Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 Titles That Should Have Been Cancelled Before Superboy

While I was tooling around this week thinking about what Top 5 list to do, it occurred to me through numerous conversations that involved a lot of bitching, how much I really missed Superboy.  While I enjoyed reviewing the title I never really thought of it as one of my favorites, but now that it's gone and since it's Futures End tie-in sucked, I finally know that it was my top Superman family book and I want it back!  The book took so long trying to figure out what it wanted to be and yeah it took misstep after misstep, but it's heart was in the right place.  Yeah that doesn't make any sense, but it was Kon and he was cool and if the title would of held out a little longer and figured out a way to bring Kon back and get rid of Jon Lane Kent, it would have won it's fans back by showing them what they've missed.  Now it's rumored that Kon will return either at the end of this year or beginning of next in a Gen13 comic, but the problem I have with that is, it still isn't the title I want.  The hell with it, You all know that I love this title now and I'm going to throw other titles under the bus that should of been cancelled instead of my recently realized beloved Superboy.  For this Top 5 I'll also be giving you the sales numbers from May, when Superboy was announced cancelled and giving you the August sales numbers for Superboy's final issue.  So let's get to bashing titles you might love just so I can get through a proper interweb tantrum with Top 5 Titles That Should Have Been Cancelled Before Superboy.  Let's check it out.





#5.  Worlds' Finest

May Sales = 21,118 copies sold  August Sales = 19,772 copies sold

Okay I'll admit that I've been a little harsh on this title and even spent an entire Top 5 list last week talking about things that would of made it better, but really at this point this title doesn't serve any real purpose other than to now help DC convey their Earth 2 mythology.  I understand that this title was a launching point to bring Huntress and Power Girl into the New 52 continuity, but now that's done and nobody I talk to or read about really likes the title, they just constantly talk about what they want or wanted the title to be.  So because I've been so harsh against this title and I feel bad because I'm one of those people that talk about what they want this title to be and that I also enjoy the idea of the characters even though I haven't been enjoying their current portrayal, I'm leaving this one at #5 as to keep it off the immediate chopping block of cancellation in my mind.  But seriously Worlds' Finest over Superboy?  Ridiculous.




#4.  Aquaman and The Others

May Sales = 26,198 copies sold  August Sales = 18,639

Now I know we've all heard the constant taunts and jokes that non-fanboys and non-fangirls always have to tell whenever Aquaman is brought up and it just gets tiring.  We're living in a age where Aquaman is actually cool and Geoff Johns has done a damn fine job at bringing this character back from ridicule, so you know it's a good time to be alive, but even with the characters new found popularity does he really need two titles?  Now I enjoy the regular Aquaman title, or I did last time I read it but it gets hard keeping up on titles when they aren't in your review list, but do I really care about The Others?  This is one of Jim's books he reviews and I'm saying fuck it and putting it in the line of fire because I really don't have too much invested in it.  So while it's a dick move to put down something you're really not all that familiar with, it just really rubs me the wrong way that Aquaman gets a second book full of characters that nobody really gives a damn about and Cyborg still doesn't have his own title and Superboy gets cancelled before it.  Ha!  I was worried I wouldn't get to my point at the end, but it eventually came through.  I have no relationship with these "Others" and I don't know anyone that does either, so let's go back in time and convince DC that Superboy should stay and this should go or just stop it from being published in the first place.  Sorry all you "Others" fans out there, if you're our there.




#3.  Justice League 3000

May Sales = 25,738 copies sold  August Sales = 20,974

Yet another book that Jim reviews and I have only casually checked out that I'm about to throw under the bus.  We have a bunch of Justice League titles already and this one never seemed to fit into the New 52 continuity and to be honest it just rubbed me the wrong way from day 1.  So you might be thinking that I just have a grudge out against this book, but that's not true, or at least I don't believe it to be true, it just doesn't seem right to be getting rid of a beloved characters and having these bastardized clones in the future and not even mention things from that future that could be a good tie-in to the present continuity.  After seeing the newest cover that was released for this series which features Booster Gold and Ted Kord Blue Beetle I have another reason to be pissed.  This isn't even in the New 52 continuity.  Now I might eventually eat my own words here when it's written in that this is a future version where Ted Kord has become the hero I want him to be in the New 52, but it just doesn't make sense to have old continuity books going on during DC's big revamp to the universe.  Superboy all the way here and down with JL3000.




#2.  Catwoman

May Sales = 20,144 copies sold  August Sales = 23,497

Now it really doesn't make sense to me how this book actually gained sales because everyone that's been reading it knows that Ann Nocenti is butchering this book.  Yes this is another book that Jim reviews, but believe me when I tell you I know the pain of reading this, because Jim makes it a point every month to recite the dialogue to me just to ruin my day.  This title is just the worst and should of been cancelled a long time ago and I don't even know how it became a New 52 launch book to begin with.  Yeah Catwoman can be fun and when the New 52 began we had her as a hero, but now she's a villain again and it's one of the worst written books I think I've ever seen.  I know a lot of people were turned off of Superboy when he became Jon Lane Kent and we realized that he was a psychopath, which ultimately led to the title being cancelled.  So how does a horribly written villain keep a title over one of the Superman Family?  I say this is the worst and I mean it and the only reason it didn't make #1 is because there is one title out there that serves no purpose except for giving me something to bitch about every month when it comes out and that title is...........




#1.  Secret Origins

May Sales = 32,966 copies sold  August Sales = 24,126 copies sold

The numbers for this book might still be acceptable, but good god do you see that drop in sales over the summer?  The reason this title makes the #1 spot is because it's totally useless.  It's an oversized issue which makes it cost more and so far all we've gotten is a retelling of the main tier of heroes that we've already seen during The New 52's first event, Zero issue month.  So we shell out our hard earned bucks for stories we've already seen and yet this is a thing and Superboy is left behind for new titles that don't include Shazam, Cyborg, Doom Patrol, Booster Gold, Stargirl.......  You know what?  I could just name a shit load of titles I'd rather see than this sad excuse for a comic.  The only way I could see this book being decent is when it finally runs out of Justice Leaguers to talk about and starts telling us origins for characters we haven't seen yet.  But if the drop continues this title will probably be gone before we ever get there.  So yeah...  Superboy.


That's it for this week's Top 5 Fridays and if you've noticed throughout the list that these books I would have rather seen cancelled are still selling rather well and Superboy's sales were way below them and my attempt to try and make a point went right out the window.  Nonetheless I figured it would be fun to see the sales figures to compare them to Superboy, so they stayed in even if they make me look like a jerk.

Superboy's May Sales = 14,795  August Sales = 13,785 

So yeah no point at all, but it is fun to see that Superboy's sales were the lowest drop during the summer except for Catwoman who for some reason beyond me was able to sell more and I really believe that if we had gotten Jon Lane Kent out of the series that it would have picked up again, but who knows for sure?  Hopefully I haven't pissed off too many fans of these titles and hopefully Superboy fans will find some solace in knowing that others out there feel the same way they do.  See you in seven for the next Top 5 Friday where I might try to make a point again and be completely shut down by reality.