In the dream-world of the Sandman, a man reincarnated as a crow has this conversation with the world's chief librarian: Matthew: They're just books. Lucien: Oh, yes. But unusual books. You'll find none of them on Earth. In this section, for example, are novels their authors never wrote, or never finished, except in dreams. There are always going to be comics that seem on the verge of happening and then never do, for whatever reason. Creators get busy, partnerships break up. Sometimes an idea that sounded good in outline form just lands with a wet thud when the pages start coming in. And sometimes the idea was never that good in the first place, and people end up saying, "Oh, wait, we'd have to be idiots to publish this." Herein are ten of the most intriguing, frustrating, and jaw-dropping comics that reached the drawing board but will probably never see a finished form, ranging from the regrettable (in that we can truly regret their not being published) to the relief-inducing (in that the only thing we can truly regret is their ever being approved). Sometimes we know exactly what led the project into premature cancellation. Sometimes the cause of death is pretty mysterious. But in all cases, it would be a more interesting world if these books saw the light of day. We'll have to settle for knowing that Lucien is keeping them for us in the moonlight of the Dreaming.
T Campbell has written quite a few online comics series and selected work for Marvel, Archie and Tokyopop. His longest-running works are Fans, Penny and Aggie-- and his current project with co-writer Phil Kahn, Guilded Age.
