Cancelled Comics Cavalcade

[Lone Ranger]

This Xeroxed collection (in two volumes) of DC books that never hit the stands seems to have achieved an almost legendary status (at least in my mind).

Has anyone ever seen a copy of either volume?

Just how poor is the production quality?

Is there a hope in hell of DC ever putting it out as a b&w?

I think that there is a niche market ready to pounce on something like this.

[Jolly Mon]

I've never seen an actual volume, but I found a website a few years ago that had scans of all the pages. From which I printed out and assembled my own facsimiles. I don't know how many times the pages had been copied before they made it to the website, but by that time the quality was pretty bad. They're readable, but not pretty. Which is too bad because some of the things like "Green Team" would have been better if they been unreadable.:D

[Scott Shaw!]

I own second generation copies of CANCELLED COMICS CAVALCADE. Gerry Conway Xeroxed and bound them for me, using his original copies. Unfortunately, the technology wasn't nearly as advanced as it is now, and there are many cases of black areas "dropping out", lines breaking up, "speckling", etc. Each volume is about an inch and a half thick, but each page of art is printed on only one side of each piece of paper.

They're certainly of interest to longtime fans such as ourselves, but I doubt if the pages could be reproduced with any degree of fidelity.

Aloha,

Scott!

P.S.: Personally, I found the GREEN TEAM stories to be among the Oddest stories in this ODDBALL COMIC! -- SS!

[Cei-U!]

I've read big chucks of both volumes and I gotta say in all honesty most of these titles richly deserved their cancellations: they were generic, mid-70s DC pablum with mediocre, sometimes awful, stories and art (lots 'n' lots of bad Adams imitations). I'm sure a lot of folks would disagree about at least one of the books--I have an unjustifiable fondness for Freedom Fighters myself--but really, Cancelled Comics Cavalcade contains carloads of crap.

Cei-U!
I summon the blunt assessment!

[mortari]

I thought it was funny that the cancelled issue of Kamadi uses the cancelled issue of Sandman as filler.

Otherwise, I found the sight a few years ago, read what I wanted to, but if it came out as a trade or two I would love it. poor quality and all. Maybe with text pieces from the people involved. I know Bob Rozkis(sp?) posted what he was going to do with the Secret Society over at another site.

[Agentum]

I found them online so yes i have seen them.
A lot of second rate heroes and material it seems, like Black Lightning and Steel etc.
Most of it is readable but is not collored and sometimes not inked.

They say it printed on cheap paper so i guess the originals is quite poor quality.

I don't think they will print this and sell it, i mean should they really print unfiniched old comics? or should they finnish the job first?

Hunt them down as .cbr or .cbz files on DC++ or somewhere to see for yourself.

[Mark Wallace]

This Xeroxed collection (in two volumes) of DC books that never hit the stands seems to have achieved an almost legendary status (at least in my mind).

Has anyone ever seen a copy of either volume?

Just how poor is the production quality?

Is there a hope in hell of DC ever putting it out as a b&w?

I think that there is a niche market ready to pounce on something like this.
I've only seen electronic copies, too. The cancelled comics themselves are mostly pretty dire, but the intro pages made I larf (read the whole lot, including the indicia).

[MDG]

They say it printed on cheap paper so i guess the originals is quite poor quality.

I was talking to Robt Loren Fleming at a comic show in White Plains, NY, where he was dialoging pages of the second Ambush Bug mini on vellum over Giffen's original pencils. I told him I was surprised that he wasn't just using Xeroxes, and he told me that none of the copy machines at DC could copy pencil art decently. This was a few years after CCC.

MDG

[Lone Ranger]

Hunt them down as .cbr or .cbz files on DC++ or somewhere to see for yourself.

Sadly, I have no idea what any of the above means.

[Agentum]

Is the original art lost?
They began to give back the art to the artists in the 70s but maybe this was earlier so it was destroyed?

[Mark Wallace]

Sadly, I have no idea what any of the above means.
Google "DC++", and go from there.

I think talk of such matters is shunned, in CBR, so mum's the word.

[Reptisaurus!]

I've read big chucks of both volumes and I gotta say in all honesty most of these titles richly deserved their cancellations: they were generic, mid-70s DC pablum with mediocre, sometimes awful, stories and art (lots 'n' lots of bad Adams imitations). I'm sure a lot of folks would disagree about at least one of the books--I have an unjustifiable fondness for Freedom Fighters myself--but really, Cancelled Comics Cavalcade contains carloads of crap.

Cei-U!
I summon the blunt assessment!

There was a big feature on 'em in one issue of Comic Book Artist. And, yeah, they all looked fairly terrible. Nothing I'd be interested in.

[J'onn J'onzz]

Google "DC++", and go from there.

I think talk of such matters is shunned, in CBR, so mum's the word.

Shouldn't it be okay because they were never published though?

[Slam_Bradley]

Shouldn't it be okay because they were never published though?


No it isn't. The reason they were Xeroxed and "distributed" the way they were was to comply with the copyright laws as they stood at that time.

They are copyrighted work and posting them on a website is a violation.

[Chris CCL]

Scott,
This may interest you (and others).
I interviewed Bob Rozakis back in February and the whole topic was on Cancelled Comics Cavalcade (http://collectedcomicslibrary.blogspot.com/2006/02/collected-comics-library-podcast-56.html).
The segment runs almost 45 minutes. Many lights on the CCC myth are shed.
Enjoy and I'd like for you to comment on it after you listen,
Chris

[Mark Wallace]

No it isn't. The reason they were Xeroxed and "distributed" the way they were was to comply with the copyright laws as they stood at that time.

They are copyrighted work and posting them on a website is a violation.
Right. The only way DC will ever make any money out of that old tat is by suing people who download it.

That'd be a Hell of a corporate strategy -- how to lose the goodwill of your customers in one easy step.