MAD (Golden Age)

MAD is an American humor magazine founded in 1952 by editor Harvey Kurtzman and publisher William Gaines, launched as a comic book before it became a magazine. It was widely imitated and influential, affecting satirical media as well as the cultural landscape of the 20th century, with editor Al Feldstein increasing readership to more than two million during its 1974 circulation peak. As of January 2017, Mad has published 544 regular issues, as well as hundreds of reprint “Specials,” original material paperbacks, compilation books and other print projects.

Flash V1 (1980’s)

Barry Allen’s adventures continued in his own title until the event of Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Flash ended as a series with issue #350. Allen’s life had become considerably confused in the early 1980s, and DC elected to end his adventures and pass the mantle on to another character. Allen died heroically in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 (1985). Thanks to his ability to travel through time, he would continue to appear occasionally in the years to come.

X Lives of Wolverine (2022)

The mutant best known as Wolverine has lived many lives under many identities and in many places, but never before has the fate of the future been so entwined with the past! Fan-favorite eras of Wolverine’s saga are explored anew, along with never-before-seen episodes as Logan must travel to various points in time to prevent the death of a key figure in mutant history. But these LIVES are only one side of the story…

Thief of Thieves (2012)

Thief of Thieves is a monthly comic book series published by Image Comics‘ Skybound imprint which premiered in 2012. Created by Robert Kirkman, the comic centers on Conrad Paulson, a highly successful thief who quits the business and begins a new life stealing from other thieves. The series will feature a rotation of writers, including Nick Spencer on the first story arc, and art by Shawn Martinbrough. The first three issues sold out upon release, and a television series based on the comic is in development at AMC.

The Unexpected (1970’s)

In 1979, The Unexpected converted to the Dollar Comics format and incorporated House of Secrets and The Witching Hour. Each “Unexpected” story would always include the word in its last panel. After the merge, this was only true of the Unexpected section; there would then be complete, ad-free issues of The Witching Hour, hosted by its witches, and The House of Secrets, hosted by Abel. The Witching Hour feature was alternated with Doorway to Nightmare starring Madame Xanadu, which appeared in issues #190, 192, 194, and 195.

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos (1963)

Comics-artist contemporary John Severin recalled in an interview conducted in the early 2000s that in the late 1950s, Kirby had approached him to be partners on a syndicated, newspaper comic strip “set in Europe during World War Two; the hero would be a tough, cigar-chomping sergeant with a squad of oddball GIs — sort of an adult Boy Commandos“, referring to a 1940s wartime “kid gang” comics series Kirby had co-created for DC Comics.

Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos followed an elite special unit, the First Attack Squad, nicknamed the “Howling Commandos”, which was stationed in a military base in England to fight missions primarily, but not exclusively, in the European theatre of World War II. Under Captain “Happy Sam” Sawyer, Fury was the cigar-chomping noncom who led the racially and ethnically integrated unit, unusual for the time.

Aliens: Labyrinth (1993)

Rabbits, mice, and monkeys have long been the guinea pigs of choice for research scientists everywhere, and since the practice began, it has outraged the general public. So when Colonel Doctor Paul Church switches from animals to Aliens, the public ends their protests and instead praises the good doctor… until his research assistants begin to die of mysterious causes. Only then do they ask the important question: What else is the kind of man who can torture Aliens capable of?

High above earth, aboard space station Innominata, something horrible is happening. And this time, the Aliens are the victims.

DC Special (1968)

DC Special was a comic book anthology series published by DC Comics originally from 1968 to 1971; it resumed publication from 1975 to 1977. For the most part, DC Special was a theme-based reprint title, mostly focusing on stories from DC’s Golden Age; at the end of its run it published a few original stories. Issue #4 featured many supernatural characters and writer Mark Hanerfeld and artist Bill Draut crafted the first appearance of Abel, who later became (along with his brother Cain) a major character in Neil Gaiman‘s The Sandman. Paul Levitz and Joe Staton finished the series with a Justice Society of America story which revealed the team’s origin.

Marvel Premiere (1970’s)

Marvel Premiere ran for 61 issues from April 1972 to August 1981. The series introduced new characters and reintroduced characters who no longer had their own titles. Writer Roy Thomas and penciler Gil Kane significantly revamped Him as the allegorical Messiah Adam Warlock in Marvel Premiere #1 (April 1972). Iron Fist first appeared in issue #15, written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Gil Kane. Other introductions include the Legion of Monsters, the Liberty Legion,  Woodgod, the 3-D Man, and the second Ant-Man (Scott Lang). The series also featured the first comic book appearance of rock musician Alice Cooper. Later in the title’s run, Marvel Premiere was used to finish stories of characters who had lost their own series including the Man-Wolf in issues #45-46 and the Black Panther in issues #51-53.

X-Files – Topps (1995)

X-Files  was originally published by Topps Comics and ran for 41 issues from January 1995 to September 1998, coinciding with the second through fifth seasons of the television program.

In 1996, Topps published X-Files #0, an adaptation of the pilot episode, in order to test the market for a series adapting the episodes of the X-Files TV series. The issue was successful, and X-Files Season One ran for nine issues (August 1997 – July 1998). The series’s name was provisional, and Topps in fact intended to adapt every episode, but never got as far as season two. The series was written by Roy Thomas, who would create a first draft for each issue by working off of the episode’s script, then watch the actual episode and modify his work to account for changes made on the set.