Fifth-week event
Encyclopedia
A fifth week event is a novelty comic book
promotion.
Comic publishers schedule releases in four-week cycles. On an occasion that a month has more than four weeks, publishers often sell unusual comics to fill in the scheduling gap.
to fill in the skip weeks.
The first skip week events were linked to a range of existing (or proposed) titles with a shared theme: New Year's Evil focused on villains and GirlFrenzy on female characters from the participating titles.
In the midst of the DC vs. Marvel crossover
, the two companies combined their universes creating new titles and characters for Amalgam Comics
. DC also created its own alternate universe with in-name-only versions of their major characters with Tangent Comics
.
Later skip week events focused a story (usually with stand-alone parts) sometimes with a framing story or related to a specific title, and as time went on the comics would be spread over the entire month. Often a pair of "bookend" issues would tell the beginning and end of the framing story.
Many skip weeks would feature a consistent cover design across all books in the event. New Year's Evil used black backgrounds, menacing profiles of the main characters, and an elaborate red border design at the top. Tangent Comics made a special effort to break conventions, using a fifth ink color to create a silver background, placing the titles in the middle of the cover instead of at the top, and adding descriptive information such as book dimensions and indicia in multiple languages that might be mandated by an alternate universe's publishing industry.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
promotion.
Comic publishers schedule releases in four-week cycles. On an occasion that a month has more than four weeks, publishers often sell unusual comics to fill in the scheduling gap.
DC Comics
In the 1990s, DC Comics published 4 monthly Superman titles. The interlocking stories created a weekly narrative that continued throughout the year, but that publishing schedule accounted for only 48 out of the 52 weeks per year. With 4 months each year containing a fifth Wednesday (the day comic books go on sale in America,) DC introduced a fifth Superman title, Superman: The Man of TomorrowSuperman: The Man of Tomorrow
Superman: The Man of Tomorrow is the title of a comic book series published by DC Comics that ran for 16 issues from 1995 to 1999, featuring the adventures of Superman. At the time, the four Superman titles were released weekly with an intertwining story...
to fill in the skip weeks.
The first skip week events were linked to a range of existing (or proposed) titles with a shared theme: New Year's Evil focused on villains and GirlFrenzy on female characters from the participating titles.
In the midst of the DC vs. Marvel crossover
Fictional crossover
A fictional crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete fictional characters, settings, or universes into the context of a single story. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant copyright holders, or because of unauthorized efforts by fans, or even amid common...
, the two companies combined their universes creating new titles and characters for Amalgam Comics
Amalgam Comics
Amalgam Comics was a publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters into new ones . These characters first appeared in a series of twelve comic books which were published in 1996, between issues 3 and 4 of the Marvel vs...
. DC also created its own alternate universe with in-name-only versions of their major characters with Tangent Comics
Tangent Comics
Tangent Comics was a DC Comics imprint created in 1997–1998, developed from ideas created by Dan Jurgens. The line, formed from various one-shots, focused on creating all-new characters using established DC names, such as the Joker, Superman, and the Flash...
.
Later skip week events focused a story (usually with stand-alone parts) sometimes with a framing story or related to a specific title, and as time went on the comics would be spread over the entire month. Often a pair of "bookend" issues would tell the beginning and end of the framing story.
Many skip weeks would feature a consistent cover design across all books in the event. New Year's Evil used black backgrounds, menacing profiles of the main characters, and an elaborate red border design at the top. Tangent Comics made a special effort to break conventions, using a fifth ink color to create a silver background, placing the titles in the middle of the cover instead of at the top, and adding descriptive information such as book dimensions and indicia in multiple languages that might be mandated by an alternate universe's publishing industry.
Vertigo
While Vertigo released a number of comics in the fifth week of December 1999, under the title V2K, some of them were the first issues of limited series, rather than one-shots for that month.Examples
- DC ComicsDC ComicsDC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
- New Year's Evil (late 1997, cover-dated 1998 8 one-shots)
- GirlFrenzy (1998)
- The KingdomThe Kingdom (comic book)"The Kingdom" is a story arc that ran through a two-issue, self titled comic book limited series and multiple one shot comics published by DC Comics in 1999, written by Mark Waid and drawn by Ariel Olivetti/Mike Zeck. This is both a sequel and, in some ways, prequel to Kingdom Come, also by Mark...
(late 1998, cover-dated 1999, follow-up to Kingdom ComeKingdom Come (comic book)Kingdom Come is a four-issue comic book mini-series published in 1996 by DC Comics. It was written by Alex Ross and Mark Waid and painted in gouache by Ross, who also developed the concept from an original idea...
) - Amalgam ComicsAmalgam ComicsAmalgam Comics was a publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters into new ones . These characters first appeared in a series of twelve comic books which were published in 1996, between issues 3 and 4 of the Marvel vs...
(published with Marvel) - TangentTangent ComicsTangent Comics was a DC Comics imprint created in 1997–1998, developed from ideas created by Dan Jurgens. The line, formed from various one-shots, focused on creating all-new characters using established DC names, such as the Joker, Superman, and the Flash...
(1997 9 one-shots, 1998 9 one-shots) - Sins of Youth (2000)
- Green Lantern: Circle of FireGreen Lantern: Circle of Fire"Circle of Fire" is a story arc that ran through a two-issue, self titled comic book mini-series and five one shot comics starring Green Lantern Kyle Rayner that was published by DC Comics in October 2000....
(2000) - Justice Society ReturnsJustice Society Returns"The Justice Society Returns" is a nine issue story arc that ran through a number of comic books published by DC Comics in 1999, reviving the Golden Age superhero team, which had previously been revived in the 1980s.-Publication history:...
- Power SurgePower Surge (comics)Power Surge was a DC Comics event in 2002 intended to promote the start of The Power Company, a new comic book series by writer Kurt Busiek, who also wrote all seven issues of Power Surge.-History:...
- Justice League of ?Justice Leagues"Justice Leagues" was a storyline which ran through six one-shot comics published in 2001 by DC Comics, which introduced a revamped Justice League of America....
(2001, alternate meanings of JLA such as Justice League of Aliens, Justice League of Amazons, etc.) - V2K (Vertigo, 1999)
- Marvel
- various Marvels Comics (comics as they supposedly appear within the Marvel UniverseMarvel UniverseThe Marvel Universe is the shared fictional universe where most comic book titles and other media published by Marvel Entertainment take place, including those featuring Marvel's most familiar characters, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and the Avengers.The Marvel Universe is further...
) - Marvel Knights 2099 (MarvelMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, 2004) - Marvel MangaverseMarvel MangaverseThe Marvel Mangaverse is a series of comic books published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2002, with a sequel "New Mangaverse" released in late 2005 and early 2006....
(MarvelMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, 2001) - What If?What If (comics)What If, sometimes rendered as What If...?, is the title of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics, exploring "the road not traveled" by its various characters...
(MarvelMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, 7 one-shots) - X-MenX-MenThe X-Men are a superhero team in the . They were created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, and first appeared in The X-Men #1...
: Black Sun (MarvelMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, 2000) - 5 Ronin5 Ronin5 Ronin is a five issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics starring superheroes Wolverine, Psylocke, the Punisher, Hulk, and Deadpool reimagined as rōnin, masterless samurai set in seventeenth century Japan. The series is written by Peter Milligan and features a rotating cast of...
(MarvelMarvel ComicsMarvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, 2011)
- various Marvels Comics (comics as they supposedly appear within the Marvel Universe