In a move that we can only hope more comic-book companies follow, Marvel Comics has announced that they will be bringing back six of their previously-canceled series in order to give each one final issue to help “wrap-up” their storylines for fans.
Announced at this past weekend’s San Diego Comic Con, the series are an eclectic mix of Marvel’s past, from significantly different eras as well. Each series will be given a new “final issue” that will have numbering in line with their respective series’ histories. Here are each of the six series, along with when the series was cancelled and a brief description of the series itself (via Wikipedia entries):
- ‘Not Brand Echh’ #14 (cancelled in 1969): “A satiric comic book series published by Marvel Comics that parodied its own superhero stories as well as those of other comics publishers.”
- ‘Master of Kung-Fu’ #126 (cancelled in 1983): “Introducing Shang-Chi as a man raised by his father, Fu Manchu, to be the ultimate assassin for the would-be world conqueror. In Shang-Chi’s first mission, he kills one of his father’s old enemies, Dr. Petrie, and learns of Fu Manchu’s true, evil nature. Disillusioned, Shang-Chi swears eternal opposition to his father’s ambitions and fights him as an agent of British intelligence.”
- ‘Power Pack’ #63 (cancelled in 1991): “a fictional team of comic book superheroes consisting of four young siblings… Power Pack is the first team of preteen superheroes in the Marvel Universe and the first in comics to operate without adult supervision.”
- ‘Dazzler’ #43 (cancelled in 1986): “Alison Blaire is a fictional superheroine… usually associated with the X-Men. A mutant with the ability to convert sound vibrations into light and energy beams, Dazzler was originally developed as a cross-promotional, multi-media creation between Casablanca Records and Marvel Comics until the tie-ins were dropped in 1980.”
- ‘Silver Sable & the Wild Pack’ #36 (cancelled in 1995): “Silver Sablinova is… a mercenary, hunter of war criminals, the leader of the Wild Pack, and CEO of Silver Sable International. Although sometimes a legitimate mercenary, her methods and motives have sometimes brought her into conflict with other superheroes.”
- ‘Darkhawk’ #51 (cancelled in 1995): “While witnessing his policeman father accept a bribe from a crime boss at an abandoned amusement park, teenager Chris Powell discovered a mysterious amulet. This amulet allowed him to switch places with a powerful android that his mind controlled. Powell vowed to use the amulet as ‘an edge against crime.’ In this role, he worked with other superheroes and battled a number of costumed villains.”
Each issue will be heading to comic shops in November and December of this year, with more info about each issue’s creative team to come soon!