Surprisingly Long Runs

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

Witchblade 100????? Blimey. I feel v.old.

Other comics which lasted/have lasted a shockingly long time.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 April 2006 09:39 (nineteen years ago)

JLA #120 gave me pause for thought. Particularly since it contains a surprisingly short run - Grant Morrison was only on it until #30-odd.

Spawn, I guess, though I don't know when they stopped making them (or when they stopped being the sales benchmark for everything else).

Cerebus #300 :)

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 20 April 2006 10:17 (nineteen years ago)

They haven't stopped making Spawn. It's on #160 or so. I don't know when it went out of the top 10 saleswise though.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 April 2006 10:20 (nineteen years ago)

Animal Man getting to #89(?) surely belongs here.

Also, Savage Dragon has got to over #120 somehow.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 20 April 2006 10:50 (nineteen years ago)

hellblazer 219 out this week = 18 years

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 20 April 2006 11:42 (nineteen years ago)

Archie #565 shipped last week - 47 years.

I have no idea about 'Gold Digger' (I think it's some manga thing with a Tomb Raiders Of The Lost Ark type plot) but #74 seems an awful long time.

Somehow (and I liked it, so I don't know why I'm slagging it) there were 100 issues of Fury Of Firestorm.

The definitive answer in this thread, however, is probably New Guardians. 12 issues doesn't sound like a lot, but it's surprisingly long given the content.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 20 April 2006 11:56 (nineteen years ago)

that spawn thing is incredible... how the hell did they manage to tell 160 issues of that story??

― dave k, Thursday, 20 April 2006 12:44 (nineteen years ago)

Rom Spaceknight - 75 issues!

― robert in SLC, Thursday, 20 April 2006 13:54 (nineteen years ago)

I'm now totally curious about Spawn, I wonder what the latest issue was like.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 20 April 2006 13:58 (nineteen years ago)

Has Spawn actually Spawned yet.

It would be great if he just survived something and people called him a Spawny Get.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 20 April 2006 14:02 (nineteen years ago)

I hope there's an underwater spin-off called Sprawn.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 20 April 2006 14:03 (nineteen years ago)

savage dragon is still totally fun & weird

― -+-+++-+, Thursday, 20 April 2006 14:11 (nineteen years ago)

Spider-Girl making it to 100: that's a big one. Seconded on Hellblazer.

The original Rawhide Kid series made it up to #151 or so, which is not bad considering that nobody has even the faintest memory of it, pretty much.

462 issues of Thor--and everyone's like oh, yeah, Kirby and those Simonson issues, right--but that wasn't a whole lot of Thor's run. And it hasn't been published since late 2004, and basically nobody has noticed it's missing.

But the all-time champion may be 75 issues and four annuals of freaking ROM. (xpost)

― Douglas (Douglas), Thursday, 20 April 2006 14:11 (nineteen years ago)

Not epic, but still a little surprising: 32 issues of Morbius the Living Vampire.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 April 2006 14:53 (nineteen years ago)

How long did Darkhawk and Sleepwalker run?

Micronauts beats ROM btw, though they started with a new #1 at one point - 79 issues (plus a 4-issue X-Men crossover mini!)

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 April 2006 14:55 (nineteen years ago)

Bibliography
Darkhawk #1-50 (March, 1991 – April, 1995)
Darkhawk Annual #1-3 (1992 – 1994)
Spider-Man: Friends and Enemies #1-4
The New Warriors #47-50
Runaways (vol. 2) #1-6
Marvel Team-Up (2005 series) #15-18

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 April 2006 14:57 (nineteen years ago)

School me: why are Rom and Micronauts inpressive/surprising?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:11 (nineteen years ago)

They started life as toy tie-ins.

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:23 (nineteen years ago)

Gotham Central's 40 issues. Considering that, y'know, it was a Batman title that used Batman exclusively as a plot device, and that it was dark and grimy and its lead was a (monogamous) lesbian and it had pretty much no ties to Classical Batmanisms (I mean, a Gotham Cop Drama with ZERO Gordon appearances!!!) (no Chief O'Hara, either!).

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:46 (nineteen years ago)

Which leads us to Nightwing, currently around #120, which is just, zoinks, inconceivable, since it's seemingly inherently crappy.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:48 (nineteen years ago)

Nightwing fandom staggers me.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:51 (nineteen years ago)

OMG you guys, 100 issues of fucking Azrael. That's Azrael, AGENT OF THE BAT.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:55 (nineteen years ago)

well, there's the slash factor...But really, I've never enjoyed a Nightwing adventure outside of teambooks or exploring his role within the Batfam (the best Nightwing adventure is probably--no, DEFINITELY--the Batman Adventures Missing Years animated tie-in).

xpost

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:55 (nineteen years ago)

you've gotta be fucking joking about Azrael.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:56 (nineteen years ago)

For all that I started this thread w/Witchblade I'm not sure that comics launching in the early-90s boom count, cos even if they were shit they had so far to fall saleswise that it's not exactly surprising they lingered. (Some of those boomtime new readers must have stuck around to read more about Azrael, right?)

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:57 (nineteen years ago)

Also for a lot of their lifespan those titles only really existed as means to make crossovers longer.

― Tom (Groke), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:57 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.thebatsquad.net/azrael/index.htm

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:57 (nineteen years ago)

Lobo. Over 100 issues! Over a dozen minis! A 66-issue series I never knew existed! Jesus.

Alan Grant has sure had a, um, mixed career.

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:58 (nineteen years ago)

Were all 100 issues of Azrael written by the same guy who wrote The Question???

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 20 April 2006 15:59 (nineteen years ago)

I don't think this one counts: http://comics.org/series.lasso?SeriesID=1610

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Thursday, 20 April 2006 16:01 (nineteen years ago)

Haha. Lobo's a good one.

Tom, that is a good point re: fallout from the big 90s events, but it still seems kind of surprising that the substitute Batman (who I thought was kind of hated?) was able to carry a solo title for 100 issues.

On second thought, I'd sooner read that than Nightwing or a lot of other Batman-related stuff.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 April 2006 16:07 (nineteen years ago)

The continued runs of 100 Bullets and all those Sandman spin-offs kinda baffle me too.

Another reason for long runs in the early 90s: comics still cheap then. (

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Thursday, 20 April 2006 16:14 (nineteen years ago)

I dunno, Lucifer is actually really good (I've been reading it in trades). Ending at #75, too, so as not to outlast the parent title.

― Douglas (Douglas), Thursday, 20 April 2006 16:28 (nineteen years ago)

Douglas OTM. I really like Lucifer, esp. the last year of issues.

Is that really why it's ending now?

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 April 2006 16:31 (nineteen years ago)

(yeah, i realise that 200 hellblazers is nothing compared to a gazillion action comics issues, it's just that i remember it starting... and it's my personal biggest run 1 - 211 (am switching to tpbs as soon as i find 212, can't do the monthly thing anymore) beating swampthing 1-172(?) by about 40 issues)

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 20 April 2006 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

Swamp Thing was 173. (I didn't even have to look that up, sad git that I am)

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 20 April 2006 18:04 (nineteen years ago)

I've tried a couple Lucifers, not really to my taste, but I'll hit it up again next time I'm in the good ol' public library.

There's always Lucky Luke, too. The series' artist, Maurice de Bevere (Morris), seems to be comicdom's Virginia Andrews/Tupac -- never let death get in the way of some new product.

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Thursday, 20 April 2006 19:18 (nineteen years ago)

Azrael totally wins.

I woudln't call Montoya the lead in Gotham Central - is she even in half of them?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 20 April 2006 20:17 (nineteen years ago)

What happened to Azrael? Is he dead?

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Thursday, 20 April 2006 20:29 (nineteen years ago)

I remember reading the last issue of Azrael in a comic book store a few years ago (only one I read). It was a fight scene w/Batman where Azrael was doing the usual Bat internal fightlogue ("Strength FADING...he's so FAST...if only I can etc.). Uh, I think he died, but I could be wrong.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 April 2006 20:34 (nineteen years ago)

From wikipedia: Azrael was killed in the series' final issue. However, his body was apparently never recovered, which could mean that at some point he may well return, as most characters in comic books are notorious for never staying 'dead'.

"Jean Paul Valley"

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 20 April 2006 20:35 (nineteen years ago)

Superboy lasted 100 issues.

― Vic F (Vic Fluro), Thursday, 20 April 2006 22:22 (nineteen years ago)

ihttp://www.comics.org/graphics/covers/4973/400/4973_4_0000038.jpg

Of course it did.

― Chuck_Tatum (Chuck_Tatum), Thursday, 20 April 2006 22:32 (nineteen years ago)

FEMFORCE is up to ISSUE 137 and STILL GOING

― kit brash (kit brash), Friday, 21 April 2006 00:29 (nineteen years ago)

Although Elvira got to 148 issues much faster! Less consistent creative team I imagine though.

― kit brash (kit brash), Friday, 21 April 2006 00:30 (nineteen years ago)

The last few issues of ROM were great for me for the sole reason that you got to see Ditko inked by folks like Byrne and P. Craig Russell, which was a treat.

― Jay Vee's Return (Manon_69), Friday, 21 April 2006 01:01 (nineteen years ago)

_Is_ that true about Lucifer? Weird - that's a bit like if they'd canned Frasier when it got to the same number of series as Cheers. To choose a dumb comparison. But what if Sandman had been all about the Endless meeting in a bar every day, and every time Destiny walked in, everybody's cheering, "Deeessstiny!". And then lucifer moves to Seatle to work on the radio.

I'm going now.

― James Morrison (JRSM), Friday, 21 April 2006 07:41 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.popmatters.com/tv/reviews/f/images/frasier.jpg

Well, he is a motherfucker with some dark secrets. I could see it.

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 21 April 2006 12:06 (nineteen years ago)

Well, Montoya definitely BECAME the lead after Brubaker left, and Rucka was left to his natural inclinations.

― Huk-L (Huk-L), Friday, 21 April 2006 13:20 (nineteen years ago)

seven years pass...

Savage Dragon is now closing in on 200 issues and I got curious about it a while back and picked up a near run of the first 100 out of a quarter bin. I filled it out and have started to give it a read. It takes a little while for Larsen to get it really going, but it's a really fun comic to read. I'm up to about #40 and if the quality maintains, I'm going to eventually read it up to date.

― earlnash, Sunday, 21 July 2013 21:51 (twelve years ago)

one year passes...

savage dragon is still totally fun & weird
― -+-+++-+, Thursday, April 20, 2006 9:11 AM (8 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

― RAP GAME SHANI DAVIS (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 22 October 2014 02:38 (eleven years ago)

I'm dipping back into the Dragon now after dropping off around #99, will eventually get totally caught up.

― RAP GAME SHANI DAVIS (Raymond Cummings), Wednesday, 22 October 2014 02:38 (eleven years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.