List of comics solicited but never published

Comic book stories, issues of comic book limited/ongoing series, or even entire comic book series were written or promoted and solicited for release but, for various reasons, were never published. Some were eventually reprinted elsewhere or published in different forms.

Acclaim Comics

* '' Quantum and Woody'' #22–31 – This series was cancelled by Acclaim after #17 (June 1998), and "uncancelled" 15 months later; as a promotional gimmick, #32 (September 1999) was published to show how the story would have developed if the comic had never been cancelled. In October 1999, the series resumed numbering with #18 and was intended to publish the "missing" issues, but the title was cancelled with issue #21.
* ''Unity 2000'' #4–6 – Only three issues of this six-issue miniseries were published before its cancellation.

Alternative Comics

* ''Detour'' #2 – Publisher Alternative Comics solicited Ed Brubaker's ''Detour'' #2 in 2000, but it never appeared (the first issue had been published in 1997). In 2000, Brubaker promised that "the stories that would have made up the next two issues are being worked on in my disappearing spare time, and hopefully the whole thing will be released as a book of about 100 or so pages in a year or two". Instead, Brubaker embarked in earnest on a mainstream comics writing career with ''Deadenders'' (Vertigo Comics), whose dystopic future backdrop was similar to ''Detours.

Blackthorne Publishing

* ''Battle Beasts'' #5–6 – Based on the action figure line by Hasbro, this title was to run through at least issue #6. The final issue of the series was #4 and ended on a cliffhanger.
* ''Nightmare on Elm Street in 3-D'' – An ongoing series written by Andy Mangels from 1991 to 1992.
* ''Star Wars 3-D'' #4–7 – Four subsequent issues of this series were planned to be released in 1989 starting in January. The last published issue was #3, released in 1988.
* ''Transformers 3-D'' #4–5 – A three-part storyline in which the Autobots and Decepticons face off against a group of beings known as the Destructons was to begin in 1988. Issue #3 contained the first part of the story, but that was the last issue of the series.

Charlton Comics

* ''Charlton Bullseye Special'' #2–3 – Issue #2 was to be an all-humor book set for release in February 1987, but later pushed back to June. The issue was to contain an Atomic Mouse story by Jim O'Donnelly and Mike Todd, as well as Steve Hauk's "Emperor of da Universe" and Bill Witz's "Murth Man". Issue #3 was originally going to preview a revival of the Charlton Comics title ''Creepy Things'', but the contents of the book changed as ''Creepy Things'' was to receive its own title in October 1987.
* ''Doctor Morpheus'' – A six-issue miniseries written by Kent Orlando which was a combination of pulp adventure and science fiction.
* ''The Return of the Vengeance Squad'' – At least four issues were planned for this revival of Charlton's ''Vengeance Squad'' series, to be written by T.C. Ford and drawn by Amanda Conner.

Comico

* '' Max Headroom'' and ''Max Headroom 3-D'' – An ongoing series and one-shot 3-D comic, the latter written by William Messner-Loebs and illustrated by the Pander Brothers, were planned for the TV character. The cancellation of '' Max Headroom'' put the release of the ongoing on hold.

Comics Interview Publications

* ''Battle Axe'' #2–6 – "Berzerker", written by Gary Carlson and pencilled by Angel Medina, was slated to run for the first four issues; "Thorrn: Cursed Warrior", written by Ed DeGeorge, Chris Ecker, and Carlson and pencilled by Stan Timmons, was to run through issue #6. The series never got past issue #1.

CrossGen Comics

* CrossGen's bankruptcy led to a number of titles—including '' Sojourn'', ''Negation War'', and ''Brath''—being cancelled before completion. Several trade paperback collections were cancelled due to the bankruptcy as well.

DC Comics

* ''Action Comics Annual'' #3 by Chris Claremont and Michael Golden – The original story for this annual was meant to be published in 1990. According to ''Amazing Heroes Preview Special'' #10 (February 1990): "And the X-citing news is about the ''Action Comics Annual'', due out this year. It's written by none other than Marvel Mutant Man Chris Claremont, and drawn by not-often-seen Michael Golden. Watch for it". An annual with this number was eventually released in 1991 as part of the '' Armageddon 2001'' crossover event, but contained a different story and was written by Roger Stern.
* '' All Star Batgirl'' – This series was announced at the Toronto Comic Book Expo in 2006. Geoff Johns and J. G. Jones were planning to work on the first six issues, which would present a connection between Barbara Gordon and Arkham Asylum. According to Johns, the series would feature "a mystery centering around Barbara Gordon's transformation into Batgirl", as in '' Batman: The Long Halloween''. The title was described as not taking place in the continuity of ''All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder''.
* ''All Star Comics'': "The Will of William Wilson" – An unpublished Justice Society of America story from the 1940s by writer Gardner Fox. A good amount of artwork from this story survived and has been reprinted in various publications from TwoMorrows Publishing. In addition, there were three other unused Justice Society scripts penned by Fox - "The Men of Magnifica", "The Emperors of Japan", and "Peril of the Paper Death".
* '' All Star Wonder Woman'' – This series was confirmed at the San Diego Comic Con 2006, with Adam Hughes announced as writer and artist. Hughes intended to retell the character's origin story, and described his approach to the series as an "iconic interpretation" of the character, but explained at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con International that the project was "in the freezer" for the time being, due to the difficulty involved in both writing and illustrating it himself. As of October 2010, a page on his website indicated that after the current ''Catwoman'' series ended with issue #82, Hughes would cease his DC cover work and focus on producing the six-issue ''All Star Wonder Woman'' series.
* '' Ambush Bug: Year None'' #6 – A six-issue miniseries, it skipped issue #6 and concluded with issue #7 instead. There was an 11-month gap between #5 (January 2009) and 7 (December 2009).
* ''Aquaman II'' miniseries – A miniseries by writer Neal Pozner and artist Craig Hamilton was published in 1986. A follow-up miniseries was planned, but cancelled due to Hamilton's difficulties with meeting deadlines.
* ''Batman: Dark Detective III'' – In 1977, writer Steve Englehart and artists Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin collaborated on a run of Batman stories in ''Detective Comics'' #469-476. A six-issue sequel miniseries titled ''Batman: Dark Detective'' was published in 2005. Englehart and Rogers planned a third series of stories, but Rogers' death on March 25, 2007, caused DC to cancel the project.
* ''Batman: The Art of Neal Adams'' – A collection of Adams' best Batman stories, including a cover gallery, was set for October 1992. Comprehensive collections of Adams' Batman work would later be released by DC beginning in the 2000s.
* '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' – Paul Kupperberg wrote two unused stories for this tie-in to the animated series of the same name featuring Plastic Man and Guy Gardner as co-stars.
* '' Batman: The Widening Gyre'' #7–12 – In 2010 Kevin Smith wrote a six-issue Batman miniseries called ''The Widening Gyre'', drawn by Walt Flanagan. The series was initially planned as 12 issues, with a long break planned between issues #6 and 7. After issue #6 was published, Smith and Flanagan's work on their reality show, ''Comic Book Men'', extended this planned break further than expected. It was decided in the interim to release the remaining issues as a separate six-issue miniseries to be called ''Batman: Bellicosity'' and scheduled for 2014 but, as of now, it remains unpublished.
* ''Batwoman'' miniseries – A miniseries created and written by Dennis O'Neil was planned around the time of Batman's 50th anniversary in 1989. It involved a new Batwoman character described as having more of a motivation to fight crime than the previous Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) and possibly even Batman himself.
* ''Before Watchmen: Epilogue'' – Originally solicited in 2013 as the conclusion to the ''Watchmen'' prequels, this one-shot issue was cancelled for unknown reasons.
* ''Black Canary'' miniseries – A miniseries by writer Greg Weisman and artist Mike Sekowsky was planned in 1984. The first issue of the series was pencilled, but the project was ultimately shelved due to the character being used in writer/artist Mike Grell's high-profile three-issue miniseries '' Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters''. Elements from the ill-fated project were used for Weisman's '' DC Showcase: Green Arrow'' short film.
* ''Blue Beetle'' direct market series – Following the cancellation of Blue Beetle's general market series in the late 1980s, a direct market-only series was set to follow. Originally, the plan was to end the first series with issue #21, but the planned follow-up was cancelled as well, due to the belief that there was no audience for a "1960s-type" character like Blue Beetle; as a result, the series ended with issue #24.
* '' Blue Devil'' #32–36 – ''Blue Devil'' #31 was to be the beginning of a six-part storyline intended to revive the title, but it became the final issue of the series instead, presumably containing elements of the unpublished story.
* ''Captain Atom'' graphic novel – A Cary Bates/Pat Broderick graphic novel was listed as "upcoming" in ''Amazing Heroes Preview Special'' #10, but was described as being on "permanent hiatus" in the following issue.
* ''Captain Atom'' miniseries – A six-issue ''Captain Atom'' miniseries was planned to begin in July 1992. Following the events of ''Armageddon 2001'' and ''Armageddon: The Alien Agenda'', Captain Atom was to fake his own death and give up being a superhero, but still had to face the problems associated with his former life. Jonathan Peterson was to write and Michael Netzer and Art Nichols were to be the artists.
* ''Checkmate Annual'' #1 – A 64-page annual was planned for 1989 featuring information about the fictional agency and its members, with a backup story involving the character Judomaster.
* ''Comics Cavalcade Weekly'' – Dave Gibbons provided the cover art for an unpublished comic featuring Superman and the newly acquired Charlton Comics heroes. The series, a weekly anthology, was to appear in 1985 and also tentatively titled ''Blockbuster'', but was presumably shelved following the launch of ongoing series for two of the featured characters, Blue Beetle and Question.
* ''Crisis on Captive Earth''/''Crisis of the Soul'' – Originally proposed as a 12-issue follow-up to ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', this story was developed by Paul Levitz, Len Wein, and Jerry Ordway, based on a pitch by Levitz. The main antagonists were the Corrupter, "a living catalyst for evil" who possesses a mysterious gem with ties to Gemworld, and the Manipulator, a rich and powerful man with "much potential for good and evil" who is secretly building a prison for super-villains. Plot points for the story would have included the creation of a new, U.S. government-sanctioned Justice League of America as the only official super-team, a new Freedom Fighters team made up of former Justice League, Titans, Legion of Super-Heroes, Outsiders and Infinity, Inc. members being formed, Star City being destroyed, Elongated Man being forced to kill to save his wife Sue Dibny, and Catwoman, Creeper and Red Tornado, among others, turning evil.Eury, Michael (April 2005) "Crisis of the Soul: the Sequel You Didn't See". ''Back Issue!'' Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (9): 46-50 Editorial issues led to the project's failure. While thought to have influenced ''Legends'', according to then DC editor Robert Greenberger, no elements of ''Crisis of the Soul'' made their way into ''Legends''.
* ''DC Comics Classics Library: Shazam! and the Monster Society of Evil'' – A hardcover reprint of this Golden Age storyline was cancelled in 2009.
* '' DC Comics Presents'': "In Homage" – A Superman/Thriller story by Robert Loren Fleming and Keith Giffen that was to be produced in the late fall of 1985.
* ''DC Comics Presents Annual'' by Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, and Romeo Tanghal – The Teen Titans were supposed to appear in a ''DC Comics Presents'' annual planned for 1984. That year saw the release of ''DC Comics Presents Annual'' #3, but it featured Captain Marvel as Superman's co-star. The Wolfman story may have been used for 1985's ''New Teen Titans Annual'' #1 as it guest-starred Superman, although the artists were Ed Hannigan and Mike DeCarlo.
* ''DC Double Comics Starring Supergirl and Superboy'' – After ''Supergirl''s cancellation with issue #23 and the planned cancellation of ''The New Adventures of Superboy'' after issue #55, both characters were slated to be published together in a 48-page follow-up series. Paul Kupperberg was to write both heroes, with art from Eduardo Barreto and Bob Oksner on the former and Carmine Infantino and Klaus Janson on the latter. The ''Superboy'' title was cancelled after issue #54 despite the next issue already being scripted, and the ''DC Double Comics'' series was halted due to the events of ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'', which led to both characters being written out of continuity.
* The " DC Implosion" – During the "DC Implosion", several DC Comics titles were abruptly cancelled, even though a number of the series had issues already completed and ready to be published. Eventually, DC Comics reprinted the stories in black and white to secure their copyright, under the title ''Cancelled Comic Cavalcade'', though this was a limited print run and was not available for sale. A few of the stories were published in other DC comics titles, though some were re-edited prior to publication.
* ''The Dead Lady of Clown Town'' – A Cordwainer Smith story optioned by DC for their line of classic science fiction adaptations. Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta were the creative team slated to produce the story.
* ''Firestorm: Corona'' – A graphic novel by Gerry Conway and Pat Broderick originally scheduled for Fall 1984 that was never published. According to Conway, the story for the graphic novel was completed, and a panel from the book appeared in ''Amazing Heroes Preview Special'' #1.
* ''The Flash'' by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman – An entry in the Winter 1986 ''Amazing Heroes Preview Special'' describes a new Flash series by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman. The main character is S.T.A.R. Labs technician MacKenzie Ryan, who possesses energy manipulation powers instead of superspeed. The book was removed from DC's schedule. A ''Flash'' series would be released the following year written by Mike Baron, starring former Kid Flash Wally West.
* ''The Flash'' (vol. 3) #13 – In response to a fan question on its blog "The Source" 's '' Flashpoint Friday'' feature, DC announced that May 2011's ''The Flash'' #12 would be the final issue of the series. At the time, no other details were provided.
* ''Freaks'' by John Byrne – ''Freaks'' appeared in a lithography plate published within the ''History of the DC Universe Portfolio'' in 1986. Byrne had originally pitched the series to DC, but the series for some reason never surfaced. With some changes, Byrne's concept fit in with his ''2112'' work to become the '' John Byrne's Next Men'' series published by Dark Horse Comics.
* ''Generations'' original plan – ''Generation Zero'' and ''Generation One'' were part of the original plans for DC's ''Generations'' event, which were changed after the departure of DC publisher Dan DiDio.
*''The Great Ten'' #10 – Although ''The Great Ten'' (by Tony Bedard and Scott McDaniel) was solicited and advertised as being a 10-issue miniseries, with each issue focusing on a different character, DC chose to end the series at #9 due to low sales.
* ''Green Lantern'': "Emerald Interlude" – A three-issue follow-up to the "Emerald Twilight" storyline by Paul Kupperberg, Peter Doherty, and Josef Rubinstein. It was planned to appear in ''Legends of the DC Universe'' before that title's cancellation.
* ''Green Lantern'': "Emerald Twilight" by Gerard Jones – The original storyline for "Emerald Twilight" (which was written by Gerard Jones and set to run in ''Green Lantern'' vol. 3 #48–50) involved a conflict between two separate groups of the Guardians of the Universe, and members of the Green Lantern Corps choosing sides. Though this story was advertised and even solicited, it was not considered interesting enough by editor Kevin Dooley, and was replaced with a different story (scripted by Ron Marz) that had Hal Jordan becoming Parallax and destroying the Corps. Jones' version of "Emerald Twilight" has not been published.
* ''Green Lantern'': "Eyes of the Beholders" – An inventory story by Paul Kupperberg with art by Rick Stasi and Bruce Patterson, which features various Justice League members recalling their earliest experiences with Green Lantern. Kupperberg published the script for this story in his book ''Son of the Unpublished Comic Book Scripts of Paul Kupperberg''.
* ''Green Lantern'': "The Image" – During Len Wein and Dave Gibbons' run on ''Green Lantern'' in the 1980s, Wein planned to introduce a superhero called Image whom he wanted to include in a potential spin-off. Despite being promoted in ''Amazing Heroes'' and DC's own preview comic ''DC Sampler'', the character never appeared during their run.
* ''Green Lantern Saga'' – A miniseries about the origins and history of the Green Lantern Corps, the Guardians of the Universe, and the planet Oa was planned for 1990. Science fiction authors such as Larry Niven were scheduled to write the series. Niven later wrote the 1992 one-shot ''Green Lantern: Ganthet's Tale''.
* ''Hellbent''/''King Hell'' – A two-issue miniseries and crossover by Rick Veitch that was planned for Summer 1989 and was going to tie into DC's mature titles at the time such as ''Green Arrow'', ''Hellblazer'', ''The Question'', ''Sandman'', and ''Swamp Thing''. The story was to involve the aftermath of Lucifer's stepping down as ruler of Hell, with one plot point involving the birth of the Swamp Thing's daughter Tefé Holland. A contract dispute with DC led Veitch to pull out of the crossover.
* '' Holy Terror, Batman!'' – A proposed 122-page graphic novel by Frank Miller, announced in 2006, but no longer a project associated with the Batman character or DC Comics. In 2010 Miller said that he was no longer working on the project. He stated in June the same year that ''Holy Terror'' was in progress, but without Batman. The book was eventually released by Legendary Comics as ''Holy Terror''.
* '' Hybrid'' – An ongoing series was planned for the Teen Titans foes, the Hybrid, for 1993, with Len Wein as the writer and Art Nichols and George Pérez as the artists.
* '' Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga Vol. 2'' – A hardcover book containing issues #5–18 and ''Annual'' #1 was solicited for release for July 2012, but was cancelled.
* ''JLA/Avengers'' – In 1983, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway were to be the co-writers of a ''JLA/Avengers'' intercompany crossover drawn by George Pérez. Editorial disputes between DC and Marvel caused the project's cancellation. It was not until 2003 that a crossover between the two teams was published, albeit in a completely different story by Kurt Busiek and Pérez. All of the original story's existing penciled art was published in the hardcover collection of the 2003 ''JLA/Avengers'' crossover.
* ''Justice League International'' – Following the three ''Justice League'' series being published at the time (''Justice League America'', ''Justice League Europe'', and ''Justice League International Quarterly''), a fourth series starring the Injustice League was in the planning stages for 1991, as well as a series featuring the Conglomerate, the superhero team which premiered in the first issue of the ''Quarterly'' title.
* ''Justice League of America'' – A story about the last case of the original Justice League of America by William Messner-Loebs and Adam Kubert. Listed in 1989's ''Amazing Heroes'' #157, DC declared it a "dead" project.
* ''Larry Harmon's Laurel and Hardy'' #2 – In 1972, DC published a single issue of a comic book series based on the ''Laurel and Hardy'' cartoon series produced by Larry Harmon. The cover for the unpublished second issue appears in ''The DC Vault''.
* ''The Legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table'' by Gerry Conway and Nestor Redondo

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