History TroubledProduction / Comicbooks

* ''ComicBook/JLAAvengers'', the popular crossover between the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} and ComicBook/TheAvengers, languished for twenty years because Creator/{{DC|Comics}} and Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} couldn't decide on ''[[CavemenVsAstronautsDebate who would win in a fight]]''. The reason for this decision is now particularly clear: it was a major ExecutiveMeddling temper tantrum; Creator/JimShooter, who had just became head of Marvel prior, was incredibly pissed off that the ComicBook/XMen had teamed up with the ComicBook/TeenTitans and not with the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes, which was [[CreatorsPet something he held dearly]].

* For ''Franchise/XMen'', "Mutant Massacre" was the first big crossover between ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' and ''ComicBook/XFactor''. Also, ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'', ''ComicBook/NewMutants'', ''ComicBook/PowerPack'', and ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' [[note]](though this one's issue explicitly took place after the main storyline)[[/note]] took part for tie-in issues. It would make for 12 issues total. According to Walt Simonson, the idea was to craft the story in such a way that you can follow along if you only read one of the given titles, but that you'd also be rewarded with a more complex tale if you read all of the issues. The average X-Fan would get a major story, while those who only read the other books wouldn't be bogged down. There was even a flow chart included in some issues telling readers how the various issues intersected. While the story was well-received, came out on time, and was the beginning of a trend of ''X-Men'' crossovers, ''X-Factor'' writer Louise Simonson described the required coordination to pull it off as a horrible experience. In order for the story to make sense, there were many lengthy phone calls, as well as many different scripts to go over and keep track of. It is perhaps no coincidence that the next major crossover ("Fall of the Mutants") did not see the participating titles intersect.

** Right off the bat, there was already trouble as it seemed that no one had any idea what was what. ''Green Lantern'' and ''Batman''[='s=] titles started up as if it was still the old continuity. Lines in stories suggested one thing and were later contradicted elsewhere: Martian Manhunter became a Schrödinger's Leaguer as he apparently was and wasn't a member of the team at one point while the Tim Drake Robin mentioned past teams of Teen Titans before a trade paperback erased that line, and whether Tim was ever Robin at all changed. Heck, poor George Perez had no idea if Ma and Pa Kent were alive in this continuity because he couldn't contact Grant Morrison, who was writing Superman's new origin story.

** For ''Sonic Adventure 2''[='s=], the big problem was that Sega was insistent on Archie creating a tie-in into the game. Archie's solution? Just do enough to whet people's appetite and go get the game, by quite literally pulling Sonic out of an ongoing storyline and into a recreation of the game’s first level. Still was enough to ruin a side-by-side storyline that had a cosmically-powered Knuckles altering Mobius drastically.

** After failing to find a replacement artist, in the words of Eastman, Tundra "threw up [their] arms in just ultimate frustration" and cancelled the book. Moore later stated that he wouldn't summon the energy to finish it if he didn't get any assurances that it would be completed, acknowledging that ''Big Numbers'' was possibly an "impossible" project for any artist. Considering Moore's retirement from comics in 2019, it's probably a safe bet that the title will never be revived.

* ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'' owes its existence to this. The original plan, the "Generation Five" initiave, was for all of DC's titles to have a big TimeSkip following the DCU getting another facelift courtesy of Wally West using the powers of Doctor Manhattan and the Mobius Chair to create a new, solidified timeline for the DCU. This would've seen characters active for decades and legacy heroes taking their place, and a new timeline was even shown off by DC at conferences (which leaked to the public). Creative teams were put into place and the setup was completed. However, many creators weren't happy with the idea, which was primarily the work of Creator/DanDiDio. Eventually, due to DC restructuring as a company, [=DiDio=] was let go, and it was decided to not go ahead with Generation Five. Instead, DC made ''ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal'' the lead-in to another sort of un-boot, that saw the reintroduction of most pre-Crisis canon and continuing stories from there on. To make time for this, and because some of the work for Generation Five was already completed, it was instead repurposed for ''Future State'', and some of would go on to appear in the main DCU.
* The Creator/ImageComics[=/=]Creator/ValiantComics crossover ''ComicBook/{{Deathmate}}'' was the victim of both companies having conflicting philosophies on comic book production. Valiant created their half of the crossover with a tight editorial leash, but Image let their own artists and writers do whatever they wanted, contributing to the comics' disjointed feel. That neither company knew each other's characters, resulting in lots of {{out of character moment}}s, didn't help. Worst of all, however, was that while Valiant's half came on time (owing to their strict adherence to deadlines and shipping schedules), Image's half, like much of their work, was [[ScheduleSlip infamously late]]. So late, in fact, that by the time their half was published, interest in the series had dried up, leaving comic shops that had pre-ordered the series with piles of unsellable comics, which helped set off UsefulNotes/TheGreatComicsCrashOf1996. It also served as a CreatorKiller for Valiant.

** Initially ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' wasn't meant to be what lead to the creation of the New 52, but a simple story in that run of ''ComicBook/TheFlash''. However, it was ultimately decided to make it the story that changed DC's continuity, thus writers were only given 3-4 months in advanced to wrap up, leading to CutShort stories. For instance, ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}}'' ends with Stephanie Brown being hit with Black Mercy and being shown stories the writer had planned.

* Anything that isn't part of the mainstream Creator/MarvelComics tends to suffer from this. One of the more documented ones was ComicBook/TheNewUniverse. Touted as "The World Outside Your Window", the franchise fell apart from the beginning - writers tossed in 616-type elements (aliens, powered armors, etc.), financial backers pulled out before it even started, and people were too engrossed by that slogan. Despite canceling half of the franchise and starting a massive storyline that began with the destruction of UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}, it never got off its feet and died nearly three years later.

* What do you get when you have a serious case of ScheduleSlip, two acclaimed creators suffering from low-key [[CreatorBreakdown Creator Breakdowns]], and a third creator who bails after taking the money? You get the still-unfinished graphic novel ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UCDgTGenyk Big Numbers]]'':

** After failing to find a replacement artist, in the words of Eastman, Tundra "threw up [their] arms in just ultimate frustration" and cancelled the book. Moore later stated that he wouldn't summon the energy to finish it if he didn't get any assurances that it would be completed, acknowledging that ''Big Numbers'' was possibly an "impossible" project for any artist.

** After failing to find a replacement artist, in the words of Eastman, Tundra "threw up [their] arms in just ultimate frustration" and cancelled the book. Moore later stated that he wouldn't summon the energy to finish it if didn't have any assurances that it would be completed, acknowledging that ''Big Numbers'' was possibly an "impossible" project for any artist.

** Writer Creator/AlanMoore, coming off the success of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', conceived of the twelve-issue book--an anti-[[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher Thatcher]] polemic about English villagers who are affected by the construction of a shopping mall--as a vehicle for his creator-controlled company, Mad Love Publishing, with Bill Sienkiewicz handling the art. Indie artist Al Columbia, then 18 years old, was taken on as Sienkiewicz's assistant.

** Writer Creator/AlanMoore, coming off the success of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', conceived of the twelve-issue book--an anti-[[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher Thatcher]] polemic about the inhabitants of an English village who are affected by the construction of a shopping mall--as a vehicle for his creator-controlled company, Mad Love Publishing, with Bill Sienkiewicz handling the art. Indie artist Al Columbia, then 18 years old, was taken on as Sienkiewicz's assistant.

** Writer Creator/AlanMoore, coming off the success of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', conceived of the twelve-issue book--about the inhabitants of an English village who are affected by the construction of a shopping mall--as a vehicle for his creator-controlled company, Mad Love Publishing, with Bill Sienkiewicz handling the art. Indie artist Al Columbia, then 18 years old, was taken on as Sienkiewicz's assistant.

** The real problems began with the art. Sienkiewicz's style was time-consuming and heavily dependent on photo reference--each of the forty-five characters were based on real friends he used as models. This became a logistical nightmare, as they weren't professional models and often had scheduling conflicts. Worse still, the woman who served as the model for the story's central character got married and moved to Germany. This led to a four-month delay between Issue 1 and Issue 2, and a noticeable change in the artwork between Issue 2 and the unpublished Issue 3.

** The real problems began with the art. Sienkiewicz's style was heavily dependent on photo reference--each of the forty-five individual characters were based on real friends he used as models. This quickly became a logistical nightmare, as they weren't professional models and often had scheduling conflicts. Worse still, the woman who served as the model for the story's central character got married and moved to Germany. This led to a four-month delay between Issue 1 and Issue 2, and a noticeable change in the artwork between Issue 2 and the unpublished Issue 3.
** Both creators, especially Moore, were dealing with personal issues during production. Moore had to look for a new publisher after he broke up with his romantic partners, who folded Mad Love and subsequently disappeared with a portion of his earnings. After Moore took the title to [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Kevin Eastman]]'s Tundra Publishing, Sienkiewicz asked to leave the series. Columbia took over art duties starting with Issue 4, as he could mimic Sienkiewicz's style, and was given an advance payment.
** Unfortunately, Columbia--allegedly resentful of the fact that he had only been hired to copy another artist without a creative outlet for himself--was slow and couldn't produce material. But as he was [[OnlyInItForTheMoney enjoying the money he was receiving]], he pretended that everything was going smoothly and [[BlatantLies told his editor]] that he had completed Issue 4. The night before his scheduled deadline, Columbia destroyed the few pages he had produced, emptied out his studio, and disappeared.
** After failing to find a replacement artist, in the words of Eastman, Tundra "threw up [their] arms in just ultimate frustration" and cancelled the book. Moore later stated that he wouldn't summon the energy to finish it if didn't have any assurances that it would be completed, acknowledging that ''Big Numbers'' was possibly an "impossible" task for any artist.

* David Herbert apparently attracts this kind of production with all his works except ''[[http://www.livingwithinsanity.com/index/ Living With Insanity]]''. ''[[http://www.tnemrot.com/ Tnemrot]]'' was supposed to be a print comic and was written in late 2008, going through seven artists before Tatiana Lepikhina joined and is now a webcomic. ''[[http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3429 Gemini Storm]]'' was also written at the same time, came out in March 2010, and the second issue is still expected to take another month or two before being released. He has also mentioned other projects that haven't gone anywhere due to artists dropping out or simply disappearing.

* [[ComicBook/JLAAvengers The popular crossover]] between the Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}} and ComicBook/TheAvengers languished for 20 years because Creator/{{DC|Comics}} and Creator/{{Marvel|Comics}} couldn't decide on ''[[CavemenVsAstronautsDebate who would win in a fight]]''. The reason for this decision is now particularly clear: it was a major ExecutiveMeddling temper tantrum; Creator/JimShooter, who had just became head of Marvel prior, was incredibly pissed off that the ComicBook/XMen had teamed up with the ComicBook/TeenTitans and not with the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes, which was [[CreatorsPet something he held dearly]].
* Anything that isn't part of the mainstream Creator/MarvelComics tends to suffer from this. One of the more documented ones was ComicBook/TheNewUniverse. Touted as "The World Outside Your Window", the franchise fell apart from the beginning - writers tossed in 616-type elements (aliens, powered armors, etc.), financial backers pulled out before it even started, and people were too engrossed by that slogan. Despite canceling half of the franchise and starting a massive storyline that began with the destruction of UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}, it never got off its feet and died nearly three years later.
** ''ComicBook/{{Newuniversal}}'' suffered an equally crushing blow when the files on Creator/WarrenEllis' laptop were lost when his hard drive failed. Marvel shuffled him on to other projects and ''newuniversal'' died an inglorious death.
** ''ComicBook/Marvel2099'', which depicted a futuristic Franchise/MarvelUniverse as a CyberPunk dystopia, wasn't the greatest, but when Marvel let go of its editor-in-chief for that line as a cost-cutting measure thanks to its near-bankruptcy, many of its creators bailed due to their dislike of his replacement, leaving the series to limp to its end.

* DC's ComicBook/New52 was meant to be a fresh new start for DC to pick up flagging sales and draw in new readers, but the entire push was one big Troubled Production:
** Initially ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' wasn't meant to be what lead to the creation of the New 52, but a simple story in that run of ''ComicBook/TheFlash''. However, it was ultimately decided to make it the story that changed DC's continuity, thus writers were only given 3-4 months in advanced to wrap up, leading to CutShort stories. For instance, ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}}'' ends with Stephanie Brown being hit with Black Mercy and being shown stories the writer had planned.
** Right off the bat, there was already trouble as it seemed that no one had any idea what was what. ''Green Lantern'' and ''Batman''[='s=] titles started up as if it was still the old continuity. Lines in stories suggested one thing and were later contradicted elsewhere: Martian Manhunter became a Schrödinger's Leaguer as he apparently was and wasn't a member of the team at one point while the Tim Drake Robin mentioned past teams of Teen Titans before a trade paperback erased that line, and whether Tim was ever Robin at all changed. Heck, poor George Perez had no idea if Ma and Pa Kent were alive in this continuity because he couldn't contact Grant Morrison, who was writing Superman's new origin story.
** Creators bolted from the books due to the complete and utter mess they were given and rampant ExecutiveMeddling -- the aforementioned George Perez quit ''Superman'' early on because of lack of communication; J.H. Williams bolted from both ''Batwoman'' and ''Earth-2'' when they refused to let Kate Kane marry Maggie Sawyer; Joshua Hale Fialkov was hired to take over ''Green Lantern'' only to quit when it was revealed that they wanted him to kill John Stewart; Andy Diggle quit ''Action Comics'' right after he'd been hired to write the book; Gail Simone was initially fired from ''Batgirl'', then rehired back on the book, only to quit because she got tired of the bleak stories they wanted her to write... only for her replacements to immediately write the happy-go-lucky type of stories she wanted to write. Rob Liefeld was hired for 3 books, later quitting quite loudly for the same reasons.
** There were stories of editorial demanding eleventh-hour changes to comic book storylines that had already been reviewed and approved in advance, which meant extra work for creative teams, without extra pay to compensate for the additional work. The Batwoman marriage was one example: it had already been given the go-head when editorial retracted their approval.
* By February 2020, Marvel was gearing up for two major events - ''ComicBook/{{Empyre}}'', which saw the Avengers and Fantastic Four team up to stop an alien invasion, and ''ComicBook/{{Outlawed}}'', which saw Marvel's teen heroes deemed criminals due to a new law. However, the next month, the entire comic book industry came to a complete standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When Marvel resumed production, it was at a staggered pace that saw certain tie-ins cancelled and many of the ''Outlawed'' story beats slowly being released.
* ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'' owes its existence to this. The original plan, the "Generation Five" initiave, was for all of DC's titles to have a big TimeSkip following the DCU getting another facelift courtesy of Wally West using the powers of Doctor Manhattan and the Mobius Chair to create a new, solidified timeline for the DCU. This would've seen characters active for decades and legacy heroes taking their place, and a new timeline was even shown off by DC at conferences (which leaked to the public). Creative teams were put into place and the setup was completed. However, many creators weren't happy with the idea, which was primarily the work of Creator/DanDiDio. Eventually, due to DC restructuring as a company, [=DiDio=] was let go, and it was decided to not go ahead with Generation Five. Instead, DC made ''ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal'' the lead-in to another sort of un-boot, that saw the reintroduction of most pre-Crisis canon and continuing stories from there on. To make time for this, and because some of the work for Generation Five was already completed, it was instead repurposed for ''Future State'', and some of would go on to appear in the main DCU.

** For ''Sonic Adventure 2''[='s=], the big problem was that Sega was insistent on Archie creating a tie-in into the game. Archie's solution? Just do enough to whet people's appetite and go get the game. Still was enough to ruin a side-by-side storyline that had a cosmically-powered Knuckles altering Mobius drastically.

** Initially ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' wasn't meant to be what lead to the creation of the New 52, but a simple story in that run of ''ComicBook/TheFlash''. However, it was ultimately decided to make it the story that changed DC's continuity, thus writers were only given 3-4 months in advanced to wrap up, leading to CutShort stories. For instance, ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}}'' ends with Stephanie Brown being hit with Black Mercy and being shown stories the writer would have had planned.
** Right off the bat, there was already trouble as it seemed that no one had any idea what was what. ''Green Lantern'' and ''Batman''[='s=] titles started up as if it was still the old continuity. Lines in stories suggested one thing and was later contradicted elsewhere: Martian Manhunter became a Schrödinger's Leaguer as he was apparently was and wasn't a member of the team at one point while the Tim Drake Robin mentioned past teams of Teen Titans before a trade paperback erased that line. Heck, poor George Perez had no idea if Ma and Pa Kent were alive in this continuity because he couldn't contact Grant Morrison, who was writing Superman's new origin story.
** DC opted to jump straight into many event comics rather than establish a status quo, meaning that readers would basically be thrust right into event comics starring versions of characters they barely knew - the first event, The Culling was launched less than a year after the New 52 began, and by the time the New 52 ended, there had been a total of ''32 events over the course of 5 years.''
** The aforementioned Rob Liefeld was hired for 3 books, later quitting quite loudly.
** Creators bolted from the books due to the complete and utter mess they were given and rampant ExecutiveMeddling -- the aforementioned George Perez quit ''Superman'' early on because of lack of communication; J.H. Williams bolted from both ''Batwoman'' and ''Earth-2'' when they refused to let Kate Kane marry Maggie Sawyer; Joshua Hale Fialkov was hired to take over ''Green Lantern'' only to quit when it was revealed that they wanted him to kill John Stewart; Andy Diggle quit ''Action Comics'' right after he'd been hired to write the book; Gail Simone was initially fired from ''Batgirl'', then rehired back on the book, only to quit because she got tired of the bleak stories they wanted her to write... only for her replacements to immediately write the happy-go-lucky type of stories she wanted to write.

** Creators bolted from the books due to the complete and utter mess they were given and rampant ExecutiveMeddling -- the aforementioned George Perez quit ''Superman'' early on because of lack of communication; J.H. Williams bolted from both ''Batwoman'' and ''Earth-2'' when they refused to let Kate Kane marry Maggie Sawyer; Joshua Hale Fialkov was hired to take over ''Green Lantern'' only to quit when it was revealed that they wanted him to kill John Stewart; Gail Simone was initially fired from ''Batgirl'', then rehired back on the book, only to quit because she got tired of the bleak stories they wanted her to write... only for her replacements to immediately write the happy-go-lucky type of stories she wanted to write.