Sugar and Spike and Spike" series...is the most charming thing I've ever seen in comics." DC attempted to license "Sugar and Spike" as a syndicated newspaper strip but was unsuccessful. Sales on the "Sugar and Spike" issues of "The Best of DC" were strong enough that DC announced plans for a new ongoing series featuring the characters. The project was never launched for unknown reasons. Mayer had an agreement with DC that no one else could write Sugar and Spike. However, they have occasionally made cameo appearances in modern comic books. They are rescued by the underwater heroine Dolphin in "Showcase" #100. They
Bronze Age of Comic Books X-Men franchise). After the Bronze Age came the Modern Age of Comic Books, alternatively referred to as the Dark Age of Comic Books. According to Shawn O'Rourke of PopMatters, the shift from the previous ages involved a "deconstructive and dystopian re-envisioning of iconic characters and the worlds that they live in", as typified by Frank Miller's "" (1986) and Alan Moore's and Dave Gibbons' "Watchmen" (1986–1987). Other features that define the era are an increase in adult oriented content, the rise of the X-Men as Marvel Comics' "dominant intellectual property", and a reorganization of the industry's distribution system. These changes