Comic Book Resources

This reminds me that I've been meaning to ask in the Classics Forum about final covers that make a point of proclaiming their end-of-the-line status ... which B&B #200 & EERIE #139 didn't. Off the top of my head, I don't recall any finales from the Silver or Bronze ages making expliciit reference to cancellation, eiher. Makes me wonder when the practice started. The late '80s, maybe?

I, too, enjoy collecting final issues of runs as well as complete runs of really short series (like Eclipso, Chronos and Chase). I recall that finding the last issue of Captain Atom was seriously difficult for some reason. The rash of Marvel cancellations that went along with Heroes Reborn (or whatever that cluster#$%& was called) are some of the worst examples of how to end a long-running series. A philosophical question: Does it count as a final issue if a later volume picks up the same numbering?

I remember Firestorm #100 quoting "Giant size final issue" on the cover... 1990? 1989?

Steve Gerber's Phantom Zone followup in the Final Issue! DC Comics Presents #96 is worth mentioning for being Gerber's version of "the last Superman story. And frankly, any comic in which all the Phantom Zone villains are absorbed into Mr. Mxyptlk's giant head and Washington D.C. is (to quote Jonathan Woodward's Annotated Crisis page) "inundated in Kryptonian corpses" after having Argo City dropped right on it is worth recalling. Oh, and the cover had "A Pre-Crisis Blockbuster!" on it, possibly the only time that was ever used to sell a DC comic.

And of course, who can forget Dazzler #32's "Because you demanded it: Final Issue!" self-deprecation.

Power Man and Iron Fist #125 has "THE FINAL ISSUE OF" above the logo on the cover. That issue came out in the summer of 1986.

I have a few examples to speak of:

Americomics #6 (This was AC's original flagship book. It served as a try-out book, & it launched a few new characters. This final issue might very well be the best one, as it featured the debut of The Scarlet Scorpion, & it made a great first outing! The Shade stars in an 8-pager, but story ends in a cliffhanger. The letters page tells readers to pick up the first issue of The Shade in order to continue the story. Oddly enough, The Shade lasted just that one issue!)

Captain Paragon #4 (This final issue of this series concluded the Rur War epic, & had a Commando D back-up that not only ties into the main feature, but also paves the way for its replacement title, Captain Paragon & The Sentinels of Justice!)

Charlton Bullseye #10 (The final issue of this 1980s series was notable for having the only repeat performance of a character from a previous issue: Thunder Bunny!)

Star Masters #1 (Sometime publishers would launch a book as a series, but would cancel it after a single issue. That was the case with AC's Star Masters, a sci-fi book that featured Tom Lyle's 'The Women of W.O.S.P.' & Paul Ryan's 'Breed'!)

I will give you more later!

J.A.P.

yeah, the big announcement always seems to imply that anything goes since that's it for the book.

I recently picked up the last issue of Marvel Team-Up after years of searching for it. Haven't read it yet, but last issues can be challenging to find due to diminshed print runs, etc.

Night Force #14 said Final Issue, while the second run's #12 didn't. Keith, I think you'l enjoy MTU #150, even if that is a bizarre birthday gift.

While not a Final Issue, I can't find Doctor Strange 182, yet 183 which is the last of the first series, seems quite plentiful.

Neat thought for a column, I'm curious to see your further choices.

Cheers,

B

Hmmm ... none of them actually come out & explicitly say "This is the FINAL ISSUE," but I see that SAVAGE SHE-HULK #25 (Feb 1982) bears the legend "The End of the She-Hulk," MTIO #100 (June 1983) shows The Thing proclaiming, "So this is ... the end!" & NOVA #25 (May 1979), which had previously featured the slogan "He's Here! The Human Rocket:", instead reads "He's Gone! The Human Rocket:"

The last issue of the 1980 Man-Thing series is labelled the "Tear-Stained Last Issue of the Man-Thing", and the cover text is devoted to a note from the editor about how he can't edit "this crazy book" anymore. The corner box even has a weeping Man-Thing!

(Phrases I never want to type again: "weeping man-thing".)

>>>While not a Final Issue, I can’t find Doctor Strange 182, yet 183 which is the last of the first series, seems quite plentiful.

Interesting. I received a copy of DS 183 free when I won an auction for a lot of random 70s Marvels on Ebay a few years ago, so the owner must have had an extra copy or something. Yet I have also been unable to locate 182. Anecdotal, but supports your theory.

Huh. Lone Star Comics' listing for (out-of-stock) DS #182 says it contains a letter from Tom Wolfe. Maybe a bunch of literary groupies have scooped up all the copies ...

The last issue of ROM features a shot of Rom and Brandy and the words "After 200 years...PARADISE! The Spaceknights saga comes to an end."

My favorite final cover shtick is still the original Marvel Transformers series. Since it had originally been a 4-issue limited series that just continued on with #5 after success, the last issue, #80, had a banner on top reading "#80 in a Four-Issue Limited Series" in the same style Marvel used back in '84...

Love the last issue topic. i have MTU 150, which has a BWS image of Spidey with the X-men in the book. They are pausing for a moment of silence before the Action begins. Very cute and a nice image [tho' the inside is no where near the quality of the cover]. It made way for Web of Spider-Man, which sported a very nice Charles Vess image.

BRAVE & THE BOLD # 200 is the only issue of that long series that I own. Loved the concept, the Mike W. Barr story, and the Gibbons art of course...

Can't think of any other memorable last issue of an ongoing series right now.

I'm curious to see part 2!

I have the last issue of the METAL MEN from ...'69? I want to say '69. (More than I want to say Giant-Sized Weeping Man-Thing:) It was the second issue in "a bold new direction!" And it had a text piece, explaining that bold new direction would be continued! Somewhere! (For those keeping score : it never was.The Metal Men stayed dormant. They might have had a book in the Implosion but I never saw it.)

I love last issues. And yes, that was a special issue of B&B. Not a very special issue, like the one where Arnold got molested and Batman beat up the guy in the bike shop.

I always got a kick out of last issues with no fanfare (and often no story resolution) whatsoever. Those are pretty hard to track down.

I'm thinking of 70's stuff like Champions, Super Villain Team-Up, Iron Fist and Inhumans (none of which got past 17 issues). Often the only signal of a last issue was a mention in the letter column, or sometimes the issue would end with "To be continued in the pages of..."

A couple of favorite lasts were Invaders (with a nice double-page spread of all the characters throughout the 41 issues) and, for sheer oddness, Crystar, which had a very random guest appearance from Alpha Flight (not even the whole team, just Puck, Shaman and Northstar). Mind you that's what got me to buy the book, so I guess it worked...

The cover of the last issue of Marvel's G.I. Joe featured a group of Joes folding up an American flag. I've heard that the story inside is a strong wrap-up for the series, but having never been able to find a copy, I can't confirm this.

In the last issue of Marvel's (original) The New Mutants, there is a panel where Sam Guthrie names all of his teammates from the entire series (excluding Boom-Boom, as he's speaking to her)... except for Illyana. And that is the *only* thing I really remember about NM#100, maybe because it was the only thing in that story I cared about.

Yup GI Joe 155, is letter to a kid about what it means to be a soldier and the sacrifice it entails with scenes of the Joe base the Pit being closed down. It ends with GI Joe apparently dissolved and the Pit a locked up empty base. Post Cold War military budget cut backs I guess. One would hope Cobra had been defeated before the closed up shop, but no indications of that. It is a really hard issue to find now a days and will probably only get harder as we get closer to that GI Joe movie. Its certainly worth reading albeit very had to find and a downer.

I read that B&B Story in a Black and White reprint ages ago. I had no idea it was the final issue.
It's IS indeed a crackerjack story, and one which features almost everything about Batman which I love to bits.
How very appropriate that that should be how they wrapped up B&B.
Maginificent work.

Then there was the DC minseries Sonic Disruptors. !2 Issue Maxi Series by DC that was cancelled in Issue 7.

I've always had a soft spot for that sort of thing.

I thought of New Mutants #100, which made way for X-Force.

New Mutants was a title I hold quite dearly, and seeing it go was hard. X-Force also made sure that the adage "You can never go home again" was true, slashing and changing the characters beyond repair.

Dan Bailey... Master of Kung Fu #125 comes pretty much out with it ("Now it Has Come to an End") with its cover copy referring to the end of the game.

During the Golden Age you were more likely to have a retitling and reformatting, rather than a cancellation. For example, All Star Comics became All Star Western and maintained the same numbering. This was due to some postal regulations that made it more expensive to launch a new #1.

I've also hear that many publisher (especially Charlton) preferred to launch a new series with the numbering from an old series as it make it look like the new series was already a runaway success.

Yup, to get a 2nd Class (periodical) mailing permit for a new series, the publisher had to pony up some money to the US Post Office. Big one-time expenses were kind of hard for those shoestring budget publishers to handle, so they tried to keep the existing permit by changing the title ever so slightly. Maybe they'd leave the original title in the indicia for a few months, or until it was time to have their distribution audited (those annual blocks of stats in the letters or text page). Who can forget how EC went from the superhero title "Moon Girl" to "A Moon... A Girl... Romance!"
With the longer lead times of the Golden and Silver Age, it was not unusual for a comic to get canceled long after the art for that last issue has gone to bed. Maybe the unpublished sotries might show up as filler in another comic next year.

One day, I'll write about the history of Harvey's Black Cat.

That comic hit every genre but gothic romance.