Who Watches the Watchers - Forum for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe & Similar Works » Comics Announced But Never Materialized

Andy E. Nystrom · 8/09/2020 5:37 am

Loki's post from yesterday reminded me of a similar thought I had a while back. I thought it might be interesting to compile a list of comic titles that were announced but never came to be. I'll use the first post to create a full list.
Here are the rules:
Okay to include info on multiple titles in one post
Evidence welcomed but okay to go by memory
Titles that were proposed and even greenlit but never announced don't count. We don't want this list to get out of hand. In other words, no mention of a title in an interview after the fact unless there was also a formal annoiucement beforehand.
Conversely, material intended for a title but published elsewhere is fine.
I might expand this later. but for now include only titles that never made it to #1, as opposed to later issues of an existing series that abruptly got cancelled.
Annuals and Specials related to an existing ongoing okay as long as they don't violate the above rule. In other words, treat them as a separate series from the parent title.
No announcements that later proved to be bogus, be it April Fool's or whatever. There has to have been an actual intent to publish the material.
One shots, limited series, and ongoings are all fine.

List so far:
Crisis of the Soul (aka Crisis on Captive Earth) (DC) (Limited series)
JLA/Avengers (DC/Marvel) (one-shot?)
Marvel Census (Marvel) (Limited series or one-shot)
The Official Handbook of the Avengers Universe (Marvel) (Limited series)
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Appendix (Limited series or one-shot)
The Official Handbook of the X-Men Universe (Marvel) (Limited series)
Vixen (DC) (Ongoing) (material intended for Vixen #1 appeared in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade #2)

Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (8/09/2020 6:58 am)

Andy E. Nystrom · 8/09/2020 5:39 am

The Avengers and X-Men Handbooks were announced in the Master Edition and would have been in a 3-ring format but different art and writing style. The Appendix and Census were discussed in the Deluxe Editon.

House ad for Vixen's series:

Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (8/09/2020 5:51 am)

Andy E. Nystrom · 8/09/2020 6:53 am

This article confirms that Crisis of the Soul/Crisis on Captive Earth was not the same limited series that became Legends:
http://www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk/headlines/scott-bradens-lost-tales-dc-comics-crisis-on-captive-earth-crisis-of-the-soul/
According to the article it was reported in Amazing Heroes #45. I'm pretty sure i saw an editorial piece about in in a DC title between Crisis and Legends.

JLA/Avengers was announced around the same time as Marvel and DC Present #1. It's possible that it would have been #2 of that title, but based on what's known about it, I'm treating it as a separate title. This link compiles the various discussion around the failed story. Obviously the crossover finally did happen with the same artist, but none of the original art made it into the later story. http://marvel1980s.blogspot.com/2011/06/1983-jlaavengers-crossover-also-known.html

Last edited by Andy E. Nystrom (8/09/2020 7:02 am)

Lonewolf36 · 8/09/2020 12:45 pm

Some of these might apply.
Derangers

The Flash

Destroyers
https://comicsalliance.com/marvel-cancels-destroyers-mini-van-lente/

This one i'm not sure of because i dont think it was ever announced.
Techno X
https://www.cbr.com/comic-legends-did-marvel-almost-make-the-transformers-an-x-title/

Last edited by Lonewolf36 (8/09/2020 1:22 pm)

Loki · 8/09/2020 3:25 pm

Lonewolf36 wrote:
Some of these might apply.
Derangers

Can I ask which magazine this is from? Amazing Heroes?

Lonewolf36 wrote:
Destroyers
https://comicsalliance.com/marvel-cancels-destroyers-mini-van-lente/

Also mentions Victor von Doom.

Loki · 8/09/2020 3:57 pm

Phoenix miniseries, announced in Marvel Age Annual#2 and Marvel Age#43
http://marvel1980s.blogspot.com/2009/12/1986-whatever-happened-to-phoenix.html

A ridiculous number of titles announced for Marvel UK in the 1990s that were then lost when Marvel US hit financial troubles. I'm not going to parse out the announced from the unannounced, but many of them were publicized and in some cases written and drawn.
https://downthetubes.net/?page_id=10749
Among the ones that were announced in various magazine are:
'Roid Rage (Marvel Age#130)
Death Duty (Marvel Age#130)
Blood Rush (Marvel Age#130)

Battle Tide III (Marvel Age#132)
Gene Machine (Comics International#24)
G Force
Heavy Weapon 911 (Comics World#17)
Killfrenzy (Body Count)

Knuckledown (Comics International#38 and Body Count)

Project Gemini (virtually no details, but mentioned in Body Count as being illustrated by Salvador Larroca.
Loose Cannons (Body Count and house ads)

Motormouth Remix (Comics International#38)
Officer Outbody (Comics World#20)
Punisher vs Death's Head (Comics International#38)
Removal Man vs Motormouth (Comics World#20)
Ripwire (Comics World#20)
Sisters of Grace (Comics World#17)
Timestryke (Comics World#22)
Ten-Sec (Death's Head II v2 #9)
Warhide (Comics World#20)

Andy E. Nystrom · 8/09/2020 6:27 pm

Thanks. I'll add these to the top post in the next few days. The Flash one particularly intrigues me. Odd that they were going to do with someone other than Wally after Crisis, and with different powers. The power set seems similar to what was later used for the Tangent version of the Flash. I think going with Wally and keeping the speed was the right move. Superspeed has a lot more wish fulfillment to it as a power, and Wally was the most logical choice for the new series.

Lonewolf36 · 8/12/2020 10:42 am

Another one
Samaritan X https://www.cbr.com/who-or-what-is-samaritan-x/

Loki · 12/04/2020 10:01 am

2011, Victor von Doom, a miniseries by Nick Spencer and Becky Cloonan, telling the story of Doom's teenage years:

Solicit: The teenaged Victor Von Doom defends his life...in Hell. The undergrad who'll grow to become Dr. Doom is an abrasive young genius surrounded by collegiate buffoons, wastrels, and dilettantes - like that insufferable Richards.But Doom knows he's destined for greater things, and from his dorm he journeys fearlessly to Hell to save the spirit of his mom...and his struggle to get there, the trials he faces, and his subsequent failure will make him the man he's to become.Nick Spencer and Becky Cloonan pull back the cloak to reveal the youthful, angsty, exuberant side of Victor Von Doom!

Loki · 12/04/2020 10:05 am

2011, Destroyers by Fred Van Lente and Kyle Holtz. Announced at Fan Expo Canada, Cancelled before official solicits came out, but after the first two issues had been pencilled, and presumably at least the third plotted.

"Of course, in the mighty Marvel tradition, monsters will also be the only ones who can save them. As led by Golden Age hero The Destroyer, The Thing, She-Hulk, Karkas, A-Bomb, and The Beast come together to give the terrifying creatures what-for. Unfortunately for them, using just their fists alone will not save the day."Ben Grimm and company have to solve a mystery that dates back millions of years—that involves both the Devil Dinosaur and the Deviants," the writer explains. "The focus here is squarely on the A-list monsters of the Marvel Universe as they punch their fellow monsters in the face and try and avert the same crisis from destroying humanity that once destroyed the dinosaurs."

Loki · 12/04/2020 10:17 am

Phoenix miniseries, announced in Marvel Age Annual#2, 1986:

Sidney Osinga · 12/04/2020 3:47 pm

Do mini series that were cancelled before they were finished count? If so, then you can add All Winners Squad: Band of Brothers #s 5-8 (which make have been marketed) and Sonic Disruptors #s 8-12.

Loki · 12/04/2020 4:23 pm

Sidney Osinga wrote:
Do mini series that were cancelled before they were finished count? If so, then you can add All Winners Squad: Band of Brothers #s 5-8 (which make have been marketed) and Sonic Disruptors #s 8-12.

I think they probably should have their own thread, as though they are in a similar vein, they were at least partially published. I'd also allow that same thread to include details where known for issues of ongoing series that were ultimately never published - e.g. we know some details of intended issues for many of the Marvel UK series from the mid-90s that got abruptly cancelled.

Sidney Osinga · 12/04/2020 5:50 pm

There's also Micacleman: the Silver Age #3, while not technically cancelled, had been delayed for years. There was art drawn for it back during the Eclipse run. The first 4 pages were shown in Kimota! The Miracleman Companion

I don't know if the 1963 Annual would count.

And of course, there are the books announced by Dreamwave https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Unreleased_Dreamwave_issues and Crossgen.

Loki · 12/05/2020 4:16 am

1993, Marvel UK commissioned a new adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, to be written by Tim Quinn and illustrated by Mario Capaldi. Sadly it was dropped after only a few pages had been pencilled:

Loki · 12/05/2020 4:32 am

1990, various titles from Now Comics advertised a new series, Neon Knight, which afaik never materialized.

It was listed as a subscription option:

and solicited for release in July 1990, where we also learned who the writers and artists were to be:

However, while the other titles listed did all get released, to the best my knowledge Neon Knight never was - it's not listed on comics.org. comicvine, milehighcomics, mycomicshop or any other comic listings or back issue sales sites that I can find (and if I'm wrong, please tell me, as I'd like to get hold of a copy).

Despite whatever behind the scenes problems prevented it from being released, it was still it seems planned to eventually be released as late as 1993, when the same advert art was reused for a Now Comics trading card:

Last edited by Loki (12/05/2020 4:34 am)

Loki · 12/06/2020 5:37 am

1994, another lost Marvel UK entry. The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Tim Quinn and John M. Burns:

Loki · 12/09/2020 4:21 pm

Advertised in the back of Marvel Age#38 (1986)

Andy E. Nystrom · 12/09/2020 9:41 pm

I'll update the first post in a bit, but to catch up just a little bit, I agree with Loki that comics that were cancelled mid-story deserve a separate thread. Still very interesting but not the same as a complete failure to launch, as the part that did get published is generally canon for it's particular world. Plus all kinds of titles that had just started got cancelled in the DC Implosion. If such cases exist, however, I will allow unpublished first issues of Annuals that are connected to existing series. So if, for example (and this is a completely made up example) we were to learn that at one point there was going to be a Not Branch Echh Annual before the core title got cancelled, taking the Annual with it, that would be interesting enough to note the Annual.

Loki · 3/18/2021 6:25 am

A British title that was planned but died before launch. The basic idea was a BBC magazine based around the various SF shows the channel was airing, with comic strips for same. It wouldn't have been the first such magazine in the UK, though none of the other "TV-adapting" magazines focused exclusively on SF. The details are covered on Down The Tubes, and, especially as it's a new article, I don't want to steal their thunder, so I'll let people check there for the details, but I do want to share the lovely mock-up covers that were done for the pitch meetings:

and then for the revamped, second attempt to pitch it:

Loki · 3/20/2021 1:53 pm

As the pitch for Sci-Files evolved, it was renamed Robot, and a small number (250 copies) of a dummy issue were printed and given out to focus groups for their feedback. The dummy included three fully scripted and drawn strips - a brand new Doctor Who story (with a brand new Doctor, to avoid having to pay Fox anything, since rights to the-then incumbent McGann version were still tied to them), a brand new Red Dwarf story, and an original strip, Zero Zone. So this comic does exist, strictly speaking, albeit in tiny numbers and with the odds of finding a copy virtually nil.

Two covers were done, so as well as the above there was also an even tinier number with this cover:

Loki · 3/24/2021 3:21 am

Avengers World in Chains was a series pitched by Kurt Busiek and Carlos Pacheco, and per Comic Book Urban Legends it was apparently announced in "various news titles" (anyone able to narrow this down and find specifics?), but it got shelved when it was deemed to be too similar in concept to Mutant X. However, since Carlos had already done design sketches for a number of the characters, the two creators slipped some of the World In Chains characters into Avengers Forever's final issue crowd scenes.

Loki · 3/25/2021 12:56 am

The Last Knight of St. Hagen was a miniseries planned for the Hellboy universe and announced in 2020, but it was delayed because of the pandemic and then shelved indefinitely after co-creator Scott Allie was accused of predatory behaviour.