As I write this, Matt Wagner is in the middle of his
Mage: The Hero Denied, the three decades in the making final installment of the Mage franchise. Karl Kesel and Tom Grummett funded the rebirth of
Section Zero on Kickstarter and are hard at work bringing it to life. Comics that were once a pipe dream to see finished now seem very, very possible. So here are five titles I would love to see still get published.
5. All Star Batman and Robin: The Boy Wonder
Frank Miller and Jim Lee teamed to work on this book that presents a gloriously awful version of Batman's first days as Robin's mentor.
All Star Batman & Robin really pissed off a lot of fans with its portrayal of Batman and most of his Justice League allies as assholes. I personally enjoyed it, but with Lee on art it was doomed to delays and short runs. After a couple years without publication, it was announced by DC it would return as
Dark Knight: Boy Wonder, but that book still hasn't seen the light of day either.
4. SHIELD
Jonathan Hickman and Dustin Weaver's great series took the idea of the international spy organization and stretched it back several thousand years. It was supposed to run as two six issue limited series, but they stopped with two issues still left to work on
Infinity. After the Marvel event series, both creators claimed they returned to
SHIELD with Dustin finishing all the pages of art. No one quite knows why Marvel has never returned to the series, but its sat in comic book limbo for half a decade with no sign of a return.
3. Crimson Plague
One of two books on this list to have two launches but never finish, George Perez's big independent creator owned debut started with one issue at Event and two issues at Image as part of the quick-to-die Gorilla Comics line. The intriguing tale of a woman with a deadly touch in a galaxy spanning future definitely had tons of potential. It likely will never see the light of day though as Crimson Plague herself returned as a nemesis in the pages of the recently completed
George Perez's Sirens, which seemed to be his last word on her.
2. Miracleman: The Silver Age
Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham joined the
Miracleman comic during the waning days of Eclipse. Following on the heels of The Original Writer (better known as Alan Moore) and a bevy of talented artists, they started to craft a tale of a utopian super-future with
Miracleman: The Golden Age. But their follow up never saw the light of day when the company went belly up. Marvel bought all the rights behind the character in order to reprint the old issues and allow Gaiman to continue his saga, but despite word that both Gaiman and Buckingham have done work on the project, the solicited issues were canceled and it hasn't been spoken about since.
1. Jackie Chan's Spartan X
Michael Golden writing and drawing a high octane Jackie Chan comic sounds like pretty much the coolest thing ever. Golden draws action like pretty much no one else and he pumped out a stellar three issues of the book only for Topps to decide it was done publishing comics. The remaining three issues disappeared, only for the title to resurface at Image during the black and white boom period for the company in the late 90s and early 2000s. The loss of color surprisingly didn't hurt the reprinted issues or the new number four that was released. But issue five and six again disappeared into the ether never to be seen. I talked to Golden at a Wizard World a few years back and he still plans for the series to see the light someday, but until then it will remain a forgotten treasure along with the rest of these titles.
What unfinished comic would you like to finally see the light of day?
