And don’t get me started on Flaming Carrot.
With the impending return/continuation of Miracleman by Neil Gaiman and Mark Buckingham, which, you know, I’ll see that when I believe it*, I was thinking back to some other old favorites that I haven’t seen in a while, or at least wonder if they will continue and/or conclude in some fashion prior to the creators’ — um, inability to do more, shall we say.
The first series that comes to mind is grimjack:
…and shown above is the last issue released featuring the character, shipped to stores on January 6th, 2010. This…is kind of a convoluted situation, which I discussed on this site before. In essence, the original Grimjack series ended with a particular situation/circumstance/milieu change, but further mini-series (of which the above pictured comic was one) went backwards into the title’s history to essentially tell new stories of Classic Grimjack.
Which I guess is fine an’ all, since Classic Grimjack doesn’t take much explanation and Going-Past-Where-We-Left-Off Grimjack…um, would. And unfortunately it’s been so long that continuing the story now would, while not impossible, probably would find difficulty gaining much traction since the general perception of Grimjack, as much as it exists in today’s comics marketplace, is pretty much the version you see on the cover above. It’s disappointing, especially since future events for the character were teased and sounded intriguing, but seem unlikely to happen now (outside perhaps Kickstarter-type intervention). Supposedly an animated series is being developed, but whether that would be enough to get comics that pick up the story threads from where they ended…man, I don’t know. But it’d be nice.
So pictured above is the final issue of the most recent Concrete mini-series, released June 1st, 2005. Now, that’s not the most recent new stories with Concrete, as this comic, released July 18th, 2012, does feature three new stories from the Dark Horse Presents anthology. However, the forward motion of the character’s continuity has been on hold since 2005. This 2010 article announces a follow-up mini Stars Over Sand, which is as yet unreleased. Chadwick mentions this project again in a 2017 blog post on his site. Plus, here’s a 2018 Twitter post where you can actually see (from a distance) pages from the story!
I adore the Concrete comics, and miss the days when we seemed to have new material on a relatively regular basis. It’s a different, and more difficult, market now. And I know Chadwick has other stuff on his plate, so I’m being patient, but I can’t wait to read it.
Released on July 5th, 2017, this original graphic novel (released in the same format as that publisher’s hardcover reprints of the entirety of Beanworld) isn’t that long ago, so the idea that more will come out doesn’t seem like that distant a hope. The problem is that it feels like there is a lot of story yet to tell, so many more questions that need to be answered, and at this rate…well, I don’t know just how many more original graphic novels in the series we can realistically expect. I don’t know, maybe there’s a Giant Final Book being worked on even as I type this. I sincerely hope this ends up a completed masterpiece and not a tragically unfinished curiosity. It would seem there is a planned ending to this decades-long saga, and I hope we get to see it.
I’m sure there are more, but that’s enough for now. All beloved comics, all gone too long from the racks. Like I said above, it’s a more difficult marketplace in which to publish, so I’ll appreciate what I can get, when I can get it.
Don’t worry, I’m gettin’ back to Multiverse Talk shortly. Thank you for all your comments and, most importantly, keeping it civil!
I would love to see more GrimJack, especially if they would follow up on where the ongoing series ended. I’d like to know if he’d ever break out of the cycle. (I feel like the Demon Knight GN Ostrander and Flint Henry did kind of suggested Gaunt did it all to himself, because he couldn’t ever let go of anything, so it be interesting if he ever managed that growth.)
It hasn’t been gone anywhere near as long as the series you mentioned, but I’d like it if Jay Faerber and Scott Godlewski would finish Copperhead. They only had like 3 or 4 issues to go, they were even solicited, but then it just stopped.
It would be one thing if Human Dilemma had been just another (excellent) Concrete story, but it set up a new status quo and I really want to know what happens next. I hope Paul Chadwick finds it creatively and financially satisfying to revisit the characters.
I count myself lucky that David Lapham returned to Stray Bullets for another 40+ issues a few years ago. Of course, now I want to see him advance the characters’ stories past where he left them…
Yes, I am a spoiled and entitled comics nerd.
How about Fish Police? I really loved that book. Issue 5 with demolition drinking might be my all-time favorite humor book.
I’d be down for Doug Moench’s Aztec Ace (with art by Michael Bair or Tom Yeats), Don McGregor & Paul Gulacy’s Sabre, and Mark Evanier & Will Meugniot’s DNAgents all making comebacks.
If memory serves, Sabre was set circa 2020, so I think it should be set in an alternate timeline in the same era.
I would want DNAgents and the time travelling Aztec Ace
to still be set in the ’80s as the present for their stories–where they left off.
I also really enjoyed Mike Grell’s Starslayer–where Grim Jack made his debut!
Ditto on Stray Bullets. That first run paused on quite a cliffhanger for years.
Steve Bissette’s Tyrant would have been something to see go on a while.
Strangehaven seems to have gotten lost. At least I can’t find it anymore. Makes me grateful that Bacchus, Bone, and Cerebus were able to reach their proper ends.
GRIMJACK was the best!!
That same company was releasing TPBs of the original series, but stopped partway through.
“Copperhead”
I liked that one but had to stop buying, because of money issues a few years ago.
“Tyrant”
Anyone know why that one stopped?
“Sabre was set circa 2020, so I think it should be set in an alternate timeline in the same era.”
Just set it in DETROIT.
Snark Shark:
Re: Sabre …
“Just set it in DETROIT.”
Well, McGregor did a pretty good job of predicting how the world would turn out circa 2020…I guess you have a point about setting Sabre in Detroit!
Also,can’t recall if I already mentioned this on not before, but I was recently re-reading Marvel Preview no. 9 –“Man-God”–Roy Thomas and Tony DeZuniga’s partial adaptation of Philip Wylie’s novel Gladiator (which inspired the creation of Superman). In the back of the magazine there’s an article on Wylie which mentions that his last novel, published posthumously, is a sci-fi story set in 2023! It’s called The End of the Dream, and details the collapse of society due to various social and ecological flaws…
Nice to hear there is more Concrete in the works. Now if we could get a non-digest sized trade of the last mini…
Would love to see so many of these things revived. Along with Roberta Gregory’s Bitchy Bitch.
Steve Lafler has been re-releasing most of his catalog lately – which is great news – and is currently working on a GN with writer Paul Theroux that Fantagraphics will be publishing.
The world could use some Flaming Carrot about now.
This reminded me that I was excited a few years ago when Tim Truman announced a new SCOUT book, and planned to get the mass market edition that would no doubt follow the crowdfunded version. Just checked, and the book is almost four years late now, with no book imminent. Makes me glad I avoid crowdfunders, though…