Well, That Was Quick: Librarians Comic Ends With Issue #4

The Librarians #4 cover by Karl Moline

The first issue of The Librarians comic, spinning out of the TV show, came out a month ago.

Now comes the chance to order the fourth issue of the series (Diamond code OCT17 1484), which has been labeled its last. It’s due out December 13 and the plot description could describe just about any episode of the show, with some allowances for scale. (Super-sized special effects remain cheaper to do in comics than on screen.)

As the full-scale invasion from the magic-powered timeline threatens the entire world, The Librarians scour the Earth in search of the ancient artifact that can prevent civilization from being wiped out. But with unstoppable armies wreaking havoc across the globe, is it already too late?

The Librarians #4 cover by Karl Moline

Cover by Karl Moline

Four issues makes for a nice little paperback collection, but I’m left wondering what happened. Did the publisher, Dynamite, know from the beginning that they were only going to do one story (in which case, boo on them for not telling their customers this was effectively a miniseries), or were sales that bad? Did the TV show audience know about the comic, or is that viewing group just not interested in spinoffs? (Although the original novel I read was pretty good.)

After reading the first issue of the comic, I thought it was in keeping with the characters and what they tend to do. The plot, about a murdered schlock movie producer who made films about things like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, winked to the audience perhaps a little hard, and the amount of dialogue was high (which can be a benefit to readers not terribly familiar with comics, who tend to read text instead of art). The likenesses sufficiently resembled the characters without being too faithful or stiff.

Could the short run be a function of timing, with season three finishing last January (an age ago in TV time) and season four not launching until after this last issue hits shelves? That might mean no one right now is thinking about the show. At least the book collection will be out while the series is running, and that’s the better product to do cross-marketing with anyway.



2 comments

  • I didn’t even notice the first issue had come out! Admittedly I haven’t been getting to the comic store weekly these days, so maybe they only ordered a handful and they sold out by the time I got there. I know, I know, pre order everything…

  • Joan

    Huh, I just assumed it was a miniseries, like the Warehouse 13 and Eureka ones they did back in the day. I certainly hope they do collect it, since I was trade-waiting it.

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