Comic Book Titles No One Remembers Anymore AKA A Poisonous Paragraphs Special Comic Book Nerd Edition

I decided to do another comic book drop about some titles that only oldheads and comic book nerds really remember. I almost included "The Savage Sword Of Conan" and "King Conan" but since the news got out that President Elect Barack Obama used to collect "Conan The Barbarian" I decided to to be super original and not include any titles that dealt with the Hyborean Age. Without any further ado I present to you "Comic Book Titles That No One Remembers Anymore":

Logan's Run (1977)

Logan's Run was the Marvel Comics adaptation of the ultra popular 1976 Oscar nominated sci fi film of the same name (adapted from the sci fi novel of the same name...it never stops!). The title failed to find an audience and was promptly canceled after only 7 issues. This is the main reason that no one remembers that this film spawned a comic book (or a TV show that lasted 14 episodes for that matter). People will start looking for all of this old shit when the "Logan's Run" remake film hits theaters some time in 2010.


Human Fly (1977)
Marvel Comics made a title about a man of unknown identity that folowing a car crash that nearly killed him and was instead given complex surgeries that replaced much of his skeletal structure with metallic alloys. After he went through serious rehabilitation he began donning a uniform and performing stunts to benefit young people with disabilities, children's hospitals and the like.

Eventually, some goddamn super-villain would show up and try to steal the loot and The Human Fly would risk life and limb and do the impossible to defeat them in the process. Marvel tried to convince kids that The Human Fly was a real dude, too. It turns out that he was based on some real-life stuntman that I've never heard of. After just 19 issues "The Human Fly" was a wrap, B.


John Carter, Warlord Of Mars (1977)
This title was an adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough's character John Carter from his long running Mars series of novels that began with 1917's "A Princess Of Mars". John Carter was a Virginian that fought in the Civil War became rich in after striking gold in Arizona. He supposedly died on Earth but was transported to Mars where he's perpetually 30 and due to the gravity of Mars versus Earth, he's a superman (how else do you think he ended up Warlord Of Mars?). This comic book expounded on the comic strips and comic books from the 30's and 40's. The title ran 28 issues before it was finally discontinued in late 1979.


Battlestar Galactica (1979)
In Marvel's neverending quest to adapt damn near every popular series from film and television into comic book form the next step was to tackle the sci fi series "Battlestar Galactica". As a kid it bugged me out to see Commander Adama, Colonel Tigh, Starbuck, Apollo, Boomer and Athena all hand drawn looking like they did on TV. The comic book eventually suffered the same fate as the show and it was cancelled after almost a two year run (23 issues). Collector's have been picking these up like crazy since the Sci Fi Network series became insanely successful.


Ka-Zar The Savage (1981)
Ka-Zar was originally a Timely Comics creation having first appeared back in 1936 as a response to the comic book tales of Edgar Rice Burrough's "Tarzan". He made sporadic appearances between 1936 and 1939 before the character was resurrected and updated in 1965 (X-Men #10). Ka-Zar was a British noble whose parents found the Savage Land and were killed by the denizens there.

Ka-Zar befriended the super intelligent sabre toothed tiger Zabu and became the unofficial protector of The Savage Land. He later encounters and romances Shanna The She-Devil and in 1981 Marvel dedicates a title to him and his exploits. The title lasted 34 issues before it was finally cancelled and only us oldhead remember that you had to buy it direct from Marvel (or via subscription) and you couldn't find it on newsstands.


Team America (1982)

Team America? Fuck yeah! This team of superheroes on motorcycles (?) kicked off in the pages of "Captain America" and the title is best decribed by the phrase "Mantlo'd out". This team of bike ridin' badasses often clash with HYDRA and a weird collection of super villains. There was a brother down with them that designed the bikes and was a genius level mechanic, too.

The big hook of the series was the mysterious and seemingly superstrong rider called "The Marauder" that would appear when needed the most and perform some type of kickassery. Nowadays only oldhead comic book fanatics remember the "astonishing" secret of "The Marauder" and "Team America" when they appeared in the "X-Men" and "New Mutants" in later years. (Yeah, Wrench and The Marauder will both be in my February 2009 reboot of my famous "Black Like Me" series)


Blade Runner (1982)
Marvel Comics were famous for doing these adaptations of films called Marvel Comics Super Specials. They made one for the film "Blade Runner" but this post is about the alternate version that was printed as a two part mini series since that's the one I read as a kid. When I finally saw the film my mind was blasted, forget about blown (Russell Peters reference). As a little kid it didn't get cooler than Decker, fuhgeddaboutit!


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