Tag Archives: the order

Top Five Recently Canceled Series I Wish Were Still Being Published

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Sorry haven’t posted in a while, but life has been getting in the way, but I should be back in the regular mix here at Graphic Policy from now on. My first post back is pretty straightforward, I’m going to take a look at five series that have ended recently that I wish were still going on. Not limited series, but ongoing series that have been canceled.

Honorable Mention: The Order, all of Marvel’s cosmic titles

OMAC 5. OMAC (8 issues, last in April 2012): OMAC wasn’t brilliant and it was, of course, little more than a tribute to Jack Kirby that hadn’t really been developed into anything of its own yet, but it had a lot of potential. Keith Giffen gave us art that was as true to Kirby as if Jack had done it himself. Dan DiDio was starting to establish an original character in Kevin Kho (the only Cambodian-American character in comics I know of) and there were a lot of Brother Eye stories to be told. Many crappier titles survived into the Second Wave of the New 52, hopefully we’ll see more from Kho, OMAC and Brother Eye again soon.

Heroes for Hire 4. Heroes for Hire (12 issues, last in November 2011): Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning showed us with this series that there are no small characters, just small stories and small writers. Misty Knight and Paladin were turned into compelling and entertaining characters in a way they rarely have been in the past. The first issue of this series, with its shout-out to The Warriors, remains one of the best first issues of any series I’ve ever read. Luckily we got to see the story continued in Spider Island and Villains for Hire, but with the team having no current home, I worry that we won’t be seeing them as much.

28 Days Later 3. 28 Days Later (24 issues, last in June 2011): In the days when zombie comics are rightfully dominated by The Walking Dead and wrongfully imitated by dozens of inferior titles, 28 Days Later was one of the few non-Robert Kirkman series that actually added something to the genre. Every issue started with a brilliant cover (most of the recent ones by Sean Phillips), continued with solid interior art by Alejandro Aragon and top-notch storytelling by Michael Alan Nelson. Following in the footsteps of the first movie, the series was always compelling and gave us a look at the aftermath of the British zombie outbreak that broke new ground in a well-worn genre. The comic did the same.

SWORD 2. SWORD (5 issues, last in March 2010): SWORD is exactly what I’m looking for when I pick up comics. It was one of the smartest comics on the shelf, fast-paced, funny, filled with references and jokes that you don’t need to know, but if you do they add layers to the story, action-packed, and consistently awesome. It featured a strong female lead who could’ve developed into one of Marvel’s better characters and introduced us to one of the more intriguing characters to come along in years in the Unit. Luckily, we’re still seeing flashes of these characters and SWORD in X-Men comics, but it’s sad, that from what I understand, the comic was never really given a chance. Keiron Gillen gets most of the credit for how great this comic was.

Secret Warriors 1. Secret Warriors (28 issues, last in September 2011): Secret Warriors beats out SWORD, to me, because, while SWORD is exactly what I come to comics to find, Secret Warriors consistently surprised me. It was way better than I expected and it brought to my attention things I wouldn’t have otherwise read or thought about. It also had better art than SWORD. Another series with consistently brilliant covers and superior art by the likes of Allesandro Viti and Stefano Caselli (among others), the comic clearly had its own visual style and it was better than most of what was on the market. On top of that, the writing was even better. Originally a Brian Michael Bendis project and later taken over by Jonathan Hickman, the comic delved into the espionage side of the Marvel Universe, particularly the ongoing tale of Nick Fury, better than it has been done in decades. I’m not even that big a fan of Fury and the espionage stuff. Well, I wasn’t until this series. The only thing that still touches on this stuff in a good way are the ongoing Captain America and Secret Avengers titles, but neither of them is as consistently good (and shocking) as Secret Warriors was.

Benderspink and Arcana Launch New Comics Line

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ARCANA COMICS’ – Benderspink and Arcana Launch New Comics Line

VANCOUVER (Feb 10, 2012) – Arcana Comics is joining forces with Benderspink, the production company behind smash movies such as The Butterfly Effect, Final Destination, The Hangover, The Ring, and I am Number Four! The publisher and the production company have created a new film friendly comic book line, combining the knowledge of one of the largest graphic novel producers with the film production skills of the team behind the highest grossing comedy of all time (The Hangover).

Under the banner of ArcanaBenderspink Comics, the two will start by producing twenty original titles, crossing genres and enlisting the writing and art skills of some of the most talented creators in the comic book industry.

The two companies first established a bond when Benderspink worked with Arcana Comics to get the book Continuum picked up by New Line. During the process, JC Spink and Arcana CEO Sean Patrick O’Reilly build a strong relationship. Sharing a love of film and comic books, the two’s partnership is a natural progression.

Below is a first look at all of the titles as well as preview artwork. Arcana Comics and Benderspink look forward to sharing more with fans in the coming weeks and months.

    
Legacy: During an emergency surgery, doctors operating on Alex Sullivan discover that he is something more than human. When the entire hospital explodes, Alex escapes to find out who or what he is and why people are trying to kill him.
The Order: The Vatican has created an elite group of agents to travel the world and combat supernatural forces.
The Numbered: Betrayed and unjustly sentenced to death a notorious crew of seven galactic mercenaries escape to the last free planet of the universe. Tracked by the ruthless Galactic Overlord Earth is given an ultimatum surrender The Numbered or be destroyed. Cook and Weisberg are attached.
Bishop: When a government operative goes undercover to infiltrate a secret illuminati type group, he begins to realize that the people he’s been sent to take down may actually be the good guys.
Below: When the police aren’t able to catch a new group of ruthless criminals who commit crimes against the defenseless, the leaders of the underworld band together to use methods the police can’t in order to bring them to justice.
Target Earth: A lone scientist believes the warning from an imprisioned alien, who declares an invasion coming from a more powerful group of aliens. He frees the alien and they end up on the run from the government and the advance guard of hostile aliens as they try to save our planet.
The Hunt: Five years after taking out a terrorist leader, an ex-Seal who was part of the special unit that did the job discovers that his fellow team members are being killed and he is next on the list.
War Of The Gods: At the dawn of humanity, a multitude of gods from Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Nordic, Hindu, Chinese, and Aztec lore do battle against each other for control of the world.
Dime Detectives: The story of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler who teamed up to work as detectives and roughly based their fictional characters Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe on their own real life exploits.
Foretold: A young man is brought to the future to fight the most powerful being who has taken over the world 30 years later – himself.
Kill On Sight: When a group of professional thieves steal 30 million dollars from a covert, black-ops CIA program the program responds by sending a team to NYC to kill the thieves and retrieve the money.
Untouchable: In 2012 Al Capone’s great nephew has become a cop, trying to make right some of the wrong done by his family in the past, and has to track down Chicago’s most notorious criminal, the great-grandson of Elliot Ness.
Countdown To Armageddon: With the better years of his career behind him, a once-great rapper returns to his hometown where in order to save his son he gets pulled back into his old life and has to fight everything he thought he had left behind.
Supersonic: Top Gun underwater with subs developed by DARPA to travel at super speeds.
2076: When America is taken over in 2076, Revolutionaries fight a second war for American independence.
Revelation: A disbelieving NORAD agent’s faith is tested when he begins to suspect a man’s rise to power mimic’s the 12 signs of the Anti-Christ from the book of Revelation.
The Surface: Grant Roberts, his ex-girlfriend, and her best friend attempt to escape Chicago after terrorist attacks that they begin to realize are extraterrestrial in nature. Based on the Schnieder brothers script The Surface.
Atlantis: One hundred and fifty years after a plague has ravaged Earth and the wealthy and privileged have retreated to live in a bio-dome under the ocean, their resources run out and they have to return to the surface where they’re met by a bitter resistance from the ancestors of those they left above ground to die.
The Triangle: A group of researchers who uncover the secret of the Bermuda Triangle and travel to a different dimension have to figure out how to get back in order to help save the world.
Langley High: A student at Langley High, a school located less than two miles away from the CIA headquarters in Virginia, teams with an undercover CIA agent who’s been posing as a teacher to help rescue his father who’s been captured in Russia and disavowed by the agency. Atlas Entertainment is attached to Langley High. The comic is being adapted by Benderspink’s Christopher Cosmos.
 
ABOUT ARCANA STUDIOS

Arcana Studios, Inc. Arcana owns one of the world’s largest libraries of graphic novels and comics, with over 200 original intellectual properties, 300 graphic novels, thousands of comic issues and an ever-growing character list. Arcana has begun to adapt this library into live action feature films, animated features and episodic television series. Taking a transmedia approach to brand building and the development of intellectual properties, Arcana publishes graphic novels for North America in print, and now digitally as well. Arcana has been published and distributed in dozens different countries and translated into just as many languages across the globe.

ABOUT BENDERSPINK

Benderspink is a management/production/ip company that has produced or exec-produced movies such as The Ring 1 & 2, The Hangover 1 & 2, Monster-in-Law, Red Eye, Just Friends, A History of Violence, The Butterfly Effect, Cats and Dogs, American Pie 1-3, and I Am Number Four.  They are currently in production on Burt Wonderstone at New Line and in development on titles such as Jitters at Paramount, Cities of Refuge at Inferno, Bob the Musical at Disney, Hangover 3 at Warner Bros., Torrente at New Line, and 40,000 Man at NL.   They have a first look feature deal at New Line and a first look tv deal at CBS. Clients include Jesse Wigutow, Kaplan & Elfont, Cook & Weisberg, April Blair, Jennifer Weiner, Gregory Hoblit, Mike Bender, and Adam “Tex” Davis.  And newer clients such as Allison Schroeder, Brandon Willer, Clay Tweel, Craig Brownrigg, and David Robert Mitchell.