To Be Continued---NEVER!

[Philip Portelli]

While putting away some DVDs, I glanced at the animated "Lord of the Rings" from the 70s and remembered how they ran out of money and barely got halfway through the story and the movie ended. Of course you can read the book to see how it ended.

 

But that jogged my memory to Marvel's "Man From Atlantis" series based on the TV show where a pre-"Dallas" Patrick Duffy played an aquatic amnesiac, Mark Harris, who was trying to learn where he came from. The show was OK and the comic wasn't bad either. It had great Frank Robbins artwork, matching his "Invaders" and "Captain America". Anyway, #7 had Mark completing a mission successfully, returning to the sub where his research center allies were, only to find them acting like little children, apparently caused by some Mister Mxyzptlk wannabe. It was a standard 'to be continued' but it was the last issue!! And at the bottom of the final page, they said it was the last issue!

 

Nowadays, when a series is facing cancellation, the current creators usually have a chance to tie up any loose ends. My question is: Does anyone else have an example of a book cancelled in mid-adventure with no resolution published in another title, like "Marvel Team-Up" or "Brave and the Bold"?

[PowerBook Pete, the Mad Mod]

If I recall correctly, the original Nova series wrapped up in a Fantastic Four story. Omega, the Unknown, in Defenders.

[Rich Lane]

Marvel's adaptation of the movie version of Logan's Run ended much the same way.

[Luke Blanchard]

Skull the Slayer's storylines were wound up in Marvel Two-in-One ##35-36, and the storylines from the Inhumans' series in Amazing Adventures were wound up in The Avengers during the Kree-Skrull war storyline.

You recall correctly, Pete, but I wonder if the storyline started out as a crossover. Nova's debut appearance in Fantastic Four continued on from the last issue of his own title the same month, but the Skrull invasion of Xandar storyline had started in Fantastic Four a couple of months earlier. However, it might be Wolfman started the storyline knowing the cancellation was coming.

[Luke Blanchard]

Spectacular Spider-Man #17 depicted the break-up of the Champions after the events of the last issue of their own title, but I've not seen the latter and don't know to what extent readers had been left hanging.

The Wizard's attempt to destroy the Justice Society storyline from Secret Society of Super-Villains was wound up in Justice League of America ##166, via a flashback.

[Luke Blanchard]

When it was cancelled Creatures on the Loose was running a Man-Wolf series by David Anthony Kraft and George Perez. The text page of the final issue had an account by Kraft of how the storyline would have continued. A couple of years later Kraft and Perez actually did the story in Marvel Premiere ##45-46. Perez hit his stride as an artist in between.

[Luke Blanchard]

Sorry Philip: I misunderstood your post. Storylines never completed anywhere is a much tougher proposition, if one means Marvel or DC storylines. I suppose aside from licensed properties there might be examples where a reboot made dangling storylines moot.

The cliffhanger from Brother Power, the Geek #2 - the Geek is sent off into space - wasn't resolved for twenty years.

[Luke Blanchard]

The final issue of the first series of Firestorm ended with Multiplex and the Hyena agreeing to team-up. When Firestorm was revived in DC Comics Presents #17 he was represented as having been absent for a year, so his next series, in the back of Flash, didn't pick up exactly where his last has left off, although some of the storylines Conway went on to do had clearly been planned. I don't know if Conway ever addressed why the Multiplex/Hyena team-up hadn't materialised.

I don't think the Silver Ghost/Firebrand storyline from Freedom Fighters was ever resolved in a story. When they appeared in DC Comics Presents #62 Bob Rozakis wrote a text-page explaining what he'd planned.

According to Dan Thompson (here), the final issue of the 70s version of Blackhawk ended with unresolved storylines, some of which at least were addressed by a text page.

The SSoSV/JSA resolution almost qualifies: Justice League of America #166 doesn't really say how the JSA beat the SSoV. It just says the villains met with reverses at the hands of the JSA's more powerful members, and shows how they escaped.

[Luke Blanchard]

DC's Isis series, based on the TV show, ended with a supporting character, Rick Mason, possessed by a sorcerer called Serpenhotep.

Would DC's 1987 The Shadow series, or Mike Baron's series Sonic Disruptors, qualify?

[Mr. Satanism]

Argh! That Man From Atlantis ending pops into my head every once in a while! I've love to know where that was going.

Two I'd really like to see and never will were the next couple of issues of Atlas Seaboard's Planet of Vampires (at the point it was canceled nearly every main character was dead, but supposedly they had plenty more story to go) and the weird comic continuation of Disney's The Black Hole, showing the characters' adventures on the other side of the black hole. That latter was definitely going somewhere, and supposedly they would have wrapped it up with issue six, but only 4 issues got released in the 'States (I have heard rumors that the whole thing made it out in Germany).

[Mr. Satanism]

Hulk Annual #7 shows even more of the post-Champions fallout. Angel and Iceman appear as guest-stars, and it plays out a lot like the original Champions pitch (Angel and Iceman, having adventures as a duo) probably would have. Champions Fans always seem to miss this one.

Luke Blanchard said:

Spectacular Spider-Man #17 depicted the break-up of the Champions after the events of the last issue of their own title, but I've not seen the latter and don't know to what extent readers had been left hanging.

The Wizard's attempt to destroy the Justice Society storyline from Secret Society of Super-Villains was wound up in Justice League of America ##166, via a flashback.