It's been five years since Disney bought up the assets of CrossGen, the defunct comics publisher behind such titles as Ruse, Sojourn and Abadazad. It was that last property, by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Ploog, that Disney seemed the most interested in, and a series of children's books published by Disney's Hyperion soon followed. So whatever happened to Abadazad?

DeMatteis recently posted two different posts on his blog that answer that question; first, he details the book's rise from an idea to being a big reason why Disney wanted the CrossGen properties, and in a second post he explain that that personnel changes at Hyperion and disappointing sales led to the end of the road for Abadazad. But the cancellation was the springboard for another idea:

That concept smacked me across the face, grabbed me by the throat and dragged me out of my bed and into my office, where I found myself typing furiously, outlining the tale of a twelve year old girl—Mehera Crosby—whose life is upended when her favorite book series is canceled; upended even more when she discovers that the characters she so loves are alive, trapped in a strange and deadly limbo—and it’s up to her to rescue them. I called the story Mundus Imaginalis and writing that outline totally dissolved my foul mood.

The title was shortened to Imaginalis, and the first one in the planned series is due next June; go check out both his posts for a lot more detail; it's interesting reading. So will young Mehera end up saving Kate and Matt Jameson? I guess we'll find out then.