10 Best Comics Cancelled Before Their Time

WhatCulture

Some of the best series ever made got cancelled way too soon.

Transcript

00:00You know how amazing television series like Firefly get cancelled way ahead of their time?

00:05Well, unfortunately, the same can happen to comics, taken from us far too soon.

00:10With that in mind, I'm Will for WhatCulture and here are the 10 Best Comics Cancelled

00:14Before Their Time

00:1510.

00:16Chase

00:17Chase was a series launched in 1998 and revolved around Cameron Chase, an agent of the Department

00:23of Extranormal Operations, which was tasked with monitoring superhuman threats to national

00:28security in the United States.

00:30Basically, it was a cross between the X-Files, the Department of Paranormal Activity and

00:35S.H.I.E.L.D. all rolled up in one.

00:37Chase was an agent who had a considerable distrust of superhumans, seeing as her father

00:42was one, but was killed while she was still a young girl.

00:45The series was well-written and beautifully illustrated, but one of the key features was

00:49that it centred around a female lead, with the character of Cameron Chase being well-structured

00:54and fascinating.

00:56Sadly, the series failed to find an audience, with only 9 issues of the main run being published

01:01and the 10th issue tying into the DC One Million storyline.

01:05That issue won the Comic Buyers Guide Fan Award for Favourite Story back in 1999, which

01:10goes to show just how well-written Chase actually was.

01:159.

01:16Semper Fi

01:17These days, it seems odd to think of comic books featuring stories about warfare, but

01:20when you look back, that's one of the ways comics gained popularity in the early days

01:25of World War II.

01:26Since that conflict ended, comics left the genre behind, but returned to it in later

01:30years due to the Vietnam War.

01:32Enter Semper Fi, which focuses primarily on the United States Marine Corps' involvement

01:38in Vietnam.

01:39The book was written by a veteran of the conflict, Michael Palladino, who was a devil dog himself.

01:44Each issue was broken down into two stories, a main one illustrated by John Severin or

01:49Andy Kubert, and a backup story illustrated by Sam Glansman, a veteran of World War II.

01:55Even with great writing and illustration, the series only managed to last 9 issues before

02:00Marvel pulled Semper Fi from its line-up and the team went on to work on other projects.

02:05The title is Latin for Always Faithful, and is the Marine Corps' motto still in use

02:10today.

02:118.

02:12The Crew

02:13Caspar Cole was a New York City police officer who took over the role of Black Panther to

02:16help his career get a boost.

02:18His activities got him involved with a dangerous gang, but he also managed to pick up some

02:22of the same superpowers the Black Panther enjoyed.

02:25This pushed him to create a new identity for himself, White Tiger.

02:29This story unfolded in the new title The Crew, which was first published in 2003.

02:34Cole was joined by three other men, who were also at war with the gang he was trying to

02:38take down as the Black Panther.

02:40Honestly, the book had a lot going for it when it launched.

02:42The amazing artwork perfectly highlighted the storyline written by Christopher Priest,

02:47which followed the first few issues on each team member and what brought them into the

02:51group called The Crew.

02:52Unfortunately, the book didn't make much of a splash, despite the talent behind it.

02:56It was cancelled by Marvel after only 7 issues were published.

03:00The series was relaunched in 2017 as Black Panther and The Crew, but that also got cancelled

03:06after only 5 issues.

03:087.

03:09Justice Society of America

03:11The Justice Society of America was a prominent superhero team for DC Comics in the pre-crisis

03:17but following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the group went missing.

03:20In 1991, they were brought back in a mini-series and that success helped launch an entirely

03:25new series in 1992.

03:27In the new Justice Society of America, the heroes of old are forced to adjust to their

03:32new lives in the modern DC universe, which proved rather difficult.

03:37Ultimately, they worked together to get through their transition to become the heroes they

03:41once were.

03:42While the art by Mike Parabek and Mike Mucklin looked incredible, and Len Straszewski's

03:47writing was top-notch, the series just couldn't achieve the same level of success as the Justice

03:51League and other superhero teams the publisher had out at the time.

03:55It was cancelled after only 3 books, but ultimately saw the publication of 12 complete issues.

04:016.

04:02SWORD

04:03SWORD, otherwise known as Sentient World Observation and Response Department, made its first appearance

04:09in Astonishing X-Men 5 in 2004.

04:12The concept worked well enough, so Marvel greenlit an ongoing series in 2009, but it

04:17didn't run for as long as the creators might have liked.

04:20In the opening story arc, Norman Osborn was in charge of the organisation, as well as

04:24S.H.I.E.L.D., and he was none too happy with their performance in not stopping the secret

04:28invasion event.

04:30With this enticing hook, with the Green Goblin in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. and SWORD, it's

04:34a shame the series didn't make it past 5 issues.

04:37The first issue managed to sell just under 22,000 copies, but the second issue saw a

04:41drop of nearly 7,000.

04:44That spelled death for SWORD.

04:45It was later collected into a trade paperback titled SWORD No Time to Breathe in 2012.

04:515.

04:52THOR MIGHTY AVENGER

04:53It's difficult to imagine given his popularity in comics and the MCU, but a THOR comic failed

04:59to find much of an audience when it was released back in 2010.

05:02THOR The Mighty Avenger was released in advance of the first THOR movie with the intention

05:07of following that continuity in comics.

05:10The idea was that people who enjoyed the movies but didn't know much about the comics could

05:14pick up issues of THOR The Mighty Avenger and bridge the gap.

05:17Instead of requiring a new reader to know about decades of comic book history, they

05:21could pick up one or two issues and be hooked.

05:23However, the series only managed to kick out a total of 8 issues before being cancelled.

05:28It featured numerous characters from THOR's gallery of friends and foes, but despite the

05:32excellent storytelling and gorgeous artwork, Marvel killed the title.

05:364.

05:37THE THING

05:38The ever-loving blue-eyed Thing is one of the most beloved superheroes in Marvel Comics'

05:42publishing library.

05:43The character first debuted alongside his famous teammates in Fantastic Four 1, and

05:48since that time has appeared in thousands of comic book issues across the Marvel Universe.

05:53While he works exceptionally well as a member of a team, it seems he doesn't do as well

05:57on his own title.

05:58Director Dan Slott and illustrator Andrea DeVito got together to bring him into his

06:02own title back in 2005.

06:04The book was based off a plotline from J. Michael Straczynski's run on Fantastic Four

06:08that set up Ben Grimm as an independently wealthy man.

06:12The idea was that Grimm had earned a considerable amount of money thanks to his time in the

06:16Fantastic Four, and the series took a look at the crazy ways he would spend that cash.

06:20The series was fun and entertaining, going as far as to end with the Thing throwing a

06:24massive superhero poker tournament based on his long-time hobby of hosting smaller

06:29superhero games.

06:30However, like the other titles on this list, it failed to find its audience when it was

06:34published, which resulted the book's cancellation due to low sales figures.

06:393.

06:40New Gods

06:41The New Gods was a comic series introduced by the legendary Jack Kirby in 1971.

06:46The series introduced various elements of the DC Universe that are still in play today.

06:51Series like Apocalypse, Highfather and Darkside were a part of the New Gods mythology.

06:55The series was one of those books that was so well-written, it didn't land with the

06:59wide audience when it was first published.

07:02It touched on issues dealing with religion and mythology by delving deep into the concepts

07:06of an old pantheon of gods, as well as the New Gods who replaced them.

07:10The original series sadly only lasted for a total of 11 issues before DC Comics gave

07:15it the axe in 1972, but the concepts didn't lay dormant for long.

07:19Many of the characters and concepts of Kirby's original books were brought back as a reprint

07:23in the mid-80s, but by 1989, a 28-issue series hit the shelves.

07:29Since then, the New Gods have been featured in various books and published in additional

07:33volumes, proving that Kirby's work endures.

07:362.

07:37Contest of Champions

07:39Contest of Champions was originally a video game that pitted heroes against villains,

07:43which itself was based loosely off the 1982 comic of the same name.

07:47Translating that to a comic book series required a story, which is why Marvel hired Al Ewing

07:53to do just that.

07:54One of the ways Ewing managed to make the book work was by digging deep into Marvel's

07:58archives.

07:59He pulled out characters few remembered, including Punisher 2099, Night Thrasher, and Outlaw.

08:04He didn't stop there, though.

08:05He utilised the entire Marvel catalogue to pull in characters from different realities

08:10of the multiverse.

08:11The stories and concepts afforded to Ewing for this book made it an astounding read.

08:16It was full of interesting trips through the more obscure elements of the Marvel universe,

08:20and thanks to the killer artwork, it looked fantastic to boot.

08:24However, because of poor sales, the series ended up getting cancelled early, but given

08:28the amount of room Ewing had to work with, this could have developed into a truly remarkable

08:32comic.

08:331.

08:34Incredible Hulk

08:35Believe it or not, the very first Incredible Hulk comic book series got cancelled before

08:40its time.

08:41In 1963, Stan Lee joined forces with Jack Kirby to create the giant green rage machine

08:47in his launch series, but it only managed to make it to six books before it was cancelled.

08:52The early Hulk series was a lot different from the books that followed, which may have

08:56had something to do with its cancellation.

08:57For one thing, he could only turn into the Hulk at night, until that went away and Bruce

09:02Banner was always the Hulk.

09:03Then the story made it that he could only Hulk out with a gamma radiation machine.

09:07By the sixth issue of the original series, Bruce Banner had managed to find a cure for

09:11his condition, but as we now know, it didn't take.

09:14The series ended with that sixth issue, and it took his joining and then leaving the Avengers

09:19for the character to truly cement his status in the Marvel universe.

09:23Two years after the cancellation of this series, Marvel returned the Incredible Hulk to print,

09:28albeit in the pages of Tales to Astonish.

09:30He eventually went on to become one of Marvel's greatest characters, but his first series

09:35only managed six issues, which is pretty crazy when you look back at the Hulk's lauded

09:40history.

09:41And there you have it folks, ten comics cancelled before their time.

09:44Feel free to drop this video a like if you enjoyed it, and drop me a follow on Twitter

09:48at YouSlyDawgU.

09:49I'm Will for What Culture, thanks for hanging out, and I'll see you next time.

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