During the 1990s, several new comic-book universes were created, but none were as successful and critically-acclaimed as Milestone Media. Minority-owned and diversity-oriented, Milestone turned out nearly 250 issues of intelligently written, fully-painted comic stories. Among them were "Hardware," "Blood Syndicate, "Icon" (the favorite comic book of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas), and "Static" (now star of the WB cartoon "Static Shock").
Although Milestone ended publication in 1997, its finale was more abrupt than expected. The last 3 issues, "Hardware" #50, "Icon" #42, and "Static" #45, all ended with cliffhangers and little closure. This was because, although 6 more issues of these titles were completed, or in late stages of production, they were never released to the public. According to Milestone Editor-in-Chief Dwayne McDuffie, the remaining issues went as follows:
"[HARDWARE] #51 was most decidedly "closure." I don't think there would have been a dry eye in the house.
"STATIC #46 was the end of Mark's Laserjet storyline and probably the best art job yet from Jeff Moore. #47 was set at Static's 10th high school reunion, where he is forced to become Static one last time. We find out what happens to the entire cast, the final fate of Virgil's comic book store and finally, 10 years in the future of that, meet Virgil's kids.
"ICON #43 was the end of Blood Reign and Holocaust and the rebirth of the Blood Syndicate. #44 and 45 were a two-parter where EVERYBODY teams up to try and stop Dharma's "great disaster." #45 also contained a seven page prose story where in Raquel convinces the author not to commit suicide, while the two discuss the success and failures of Milestone. They also give away almost every secret and loose end left in the Dakotaverse."
2003 marks the 10th anniversary of Milestone's creation. With this "milestone" less than a year away, and with "Static Shock" bringing awareness of the imprint to the masses, what would be a better tribute than finally releasing these lost Milestone issues? To finally bring closure to the Milestone universe, and to the stories of Icon, Hardware, and Static?
If you, like me, would like to see these issues in print, please sign this petition. Perhaps with enough support, DC will finally take these (completed) stories to the presses.
Thank you,
Loren