History BookEnds / ComicBooks

** ''Justice League: A Midsummer's Nightmare'', the miniseries that set-up ''ComicBook/JLA1997'', saw Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Wally West Flash, the Kyle Rayner Green Lantern, and the Martian Manhunter deal with (an enslaved) Dr. Destiny. While Creator/MarkWaid would ignore it in favor of presenting ''JLA'' #50[[note]]the issue where Batman rejoins the League after ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmericaTowerOfBabel''[[/note]] as the first time since the mini they met, Morrison ends his run with Oracle informing them that Dr. Destiny was stirring up trouble and them heading off to stop him.

* On the cover of the first issue of the ''Series/{{ALF}}'' comic book, ALF is [[https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_large/0/4/47516-4042-56900-1-alf.jpg beholding a large stock photo of himself]] and exclaiming, "Creator/RobertRedford!" The last issue cover featured [[https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_large/0/4/47556-4042-56940-1-alf.jpg the same scene]], except the photo is now stamped "CANCELLED!" and ALF declares, [[SubvertedCatchPhrase "Ha! They KILL me!"]]

** Peter David's book: In the first issue's cover, main character Linda is holding her skateboard. In the last panel of final storyline ''ComicBook/ManyHappyReturns'', ComicBook/LoisLane is holding it.

** The series begins and ends with [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:52_1.jpg similar]] [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:52_52.jpg covers]] (emphasizing Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/{{Batman}}, and Franchise/WonderWoman's absence during the TimeSkip that took place after ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'').

* ''Titans'' (as in grown-up Comicbook/TeenTitans) #15 has [[http://g.imagehost.org/view/0920/01_7 this]] example of Comicbook/{{Aquaman}} at the start of the book, an outcast of his people, leading Atlantis, and [[http://g.imagehost.org/view/0207/22_2 Tempest]], Aquaman's former sidekick Aqualad, as an outcast of his people, leading Atlantis.
* The ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' story "In Dreams" starts and ends with Samaritan dreaming about flying.
* The ''Comicbook/BatmanTomKing'' storyline "The Gift" begins and ends with Booster Gold watching an AU version of a Justice Leaguer killing themselves with a single headshot. The first time, while he's a bit shocked, he thinks it's kind of cool, because [[ExpendableAlternateUniverse it's not like it's the real Hal]], right? The second time [[spoiler: having got to know Alt!Bruce, gone a bit mad, and realised that this is ''all his fault'', he has a total breakdown]].
* One Batman story begins with Batman trying and failing to convince the parole board not to let Penguin out of prison. He watches Penguin closely, convinced that he's up to something. It turns out that Penguin is providing legitimate jobs to other ex-cons, and being secretive because under the terms of his parole he's not allowed to associate with them. The story ends with Batman trying and failing to convince the parole board to overlook the violation.
* ''ComicBook/BlackestNight'' begins and ends with [[Comicbook/GreenLantern Hal Jordan]] and [[ComicBook/TheFlash Barry Allen]] talking in front of Franchise/{{Batman}}'s grave. Likewise, the [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090716030736/marvel_dc/images/1/18/Blackest_Night_Vol_1_1.jpg cover]] for ''Blackest Night'' #1 is the Batman clone's skull spewing Black Lantern Rings, while [[http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110428213736/marvel_dc/images/8/81/Brightest_Day_24_Variant.jpg one of the covers]] for ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'' #24 is a similar image of [[spoiler:Comicbook/SwampThing]] spewing White Lantern Rings.
* Part of the opening scene of ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}'' has Smiley Bone unexpectedly charging Phoney Bone a dollar for a random tattered map he found on the ground. Phoney's angry reluctance to pay this impromptu fee causes Fone Bone to chide him that they're lost in the middle of the desert, so he should cough up the dollar. The very last scene repeats this occurrence, with the map replaced by one of their food rations.

* In the first set of ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'', there's a bookend that occurs within the main storyline while Cutter and Leetah have been struck by "Recognition", a biological imperative that's trying to force them to mate and have kids. In one scene [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ03/DisplayOQ03.html?page=12 Cutter knocks on the window of Leetah's hut]] to demand why she's continuing to resist, and she angrily rebuffs him. It's probably not a spoiler-worthy surprise that she eventually gives in, and the scene is bookended by [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ05/DisplayOQ05.html?page=28 Cutter knocking at her window again]], only this time it's to invite her to make love under the stars. Aaaah.

* ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'' begins with ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} sitting alone in his shitty apartment, watching TV and lusting after Creator/BeaArthur. The scene is revisited in panel-for-panel recreations a couple of times throughout the series, and then the final issue ends with Deadpool sitting alone in his shitty apartment, watching TV... and then being joined by his friends.
* Chapter 1 of ''ComicBook/DaisyKutter'' opens with Daisy getting bored of her mundane, non-outlaw life running a General Store. She picks up a toy gun and practices trick shots before heading to Middleton's Poker Night with ex-boyfriend and current town Sheriff Tom [=McKay=] -- Daisy plays, while Tom marshals the event. Chapter 4 ends the same way, except that [[spoiler: Daisy has taken over as the Sheriff of Middleton while Tom is adjusting to life in a wheelchair, and she's messing around with a toy gun in his old office before heading off to Poker Night with him. Daisy is supposed to marshal, but she winds up playing a few hands]].

* The ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' story "Tygers" has a prologue and epilogue depicting [[DeathByOriginStory Abin Sur's plummet into Earth]]. Both begin with the words, "Years later, he died," and both end with the words, "He fell...and all the way down, in his mind, he could hear them laughing."

* ''ComicBook/HulkTheEnd'': The story begins with an elderly Bruce Banner narrating about how he feels cold, and proceeding to bitterly remark that ''he'' can't feel the cold. After the Hulk (the aforementioned "he") [[DeathOfPersonality kills]] Banner for good and is finally, truly alone [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor just like he always wanted]], the Hulk's narration lowers to a whisper as he comes to grips with what that truly means:

* ''ComicBook/ImmortalIronFist'' begins its first and final issues with Danny being held at gunpoint by ComicBook/{{Hydra}} soldiers.
* ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'':

* In ''ComicBook/KickAss'', Volume 3 ends the same way Volume 1 began; with some loon trying to fly from the roof of an NYC skyscraper, drawn almost identically to the panels in the original. [[spoiler:This time, instead of his plummeting to his death in a dark illustration of just how ridiculous the idea of super-heroes really is, he actually pulls it off and soars into the air]].
* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'''s ''ComicBook/TheKillingJoke'', which begins and ends with a shot of rain hitting the ground, and the joke which is starting in the beginning is completed at the conclusion.
* Ignoring ''New Year's Evil: Gog'', ''ComicBook/{{The Kingdom|DCComics}}'' begins with what is presumably the Golden Age/Earth-2 Franchise/{{Superman}} flying over his version of Metropolis banging on a sky barrier, being imprisoned on what appears to be a copy of Earth-2, and ends with him in the sky realizing that the barrier is now gone and that he can fly right past it, [[AsideGlance giving a wink to the reader]] that someday he will. Whether that was actually the same Golden Age Superman as the one who went into the paradise dimension with his wife Lois Lane, Alexander Luthor, Jr. from Earth-3, and Superboy of Earth-Prime near the end of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' was left ambiguous at the time.

* The first issue of ''ComicBook/MarvelMysteryComics'' (just called ''Marvel Comics'') featured the origin story of the (Golden Age) Human Torch. The final issue (before a rename and retool) retold the Torch's origin story.
* ''ComicBook/MarvelZombies'' begins with the Zombie Sentry going into Earth-2149 from his dimension. Marvel Zombies Return ends with him [[StableTimeLoop leaving his dimension to Earth-2149.]]
* In the short story in ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyMicroSeries'' Issue #3 [[spoiler:Hayseed's face at being heartbroken after initially meeting Rarity is matched at the end when Spike claims Rarity's taken.]]
* The most recent ''ComicBook/{{Punisher}}: War Journal''[='=]s first issue involved Frank killing Stilt-Man. The last issue was about Frank deciding not to kill the Stilt-Man gang.
* Creator/GailSimone's run of ComicBook/RedSonja opened with Sonja sleeping off a hangover when she is attacked by three thieves. Simone's final scene before passing Sonja off to another writer was a nun scribing Sonja's story, beginning with the same attack.

* In an odd meta example, the first run of ''ComicBook/HowlingCommandos'' began and ended with the same ''story'', as the last issue reprinted the story from their debut.
* The second run of ''ComicBook/SheHulk'' (basically Creator/JohnByrne's run) has the first cover telling readers that if they don't buy her comic, she's coming over to their house and ripping up their ''Franchise/XMen'' comics. The final issue's cover has her telling them to hand them over.

* The first and last issues of ''ComicBook/StrangersInParadise'' have nearly the same covers; the first showing Francine and Katchoo in an art gallery as young girls, and the last issue showing them in the same pose as mature women.
* ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}:

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''ComicBook/TheSuperiorFoesOfSpiderMan'' begins and climaxes with Boomerang throwing a baseball game and being forced to become a criminal. Notably, the two events are similar but end up having completely different meanings; the first time was his StartOfDarkness, but the second time serves as his ultimate failure to escape the supervillain lifestyle.

* ''Franchise/{{Tintin}} and the Picaros'' uses two very similar panels to show that despite [[spoiler:Alcazar's regime replacing Tapioca's]], nothing has changed for the ordinary people.

* A one-issue set of bookends happened in ''ComicBook/XWingRogueSquadron'' #5, the first part of The Phantom Affair arc. [[http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/8814/blz02ps6.jpg "When you are a child]], the world is full of wonders. [[http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/7556/blz03ws7.jpg When you grow up]], though, wonders tend to have more mundane explanations." [[http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/5400/blz25fd4.jpg "The world is]] full of wonders when you're a child. But sometimes, just sometimes, even a grown-up can meet with one."
* ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'' begins with Yorick in a straitjacket (practicing to be an escape artist) while on the phone to his girlfriend, asking her if she knew that Elvis had a stillborn twin brother. In the last issue, he poses the same question to [[spoiler: one of his clones, who doesn't even know who Elvis is]]. He's in a straitjacket again, this time because [[spoiler: he's been placed on suicide watch]].

* ''ComicBook/DaredevilEndOfDays'': To Bendis and Mack's first DD story in the early 2000s, ''Wake Up''. In the back matter of the series hardcover, Mack notes this was an unexpected side effect. They were even able to use the same real-life kid as the model for Timmy, all grown up in the time that's passed between ''Wake Up'' and this. Possible FridgeBrilliance there in-story: Some of the dialogue suggests Timmy is not biologically Ben's son and that he lives with Ben because years before Matt Murdock brought Timmy there. Take another look at the ending to ''Wake Up'': Urich adopted Timmy, and Matt kept an eye on the kid.

* Ignoring ''New Year's Evil: Gog'', ''ComicBook/{{The Kingdom|DCComics}]'' begins with what is presumably the Golden Age/Earth-2 Franchise/{{Superman}} flying over his version of Metropolis banging on a sky barrier, being imprisoned on what appears to be a copy of Earth-2, and ends with him in the sky realizing that the barrier is now gone and that he can fly right past it, [[AsideGlance giving a wink to the reader]] that someday he will. Whether that was actually the same Golden Age Superman as the one who went into the paradise dimension with his wife Lois Lane, Alexander Luthor, Jr. from Earth-3, and Superboy of Earth-Prime near the end of ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' was left ambiguous at the time.

** The covers to the first and last issues of John Arcudi's run both depict the rest of the team reflecting in Robotman's head.

** At the beginning of the story, Morrigan carries Setanta away as a baby to her lair at Brunaboyne. The final battle takes place around the same mound.

* The first isue of ''ComicBook/MarvelMysteryComics'' (just called ''Marvel Comics'') featured the origin story of the (Golden Age) Human Torch. The final issue (before a rename and retool) retold the Torch's origin story.

** Morrigan begins and ends the story with the assertion that she is the LastOfHerKind and that she was there during the events of the story unlike any other storyteller.

----

* In the first set of ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'', there's a book end that occurs within the main storyline while Cutter and Leetah have been struck by "Recognition", a biological imperative that's trying to force them to mate and have kids. In one scene [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ03/DisplayOQ03.html?page=12 Cutter knocks on the window of Leetah's hut]] to demand why she's continuing to resist, and she angrily rebuffs him. It's probably not a spoiler-worthy surprise that she eventually gives in, and the scene is bookended by [[http://www.elfquest.com/gallery/OnlineComics/OQ/OQ05/DisplayOQ05.html?page=28 Cutter knocking at her window again]], only this time it's to invite her to make love under the stars. Aaaah.

* In an odd meta example, the first run of ''ComicBook/HowlingCommandos'' began and ended with the same ''[[UpToEleven story]]'', as the last issue reprinted the story from their debut.

* Ignoring the prologue story from "New Year's Evil", ''ComicBook/TheKingdomDC'' begins with what appears to be the Golden Age Franchise/{{Superman}} pounding away at the sky, being imprisoned on what appears to be a copy of Earth-2, and ends with him in the sky realizing that the barrier is now gone and that he can fly right past it, [[AsideGlance giving a wink to the reader]] that someday he will.

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', more subtly than most examples, begins and ends on the words "wake up".[[note]]Well, discounting the three "epilogue" issues following ''The Wake''.[[/note]]

* ''ComicBook/FiftyTwo'' begins and ends with [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:52_1.jpg similar]] [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/File:52_52.jpg covers]] (emphasizing Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/{{Batman}}, and Franchise/WonderWoman's absence during the TimeSkip that took place after ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'').

** Sterling Gates started and ended [[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 his run]] by using a Cat Grant news piece. In the first issue, Cat wrote an article titled: "Why the World Doesn't Need a Supergirl". In the final issue, she wrote a kind of reluctant recantation: "The world needs a Supergirl".

* ''ComicBook/TheImmortalIronFist'' begins its first and final issues with Danny being held at gunpoint by ComicBook/{{Hydra}} soldiers.