By 1941, ADVENTURE COMICS was lagging a bit behind DC's other anthology titles, in particular ACTION COMICS which held the popular feature Superman and DETECTIVE COMICS with Batman and Robin. ADVENTURE's headliner Hour-Man clearly wasn't getting the job done, nor was the gas-mask-wearing Sandman. Clearly what was needed was a new feature with popular appeal. … Continue reading The Second Starman Story
So continuing our look at the second storys featuring noteworthy characters who would last the test of time, here is the second outing from the Winged Wonder, Hawkman. In the early days of FLASH COMICS, it was clear that the staff weren't quite sure which feature was going to click with readers, and so they … Continue reading The Second Hawkman Story
So we begin this feature with my favorite comic book super hero, the Scarlet Speedster known as the Flash. Introduced in FLASH COMICS #1 in late 1939, by the second issue Jay Garrick had been relegated to a small cameo image on the left side, the primary cover area given over to the almost-as-popular Hawkman. … Continue reading The Second Flash Story
During the Silver Age of Comics, it was still a rare thing for a character of any significance to be killed off in super hero comics. Only two decades later, having realized the audience appeal that the demise of a beloved favorite would have, companies would turn death into a revolving door situation more promotional … Continue reading 5BC: Five Best Silver Age Character Resurrections
I've heard it said that this issue of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA shows a bit of the influence that the growth of the new Marvel comics was having upon DC. I don't know that I really believe that, though. Certainly, for as long as there had been team-up comics, there had been stories in which … Continue reading WC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #20
While Golden Age publishers in general were relatively averse to having the stars of their assorted strips meet and team up on any sort of regular basis, the folks at DC/National Comics were a little bit more open to the idea of an occasional appearance or reference. Especially when it came to the features and … Continue reading Lost Crossovers: FLASH COMICS #77
This was the latest issue of DETECTIVE COMICS that I wound up with in my 1988 Windfall Comics purchase, where I bought a box of close to 150 Silver Age comic books for $50.00. And it represents a bit of a quantum leap forward from the earliest one that was in that purchase, the strongest … Continue reading WC: DETECTIVE COMICS #349
Now this is one of my favorite Justice League stories of all time. The fact that I read it as a reprint at a very young and impressionable age probably has something to do with that. But also, it played upon one of my personal fears as a child. Having watched an especially terrifying episode … Continue reading WC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #19
From a fan engagement point of view, there was probably no more galvanizing comic book at the start of the Silver Age of Comics than JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA. Fans--particular Dr. Jerry Bails, who pretty much founded super hero fandom with his associate Roy Thomas--had campaigned to get a new, updated version of the Justice … Continue reading WC: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #18
As we've spoken about in the past, Charlton Comics never really had a motivated interest in getting into the super hero field. They were quite happy most of the time to produce their line of largely-interchangeable war, romance, mystery, hot rod and western comics. But every once in a while, somebody at the organization would … Continue reading Brand Echh: Son of Vulcan #50
The Tom Brevoort Experience 