Deathmate

"Deathmate was thrust upon us because (Steve) Massarsky and Jim Lee were best buddies at the time and had privately arranged the crossover," Layton said.

Upon consummating, their combined energies fused, unwarping the fabric of time, spiraling backwards and eating away at their distinct timelines.

Deathmate had a negative impact on retailers that heavily ordered the series only to find that fans lost interest by the time the books shipped.

As a result, retailers had an unusually large amount of cash flow tied up in the titles that they could not recoup until the books hit the shelves.

[2] Deathmate Red shipped so late that Diamond Distributors canceled the original solicitation and gave retailers a chance to slash their orders.

"[2] "Not necessarily in the numbers, but in the consequences of their release...I think that Deathmate sounded the beginning of the problems, and when Image couldn't get their side of the cross-over out on time, it hurt everyone," he said.

[4] The Topps set would be based on the Deathmate Red and Black issues and would include artwork from Rob Liefeld and Jim Lee.

Corps and WildC.A.T.s) Story: David Michelinie and Bob Layton Pencils: Mike Leeke Inks: Tom Ryder "Revelations and Recruitments" (featuring characters from Shadowman and WildC.A.T.s) Story: Bob Hall Pencils: Mark Moretti Inks: John Dixon "Battlestone vs. Magnus Outlaw!"

(featuring characters from Brigade and Magnus: Robot Fighter) Story: John Ostrander Pencils: Jim Calafiore Inks: Ralph Reese "Secret Forces" (featuring characters from Secret Weapons and Cyberforce) Story: Joe St. Pierre Pencils: Sean Chen Inks: Kathryn Bolinger "Sacrifices" (featuring characters from Harbinger, Brigade, and Cyberforce) Story: Maurice Fontenot Pencils: Howard Simpson Inker: Gonzalo Mayo "Supremely Darque" (featuring characters from Solar and Supreme) Story: Kevin VanHook Pencils: Peter Grau Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti Books from Image Story: Brandon Choi and Eric Silvestri Pencils: Brandon Peterson, Brett Booth, Marc Silvestri, J. Scott Campbell (as Jeffrey Scott),Scott Clark, Greg Capullo, Jim Lee, and Whilce Portacio Inks: Scott Williams, Sal Regla, Alex Garner, and Trevor Scott Story and Pencils: Rob Liefeld Script: Eric Stephenson Additional pencils: Jeff Matsuda, Rich Horie, Dan Fraga, Cedric Nocon, Dan Pacella, Anthony Winn, Marat Mychaels Inks: Danny Miki, Jon Sibal, Marlo Alquiza Story: Bob Layton Pencils: Marc Silvestri and Joe Quesada Inks: Bob Layton and Scott Williams As of now the issues of the crossover have yet to be collected.

This is likely due to the (often confusing) truth of the involved characters being owned, licensed, and printed by a large number of separate publishers.