Only the Good Allies Die Young: ‘Young Allies’ Canceled with #6

"Young Allies" fans may want to sit down. In this morning's Diamond Previews Product Changes update, the series' fate seems to have been cemented:

• Young Allies #7 (OCT100642, $2.99) is cancelled. The series will end with issue #6.

Written by Sean McKeever with art by David Baldeon, "Young Allies" had spun out of the "Captain America" Nomad back-up strips by the same creative team earlier this year as part of the Heroic Age rollout. While sales certainly weren't stellar, straight up canceling a solicited issue is fairly uncommon at the Big Two, especially since a "Young Allies" Annual will be part of a crossover with annuals from "Avengers Academy" and "Spider-Girl" in early 2011.Considering the "Nomad" backups seem to be continuing in "Captain America," it's unlikely that McKeever's work in this corner of the Marvel Universe has completely concluded.

When contacted for comment, Marvel Comics noted that Young Allies is "on hiatus" and the Nomad backup will continue in "Captain America."

It's worth mentioning that Marvel announced a new book by Sean McKeever, "Onslaught Unleashed," at New York Comic Con this weekend. Since Rikki Barnes, team leader of the Young Allies, has an established relationship with Onslaught and the Heroes Reborn universe, it's possible that series may serve as a continuation of these characters' stories.