raul grau
Apr 25, 2005, 12:24 pm
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/comixfanpresents.gif" align=left border=0 hspace=10 alt="Comixfan Presents logo">The Top Ten Trades You Will Never See
By: Mitch Brown, Nick Costanzo, Raul Grau, Alex Groff, Jon Hancock, Matt Lazorwitz, Dylan McKay
Editor: Raul Grau
It may have taken a few decades, but the trade paperback format has finally become enthusiastically embraced by the comic book industry. Take your already published (and paid for) content, repackage it in collected form, and price the new product at a slight discount to the original issues... it's brilliant marketing, and a coup for readers who love complete stories, but hate digging through back issue bins. These days, nearly every set of issues that can be collected, are collected (sometimes long before anyone asks for them to be collected), but what about the runs that have not deemed worthy of paperback status?
The staff of Comixfan came together to comb through the annals (and annuals) of comic book history, and selected the very best works that will probably never be essentialed or archived, but should be. Here we present the ten best trades that, either due to publisher disinterest or legal overinterest, will not be coming to a store near you.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/0904/WARLOCK001.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/0904/WARLOCK001t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Warlock: God Complex"></a><font size="3"><font color="blue"><b>#10 Warlock: God Complex</font color></b></font size>
<b>Collecting: <i>Warlock (mini-series) #1-4</i></b>
Some say that God made man, and others say that man made God, but what if this question was not merely academic? Greg Pak and Charles Adlard investigated this query in <i>Warlock</i>. <i>Warlock</i> takes place in a world like ours, but slightly darker, slightly closer to the razor’s edge. A young artist is invited to do a superhero design for what she thinks is a movie. What it truly is, though, is the design for a god being created by a group of super-scientists. As the story moves forward, the young artist bonds with the newly born Adam Warlock, and becomes something of a conscience for him. Questions of morality, of might makes right and might versus right, play out as they travel through the jungle of a small Central American country. The twist at the end ties up some loose threads, and leaves you with what all good stories should: hope. But low sales kept this book from taking off, and, even with critical acclaim, it does not seem like it will be collected. With so many comics featuring a bleak view of the world, and so many that pretend at philosophy without truly saying anything, it’s a shame that this quietly philosophical gem remains forgotten.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/loshv2_12.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/loshv2_12t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later"></a>#9 Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later
Collecting: Legion of Super-Heroes (4th series) #1-38
For nearly thirty years, the teenaged members of the Legion of Super-Heroes defended the Thirtieth Century from alien armadas, menacing mages, and temporal titans. Legionnaires fought, and died, and were reborn, but after thirty years, it was about time for them to become cynical and disillusioned. Keith Giffen made his return to the franchise with a radical approach... the series was relaunched after a three month hiatus, but five years had passed for the characters. The reader was deposited into the midst of this dystopian vision of the far future, with no codenames, costumes, or flight rings in sight. From that innovative opening, Giffen presented the first truly reconstructionist superhero story, coalescing depressed individuals into a force for progress, free of standard heroic trappings. The level of maturity was equally heightened, with transgendered heroes, bitter race wars, alien subversions of Earth politics, and, in the final chapter, the fate of the human homeworld. Those thirty-eight issues present a refreshing examination of what comic books heroes could become, unfettered by spandex, but they are also doomed to remain uncollected. The Legion has been entirely rebooted twice since the Giffen era, so it is unlikely that DC will ever feel compelled to confuse current fans with no-longer-existent greatness.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/suicidesquadv1_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/suicidesquadv1_1t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Suicide Squad: And Be A Villain..."></a><font size="3"><font color="blue"><b>#8 Suicide Squad: And Be A Villain...</font color></b></font size>
<b>Collecting: <i>Suicide Squad #1-66</i></b>, <b><i>Annual #1</i></b>
You’d think, in any world, there has to be limited jail space. And when you have a population of super-powered criminals, well, you have to find something to do with them. So Amanda Waller came up with an idea: offer villains freedom, if they were willing to go on dangerous and possibly suicidal missions. Thus, out of the fires of <b><i>Legends</i></b> was born <b><i>Suicide Squad</i></b>. Writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale, along with first artist Luke McDonnell and then Geof Isherwood, spent their run developing the villains of the DCU. While some series and events promise to change the face of the DCU forever, <b><i>Suicide Squad</i></b> did it without bragging. It introduced Amanda Waller, who has become a DC fixture, and marked the first appearance of Barbara Gordon as Oracle. Villains like Deadshot and Captain Boomerang were given depth and personality like never before. Many of the threads of last year's blockbuster <b><i>Identity Crisis</i></b> were laid in <b><i>Suicide Squad</i></b>, and many of the characters involved there, including Slipknot, Dr. Light, and the Atom, as well as the previously mentioned Deadshot and Captain Boomerang, were members of the Squad. Unfortunately, a lack of interest in many of these late 80s DC series, as well as a failed relaunch, do not help the chances of <b><i>Suicide Squad</i></b> being traded, and so it languishes in fifty cent bins. Its depth of characterization is amazing, and makes it worth the reading. And the concept behind it, and the themes of repentance and justice, still ring true to readers today.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/xmen/xfactorv1_71.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/xmen/xfactorv1_71t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="X-Factor: Genetically Challenged Superheroes"></a>#7 X-Factor: Genetically Challenged Superheroes
Collecting: X-Factor #71-83, 87-88
There are some general rules about comics that can help determine whether a series will be a success or failure. 1) Once readers decide they don't like or don't care about a character, they are unlikely to give the character a second look. 2) Just as reader loyalties are strong, reader disloyalties are strong. During Peter David's run on X-Factor, both these rules were broken. 1) Quicksilver was never popular- most arrogant, rude, and unlikeable characters never are- sure they add to a team's dynamic, but they can never exist beyond the team, and are easily cut from the team. But three pages in X-Factor #87 changed all that. He became likable, relatable, and yet, still the same jerk. Prior to X-Factor, Jamie Madrox and Guido Carosella were barely even supporting characters. And yet, within issues, they were fan favorites, so popular that almost ten years later, Jamie Madrox was able to star in a successful mini-series. 2) Just as the X-Men are the most popular franchise in comics, they are also widely loathed, but many who would never touch a comic with an X on the cover, became fans of these 15 issues. The biggest obstacle for X-Factor on this list (and what kept it from placing higher) is that it is the most likely to be collected. With the success of Madrox, and Peter David's return to a flagship Marvel title, all it will take is a month where Marvel feels it is financially viable. On the flip side, it's been so long that it's hard to believe it could be true, that I could have this impeccable blend of humor, action, and (most of all) character sitting on my bookshelf.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/wildstorm/wildcatsv3_18.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/wildstorm/wildcatsv3_18t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Wildcats 3.0: Hostile Takeovers"></a><font size="3"><font color="blue"><b>#6 Wildcats 3.0: Hostile Takeovers</font color></b></font size>
<b>Collecting: <i>Wildcats Version 3.0 #13-24</i></b>
All great things come to an end. At least, that's usually the case when things go well. When things don't go well, people of limited vision cut the legs off of one of their most promising projects before it truly has a chance to tell its story. Indeed, it's difficult to recall the final year of Wildcats 3.0 without reliving the blood-curdling anger that came with its cancellation. The idea of superheroes changing the world through a corporation rather than (outright) violence was not only unique, but quite inspiring. I was truly rooting for Jack Marlowe's Halo Corporation. His plans were subtle, and at times even slow, but as he put them into action, you could practically see the world changing. This title was different from anything else on the market, and perhaps that was its undoing. People heard the name 'Wildcats', and immediately thought of the mindless superhero battles of old. To see that kind of archaic thinking destroy this title in its prime is enough to make my blood boil to this day. Still, its probably more healthy to think about the good things from the second year of this series, rather than dwelling on what ended it. Year two gave us some brilliant insight into what drove a violent man like Grifter and a manipulative man like Agent Wax. Ironically, it ended with Coda War, an orgy of violence and bloodshed that outdid most conventional superhero stories. In the end, while the cancellation of Wildcats 3.0 is a crime, we can at least take solace in the two trades that were released (Brand Building, and Full Disclosure respectively), and hope that there is a future yet for the Halo Corporation.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/questionv2_34.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/questionv2_34t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="The Question: Without A Face"></a>#5 The Question: Without A Face
Collecting: The Question #1-36, The Question Quarterly #1-5, The Question Annual #1-2
Dennis O'Neil has possibly done more than any other writer with regard to showing the diversity and social relevance that can exist within superhero comics. From giving the Justice League political ideologies to giving Batman an eco-terrorist as an arch-nemesis, from Speedy's heroin addiction to Tony Stark's alcoholism. So what was left to do by teaming him up with artist Denys Cowan, and giving them one of the first mainstream mature reader superhero ongoings? Their work on The Question included unforgettable takes on racial motivated murders, the struggles of women in politics, a parody of legendary Watchmen anti-hero Rorschach, an homage to Kurosawa's Rashômon, villains promoting the need for the return of the nobility, dignity, and courage of the American way, and the art of wheelchair combat, later seen in Birds of Prey. All the while, returning the forgotten martial arts elements to the DCU. The primary antagonist of The Question is Hub City, a city where only one cop can be trusted (and even then, not at first) and only the wife of an alcoholic mayor, a retired professor, and an ass kicking, editorializing rogue journalist have any sense of social justice. The Question is one of the few comics that truly deserves a mature readers rating... it isn't filled with blood, nudity, or swearing, but instead is intelligent, creative, and one of the most effective examples of a street-level vigilante superhero. Sadly, the title was never a top seller, and while his recent mini series and appearance on Justice League Unlimited have raised The Question's profile, it is unlikely that his fanbase will ever grow beyond the cult following, and get this modern classic back into print.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/jla37.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/jla37t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="JLI: Truth, Justice, and the United Nation Way"></a>#4 Justice League International: Truth, Justice, and the United Nation Way
Collecting: Justice League International #13-25, Justice League America #26-60
Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire's Justice League turned the number one super hero team into a privately owned, UN-sanctioned peace keeping force, and then made the membership feature a collection of losers, underachievers, future internet porn stars, and, well... Guy Gardner. Hardly a logical step, yet it worked so well. Fun and frivolity ensued as the JLI fought interstellar interior decorators, the greatest living island in comic history, and, more often that not, each other. Each part of this run was perfect at making the reader smile with glee. While the first 12 issues are available as a taster (and there is also the current JLA: Classified arc to enjoy) the rest of the JLI’s adventures seemed doomed to be ignored. DC has moved on from that period, and while nostalgia is often a money spinner, people who are attached to these characters already have the issues. Of course, there’s also the fact that the JLI concept is huge. There’s the Justice League Quarterly issues, and the annuals, and the Justice League Europe title too (superheroes learning French... need I say more?) The JLA was later tainted by the mess that was made of the concept (BLUE DEVIL?!), but at it’s heart, the Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire League is a work that deserves to be collected, if only to show that heroes can take a day (or a year) off. Reading this title will show you that comics don’t have to be gritty to sell. Sometimes they can just be Bwahahahahaeautiful.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/vertigo/shadev2_7.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/vertigo/shadev2_7t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Shade: Mad Mod Poet God"></a><font size="3"><font color="blue"><b>#3 Shade, The Changing Man: Mad Mod Poet God</font color></b></font size>
<b>Collecting: <i>Shade, The Changing Man #7-60</i></b>
If there’s one comic book writer out there who can challenge Grant Morrison’s position as High Priest of Four-Color Weirdness, its Peter Milligan. Before X-Men, Toxin, and Human Target, Milligan was burning the cerebellums of comic readers with the madcap reinvention of Steve Ditko’s alien hero Shade, the Changing Man. This delightfully twisted sixty-issue romp delved deep into the darkest regions of human insanity, filtered through the wondrously macabre lens of artist Chris Bachalo. The series follows the adventures of interdimensional traveler Rac Shade (trapped in the body of a dead serial killer) and his long-suffering companions, on a frantic, psychedelic journey through the fringes of the DC Universe. Despite critical acclaim and a loyal cult following, it took nearly fifteen years from the publication of the first issue, for the first Shade collection (The American Scream) to appear (presumably on the back of Milligan’s success with Marvel’s X-Statix). Unfortunately, DC soon pulled the pin on a Shade, The Changing Man trade program, due primarily to the low sales of that first volume. While Shade was amongst the top sellers of Vertigo’s heyday, it seems that the 00s comic reader doesn’t quite know what to make of the fever dream that is Shade, the Changing Man, casting the remainder of the series into back issue bin limbo, proving that while you can lead an X-fan to Vertigo, its not so easy to make them drink.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/wildstorm/automatickafka1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/wildstorm/automatickafka1t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Automatic Kafka: A Superhero Comic"></a>#2 Automatic Kafka: A Superhero Comic
Collecting: Automatic Kafka #1-9
You were once on a superhero team called the $tranger$. Girls hung your poster in their lockers; talk show hosts rescheduled movie stars to see you. You were Automatic Kafka. But that was ten years ago. Now, you're an android celebrity junkie trying to find a meaning to your life in a world that seems full of glitz, but lacking meaning. Created by Joe Casey (Uncanny X-Men, Wildcats Version 3.0) at his most experimental, and Ashley Wood (Uncanny X-Men, Popbot) at his most lucid, Automatic Kafka expands a dozen plots and themes in just nine issues. The story of the $tranger$' "retirement" is a running commentary on our obsession with celebritism, whether it's Kafka hosting a game show where the contestants often die, or patriotic hero, The Constitution, becoming a porn star because it's "the American way." At the same time, the story looks at how people, and comic book characters, stagnate and lose their way over time. Be it Kafka's aimlessness, the Charlie Brown issue, or Casey's discussion of today's comics-- the argument is a fight for creativity and purpose, a fight against commercialism. Even the characters themselves are a satire, parodying The Avengers. Discussing the themes of Automatic Kafka could be an entire essay, but Casey never forgets the sense of humor and fun that keeps the story engaging. Sadly, the story-- for all of its rich themes-- was considered "too experimental" by most, and both low sales and shipping delays led to its cancellation with #9. If there was ever a story that needed to be read in full-- if there was a story that could define comics as Art and as Literature-- it's Automatic Kafka.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/vertigo/flexmentallo1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/vertigo/flexmentallo1t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery"></a>#1 Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery
Collecting: Flex Mentallo #1-4
Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's 1996 opus Flex Mentallo spun out of Morrison’s landmark run on Doom Patrol. The title character was originally introduced in Doom Patrol #42 as a homage/parody of famous bodybuilder Charles Atlas - whose infamous ad campaign "The Insult That Made a Man Out of Mac" was a mainstay within the pages of North American comic books for countless years. Like Mac, Flex gained his superhuman powers of muscle mystery via a program not unlike Atlas’ own, transforming him from a 98 pound weakling into the "Hero of the Beach". Within the pages of Doom Patrol, Flex was the comic book creation of artist/musician Wallace Sage, who steps right off of the page and into the "real world" of the Doom Patrol.
In the four issue Flex Mentallo mini-series, Morrison and Quitely revisited Flex and Sage using the characters to craft an intensely personal, thought-provoking, multi-layered meta-commentary on comics. We follow the tale of Flex as he struggles to recover the lost super-heroes of his world, spurred on by an encounter with his former crime-fighting ally, The Fact. Running parallel to Flex's adventures, we also bear witness to a moving commentary on comic books from Sage (himself dying from a drug overdose). What follows in the course of series is nothing short of an astonishing voyage through comic book history and the mythical underpinnings of the superhero genre, guided by Morrison's unique literary vision and the spectacular artwork of Frank Quitely.
Unfortunately, the Flex Mentallo character drew the ire of the Charles Atlas Estate, shortly before the publication of a Flex Mentallo trade paperback collection. Charles Atlas launched a lawsuit against DC Comics, suing over intellectual property infringement and misrepresentation, forcing DC to suspend the publication of the collection. While the case was eventually thrown out of court in 2000, DC Comics agreed not to reprint either Flex Mentallo or the issues of Doom Patrol that featured the character. Despite the pleas of both fans and Flex’s creators, DC remains silent on the issue of Flex Mentallo’s future. Sadly, this piece of extraordinary and unique comic book art will almost certainly remain out of the hands of readers, prompting many to seek out illicit download sites for scans of the series, or face the costly and laborious task of seeking out the book from after market dealers.
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So the next time you are relaxing with your Essential Tomb of Dracula, or marveling at the latest miniseries collected only a month after it ended, think kindly of the many wonderful runs that will probably never find their way to bookshelves. If you would like to see these ten (or any other forgotten treasure) stage a collected comeback, then write to their respective publishers, and let them know. Otherwise, these trades that will never be seen... will never be seen.
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Flex Mentallo, Shade: Mitch Brown
Suicide Squad, Warlock: Matt Lazorwitz
Question, X-Factor: Dylan McKay
Wildcats 3.0: Nick Costanzo
Legion of Super-Heroes: Raul Grau
Automatic Kafka: Alex Groff
Justice League International: Jon Hancock
Contributors: James Groves, Al Harahap, Jordan T. Maxwell, Joel Phillips, Janne Pietikainen, Omar A. Safi, Tom Toner
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writers involved, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.
By: Mitch Brown, Nick Costanzo, Raul Grau, Alex Groff, Jon Hancock, Matt Lazorwitz, Dylan McKay
Editor: Raul Grau
It may have taken a few decades, but the trade paperback format has finally become enthusiastically embraced by the comic book industry. Take your already published (and paid for) content, repackage it in collected form, and price the new product at a slight discount to the original issues... it's brilliant marketing, and a coup for readers who love complete stories, but hate digging through back issue bins. These days, nearly every set of issues that can be collected, are collected (sometimes long before anyone asks for them to be collected), but what about the runs that have not deemed worthy of paperback status?
The staff of Comixfan came together to comb through the annals (and annuals) of comic book history, and selected the very best works that will probably never be essentialed or archived, but should be. Here we present the ten best trades that, either due to publisher disinterest or legal overinterest, will not be coming to a store near you.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/0904/WARLOCK001.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/0904/WARLOCK001t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Warlock: God Complex"></a><font size="3"><font color="blue"><b>#10 Warlock: God Complex</font color></b></font size>
<b>Collecting: <i>Warlock (mini-series) #1-4</i></b>
Some say that God made man, and others say that man made God, but what if this question was not merely academic? Greg Pak and Charles Adlard investigated this query in <i>Warlock</i>. <i>Warlock</i> takes place in a world like ours, but slightly darker, slightly closer to the razor’s edge. A young artist is invited to do a superhero design for what she thinks is a movie. What it truly is, though, is the design for a god being created by a group of super-scientists. As the story moves forward, the young artist bonds with the newly born Adam Warlock, and becomes something of a conscience for him. Questions of morality, of might makes right and might versus right, play out as they travel through the jungle of a small Central American country. The twist at the end ties up some loose threads, and leaves you with what all good stories should: hope. But low sales kept this book from taking off, and, even with critical acclaim, it does not seem like it will be collected. With so many comics featuring a bleak view of the world, and so many that pretend at philosophy without truly saying anything, it’s a shame that this quietly philosophical gem remains forgotten.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/loshv2_12.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/loshv2_12t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later"></a>#9 Legion of Super-Heroes: Five Years Later
Collecting: Legion of Super-Heroes (4th series) #1-38
For nearly thirty years, the teenaged members of the Legion of Super-Heroes defended the Thirtieth Century from alien armadas, menacing mages, and temporal titans. Legionnaires fought, and died, and were reborn, but after thirty years, it was about time for them to become cynical and disillusioned. Keith Giffen made his return to the franchise with a radical approach... the series was relaunched after a three month hiatus, but five years had passed for the characters. The reader was deposited into the midst of this dystopian vision of the far future, with no codenames, costumes, or flight rings in sight. From that innovative opening, Giffen presented the first truly reconstructionist superhero story, coalescing depressed individuals into a force for progress, free of standard heroic trappings. The level of maturity was equally heightened, with transgendered heroes, bitter race wars, alien subversions of Earth politics, and, in the final chapter, the fate of the human homeworld. Those thirty-eight issues present a refreshing examination of what comic books heroes could become, unfettered by spandex, but they are also doomed to remain uncollected. The Legion has been entirely rebooted twice since the Giffen era, so it is unlikely that DC will ever feel compelled to confuse current fans with no-longer-existent greatness.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/suicidesquadv1_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/suicidesquadv1_1t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Suicide Squad: And Be A Villain..."></a><font size="3"><font color="blue"><b>#8 Suicide Squad: And Be A Villain...</font color></b></font size>
<b>Collecting: <i>Suicide Squad #1-66</i></b>, <b><i>Annual #1</i></b>
You’d think, in any world, there has to be limited jail space. And when you have a population of super-powered criminals, well, you have to find something to do with them. So Amanda Waller came up with an idea: offer villains freedom, if they were willing to go on dangerous and possibly suicidal missions. Thus, out of the fires of <b><i>Legends</i></b> was born <b><i>Suicide Squad</i></b>. Writers John Ostrander and Kim Yale, along with first artist Luke McDonnell and then Geof Isherwood, spent their run developing the villains of the DCU. While some series and events promise to change the face of the DCU forever, <b><i>Suicide Squad</i></b> did it without bragging. It introduced Amanda Waller, who has become a DC fixture, and marked the first appearance of Barbara Gordon as Oracle. Villains like Deadshot and Captain Boomerang were given depth and personality like never before. Many of the threads of last year's blockbuster <b><i>Identity Crisis</i></b> were laid in <b><i>Suicide Squad</i></b>, and many of the characters involved there, including Slipknot, Dr. Light, and the Atom, as well as the previously mentioned Deadshot and Captain Boomerang, were members of the Squad. Unfortunately, a lack of interest in many of these late 80s DC series, as well as a failed relaunch, do not help the chances of <b><i>Suicide Squad</i></b> being traded, and so it languishes in fifty cent bins. Its depth of characterization is amazing, and makes it worth the reading. And the concept behind it, and the themes of repentance and justice, still ring true to readers today.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/xmen/xfactorv1_71.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/xmen/xfactorv1_71t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="X-Factor: Genetically Challenged Superheroes"></a>#7 X-Factor: Genetically Challenged Superheroes
Collecting: X-Factor #71-83, 87-88
There are some general rules about comics that can help determine whether a series will be a success or failure. 1) Once readers decide they don't like or don't care about a character, they are unlikely to give the character a second look. 2) Just as reader loyalties are strong, reader disloyalties are strong. During Peter David's run on X-Factor, both these rules were broken. 1) Quicksilver was never popular- most arrogant, rude, and unlikeable characters never are- sure they add to a team's dynamic, but they can never exist beyond the team, and are easily cut from the team. But three pages in X-Factor #87 changed all that. He became likable, relatable, and yet, still the same jerk. Prior to X-Factor, Jamie Madrox and Guido Carosella were barely even supporting characters. And yet, within issues, they were fan favorites, so popular that almost ten years later, Jamie Madrox was able to star in a successful mini-series. 2) Just as the X-Men are the most popular franchise in comics, they are also widely loathed, but many who would never touch a comic with an X on the cover, became fans of these 15 issues. The biggest obstacle for X-Factor on this list (and what kept it from placing higher) is that it is the most likely to be collected. With the success of Madrox, and Peter David's return to a flagship Marvel title, all it will take is a month where Marvel feels it is financially viable. On the flip side, it's been so long that it's hard to believe it could be true, that I could have this impeccable blend of humor, action, and (most of all) character sitting on my bookshelf.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/wildstorm/wildcatsv3_18.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/wildstorm/wildcatsv3_18t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Wildcats 3.0: Hostile Takeovers"></a><font size="3"><font color="blue"><b>#6 Wildcats 3.0: Hostile Takeovers</font color></b></font size>
<b>Collecting: <i>Wildcats Version 3.0 #13-24</i></b>
All great things come to an end. At least, that's usually the case when things go well. When things don't go well, people of limited vision cut the legs off of one of their most promising projects before it truly has a chance to tell its story. Indeed, it's difficult to recall the final year of Wildcats 3.0 without reliving the blood-curdling anger that came with its cancellation. The idea of superheroes changing the world through a corporation rather than (outright) violence was not only unique, but quite inspiring. I was truly rooting for Jack Marlowe's Halo Corporation. His plans were subtle, and at times even slow, but as he put them into action, you could practically see the world changing. This title was different from anything else on the market, and perhaps that was its undoing. People heard the name 'Wildcats', and immediately thought of the mindless superhero battles of old. To see that kind of archaic thinking destroy this title in its prime is enough to make my blood boil to this day. Still, its probably more healthy to think about the good things from the second year of this series, rather than dwelling on what ended it. Year two gave us some brilliant insight into what drove a violent man like Grifter and a manipulative man like Agent Wax. Ironically, it ended with Coda War, an orgy of violence and bloodshed that outdid most conventional superhero stories. In the end, while the cancellation of Wildcats 3.0 is a crime, we can at least take solace in the two trades that were released (Brand Building, and Full Disclosure respectively), and hope that there is a future yet for the Halo Corporation.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/questionv2_34.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/questionv2_34t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="The Question: Without A Face"></a>#5 The Question: Without A Face
Collecting: The Question #1-36, The Question Quarterly #1-5, The Question Annual #1-2
Dennis O'Neil has possibly done more than any other writer with regard to showing the diversity and social relevance that can exist within superhero comics. From giving the Justice League political ideologies to giving Batman an eco-terrorist as an arch-nemesis, from Speedy's heroin addiction to Tony Stark's alcoholism. So what was left to do by teaming him up with artist Denys Cowan, and giving them one of the first mainstream mature reader superhero ongoings? Their work on The Question included unforgettable takes on racial motivated murders, the struggles of women in politics, a parody of legendary Watchmen anti-hero Rorschach, an homage to Kurosawa's Rashômon, villains promoting the need for the return of the nobility, dignity, and courage of the American way, and the art of wheelchair combat, later seen in Birds of Prey. All the while, returning the forgotten martial arts elements to the DCU. The primary antagonist of The Question is Hub City, a city where only one cop can be trusted (and even then, not at first) and only the wife of an alcoholic mayor, a retired professor, and an ass kicking, editorializing rogue journalist have any sense of social justice. The Question is one of the few comics that truly deserves a mature readers rating... it isn't filled with blood, nudity, or swearing, but instead is intelligent, creative, and one of the most effective examples of a street-level vigilante superhero. Sadly, the title was never a top seller, and while his recent mini series and appearance on Justice League Unlimited have raised The Question's profile, it is unlikely that his fanbase will ever grow beyond the cult following, and get this modern classic back into print.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/jla37.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/dcu/jla37t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="JLI: Truth, Justice, and the United Nation Way"></a>#4 Justice League International: Truth, Justice, and the United Nation Way
Collecting: Justice League International #13-25, Justice League America #26-60
Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire's Justice League turned the number one super hero team into a privately owned, UN-sanctioned peace keeping force, and then made the membership feature a collection of losers, underachievers, future internet porn stars, and, well... Guy Gardner. Hardly a logical step, yet it worked so well. Fun and frivolity ensued as the JLI fought interstellar interior decorators, the greatest living island in comic history, and, more often that not, each other. Each part of this run was perfect at making the reader smile with glee. While the first 12 issues are available as a taster (and there is also the current JLA: Classified arc to enjoy) the rest of the JLI’s adventures seemed doomed to be ignored. DC has moved on from that period, and while nostalgia is often a money spinner, people who are attached to these characters already have the issues. Of course, there’s also the fact that the JLI concept is huge. There’s the Justice League Quarterly issues, and the annuals, and the Justice League Europe title too (superheroes learning French... need I say more?) The JLA was later tainted by the mess that was made of the concept (BLUE DEVIL?!), but at it’s heart, the Giffen, DeMatteis, and Maguire League is a work that deserves to be collected, if only to show that heroes can take a day (or a year) off. Reading this title will show you that comics don’t have to be gritty to sell. Sometimes they can just be Bwahahahahaeautiful.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/vertigo/shadev2_7.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/vertigo/shadev2_7t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Shade: Mad Mod Poet God"></a><font size="3"><font color="blue"><b>#3 Shade, The Changing Man: Mad Mod Poet God</font color></b></font size>
<b>Collecting: <i>Shade, The Changing Man #7-60</i></b>
If there’s one comic book writer out there who can challenge Grant Morrison’s position as High Priest of Four-Color Weirdness, its Peter Milligan. Before X-Men, Toxin, and Human Target, Milligan was burning the cerebellums of comic readers with the madcap reinvention of Steve Ditko’s alien hero Shade, the Changing Man. This delightfully twisted sixty-issue romp delved deep into the darkest regions of human insanity, filtered through the wondrously macabre lens of artist Chris Bachalo. The series follows the adventures of interdimensional traveler Rac Shade (trapped in the body of a dead serial killer) and his long-suffering companions, on a frantic, psychedelic journey through the fringes of the DC Universe. Despite critical acclaim and a loyal cult following, it took nearly fifteen years from the publication of the first issue, for the first Shade collection (The American Scream) to appear (presumably on the back of Milligan’s success with Marvel’s X-Statix). Unfortunately, DC soon pulled the pin on a Shade, The Changing Man trade program, due primarily to the low sales of that first volume. While Shade was amongst the top sellers of Vertigo’s heyday, it seems that the 00s comic reader doesn’t quite know what to make of the fever dream that is Shade, the Changing Man, casting the remainder of the series into back issue bin limbo, proving that while you can lead an X-fan to Vertigo, its not so easy to make them drink.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/wildstorm/automatickafka1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/wildstorm/automatickafka1t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Automatic Kafka: A Superhero Comic"></a>#2 Automatic Kafka: A Superhero Comic
Collecting: Automatic Kafka #1-9
You were once on a superhero team called the $tranger$. Girls hung your poster in their lockers; talk show hosts rescheduled movie stars to see you. You were Automatic Kafka. But that was ten years ago. Now, you're an android celebrity junkie trying to find a meaning to your life in a world that seems full of glitz, but lacking meaning. Created by Joe Casey (Uncanny X-Men, Wildcats Version 3.0) at his most experimental, and Ashley Wood (Uncanny X-Men, Popbot) at his most lucid, Automatic Kafka expands a dozen plots and themes in just nine issues. The story of the $tranger$' "retirement" is a running commentary on our obsession with celebritism, whether it's Kafka hosting a game show where the contestants often die, or patriotic hero, The Constitution, becoming a porn star because it's "the American way." At the same time, the story looks at how people, and comic book characters, stagnate and lose their way over time. Be it Kafka's aimlessness, the Charlie Brown issue, or Casey's discussion of today's comics-- the argument is a fight for creativity and purpose, a fight against commercialism. Even the characters themselves are a satire, parodying The Avengers. Discussing the themes of Automatic Kafka could be an entire essay, but Casey never forgets the sense of humor and fun that keeps the story engaging. Sadly, the story-- for all of its rich themes-- was considered "too experimental" by most, and both low sales and shipping delays led to its cancellation with #9. If there was ever a story that needed to be read in full-- if there was a story that could define comics as Art and as Literature-- it's Automatic Kafka.
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<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/vertigo/flexmentallo1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/dc/vertigo/flexmentallo1t.jpg" align=left hspace=10 alt="Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery"></a>#1 Flex Mentallo: Man of Muscle Mystery
Collecting: Flex Mentallo #1-4
Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's 1996 opus Flex Mentallo spun out of Morrison’s landmark run on Doom Patrol. The title character was originally introduced in Doom Patrol #42 as a homage/parody of famous bodybuilder Charles Atlas - whose infamous ad campaign "The Insult That Made a Man Out of Mac" was a mainstay within the pages of North American comic books for countless years. Like Mac, Flex gained his superhuman powers of muscle mystery via a program not unlike Atlas’ own, transforming him from a 98 pound weakling into the "Hero of the Beach". Within the pages of Doom Patrol, Flex was the comic book creation of artist/musician Wallace Sage, who steps right off of the page and into the "real world" of the Doom Patrol.
In the four issue Flex Mentallo mini-series, Morrison and Quitely revisited Flex and Sage using the characters to craft an intensely personal, thought-provoking, multi-layered meta-commentary on comics. We follow the tale of Flex as he struggles to recover the lost super-heroes of his world, spurred on by an encounter with his former crime-fighting ally, The Fact. Running parallel to Flex's adventures, we also bear witness to a moving commentary on comic books from Sage (himself dying from a drug overdose). What follows in the course of series is nothing short of an astonishing voyage through comic book history and the mythical underpinnings of the superhero genre, guided by Morrison's unique literary vision and the spectacular artwork of Frank Quitely.
Unfortunately, the Flex Mentallo character drew the ire of the Charles Atlas Estate, shortly before the publication of a Flex Mentallo trade paperback collection. Charles Atlas launched a lawsuit against DC Comics, suing over intellectual property infringement and misrepresentation, forcing DC to suspend the publication of the collection. While the case was eventually thrown out of court in 2000, DC Comics agreed not to reprint either Flex Mentallo or the issues of Doom Patrol that featured the character. Despite the pleas of both fans and Flex’s creators, DC remains silent on the issue of Flex Mentallo’s future. Sadly, this piece of extraordinary and unique comic book art will almost certainly remain out of the hands of readers, prompting many to seek out illicit download sites for scans of the series, or face the costly and laborious task of seeking out the book from after market dealers.
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So the next time you are relaxing with your Essential Tomb of Dracula, or marveling at the latest miniseries collected only a month after it ended, think kindly of the many wonderful runs that will probably never find their way to bookshelves. If you would like to see these ten (or any other forgotten treasure) stage a collected comeback, then write to their respective publishers, and let them know. Otherwise, these trades that will never be seen... will never be seen.
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Flex Mentallo, Shade: Mitch Brown
Suicide Squad, Warlock: Matt Lazorwitz
Question, X-Factor: Dylan McKay
Wildcats 3.0: Nick Costanzo
Legion of Super-Heroes: Raul Grau
Automatic Kafka: Alex Groff
Justice League International: Jon Hancock
Contributors: James Groves, Al Harahap, Jordan T. Maxwell, Joel Phillips, Janne Pietikainen, Omar A. Safi, Tom Toner
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writers involved, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.