CANCELLED COMICS CAVALCADE...

Here we go again with one of Big-hearted BARRY PEARL's guest blog posts, this time featuring photos from his very own collection of '70s MARVEL comics that were cancelled within a very short time if they didn't sell as well as expected.  Let's hear from Barry...

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My favourite Marvel era was the 1960s.  One of the reasons was that it was unique, in that only one superhero comic (The Incredible Hulk) was cancelled.  Marvel did change series - The Human Torch in Strange Tales and Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish, but those characters carried on in other books.

Usually, rather than cancel a comic in the 1960s, Marvel worked on character development.  Iron Man was radically changed, costume and all, in Tales of Suspense #48; Ant-Man became Giant-Man and Thor, when Jack Kirby returned to the series, was no longer Earthbound, fighting characters like Mr. Hyde and The Cobra, but was more in Asgard and other planets.

Having time this week to fix up my closets of comics, I noticed that Marvel had so many more cancellations and such in the 1970s.  They had new owners, a new publisher, new distributors - and a new philosophy.  Put a lot comics out there and if any titles don't sell, quickly cancel and replace.  Even their magazine line, mostly, did not last long.  Here are a few of their cancelled comics and series.

Have Astonishing Tales #1, had #25

Have Black Panther #1 & Black Goliath #1

Had Shanna The She-Devil #1, have The Cat #1

Have Creatures On The Loose #22

Have them in reprint editions

Have Crazy #1

Have Machine Man #1 & The Eternals #1

Have both these issues

Nah, don't have either of them

Don't have any of them, except perhaps in reprints

Again, have only reprints

Have Marvel Spotlight #28

Don't think I have any of them

Have The Monster Of Frankenstein #1

Well, whaddya make of that lot, pilgrims?  Hasn't Barry done us proud in sharing these collectables from his vast collection.  I have complete sets of some of the titles on display, the longest-lasting being, I think, The ETERNALS at 19 issues (and one Annual), followed by The MONSTER Of FRANKENSTEIN at 18.  If there are any here that survived longer I'm certain Barry will let us know.  I'm sure you'd all like to show your appreciation to him for this post, and I'm sure he'd appreciate your appreciation.  No standing out on your doorstep and applauding though, 'cos he's too far away to hear you - just leave a comment.

Posted in: Cartoons