History AbortedArc / ComicBooks

* For readers versed in [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] {{superhero}}es, it is almost obvious that supporting character Mary Kramer from ''Stars and STRIPE'' was intended to be the new Merry the Gimmick Girl. She had a similar name (Mary Kramer vs. Merry Creamer), had red hair and was good with technology. She was even seen looking into a box with Merry's costume. This never happened, however, since ''Stars and STRIPE'' was canceled and the Star-Spangled Kid moved to Creator/GeoffJohns' other book, JSA (where she eventually became Stargirl) and Creator/GrantMorrison ended up creating a brand new "Gimmick Girl" homage for the Comicbook/SevenSoldiers of Victory mini-series.

*** The ending implied that the Reverse-Flashes of the Silver and Modern Age would be teaming up again (they had briefly worked together one time previously). Hunter Zolomon, the second Reverse-Flash, had lost his powers but approached Eobard Thawne, the first Reverse-Flash, and told him that they could make each other "better". Within the story itself, Eobard had used one of Hunter's signature moves and even explicitly said he learned the trick from Hunter. Then ''Flashpoint'', a Flash story ''by the same writer'' rebooted the DC Universe, and Zolomon and Thawne didn't exist in this universe for ''years'', as a new Reverse-Flash was introduced and seemingly was the first. Later, Eobard would be reintroduced (and even later, he'd regain his pre-Flashpoint history and memories) and use some more of Hunter's signature moves. About a year later, Hunter ''would'' return, but his machinations don't seem to involve Thawne at all -- in fact, by the time Hunter returned, ''Thawne'' was dead!

** Years prior to this, there was the ill-fated Titans L.A. spin-off that was planned. The group was first hinted at in the ''Beast Boy'' mini-series, the seeds were planted in a ''Titans Annual'', and the team finally assembled in the ''Titans Secret Files'' one-shot only to...never appear again. Comicbook/{{Cyborg}} later confirmed that the team had disbanded with a HandWave line of dialogue. Then it's revealed that Terra II was apparently the ''real'' Terra all along. Terra II fell into obscurity before this could go anywhere, and ended up being killed off the next time she made a significant appearance. The whole reveal was later {{retcon}}ned itself, as it turned out Terra II was indeed an impostor, albeit one with IdentityAmnesia. Although, this explanation in turn is similar to Marv Wolfman's original intent for the character, before the later ''New Titans'' editor (Pat Garrahy) had mandated a story to imply the two Terras were the same (which Geoff Johns and Ben Raab intended to expand upon with their reveal).

* ''Comicbook/XMen'' has had multiple versions of them: the Baby version of Age of Apocalypse, how Comicbook/{{Psylocke}} and ComicBook/JeanGrey switched powers, evil Nurse Annie being sold off into bondage to Elias Bogan by her evil son, Sebastian Shaw being courted by Comicbook/{{Apocalypse}}, ComicBook/{{Magneto}} joining forces with the Neo, Comicbook/KittyPryde supposedly having some sort of connection to the Neo, the mystery mutant that was present outside the Sentinel base in Uncanny X-Men #57-59, etc. One of the most infamous examples was the "Externals" plotline from Creator/RobLiefeld's ''Comicbook/XForce''. This secretive bloodline of mutants, all possessing immortality in addition to their mutant power, were built up to be the next big thing, with two former {{Big Bad}}s revealed to be members of the group, as was a member of the team, whom the others seemed to have various vaguely-defined "plans" for. However, Liefeld left the book before he could tie up all the plot threads, and the next creative team was quick to sweep everything about this story under the rug, with one of the three established characters in the group killing all the new ones and the other two revealed to not actually be Externals anyway. This happened so suddenly that many fans pointed out the fact that the story was essentially ''Franchise/{{Highlander}}'' with the SerialNumbersFiledOff and suspected Marvel canned the story to avoid litigation, though WordOfGod assures us this was not the case. There was also a subplot during Joe Kelly's run that hinted Jean might end up transforming into the Phoenix again. Kelly left the book before this could happen, though Creator/GrantMorrison ended up bringing back Jean's Phoenix abilities in his own run.

* Early ''ComicBook/{{New 52}}'' comics were clearly setting the Daemonites up as the BigBad of the line, not just in the ex-Creator/{{Wildstorm}} books but with Superman facing them as well. There was even a suggestion that the Comicbook/DemonKnights had got their name from a mishearing of "Daemonites". Then ''Grifter'' and ''Voodoo'' got cancelled, ''Stormwatch'' got retrobooted and ''then'' cancelled, and with the exception of Midnighter and Apollo, pretty much all the Wildstorm elements of Prime Earth went very quiet.

** In general, there's a whole ton of plots that'll never be resolved now that the Ultimate line has ended.

* The final story arc of the original ''Comicbook/PowerPack'' featured the appearance of a mysterious homeless man known as "Mr. Raymond," who possessed fire-based superpowers and seemingly had some sort of connection to Frankie Raye. It was strongly implied that this was a grown-up version of Tommy "Toro" Raymond, the Golden Age Human Torch's seemingly-deceased KidSidekick, and that he was also Frankie's biological father (which would explain her powers). This plot thread was never continued, and later stories would definitively show that Toro did indeed die for real back in ''Comicbook/SubMariner'' #14. In fact, Toro's resurrection was a major plot point in the later ''Comicbook/AvengersInvaders'' crossover.

* The final story arc of the original ''Comicbook/PowerPack'' featured the appearance of a mysterious homeless man known as "Mr. Raymond," who possessed fire-based superpowers. It was strongly implied that this was a grown-up version of Tommy "Toro" Raymond, the Golden Age Human Torch's seemingly-deceased KidSidekick. How Toro had survived his apparent demise in ''Comicbook/SubMariner'' #14, as well as what exactly was his connection to Frankie Raye (who was hinted to be his daughter), was never revealed.

** In general, there's a whole ton of plots that'll never be resolved now that the Ultimate line has been cancelled and the universe itself was destroyed during ''Comicbook/SecretWars2015''.

* In a very well-known example, Geoff Johns' ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'' run ended with a ''big'' one. Nereus, the former fiance of Mera (Aquaman's love interest), had tracked down Orm, Aquaman's AntiVillain brother. Orm had apparently come to partly accept the surface world, staying with a human woman and her son during and after the ''Forever Evil'' event. Nereus tells Orm that he had found the lost kingdoms of Atlantis, and that he and Orm should take their rightful place besides them as kings. There's even a "to be continued" down the bottom that says the story will continue in an event crossover with Johns' ''Justice League'' run titled "Rise of the Seven Seas". Yes, it even got a name. Johns would later be forced to limit his comics output to two monthly titles at a time, and that quota was filled without ''Aquaman''. Years later, Johns would say it ''was'' being worked on, and even later would say it was being worked on with then-current ''Aquaman'' writer Dan Abnett, but nothing has come of it.

*** Thawne told Wally West that one of his kids would grow up to ruin his life. Jai, Wally's son, had lost his powers to his sister Irey, and the ending implied that he was now TheResenter because of his sister now having full access to superspeed and being allowed to be part of the Flash Family. This plot point was also never brought up again, as ''Flashpoint'' rebooted Wally and his family out of existence. It is rumored that there were plans for a ''Green Lantern Corps''-esque series, with Wally West serving as protagonist with numerous Flash characters in supporting roles while Barry Allen kept the main ''Flash'' ongoing, which would explain things. At the very least, Wally and his family were supposed to have backup stories in the 2010 ''Flash'' series, but this never came about. (This plans would latter be confirmed by artist Ethan van Sciver on his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIZ40RurHls&t=6s Youtube channel]], where he also explained that the New 52 reboot put an end to them.

* ''Franchise/{{Justice League|OfAmerica}}'':

A constant problem in Creator/{{DC|Comics}} and Creator/MarvelComics of the last few years, especially in series about second- or third-division characters, as character or plot arcs are constantly derailed by massive {{crossover}} events. A [[LampshadeHanging lampshade was hung]] on it in the penultimate issue of Dan Slott's ''Comicbook/SheHulk'' run, in which the characters were forced under threat of death to give the reader a high speed run-through of how all the arcs were ''intended'' to have worked out, before being interrupted by the ComicBook/CivilWar and Comicbook/WorldWarHulk crossover events.

*** Wendy looking into finding another conch shell: After Wendy joins Eggman's empire (somewhat unwillingly), Eggman sends her off to find a replacement conch shell. Citing he had lost his initial one somehow (Which ended up destroyed at the beginning of the "Worlds Unite" crossover by a Sigma-possed Orbot. Since the events of that comic were erased, he only has hazy memories of it).
*** Snively and whatever ulterior motives he had in GUN: In the new universe, Sniverly defected from Eggman after the events of Sonic 3 and joined G.U.N as their resident science expert. But he was still planning something malicious, having deflected suspicion off him from his superiors. What's more he was now in possession of Eclipse's ship and the Black Arms technology within.

* The Creator/MalibuComics' ''[[ComicBook/MalibuComicsStreetFighter Street Fighter]]'' series was rife with this, as it ended after only three issues. The final issue even hinted at a future crossover with the Malibu hero Amazing Man, and introduced a CanonForeigner fighter named Nida, who had sworn vengeance on Ryu for some reason. The letter column of the issue gave a brief rundown of the various story beats that would have unfolded had the series not been cancelled.

** From 1995-98, writer Doug Moench and artist Kelley Jones where in charge of the main Batman title. During their first three years on the book, a nameless puppeter holding a Batman puppet appeared in the background of many stories. He would be there when Batman was solving a case or when he was throwing a party as Bruce Wayne, but he never let his presence be known. The idea was that in the fourth year of their run, which they knew would be their last, they would properly introduce the character as someone who knew Bruce's identity, was cappable of manipulating both Bruce and Batman and has been prepearing to confront Bats on his own terms, but this was never followed throught. Jones latter [[http://www.gothamwdeszczu.com.pl/en/2013/05/17/interview-kellley-jones/ explained]] in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLd6NHwF7N4&t=6159s interviews]] that editorial demanded that in their last year they tied the book with the other bat-titles where they had been pretty much allowed to ignore them and just tell their own self-contained stories before. This threw a wrench on the puppeter arc and some other stories they were planning, including one with Poison Ivy.

*** ''The Flash: Rebirth'' left multiple sequel hooks that weren't followed up on:

* In a very well-known example, Geoff Johns' ''ComicBook/{{Aquaman}}'' run ended with a ''big'' one. Nereus, the former fiance of Mera (Aquaman's love interest), had tracked down Orm, Aquaman's AntiVillain brother. Orm had apparently come to partly accept the surface world, staying with a woman and her son during after the ''Forever Evil'' event. Nereus tells Orm that he had found the lost kingdoms of Atlantis, and that he and Orm should take their rightful place besides them as kings. There's even a "to be continued" down the bottom that says the story will continue in an event crossover with Johns' ''Justice League'' run titled "Rise of the Seven Seas". Yes, it even got a name. Johns would later be forced to limit his comics output to two monthly titles at a time, and that quota was filled without ''Aquaman''. Years later, Johns would say it ''was'' being worked on, and even later would say it was being worked on with then-current ''Aquaman'' writer Dan Abnett, but nothing has come of it.

** Creator/ChuckDixon's ''Comicbook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders'' run set up the deceased [[ComicBook/ElongatedMan Ralph]] and Sue Dibny as a pair ghost detectives who would act as recurring allies to the team. This was nixed very early on, leading to the Dibnys making only sporadic cameos across the DCU until ''Comicbook/{{Flashpoint}}'' rebooted everything. There was also the matter of an underground club where teens were granted a chance to receive superpowers from one of the surviving ''Bloodlines'' parasites. This too went nowhere.

* ''ComicBook/TheFlash'': Meloni Thawne had left a message for Bart Allen (the fourth Flash) to stay away from his brother. While Bart didn't know it at the time, Owen Mercer, the second Captain Boomerang, was actually his half-brother on their mother's side. Owen even inherited super speed and was learning to use it more efficiently (he could only to small bursts initially). It's implied that this may have had something to do with the Rogues killing Bart... except Owen wasn't a part of that plan. Bart would later return to life and Owen would die, and this warning about their meeting would never occur. In fact, they never even met.
** ''The Flash: Rebirth'' left multiple sequel hooks that weren't followed up on:
*** The ending implied that the Reverse-Flashes of the Silver and Modern Age would be teaming up again (they had briefly worked together one time previously). Hunter Zolomon, the second Reverse-Flash, had lost his powers but approached Eobard Thawne, the first Reverse-Flash, and told him that they could make each other "better". Within the story itself, Eobard had used one of Hunter's signature moves and explicitly said he learned the trick from Hunter even. Then ''Flashpoint'', a Flash story ''by the same writer'' rebooted the DC Universe, and Zolomon and Thawne didn't exist in this universe for ''years'', as a new Reverse-Flash was introduced and seemingly was the first. Later, Eobard would be reintroduced (and even later, he'd regain his pre-Flashpoint history and memories) and use some more of Hunter's signature moves, but Hunter himself is still MIA and Eobard hasn't directly referenced him.
*** Thawne told Wally West that one of his kids would grow up to ruin his life. Jai, Wally's son, had lost his powers to his sister Irey, and the ending implied that he was now TheResenter because of his sister now having full access to superspeed and being allowed to be part of the Flash Family. This plot point was also never brought up again, as ''Flashpoint'' rebooted Wally and his family out of existence. It is rumored that there were plans for a ''Green Lantern Corps''-esque series, with Wally West serving as protagonist with numerous Flash characters in supporting roles while Barry Allen kept the main ''Flash'' ongoing, which would explain things. At the very least, Wally and his family were supposed to have backup stories in the 2010 ''Flash'' series, but this never came about. (This plans would latter be confirmed by artist Ethan van Sciver in his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIZ40RurHls&t=6s Youtube channel]]. He also explained the New52 reboot put an end to them).
*** It was said that Thawne had done something to Gorilla City's jungles... again, not followed up on.

* ''Franchise/Batman''

* Creator/BrianKVaughan wrote a Batman one-shot where he introduced a mysterious new villain called the Skeleton, who was running around impersonating other Batman foes to cover his tracks. The hope was that Vaughan would become a regular writer on one of the Batman books so that he could make the Skeleton into powerful new player in the franchise, but obviously, this never occurred.

* Creator/ChuckDixon's ''Comicbook/BatmanAndTheOutsiders'' run set up the deceased [[ComicBook/ElongatedMan Ralph]] and Sue Dibny as a pair ghost detectives who would act as recurring allies to the team. This was nixed very early on, leading to the Dibnys making only sporadic cameos across the DCU until ''Comicbook/{{Flashpoint}}'' rebooted everything. There was also the matter of an underground club where teens were granted a chance to receive superpowers from one of the surviving ''Bloodlines'' parasites. This too went nowhere.

* From 1995-98, writer Doug Moench and artist Kelley Jones where in charge of the main Batman title. During the first three years of stories, a nameless puppeter holding a Batman puppet appeared in the background. He would be there when Batman was solving a case, when he was throwing a party as Bruce Wayne, but he never let his presence be known. The idea was that in the fourth year of their run, which they knew would be their last, they would properly introduce the character as someone cappable of manipulating both Bruce and Batman and has been prepearing to confront Bats on his own terms, but this was never followed throught. Jones latter [[http://www.gothamwdeszczu.com.pl/en/2013/05/17/interview-kellley-jones/ explained]] in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLd6NHwF7N4&t=6159s interviews]] that editorial demanded that in their last year they tied the book with the other bat-titles where they had been pretty much allowed to ignore them and just tell their own self-contained stories before. This threw a wrench on the puppeter arc and some other stories they were planning, including one with Poison Ivy.

*** Thawne told Wally West that one of his kids would grow up to ruin his life. Jai, Wally's son, had lost his powers to his sister Irey, and the ending implied that he was now TheResenter because of his sister now having full access to superspeed and being allowed to be part of the Flash Family. This plot point was also never brought up again, as ''Flashpoint'' rebooted Wally and his family out of existence. It is rumored that there were plans for a ''Green Lantern Corps''-esque series, with Wally West serving as protagonist with numerous Flash characters in supporting roles while Barry Allen kept the main ''Flash'' ongoing, which would explain things. At the very least, Wally and his family were supposed to have backup stories in the 2010 ''Flash'' series, but this never came about. (This plans would latter be confirmed by artist Ethan van Sciver in his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIZ40RurHls&t=6s Youtube channel]]. He also explained the [[New52]] reboot put an end to them).

*** Thawne told Wally West that one of his kids would grow up to ruin his life. Jai, Wally's son, had lost his powers to his sister Irey, and the ending implied that he was now TheResenter because of his sister now having full access to superspeed and being allowed to be part of the Flash Family. This plot point was also never brought up again, as ''Flashpoint'' rebooted Wally and his family out of existence. It is rumored that there were plans for a ''Green Lantern Corps''-esque series, with Wally West serving as protagonist with numerous Flash characters in supporting roles while Barry Allen kept the main ''Flash'' ongoing, which would explain things. At the very least, Wally and his family were supposed to have backup stories in the 2010 ''Flash'' series, but this never came about. (This plans would latter be confirmed by artist Ethan van Sciver in his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIZ40RurHls&t=6s Youtube channel]]).

* ''The Flash: Rebirth'' left multiple sequel hooks that weren't followed up on:
** The ending implied that the Reverse-Flashes of the Silver and Modern Age would be teaming up again (they had briefly worked together one time previously). Hunter Zolomon, the second Reverse-Flash, had lost his powers but approached Eobard Thawne, the first Reverse-Flash, and told him that they could make each other "better". Within the story itself, Eobard had used one of Hunter's signature moves and explicitly said he learned the trick from Hunter even. Then ''Flashpoint'', a Flash story ''by the same writer'' rebooted the DC Universe, and Zolomon and Thawne didn't exist in this universe for ''years'', as a new Reverse-Flash was introduced and seemingly was the first. Later, Eobard would be reintroduced (and even later, he'd regain his pre-Flashpoint history and memories) and use some more of Hunter's signature moves, but Hunter himself is still MIA and Eobard hasn't directly referenced him.
** Thawne told Wally West that one of his kids would grow up to ruin his life. Jai, Wally's son, had lost his powers to his sister Irey, and the ending implied that he was now TheResenter because of his sister now having full access to superspeed and being allowed to be part of the Flash Family. This plot point was also never brought up again, as ''Flashpoint'' rebooted Wally and his family out of existence. It is rumored that there were plans for a ''Green Lantern Corps''-esque series, with Wally West serving as protagonist with numerous Flash characters in supporting roles while Barry Allen kept the main ''Flash'' ongoing, which would explain things. At the very least, Wally and his family were supposed to have backup stories in the 2010 ''Flash'' series, but this never came about.
** It was said that Thawne had done something to Gorilla City's jungles... again, not followed up on.

* At the end of the first arc in ''[[Comicbook/TheInvaders All-New Invaders]]'', Comicbook/TheEternals discovered a comatose {{Galactus}} in the Negative Zone (where he'd been trapped following ''Comicbook/CataclysmTheUltimatesLastStand''), and planned to use the Gods' Whisper to control him and make him destroy the Kree. The planned attack on the Kree never occurred, and Galactus later appeared without any reference to how he'd escaped the Negative Zone.