enough. Like Spectre, I'm glad they were able to end the way they did, although I would have bought them forever if they kept coming out.

Been on Christmas holidays so I've only had limited access to post. I'm back at work now though so I should be around a bit more.

Clandestine

Alan Davis' Excalibur

Young Justice -though I am enjoying Teen Titans

Alien Legion -I loved that title

Did anyone get Strikeforce: Morituri?

Original Outsiders I also miss Halo, Katana and Looker -Katana's appearance in Superman/Batman recently was much enjoyed.

I know there's more, but I can't think of any at the moment.

I'm probably the only one who ever bought it, but I liked Shooter's "Warriors of Plasm" series.

I also liked a number of the Ultraverse titles, particularly, "The Strangers."

I liked the Strangers also.
I even liked a couple of the NEW UNIVERSE titles. Really only the team titles.

The original Authority series (Vol 1) before the DC eds woke up and realised what they were printing, and then watered it down to crap.

Sigh... Ellis/Hitch. What a dream that was. Even Millar/Quitley was better than the drek that's being put out with Authority on the cover currently...

PS Young Justice... Sigh. PAD teases me with the Ray, and then the book gets cancelled. At least PAD had Ray acknowledge as much in last few issues.

I also loved the original Authority. But I'll be pleased as punch if Quitely never ever touches a book that I read again. Geez his characters are UGLY!
I haven't bothered with the book since its re-launch.

I dropped it when Millar was writing it. I've never liked him as a writer.

Alpha Flight ('natch!), the original John Byrne version. I know yet a new one is being relaunched, but I have little faith in it.

I too miss Infinity Inc. Curses that Crisis!

Wayne, I'm with you on Young Justice. After finally getting the Ray back in a book, and having him written well, the book gets cancelled and he's back in Limbo...

Strangers was a good Ultraverse title. I think my favorite was Night-Man, but I also remember liking Solitaire.

Can't remember what was said exactly, but there was a PAD convo in YJ between Ray, Superboy, (maybe Lil Lobo) abotu Robin and why good titles get cancelled, while 'sidekick' titles live on. If all my comics weren't packed up anticipating a move, I'd repost the dialogue here.

PAD really showed he understands the pain of a fave character being unused, unutilised, or worse misrepresented.

PS I like Quitely... except the pucker-up porn-star lips he puts on everybody!!! Whassupwithat?

I'll join the Infinity, Inc and All-star Squadron bandwagon. Poor Roy Thomas, he put so much love into his Earth-2 titles and his characters never really recovered from Crisis.

One of my favorite titles was the short-lived Booster Gold series from the eighties. The best supporting cast ever. I still miss Skeets, Trixie, Dirk and co. Great writing and art from Dan Jurgens too.

The West Coast Avengers was great too. Untill a CERTAIN pair of writers came and messed it up with all that Force Works nonsence.

This one might be going too far back to apply, but I really liked the brief 1970's revival of All-Star Comics. Another title set on Earth-2 rendered moot by Crisis.

Wow, lots more good choices. All-Star Squadron was good, and I really liked the Strangers too -- thanks largely to the fact they had a gay character, which meant a lot to this kid when he was reading it.

But how could I have forgotten Black Condor and Booster Gold?! I loved BC's concept -- he flew around and stuff happened. I thought they made it work well. And Booster was just a lot of fun.

Eric

The thing with Millar's Authority is that, when rejected panel after rejected panel started turning up on various comic sites, it became obvious to me that Millar wasn't pushing the envelope as much as he was tweaking DC. Trying to see what he could get away with. I found it incredibly self-indulgent, and it turned me off the book.

Bunches - and most have already been mentioned.

Infinity, Inc.
All Star Squadron
Young Justice
Impulse
Damage

and more, if I'd take time to think about it!
;-)

The original DEFENDERS, both when they reworked it into the X-ChampAvenders with 125, and when it was ultimately cancelled when the team was gutted for X-Factor.

BLACKWULF-- a fun little mid-90's Marvel book which spun out of THUNDERSTRIKE, of all palces :rolleyes: . Great art by Angel Medina, and it explored the underused Deviants (though it never explicitly said as much). Only lasted 9-10 issues.

John Byrne's NEXT MEN was excellent, and I wish he'd stuck with it instead of producing alot of the dreck he's been responsible for since.

1) Infiity Inc - loved this book - it deserves a comeback

2) The Strangers - I love anything by Englehart and I always will!

3) Young Heroes In Love - agree with Lash here...

4) Defenders - the most recent series was not so good - I think they tried too hard...

5) Thunderbolts - a truly original idea...

6) Champions - I have always wanted this team to reunite (add Polaris and Havok)

7) West Coast Avengers - not to be confused with Avengers West (after the series was Byrned) - Englehard wrote some of the best epic stories ever. There really isnt anyone like him anymore...

As you can see, I prefer groups to solo artists. I jsut feel like Im getting more bang for my buck...

In no particular order:

Power of the Atom
Power Pack (esp. the flavor of the early series)
Black Panther (Priest = genius)
The Crew
Aquaman (1994 series) (only Jurgens writing I ever liked)
Capt. Carrot
Black Condor

HELLSTORM, Prince of Lies. The title struggled early on, but really hit its stride when Warren Ellis and Leo Manco took over the creative reins. Unfortunately, their great work on the book couldn't save the title. Ellis's run on this is one of my favorite runs ever. He took Daimon Hellstrom from being a ridiculous costumed superhero to the rightful heir and eventual Lord of Hell. Vertigo's Lucifer wouldn't stand a chance!

In a few months, you can add most of the CrossGen titles to this thread!

[ducks, runs]

That monkey needs a CrossG-enema...

I'll miss Crux, Meridian and Scion. I'm wondering if The Path won't be absorbed into Way o/t Rat, though, as Boon appeared in that book...

There are so many series that I miss. I think I am cursed that any series I like and read gets canceled.

Here is the short list:

Amethyst
Arion
Infinity, Inc
Firestorm
Black Orchid - Loved the art!!
Wanderers - they could at least reboot them in the current storylines.
Young All-Stars
All Star Squadron

Innovations' Hero Alliance - loved this series as well, adn loved the T&A. (that and it looks like most of the artists used muscle mag poses for drawing the men!! LOL)

Darkhouse's X
Division 13
Catalyst: Agents of Change(?)
John Byrne's Next Men - I REALLY miss this series *crys*

Most of these series have been mentioned before but I think alot of people miss them. (Take Note DC!!)

The only cancelled series that I really miss, and wish they would bring back, is DOOM PATROL as written by John Arcudi and drawn by Tan Eng Huat...

DP7 - This was the only New Universe title worth reading and it really should have been kept on while the others went by the way side. This was the first title with a genuinely exciting "ensemble cast" feel that I remember reading. Who would have expected Mark Gruenwald to ditch several members of the original line-up half way through the series?
The last few issues were fantastic and I loved the whole concept - that while "the white event" gave some people super-powers loads of others were turned into physical freaks. Who could forget that woman whose power was to inflate herself to super-obese size with her own excess body water?! I really loved this title and always try to find the 2 issues of the series I missed when I got to comic marts - and haven't done so yet!

Aztek - Mainly because I'm a Grant Morrison fan and I like it when he tries to do straightforward superhero stuff (ie before he got on JLA and disappeared up his own butt.) Zenith still is the best thing I think he's ever done but Aztek was refreshingly different. There were some weird things going on there but the title got cancelled before we found out what it was all about...

Of the New Universe titles, the only one I got into was "Justice". That man could rock a mullet like nobody's bizness!

Atari Force.

Resurrection Man

Oh, I forgot about DP7! I agree, this was a really good series that I would love to see continued.

Topping my list would be All Star Squadron and, more recently, Madame Xanadu. Both of those titles had two qualities that I love:

1. Retroactive continuity, weaving in and out of established history, adding to it without trampling what went before.

2. Time progression, set against a backdrop of historical events, they showed actual development of the world that the characters lived in without the vagaries of a "sliding timeline".

One of my dream titles would actually be a weekly All-Star Squadron series, running for five years in "real time" through the course of the war.

All-Star Squadron
Justice Society of America
Firestorm (ronnie, not that junked up crap that came after)
Nightwing
Zatanna
Arion
Dr. Fate
Pre 52 Hawkman
Pre 52 Birds of Prey
REssurection Man
Pre 52 Hawk and Dove (with Dawn Grainger)
Superman Family
Batman Family
Original Brave and the Bold
Original Worlds finest
and so many many many more

Young All-Stars (the All-Star Squadron version of Young Justice/Teen Titans)

Though it was a cartoon before a comic I loved Young Justice and was really pissed it was cancelled.

The Wanderers (same time as the Legion, different heroes!)

Atari Force

Of Marvel…

Some of the old posts mention Alien Legion. A great comic that is back! Now published by Titan comics.

Captain Britain or the Alan Davis Excalibur.

ClanDestine

Knights of the Pendragon, first series

1. Legion of Super-Heroes
2. Doom Patrol
3. T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents
4. All-Star Squadron
5. Infinity Inc.
6. West Coast Avengers
7. Brave and the Bold
8. All-Star Comics
9. Secret Society of Super-Villians
10. New Teen Titans
11. What If
12. Elementals
13. Defenders
14. Blue Ribbon Digest
15. Amazing World of DC Comics
16. Mighty Crusaders
17. Ultra Force
18. Futurians
19. Liberty Project
20. Miracleman

I've often jumped ship before cancellation due to a general decline (All-Star Squadron, Atari Force, Swamp Thing, Doom Patrol)

Legion
Sandman Mystery Theatre
Knights of Pendragon got to finish it's story arc so it wasn't as much of a blow. Some very good work in that one.
Miracleman
Heckler
Punx - 3 issues waiting for something to happen only for the something to be cancellation!

X-Factor (the original series, not anything from the 2000's)

Excalibur

Legionnaires

Resurrection Man
All the Hawkman books.
Wally Flash (before Waid)
Adventure...
All the Hawkeye books that were supposed to be ongoings and went mini's.

Supergirl, believe it or not. Well, Daring and PAD's.
I need to stop or I'll be diving into all my storage boxes.

Ah, and it goes without saying all books Legion related.