Five Comic Book Mashup’s

So last time I talked about how, in order to boost the ratings of a struggling show, two or more cartoon series will be combined to form an “hour” or program block. But this happens in other media too, like comic books! One example is when Batman founded The Outsiders but that doesn't really count as a mash up since the series began with that name.


 



Here five examples of two comic series being thrown together to boost sales. Does it work? Not really.






Atom & Hawkman

When the sales for Atom and Hawkman were struggling the titles were combined. It managed seven issues with separate stories and team-up’s alternating. I came across one or two issues in the day and they were pretty dull







Green Lantern/Green Arrow

Now this one, was something special! Brought into help the Green Lantern book, Green Arrow added a spark to the series. But the stories presented in these issues were groundbreaking. They tackled social concerns and featured to heroes who were very different in terms of political viewpoints. This is the series that tackled over population, racism, and even made Speedy a heroin addict! Dennis O’Neil really raised the bar with these, sadly the sales numbers did not go up.








Superboy Starring The Legion of Superheroes

The Legion were introduced in a classic Superboy story in the pages of Adventure Comics. After that they both existed in Adventure Comics for several years. Eventually the Superboy got his own solo book which after awhile was renamed “Superboy Starring the Legion of Superheroes” when creators drcided to add the Legion. Superboy then left the book and the team carried on, the title dropping Superboy entirely. This may be a rare time when a book was taken over successfully by supporting characters! And the Legion of Superheroes continued on very successfully after that. Superboy would get his own title again later but that’s another story.









Power Man & Iron Fist

A Marvel example? Madness!! Yup when Power Man and Iron Fist’s own series were struggling it was decided to combine them into one. The series actually had a healthy life after that, until the final issue when Iron Fist was inexplicably killed off.










Batgirl and the Birds of Prey

I’m not gonna lie, I don’t get this one. I guess Batgirl was brought back after The New 52, so her connection to The Birds of Prey was kinda confusing. She was originally a member as Oracle. Who does exist in the Rebith era, kinda…Sorta. But yeah for some reason Batgirl isn’t one of the Birds of Prey but she does work with the team. The series lasted about two years.





That was all I could find, which was a surprise I figured there would be more. If I missed an example comment and let me know.