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KC Carlson and his cancellin’ pen.
a KC COLUMN by KC Carlson
Some comic book cancellations are so popular (or maybe infamous) they are awarded “celebratory” titles. Did you love the DC explosion in June 1978, when DC boosted the number of titles in their line and added back-up series and a lot more pages to a lot of of their comics? how about the DC Implosion? That happened just three months later, when DC abruptly cancelled 40% of its line — including flagship title Detective Comics (until DC’s editorial staff managed to save it by merging it with the better-selling Batman Family). In addition, some of DC’s editors were let go, with both Al Milgrom and Larry Hama losing their jobs. (Both later saw a lot more occupation success at Marvel.)
Cancelled Comic Cavalcade
Ironically, the DC explosion inadvertently created one of the rarest comic books of all. In the summer of 1978, a two-issue “ashcan” (which indicated it was photocopied) of a lot of of the cancelled titles appeared — supposedly solely to establish DC’s copyright to the material. However, once assembled, Cancelled Comic Cavalcade then became one of the most re-photocopied comic books ever as DC staffers made copies of the books for their friends. This is how I got my copy, and of course I made a few copies to give to my friends… and you can probably guess what happened from there…
Incidentally, both of these “publications” sported new covers, one of which depicted lots of of DC’s heroes being kicked out of an office by a man in a suit. Both issues had cover prices: one was 10 cents, the other $1.00 — but of course, these were never officially “on sale” anywhere. (Except maybe years later on eBay. and there was no way to figure out for sure if a copy to buy was an “original” or a photocopy. Sheesh!)
Not all the stories in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade were complete — lots of went unfinished when the original cancellations were announced. In some cases, only covers represented unfinished (or maybe un-started) comics. and not all of DC’s unpublished inventory at the time made it into Cancelled Comics Cavalcade. The Wikipedia page for the series includes mentions for the “legendarily” missing Deserter (a western) and intriguingly, Mike Grell’s Starslayer — which was later published by both Pacific Comics and first Comics. Technically, the first appearance of DC’s first African-American super-heroine Vixen was in CCC. (She later officially debuted in action Comics #521 and eventually became a member of the Justice League.)
Action Comics #521, the “first” appearance of Vixen
For a lot more on the DC Implosion and Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, I highly recommend the very entertaining presentation over at Dial B for Blog. This whole blog is awesome, BTW!
THAT WAS THEN… CANCELLATIONS now ARE DIFFERENT
Because of all the (technically) illegal photocopying and informal distribution of the copies of DC’s Cancelled Comics Cavalcade, the whole exercise eventually became a sort of a lighthearted “Hey, what are you gonna do?” exercise for a lot of of the DC staff. (Other than the executives, of course.) a lot of of the stories from regular, ongoing titles were eventually published officially somewhere or other — unless the host titles were also cancelled during this period. Today, the “event” is mostly remembered as a brief period of DC publishing confusion, which ultimately helped the company step forward toward better things over the next decade.
During the DC Explosion, the company tried to put out a bigger package, with an increase in page counts leading to higher prices. The audience resisted. Today, we’re in a similar situation, with $2.99 and $3.99 cover prices battling it out in a market that has much a lot more room for alternate sizes and formats. and cancellations today, as we’re living through them, are rarely as entertaining. (Unless you’re a meanie who delights in bad news.)
Let’s look to Marvel. The company had some severe service problems in the mid-1990s which saw them go from publishing well over 200 titles a month to bankruptcy, which required seriously streamlining their comics operations. even today, marvel (along with everybody else) has been scrambling to stay afloat in a much smaller “comics world”. and it seems that there, “cancellation” has become a dirty word.
SO, ARE THEY OR AREN’T THEY?
In the past year or so, marvel Comics has experienced lots of fluctuations in their line of comics. but don’t call them cancellations, because marvel these days steadfastly refuses to admit that a title is actually cancelled unless they have to. In general, the only way to know for sure if a marvel comic is cancelled is when it doesn’t show up on the racks for a month or two.
Marvel is also causing confusion in the marketplace, starting over various series with new number #1 issues literally a month or two after the last issue of the previous run. Some people I know think that if a character is continually published — despite repeat #1 issues — then those runs must not be called cancellations. I completely disagree. If a title is specifically relaunched just to get the added bonus offer sales that usually comes with a new #1, then yes — that is a new series. Period. What’s next — every issue being a new #1 issue?!
Howard the Duck (2015B) #1
In similar cases, readers may rely on a year marker to distinguish series, because Amazin’ Potato-Man (2014) #1 had a different creative team and storyline from Amazin’ Potato-Man (2016) #1. This doesn’t even work any more, as there were once two Howard the Duck #1s published only three months apart in late 2015. No wonder no one wants to get back issues any a lot more — it’s too much trouble when there are collected books to manage this problem! and forget being new-reader-friendly, as these gimmicks and tricks make no sense to the uninitiated who just want to keeping reading the comic they just discovered.
But back to cancellations. Normally, a comic is labeled final issue in Diamond’s Previews catalog to assist merchants in knowing how to buy it. Also, now that so lots of of them are using computerized inventory and sales systems, the data on runs and titles needs to be correct. but marvel doesn’t want to use that label, because that identify can affect sales, and those numbers are a lot more crucial to them than supplying their customers accurate information.
Even the “check the racks” method isn’t infallible. chances are there will be a new #1 of the same (or similar) title/character before you know it. how lots of “volumes” of popular comics series are actually sustainable to either collectors or comic book historians, before becoming unwieldy?
CANCELLATION is like A fire – IT MAKES room FOR new GROWTH
I’m not sure when cancellation became a “dirty” word. Comics have been cancelled for low sales for nearly eight decades now. It’s a fact of publishing life and a method of weeding out not-as-popular titles/characters to make way for (hopefully) new and better ones.
Final issues used to be celebrated or, in the case of Dazzler #42, joked about.
Is it that the characters themselves don’t resonate as well as they once did in reader’s eyes? Or is it the creators that fans turn down for not being a terrific “fit” for certain characters? Obviously, this has to be taken on a case-by-case basis, because the certain reasons are probably different in each scenario. and there are many examples of a lot more subtle reactions that pure sales figures can’t quantify, with fans being vocal about loving the comic’s concept but hating one of the creators, or vice versa.
Or is the entire comic book audience leaving in droves — being distracted (or having their superhero needs satisfied) by increasingly a lot more popular motion pictures and TV shows? Or do we blame the ever-increasing cover price of comics? It must be noted that in several cases DC’s line of $2.99 comics are doing better than lots of of Marvel’s $3.99 titles — and that may be currently affecting marvel a bit.
On that note, there’s been increasingly a lot more chatter recently that DC’s $2.99 cover price may not be sustainable for much longer. One thing that shouldn’t happen again to comics is minimizing page count to less than 20 pages. past history has shown that fewer pages significantly hamper plot/story development and supply fewer opportunities for artists to shine. Comics are still a visual medium.
One final thought: considering that DC regeneration started, DC has not cancelled or renumbered any of their core series. The same can not be said for lots of of Marvel’s core titles, lots of of which seem to get yearly relaunches. (Another has been pointed out for this fall. a lot more marvel #1s to figure out how to order… yay?)
Once upon a time, creators and fans made the best out of losing favorite, less-popular series by creating a collection of memories. All that’s come out of Marvel’s whack-a-mole game so far is disillusioned new readers and a whole lot of confusion.
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KC CARLSON: Sorry I’m a lot more irritated than normal this week. apparently our air conditioner is freezing my brain. and without even a Slurpee rush…
WESTFIELD COMICS is not responsible for the silly things that KC says. especially that thing that really irritated you. . . . Did you know that there actually is a Wikipedia page called “Comic book Death”? who knew? It seems odd that somebody actually had to define it — it being a major comic book trope, and all… and, yes there’s a Wikipedia page covering Comic book Tropes as well. We are slowly being taken over by questionable information…. and I’m helping! Yay?