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Post by tarkintino on Nov 8, 2018 10:40:28 GMT -5
I believe Henry Pym as Ant Man / Giant Man never had his own running monthly title. ...and I do not count his introduction / becoming a feature in Tales to Astonish the same as having his own title.
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 8, 2018 10:42:22 GMT -5
Batman and the Outsiders was a pretty popular series for a while in the 80's, but of the new characters created for that book, neither Geo-Force nor Halo have ever had a shot at headlining a comic. Katana had her own series in the New 52, and has shared some split books in current Suicide Squad miniseries, and even Looker got an unexpected one-shot when DC generated a handful of tv-ready pitches under the banner of "National Comics". Of the Doom Patrol, Robotman's had a shot at some solo stories in recent anthology series from DC, but nothing for Elasti-Girl or Negative Man...and I would certainly have gone for a Negative Man book, despite the obvious limitations. Back in the Silver Age, both Robotman and Negative Man had back-up mini-series within the pages of DP. Robotman's was called both "Robotman-iac" and "Robotman Unchained" and ran in issues 100,101,103, and 105. "The Private World of Negative Man" began in issue 106 and ran in 107, 109, and 111. Robotman got a solo story in #87; Elasti-Girl in #89; and the Chief in #94. Negative Man was the featured star in the back-up in #98. Beast Boy even got a couple of solo back-ups in 114 and 115. |
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Post by Prince Hal on Nov 8, 2018 10:45:15 GMT -5
I think there's not alot these days...Valkyrie sorta had Fearless Defenders.. it wasn't a solo book in name, but it was pretty close. On the DC side, maybe Kilowog? Alfred (though he definitely had backups at one point)? Aqualad/Tempest (I know there was a mini, but never an ongoing)?
Did Wildcat ever get a solo-series?
Took a glance at GCD and saw that he shared a mini-series with Batman twice, Catwoman once, and all three times was second-billed. |
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Post by MWGallaher on Nov 8, 2018 11:11:43 GMT -5
I was just thinking, who's the biggest comic character who's only appeared in team books and has never had a (regular) solo series? I cant think of many, even characters who were primarily members of a team ended up having their own books eventually. Probably the "biggest"--as in best known to the mainstream public--would be the Wonder Twins, who are about to get their first headlining comic in January. I know it's not quite a "solo", but considering Zann and Jayna don't have any powers apart from one another, I think it qualifies as one of the best contenders for the answer to your question. |
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Post by rberman on Nov 8, 2018 11:31:31 GMT -5
I was just thinking, who's the biggest comic character who's only appeared in team books and has never had a (regular) solo series? I cant think of many, even characters who were primarily members of a team ended up having their own books eventually. Thinking outside the superhero box... what about members of the Archie or Peanuts gangs? They are way more famous than, say, Kitty Pryde. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2018 11:38:03 GMT -5
I was just thinking, who's the biggest comic character who's only appeared in team books and has never had a (regular) solo series? I cant think of many, even characters who were primarily members of a team ended up having their own books eventually. Thinking outside the superhero box... what about members of the Archie or Peanuts gangs? They are way more famous than, say, Kitty Pryde. Most of the Archie gang had their own series at one time. Even Archie's car! |
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Nov 8, 2018 12:24:34 GMT -5
Yes, all the major Archie characters have had their own titles at one point or another. Archie, Reggie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Mr. Weatherbee (!), Dilton (!), Hot Dog (!!), Josie, Sabrina, etc.
Unless I'm mistaken, though, one major (non-Archie) character who has never had their own series in the United States is Minnie Mouse. I think she's had a couple international titles, but no solo series here in the USA. Kind of crazy I think.
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Post by tarkintino on Nov 8, 2018 12:39:09 GMT -5
Yes, all the major Archie characters have had their own titles at one point or another. Archie, Reggie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Mr. Weatherbee (!), Dilton (!), Hot Dog (!!), Josie, Sabrina, etc. Unless I'm mistaken, though, one major (non-Archie) character who has never had their own series in the United States is Minnie Mouse. I think she's had a couple international titles, but no solo series here in the USA. Kind of crazy I think. As far as I can tell, Dilton only had a 5-issue miniseries, not a regular monthly. Moose (certainly a major character in the Archie line) and Big Ethel did not have a solo series, either. |
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Crimebuster
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Post by Crimebuster on Nov 8, 2018 12:53:44 GMT -5
I believe Dilton's series was a regular monthly, it just got cancelled after 5 issues.
Moose and Ethel haven't had solo series yet, though Moose did get a one-shot just recently. Ethel also had a one-shot back in the day as part of the Spire line of Christian Archie comics.
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Post by EdoBosnar on Nov 8, 2018 13:19:20 GMT -5
If Martian Manhunter had a great writer and explore his vast Superpowers that's similar to Superman and have the right editor and artist ... I would buy that book in the heartbeat. Martian Manhunter still hasn't got the respect that he deserved. ??
Wasn't the series from the late '90s, written by Ostrander with art by Tom Mandrake, pretty highly regarded? Haven't read it, but I'd really like to someday...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 8, 2018 13:21:22 GMT -5
If Martian Manhunter had a great writer and explore his vast Superpowers that's similar to Superman and have the right editor and artist ... I would buy that book in the heartbeat. Martian Manhunter still hasn't got the respect that he deserved. Wasn't the series from the late '90s, written by Ostrander with art by Tom Mandrake, pretty highly regarded? Haven't read it, but I'd really like to someday...
You are right and that's wasn't all that bad neither good ... it was (slightly better) average at best. Hats off to you Sir! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Nov 8, 2018 13:33:53 GMT -5
I have a bit of a problem with this exercise. Most Golden Age titles and a good chunk of Silver Age titles were anthologies, with several features. there would be a lead feature and several back up. Some anthologies had several popular features; so, saying X character didn't have a solo book is a bit misleading. They may not have had their own title; but, they did have a popular solo feature. Wildcat was a back-up feature in Sensation Comics, with Wonder Woman as the lead; but, Wildcat was still a very popular feature in the book. Adventure Comics changed leads over the years; but, had several popular ones. Do we consider the Paul Kirk Manhunter to have had his own title? He was the lead in Adventure Comics, under Simon & Kirby; but, his name wasn't in the title. He was a back-up in Detective Comics, for the 1970s Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson series; but, Batman was the lead feature? Do we count the Baxter reprint as a solo book? It features only Paul Kirk (though it ends with him teaming up with Batman); but, it is a reprint from a book he didn't headline. Do we count something like Tales of the Teen Titans or Solo Avengers, where a character got to headline an issue? Or Secret Origins? What about a reprint digest or treasury edition?
Biggest character not to get a solo book? I nominate Sandy. Little Orphan Annie was always hogging the spotlight. That or Dale Arden.
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Post by jason on Nov 8, 2018 16:46:11 GMT -5
Changeling/Beast Boy never had a solo series ever (outside of a 2000 mini series), neither did Raven (again, outside of a mini).
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Post by chadwilliam on Nov 8, 2018 17:43:48 GMT -5
Aquaman, meanwhile, had a different kind of price to pay before getting his own title. He also first appeared in More Fun 73, but was never shown on a cover (Green Arrow often did in the Golden Age) until Brave and the Bold 28 (on sale in December, 1959, as a member of the JLA. He never had a cover to himself so to speak till Showcase 30, on sale in November, 1960. He finally got his own book late in 1961. Martian Manhunter, introduced in 1956 as a back-up in Detective, never was depicted on a cover until he joined Aquaman on the cover of B and B 28; he did get cover status when he was shunted off t House of Mystery in 1964, but did not have a series until another four-issue mini in 1988. This is why I appreciate those great Golden/Silver Age splash pages so much - for a character such as Superman or Batman, you get a variant cover to compare with the actual one, and for someone like Aquaman, you get something approximating a cover. |
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Post by chadwilliam on Nov 8, 2018 18:05:45 GMT -5
Although it might be regarded as pedantic to say someone like Lex Luthor since by convention, comics generally don't give solo titles to the bad guy, because it's a convention I don't agree with, I'm going to still say Lex Luthor. Superman's Girlfriend, Lois Lane ran for 137 issues (the majority of which contained three stories) and for most of its duration, served as a propaganda series devoted to chastising women for being stupid, useless, and clingy pests. Superman's greatest foe and one of the great villains of comic books of all time however, wasn't deserving of, I don't know, a 40 issue run? "Well, we've got to figure a way to get him back in jail at the end of every story", "But you've just printed the 174th story about Lois Lane trying to prove that Clark Kent is Superman who tricked her this time by smearing peanut butter on a goat's lips and using Super-Ventriloquism!", "Yeah, but how many Luthor stories can we tell before we run out of ideas?", "Your latest issue of Lois Lane has her sending Krypto back in time to teach Moses how to dance the Charleston as part of a ruse to get Lana Lang to marry Aquaman - you're not going to run out of ideas!"
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