Cancelled Trade Cavalcade: Suicide Squad: Nightshade Odyssey and Supergirl: Good Looking Corpse

Cancelled Trade Cavalcade -- where the Collected Editions blog looks back at some trades that never quite made print. You were going to see a different Cancelled Trade Cavalcade today, but in light of the fact that Suicide Squad Vol. 2: The Nightshade Odyssey suddenly disappeared from DC Comics's release list, we interrupt your regularly scheduled cavalcade.

The 1980s Suicide Squad series has had a long, strange collection history of late. In 2009 or earlier, DC solicited a black-and-white Showcase Presents Suicide Squad that would have collected the series' first eighteen issues plus some crossovers; they cancelled this (twice, I believe) and ultimately released the color Suicide Squad: Trial By Fire, collecting the series' first six issues.

I, for one, considered getting the collecting of the Suicide Squad series in color to be a victory, and I was excited to hear about the forthcoming second volume, collecting issues seven through twelve plus more crossovers.

Except, the week that DC had scheduled the release of Suicide Squad Vol. 2: The Nightshade Odyssey, the book disappeared both from DC's site and from Amazon, at least. There's no cancellation notice so far in DC's release lists, but the book didn't come out as planned.

This is a disappointment, first, for those of use eager to read this Suicide Squad series. It's a disappointment also, however, because each successive Suicide Squad trade would have moved us closer to a collection that included Suicide Squad #23 -- the first appearance of Barbara Gordon as Oracle.

Suicide Squad Vol. 2: The Nightshade Odyssey is only the latest in a string of trades that have recently been cancelled by DC: Doom Patrol: Fire Away, JSA All-Stars: Puzzle Men, and brand new -- Supergirl: Good-Looking Corpse, the collection of final pre-Flashpoint Supergirl issues by Nick Spencer, James Peaty, and Kelly Sue DeCconnick, now appears cancelled.

To be sure, pre-ordering is your friend, to create order numbers such that DC will actually print any given trade, but frankly I'm not sure what could save some of these, these days.

Next week, another Cancelled Trade Cavalcade, and new reviews tomorrow! Don't miss our great discussion going on about the merits of continuity, and also breaking news about the DC Retroactive collections. Thanks for reading!