All’s Well That Ends Well?
Filed under: Comics
With 52 coming to a mostly satisfying conclusion this week, I thought I’d take a look back at some successful and not-so-successful endings of other series. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just the ones that quickly popped into my head. Feel free to add to it, or disagree with my opinions:
I think the comics that have had the best endings are those where the author had the conclusion planned from the very beginning, or at least several years beforehand. This would include Preacher, Transmetropolitan, Starman, and Sandman. I think that Starman had the best ending, but that’s mostly because it struck the sentimental chord in me. Transmetropolitan had a great conclusion for both the storyline and the characters. Preacher ended pretty much the only way it could. Sandman wasn’t quite as successful an ending because I don’t think the final issue coda added much, but your mileage may vary. (Lucifer would also fall into this category, but I didn’t find the ending as satisfying as the other books mentioned).
“Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow” was a very satisfying end of the pre-reboot Superman books, but then I’ve always been a fan of alternate histories.
Hawk & Dove managed to tie up its loose ends in its final issue, but you could tell it was rushed. The multiple artists necessary to finish it also hurt the feel of the book.
JLA and JSA both started out great and had some phenomenal storylines, but both limped across the finish line. The ending of the previous Checkmate series also left me unimpressed.
When I think of disastrous endings, the mid-major storyline abrupt endings of the Crossgen series were nothing short of a debacle. Many canceled comics end mid-storyline, but the whole company’s comics all ending in the midst of a major “world defining” crossover? Horrible, no matter how you look at it.
May 3rd, 2007 at 9:11 am
Hitman is another series that ended very well.
I think situations like CrossGen are more like *non*-endings, since AFAIK there was no particular indication that they were last issues, they just… stopped.
May 3rd, 2007 at 2:22 pm
The Spiderman series about him being reborn has just about been forgotten, along with the silly new powers he got. Stingers? OMG.
May 3rd, 2007 at 3:28 pm
I’m trying to think of a Marvel series to add to that first list and sadly cannot. Firstly, because really terrible endings like the finale to Civil War keep popping into my head and secondly, because I’m genuinely having difficulty thinking of a Marvel series that ends. No matter how many times a Spider-Man title ‘ends’, a ‘new’ one is just around the corner to take its place.
Also, kudos to Starman. That series deserves to never be forgotten by the comic-reading community.
May 3rd, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Ahh Starman. My favorite superhero series of all time, and the only comic that can make me cry at least twice when I read it. It really is a great ending. In a totally different vein, the ending of The Losers never fails to make me smile when I remember it.
May 3rd, 2007 at 10:16 pm
The Mighty Thor (Final 5 Issues) written by Michael Avon Oeming and penciled by Andrea Di Vito, ended pretty well for a Marvel title, albeit a bit rushed. It also ended the only way it could have - with Ragnarok. Although, I’ve read somewhere that this title too, will begin anew, in some form or another.
May 4th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
Add the rushed ending of Devinn Grayson’s pre-OYL run on Nightwing to the list of lousy endings.
I can’t think of a good Marvel ending either, for much the same reason as #3.
The ending of the mini-series Conqueror of the Barren Earth (I counit it as a series due to its exended run as a back-up in Warlord), was extremely satisfying to me when I was a kid, and me as an adult after just re-reading it.
I wasn’t especially pleased with the end of 52 personally, but to each his own.
May 4th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
I did like Mike Oeming’s end to Thor.
The Losers is also awesome.
Personally I liked Lucifer’s ending, though I admit that Mike Carey’s decision to include that section with Neil Gaiman’s dialogue was NOT a smart one, since it only highlighted the differences between how he and Gaiman wrote Lucifer. But aside from that, I rather enjoyed the last conversation between Lucifer and God.
The Invisibles has one of THE best final issues ever, especially in light of the fact that the penultimate storyline was decidedly sub-par compared to the majority of the series.
Trying to think of other things…
Sin City’s final storyline (Hell and Back) is one of my favorite comic stories.
The only Marvel ending I can think of is the end of Brian Michael Bendis’s fantastic Daredevil run. That last issue is pretty damn good.
(That’s all I got)
May 4th, 2007 at 9:07 pm
OH! Duh! The last storyline of Grant MOrrison’s New X-Men is also one of my favorite stories ever.
(previous post is mine, BTW)
June 11th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
What did you think of The Sopranos ending?
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