Comments on: Scott’s Classic Comics Corner: Grand Finales and Quick Exits (pt. 1)

By: Comics Bronze Age | Review: The Brave & the Bold #200

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:07:17 +0000

[...] Second opinion: “… about as exciting as a new loaf of white bread.” — Amazing Heroes #21, Mar. 1983. … “ … fairly good for this type of tale … ” — Richard Meyer, The Brave and the Bold Review. … “… a fitting, if bittersweet, conclusion to this great title.” — Scott M, Scott’s Classic Comics Corner. [...]

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:31:52 +0000

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

That comic hit every genre but gothic romance.

By: MarkMc

MarkMc — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 20:40:05 +0000

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 Maybe the unpublished sotries might show up as filler in another comic next year.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:46:47 +0000

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.

By: Carl

Carl — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:44:55 +0000

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.

By: benday-dot

benday-dot — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 03:14:31 +0000

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.

By: Scott MacIver

Scott MacIver — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 15:05:53 +0000

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.

By: D. Eric Carpenter

D. Eric Carpenter — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:02:47 +0000

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.

By: PÃ³l Rua

PÃ³l Rua — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:06:08 +0000

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.

By: Grico

Grico — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:53:48 +0000

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.

By: James

James — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 03:54:40 +0000

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.

By: dhole

dhole — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:40:36 +0000

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…

By: sgt rawk

sgt rawk — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:38:18 +0000

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.

By: kirbydotter

kirbydotter — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 01:04:52 +0000

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!

By: danjack

danjack — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:46:15 +0000

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.

By: Brian

Brian — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:40:21 +0000

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…

By: Andrew Collins

Andrew Collins — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:56:27 +0000

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.”

By: Dan Bailey

Dan Bailey — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:10:36 +0000

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 …

By: Thelonious_Nick

Thelonious_Nick — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:02:41 +0000

>>>While not a Final Issue, I canâ€™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.

By: Ruler Bulon

Ruler Bulon — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 20:02:37 +0000

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”.)