Bring Back Adventure Comics!

[Thor2014]

Give it to the Aquaman family!

Co-signed. A nod back to Aquaman's past history with the title. AC could act as a second Aquaman book, or better yet a Mera-centric companion title to the main Aquaman title.

If that gets stale you can turn it over to Superboy (either Kon or Jon) or the Legion again. It was a good idea back in 2010 when AC acted as a 'B' book for the Legion.

[The Odd Man]

One of my favourite eras of Adventure Comics.

[Air Wave]

Going outside the box, make it the fifth Wal Mart 100 Page giant, do a new 12 page Legion of Super-Heroes lead, and include 3 reprint series-a classic Legion story, the Goyer/Robinson/Johns JSA and either a Green Arrow or Hawkman run to bring those characters to the mass audience and start building an audience for them like they are doing with the other 4 100 page giants.

-M

I'd be OK with this.

[MajorHoy]

Maybe it should be a title that costs $4.99 but has 30 pages of story.
Then you could have either three 10-page stories or two 15-page stories.

It should then feature stories with Aquaman, Green Arrow, and in a nod to the past (but updated), Jesse Quick.
(Or, bring back More Fun Comics with that format / line-up, but also include Dr. Fate in the mix.)

[Jim Kelly]

The Walmart format would be a good way to do it. Even though that would mean I could never get my hands on a copy.

But they would need a lead feature equal to Superman, Batman, the Justice League and the Teen Titans. Maybe Wonder Woman and Aquaman could double up.

[MRP]

The Walmart format would be a good way to do it. Even though that would mean I could never get my hands on a copy.

But they would need a lead feature equal to Superman, Batman, the Justice League and the Teen Titans. Maybe Wonder Woman and Aquaman could double up.

Well since I posted that, DC announced it was revising/expanding it's Wal*Mart line up, replacing Justice League with Wonder Woman, Teen Titans with Titans and adding Flash and Swamp Thing as titles, upping the total to 6. No sign of them using classic titles though, just the character names on the masthead.

-M

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I would like to see Adventure Comics brought back because of its historical significance. It was Wheeler-Nicholson's 2nd title (as "New Comics") and was folded into DC (along with More Fun Comics) when his pre-Detective Comics, Inc. companies went bankrupt.

However, in contrast to a lot of the DC anthologies of the day, Adventure Comics (like More Fun) never had a really strong identity as opposed to Action, Detective, Sensation, and All-Star.

Superboy and Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes were the longest running cover features followed by Supergirl. That takes us from 1946 to 1972. From 1972 until 1983 when it was canceled, the title was in constant change. So, when the title was Superman-related, it saw its biggest success.

However, Aquaman is arguably its longest-running backup feature, and finally in 1975 became a cover feature. So, maybe by that metric Adventure could be a second Aquaman comic, but DC already tried that with Aquaman and the Others, and it didn't last long.

I don't think Adventure Comics will ever be brought back again. The market has changed since the early 1980s. Comics aren't bought by browsers anymore; they're bought by collectors who buy every issue of a series they like. That's likely why formats like team up titles (e.g. Brave & Bold/Marvel Team-Up), tryout titles (Showcase/Marvel Premiere), and anthology titles (Adventure Comics) just don't appeal to the hardcore fan where they're getting something different each issue and quality varies widely.

Miniseries have largely taken the place of tryout and anthology titles, and teamups can happen within the pages of a regular series like "The Button" crossover between Batman and Flash. Also, these formats have been dismissed by fans because the stories in them "don't matter," and when comics cost 4 dollars each, you can't support a title just for fun.

Even Marvel's relatively successful Marvel Comics Presents anthology only sold because it had Wolverine every issue. It'll be interesting to see how the revival does.

Comics having dense continuity and high prices leads to fans wanting every issue they buy to count toward a larger narrative. In order for Adventure Comics to be brought back successfully, it would have to star a character who CAN support a 2nd book that "matters," but doesn't currently have one.

Is there such a character? Aside from Superman and Batman, no other DC character has shown they can support another ongoing, much less one where the character name appears in second position on the masthead.

[MRP]

I would like to see Adventure Comics brought back because of its historical significance. It was Wheeler-Nicholson's 2nd title (as "New Comics") and was folded into DC (along with More Fun Comics) when his pre-Detective Comics, Inc. companies went bankrupt.

However, in contrast to a lot of the DC anthologies of the day, Adventure Comics (like More Fun) never had a really strong identity as opposed to Action, Detective, Sensation, and All-Star.

Superboy and Tales of the Legion of Super-Heroes were the longest running cover features followed by Supergirl. That takes us from 1946 to 1972. From 1972 until 1983 when it was canceled, the title was in constant change. So, when the title was Superman-related, it saw its biggest success.

However, Aquaman is arguably its longest-running backup feature, and finally in 1975 became a cover feature. So, maybe by that metric Adventure could be a second Aquaman comic, but DC already tried that with Aquaman and the Others, and it didn't last long.

I don't think Adventure Comics will ever be brought back again. The market has changed since the early 1980s. Comics aren't bought by browsers anymore; they're bought by collectors who buy every issue of a series they like. That's likely why formats like team up titles (e.g. Brave & Bold/Marvel Team-Up), tryout titles (Showcase/Marvel Premiere), and anthology titles (Adventure Comics) just don't appeal to the hardcore fan where they're getting something different each issue and quality varies widely.

Miniseries have largely taken the place of tryout and anthology titles, and teamups can happen within the pages of a regular series like "The Button" crossover between Batman and Flash. Also, these formats have been dismissed by fans because the stories in them "don't matter," and when comics cost 4 dollars each, you can't support a title just for fun.

Even Marvel's relatively successful Marvel Comics Presents anthology only sold because it had Wolverine every issue. It'll be interesting to see how the revival does.

Comics having dense continuity and high prices leads to fans wanting every issue they buy to count toward a larger narrative. In order for Adventure Comics to be brought back successfully, it would have to star a character who CAN support a 2nd book that "matters," but doesn't currently have one.

Is there such a character? Aside from Superman and Batman, no other DC character has shown they can support another ongoing, much less one where the character name appears in second position on the masthead.

The cynic in me says DC will trot out a book called Adventure every so often to "show use" to maintain the trademark on it. Not necessarily on ongoing or a series, possibly a one-shot, mini or a trade collection etc. like they have done with titles like Mystery in Space, Ghosts, etc., whenever the trademark would be due to expire from non-use to keep up that valuable trademark. I agree that it's not likely to be a regularly published title, but I think DC will retain the rights to the brand and keep showing use as long as they are able to.

-M

[Air Wave]

Maybe it should be a title that costs $4.99 but has 30 pages of story.
Then you could have either three 10-page stories or two 15-page stories.

It should then feature stories with Aquaman, Green Arrow, and in a nod to the past (but updated), Jesse Quick.

Or one 15-, one 10- and one 5-. This is the direction I'd go in.

(Or, bring back More Fun Comics with that format / line-up, but also include Dr. Fate in the mix.)

MORE FUN has an arguably better claim to being in existence as DC's original book, but (A) it didn't last as long and (B) that title would be a harder sell in this day and age.

[Jim Kelly]

Somehow Dell was able to do FOUR COLOR for decades, reaching issue 1354, while ARCHIE GIANT SERIES MAGAZINE got up to issue 632. And in more modest terms there was DC SPECIAL SERIES (not DC SPECIAL) which had 27 issues. DC and Dell didn't even broadcast the series title on the cover while, with Archie, you would have to look close to see the actual series title. Anyone would mistake these comics for the big title that was shown on the cover--even though that was never the official title.

You might argue that this couldn't be done now, but with digital only comics I think it would be practical. You're not really buying the title, you're buying the content. ADVENTURE COMICS could just be a series title for whatever they offer each week.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

The cynic in me says DC will trot out a book called Adventure every so often to "show use" to maintain the trademark on it. Not necessarily on ongoing or a series, possibly a one-shot, mini or a trade collection etc. like they have done with titles like Mystery in Space, Ghosts, etc., whenever the trademark would be due to expire from non-use to keep up that valuable trademark. I agree that it's not likely to be a regularly published title, but I think DC will retain the rights to the brand and keep showing use as long as they are able to.

-M

It's not cynical to suggest DC will keep the name in use in some respect in order to keep the trademark. They'd be stupid NOT to. That's how Marvel lost the Champions trademark, and they had to work out a deal with Heroic Comics to use it now.

However, DC doesn't necessarily have to use it as a comics title. Maybe it can be repurposed like the "Showcase" name that DC used for their black and white trades.

Maybe some creator can use it for a popup imprint like Bendis's Wonder Comics.

I also like Jim Kelly's idea of using the title for a digital first series. DC did do that with Sensation Comics recently, right?

[Jim Kelly]

I always admired the cursive font for "Adventure Comics."



I was surprised when I later realized this wasn't the original font for the comic title. But it's quite a distinctive one and it should be kept around at DC, just like the "Action Comics" logo.

[CaptCleghorn]

Somehow Dell was able to do FOUR COLOR for decades, reaching issue 1354, while ARCHIE GIANT SERIES MAGAZINE got up to issue 632. And in more modest terms there was DC SPECIAL SERIES (not DC SPECIAL) which had 27 issues. DC and Dell didn't even broadcast the series title on the cover while, with Archie, you would have to look close to see the actual series title. Anyone would mistake these comics for the big title that was shown on the cover--even though that was never the official title.

You might argue that this couldn't be done now, but with digital only comics I think it would be practical. You're not really buying the title, you're buying the content. ADVENTURE COMICS could just be a series title for whatever they offer each week.

DC's already done this with National Comics. It's not a stretch to think they could do it again.