Comic Book Retro 50: October 1976

October 1976 was a month of transition at DC Comics.

I'm not sure if a young Dave-El perusing the drugstore and convenience store spinner racks was fully cognizant of what was going on.

The covers should have been a clue.

Fewer covers by Ernie Chan.  In fact, unless I'm overlooking something, October 1976 was the last month for Ernie at DC for cover and interior art.  

Justice League of America #138 sported a cover by Neal Adams.

After sharing space with the Justice Society and the heroes of Earth S (Shazam), the JLA has another guest star in  "Adam Strange -- Puppet of Time" by Cary Bates, Dick Dillin & Frank McLaughlin.  

The Zeta Beam that transports Adam from Earth to Rann has gone wonky and sent him travelling through time to the 73rd century. And there's some other Cary Bates style shenanigans to make Adam Strange <insert dramatic pause> the Enemy of Earth!!! 

From the  Justice League to Justice Society, a young Dave-El picked up All Star Comics #64 from the spinner rack.  

After providing inks and finishes to Ric Estrada & Keith Giffen, Wally Wood flies solo on the cover and the interior.

Written by Paul Levitz,  "Yesterday Begins Today" follows up on the Shining Knight subplot seeded a few issues back and reintroduces perhaps the JSA's greatest nemesis, Vandal Savage. 

These days, Vandal Savage will fight anybody and is currently the police commissioner of Gotham City. 

It's more Neal Adams cover art on Flash#246.   

The issue leads off with "Kill Me, Flash -- Faster... Faster" by Cary Bates, Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin.

Chafing under the restrictions of being "reformed" from criminal activity by future science, Abra Kadabra uses a scheme to make it look like the Flash murdered him to escape his hellish existence of being "good". 

I mentioned DC being in a time of transition and Flash#246 was a milestone of change for the title.  After this issue, the Flash would no longer be reduced to just 10 pages of his own comic book.  

Back in June 1972, Green Lantern moved from his own book to back up player with Flash#217. Now with "Fury of the Floronic Man" by Denny O'Neil, Dick Dillin & Terry Austin, GL's time as a back up in this title was coming to an end.  

This story mark's the evolution of the plant controlling mad scientist Jason Woodrue to an actual "Plant Man".   It was a change that stuck.  Alan Moore would make excellent use of the Floronic Man in Swamp Thing.  

It's a shame that Terry Austin didn't have more chances to ink Dick Dillin's pencils.  They made a great team.  

Next up is Karate Kid#6 with a cover by Ernie Chan (DC's not done with him yet) & Mike Grell.  

"Showdown with Commander Blud" by Barry Jameson (a pseudonym for writer David Michelinie), Ric Estrada & Joe Staton features a guest turn by the Legion of Super Heroes.

The Legion is looking to convince Karate Kid to come back home to the 30th century but the Kid is insistent on continuing his self imposed exile in the 20th century for reasons known only to him. 

Speaking of the Legion, we come now to Superboy#223 with a cover by Mike Grell.  Yeah, I can see Karate Kid is on the cover after I just told you he wasn't coming back from the 20th century.  Whatcha gonna do? It's comics, y'all!  

"We Can't Escape the Trap in Time" is by Jim Shooter, Mike Grell & Bob Wiacek and I already wrote about this issue 13 years ago (OMG!).  Here's an excerpt from that post.  

"We Can't Escape the Trap In Time" was my first exposure to the long time Legion foe, The Time Trapper.  And he kind of weirded me out. Under that hood was just darkness as the Trapper plied his machinations to doom his enemies in the Legion.  Superboy and the Legion manage to escape the time trap that weren't suppose to escape. Meanwhile, their efforts have been observed....

 

 

 Even as the Time Trapper is (barely) defeated by the Legion, other forces are preparing to unleash themselves against our heroes, forces that may dwarf even the considerable power of the Time Trapper.

 

The Legion's ultimate threat is coming....When Stargrave Strikes!

Young Dave-El was really impressed by Superboy#223 but little suspecting that Superboy & the Legion was heading for a time of significant change.  And I was heading for some major disappointment. More on that 1 month from now and 13 years ago. (Wobbly wobbly timey wimey!)  

After missing several issues, I picked up Batman#283 with a cover by Ernie Chan & Vince Colletta.   

 "Omega Bomb Target:Gotham City" by David V. Reed & Ernie Chan marked the conclusion of a multi issue arc that took Batman on an international spy mission. 

It also marked the end of a run that began with Batman#262 in January 1975 when Ernie Chan drew his first issue of Batman.

Ernie was not a bad artist but I thought him ill suited to drawing Batman.  

Batman Family#9  features Ernie Chan's final cover for the title.

The all-new lead off story is a Robin and Batgirl team up to solve the "Startling Secret of the Devilish Daughters" by Bob Rozakis, Irv Novick & Vince Colletta.

This issue brings to an end the ongoing mystery running through Robin's solo feature of the Joker's Daughter who had also pretended to be the daughter of other Batman villains.  

NO, the timeline of Duela Dent being the daughter makes no sense.

Duela says she did all this as an audition to convince Robin to let her join the Teen Titans.

NO, dressing up as the alleged daughters of Batman villains to commit petty misdemeanors is NOT a good argument for joining a super hero team.

Just... no.

But damn it, Rozakis who was also writing Teen Titans does indeed have Robin introduce her to the Titans.

Featured reprints include an Alfred short from 1944 and a Batman vs. Blockbuster tale from 1966.  

I also picked up Detective Comics #467 with a cover by Rich Buckler and Vince Colletta.

Written by Bob Rozakis (boy, he was busy in 1976), "Pick-Up on Gotham 2-4-6" was drawn by John Calnan & Vince Colletta.

John Calnan had been a long time inker over various pencillers of the Superman/Batman team ups in World's Finest Comics. I think this was his first outing as a Batman penciller.  He will become the regular artist on Batman later in 1977.  

The story is a minor inconsequential crime mystery with the quirk of having 2 men dressed as Batman.

As Dire Straits once sang, "When two men say they're Jesus, one of  them must be wrong."  

Bruce Wayne is narrating this crime drama to a mysterious visitor who at the end reveals himself and is ready to tell his tale. 

Which brings us to the back up, "The Man Who Skyjacked Hawkman".  

Bob Rozakis, Marshall Rogers & Terry Austin brings the Calculator back ups to a close with Hawkman telling Bruce he deduces Calculator is coming for Batman next.

That's a story for next issue.  

This issue also marked the end of the super hero back ups in Detective Comics until June 1978 when Hawkman would return.   

Next up, young Dave-El forked over 30 cents for Secret Society of Super-Villains #5 with a cover by Ernie (I'm still here for now!) Chan & Vince Colletta.     

After I sampled this series with issue #3 (June 1976), I skipped issue #4 for reasons I've long forgotten,  

With issue #5 I wandered into a mess.  David Anthony Kraft was no longer the writer leaving Bob Rozakis to bat clean up on the SSOSV's ongoing Darkseid storyline.  

"Endgame" is drawn by Rich Buckler & Vince Colletta.

Manhunter goes boom and presumably takes Darkseid with him.

SPOILER: no, he doesn't.  

Meanwhile, the blinders are off and Captain Comet is done with being deceived by the Secret Society.

Next up is Shazam#27 under a cover by Ernie Chan & Kurt Shaffenberger.   

"Fear in Philadelphia" by  E. Nelson Bridwell, Kurt Schaffenberger & Vince Colletta continues the cross country tour by Billy Batson & Uncle Dudley, emulating the format of the Shazam TV show.   

Guest starring in this issue is an old Quality Comics character called Kid Eternity who last appeared in a new story in August 1949.  By shouting "Eternity!", Kid Eternity had the power to summon anyone from history (or sometimes even mythology) to aid him in his adventures.  

SIDE BAR: By the way, you may have noticed Vince Colletta is inking a lot of stories this month.  Somehow Colletta had conned his way into the job of DC's art director where he would assign a lot of inking assignments to himself. With his notorious propensity for erasing background, Colletta could deliver completed ink jobs very fast.   

Here comes Action Comics#467 with a cover by Bob Oksner. 

"Stop It, Superman -- You're Wrecking the World"  is by Gerry Conway, Curt Swan & Tex Blaisdell.   

I am hard pressed to remember the deets of this story but the Grand Comics Database offers this summary:  "Superman defeats a scientist who used a gadget to absorb and weaponize the energy Superman suppresses to prevent sonic booms when he flies at super-speed."

Let's have fun with this: "a gadget to absorb and weaponize the energy Superman suppresses to prevent farts". 😜

Nope, not ringing a bell. But I do remember  this bit:  This story contains the first mention of Black Lightning months before the release of Black Lightning #1.

OK, some of the story is coming back to me now.

It's more Bob Rozakis writing  "A Superman's Best Friend Is His Superdog" drawn by Swan & Blaisdell with Krypto the Superdog vs.   Mr. Mxyzptlk.

What breed of dog is Krypto? He's 100% good boy! 

Which brings us to Superman#307 and another cover by Neal Adams and "Krypton No More", part 1 of a 3 issue arc.  

After drawing issue #s 301 and #302, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez is back to pencil the interiors for 3 issues, joined by inker Frank Springer.  (Another of the changes at DC, issue #306 was Bob Oksner's last issue inking the interior art on Superman.) 

writer Gerry Conway crafts a story wherein Clark Kent is clued in to a environmental disaster in the making.

Superman looks into the situation and does not like what he's hearing.  

Man, I wish I could say things are better 50 years later.  

Superman ponders the parallels between Krypton and Earth's descent into self destruction.  Superman decides he will not let what happened to Krypton happen to Earth.

Until Supergirl intervenes with some troubling news.

Supergirl tells Superman their powers came from radiation absorbed by their scientist fathers on Earth, Jonathan Kent and Fred Danvers.  And Krypton is merely a delusion?

What the when how why now?

Young Dave-El will find out when he plunks down his 30 cents for Superman#308 in November 1976.   

Books I Did Not Buy 

Superman Family#181 with this weird ass cover by Ernie Chan

Thus was the LAST new/reprint issue with the rotating lead feature.  Issue #182 would over double in size and feature all new material of all the Superman Family stars at one time.

Weird Western Tales #38 with a cover by  Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez

The last issue starring Jonah Hex.  He would move on to this own title with a new character taking over the Weird Western Tales title.

Four Star Spectacular #6 with a cover by Ernie Chan 

Four Star was the odd ball reprint title that ostensibly featured 4 super heroes per issue.  These kinds of all reprint titles were being phased out under the leadership of new DC publisher Jeanette Kahn.

Another change was coming.  October 1976 was the last month for this logo:

The future awaits 50 years ago and one month from now for the next edition of Comic Book Retro 50.

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Thanks to The Tom Breevort Experience, the Grand Comic Book Database. Attack of the 50 Year Old Comic Books and Mike's Amazing World of Comics.     

Rosie the Dog in So We Have A Cat Now?

Last week we had visitors to our home here at the Fortress of Ineptitude. 

Rosie the dog, our beloved granddaughter.

Her dog sister London.

And her cat sister Olive.

What?

So we have a cat now?

Rosie's emotional support humans, son Dean and friend Jan, found an abandoned kitten. 

Much as they did with London the puppy, Dean and Jan could not leave another animal cold, alone and abandoned.

Especially a 4 week old kitten. 

They named the kitten Olive because the poor critter was covered in some kind of oily substance, not unlike olive oil.

The first two photos are of Olive shortly after she was found.

Here's she's cleaned up, snuggled up safe and warm in towel with a stuffed critter.

And here is Olive cozied up next to a sleeping Rosie. 

Poor Rosie did not sign up for this. But...

It appears you have a cat now.

What about the puppy?

London was spayed and still recovering from surgery. She arrived at the fortress with a cone around her head.

In a post on London's first visit to the Fortress, I described London as being "so friggin' adorable"  but also "overloaded with energy, whizzing and whirling about".  

London was cute AND also a handful. 

Being spayed is supposed to calm her down.

Not yet it ain't.  She's still a ball of excitable energy.

Still, when she sits on her hind legs and looks up with those eyes... damn it! 

Anyway....

Dean and Jan were in town to go with Andrea to see a Dan & Phil Show.

Dan & Phil are a couple of dudes who do... I don't know... stuff? Click on this link to their Wikipedia page for more info on that.  

I agreed to babysit.

It wasn't a problem for me when they went to see Dan & Phil in 2024.

Of course then, it was just me and Rosie.

This year I had to watch out for three grandchildren.

Well, how hard could it be?  I waved cheerfully as Dean, Jan and Andrea left the Fortress of Ineptitude for the drive to Durham.

I turned to face the menagerie of my grandkids.

OH MY GOD! What did I agree to????

There were three sets up feeding instructions for the three critters.  

London had a cone! Olive was so little! Rosie was so...

Rosie was so done with this mess.  She sat next to me on the couch for scritches and belly rubs while I kept a sharp eye on the puppy and the kitten.  

London did eventually calm down thanks to some post operative medication. Olive bounced around the living room, exploring every nook and cranny with endless energy and enthusiasm. 

Eventually even Olive dozed off. She was so small, so still.

Too still! Oh crap! Did I do something to kill the kitty? I poked her slightly and she pawed my finger away in her sleep. Oh good! I managed to keep her alive.

Mealtime was a bit hectic managing 3 different meal plans. 

And potty time for London was a struggle.  She might be a puppy but she's got Hulk strength and nearly tore off my hand with her leash.

As the evening wore on closer to midnight, all the grandkids went back to sleep again but I did not let my guard down. 

It was my sacred duty to insure these beloved animals were breathing. 

I hadn't felt this stressed since my wife gave birth and we brought our baby home for the first time.  

To be fair, the critters were all well behaved and watching Olive hop around the living room was a source of entertainment. My stress was pretty much self inflicted.

When Dean, Jan and Andrea returned home, I was exhausted.

But it's all good.

So we have a cat now.

Tuesday TV Touchbase: VisionQuest and Happy's Place

Before we get started on today's Tuesday TV Touchbase, I need to acknowledge some sad and unfortunate passings.

• Walter Koenig who played Chekov on Star Trek died yesterday at the age of 90.
• Michael Gray passed away at the age of 75. He played Billy Batson on the Saturday morning TV show Shazam that I used to watch as a kid. Michael had a cameo in the film Shazam: Fury of the Gods.
• At the far too young age of 46, Eric Bauza died on Sunday. Eric was a brilliant voice actor who was called this generation's Mel Blanc for his uncanny talents bringing classic Warner Bros. cartoon characters to life in a variety of projects, including most recently Coyote Vs. Acme.

So Andrea and I are watching the new Marvel series VisionQuest on Disney+.

First, some homework.  🔔 I'll ring a bell for each TV show or movie that feeds into VisionQuest.  

It's been 5 years since the mind-blowing events of WandaVision 🔔sent Wanda Maximoff in a magic fuel downward spiral that led her to put an entire town in New Jersey under a hex that brought back the Vision (killed at the end of Avengers: Infinity War🔔) and gave her and the Vision two sons, Billy and Tommy.

Wanda lifted the Hex which caused her fantasy life with Vision and her sons to vanish.  However, the android body of the Vision, restored by S.W.O.R.D., remains alive but not retaining the spark of what made the original Vision a unique life form.

In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness🔔, Wanda expends considerable time, effort, dark magic and what's left of her sanity trying to get her family back. It doesn't go well or end well with Wanda dropping a mountain on herself.

Meanwhile, over in Agatha All Along🔔, Agatha Harkness goes on a quest for power and is accompanied by Billy Maximoff who somehow survived the end of Wanda's hex.  Billy uses his own magic powers to revive his twin brother Tommy and place his soul in the dying body of Tommy Shepherd.  

Everybody got all that?

Now, finally, to VisionQuest.

OK, once you sort out the tangle of continuity that presages this series, what you get is pretty darn interesting, a treatise on self-awareness, of building identity and a seeking a purpose. Also toss in that bugaboo that has us all worried right now, the power and the limits and the threats of A.I.  

This new Vision can remember being the old Vision, the one Thanos killed.  But he can't quite capture what it meant to be that Vision, whatever program or awareness that allowed that Vision to know such human concepts as compassion and love.

To help the new Vision process this information and his journey of self-discovery, his consciousness has formulated a mind palace populated by human avatars of Tony Stark's A.I. constructs.  

• F.R.I.D.A.Y.  Played by Orla Brady who was Tasha Lem in Matt Smith's last episode of Doctor Who.  
• E.D.I.T.H.   Played by Emily Hampshire from Schitt's Creek, Emily also has the distinction of being the worst contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy.
• J.A.R.V.I.S.
• D.U.M.-E and U  These two A.I. ran the robots in Tony's lab whose answer to everything was to shoot Tony with fire extinguishers.  Henry Lewis who plays D.U.M.-E is the co-creator and star of The Play Goes Wrong series.  
• And Ultron.

Not just providing voice work for a CGI robot, James Spader is on hand in the ascerbic flesh to consistently needle Vision about... well, everything.  Sporting a salt and pepper mad scientist beard, Spader's Ultron has a habit of popping up in Vision's head at the worst moment with some pithy insult about whatever Vision is doing wrong now.  

Paul Bettany is back to give voice and body to the role of this new Vision.  Paul has a lot of heavy lifting to do, crafting a performance of an emotionless robot who dreams of growing up to be a real boy.  Paul embodies the role with poignancy and even flashes of humor.  

VisionQuest is not all just navel gazing and contemplating the meaning of existence. Vision has to contend with external threats.

Like the female presenting A.I. serial killer known as "Birdbutcher".  (I think this is going to be some form of Jocasta, an A.I. from the comics.) 

Or the mercenary Paladin who has been contracted by an unknown party to capture Vision. Paladin is performed by Todd Stashwick who was Capt. Shaw on the 3rd season of Star Trek: Picard.  

Speaking of Star Trek: Picard season 3 (you know, the mostly good one), the head writer and showrunner for that season, Terry Matalas, is writing and show running VisionQuest.  

VisionQuest does have a tough row to hoe with so much of the plot reliant on so many other series and movies (🔔🔔🔔🔔) to set up the premise. But once the premise is established, you've got a clever, engaging, thought provoking story that is lifted up by very strong performances from a great cast led by Paul Bettany,James Spader and more.

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Last week, the 3rd season of Happy's Place debuted.

...

...

That is all.

Look, Andrea likes it and occasionally, someone will do something mildly amusing that wakes me up.

OK, here's some deets:

Isabella's development of a speakeasy on the top floor of the Happy's Place Bar & Grill is still a thing.

Bobbi and Emmett keep giving each other space (after their break up) that neither of them needs or wants.

And maybe some other 3rd thing.  

That is that for this week's Tuesday TV Touchbase!

Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.  

Let's have Eric Bauza take us out with his appearance at the 78th annual Emmys. 

Travels By Toy Car

With so much crappy stuff going on in our country and in the world, once in a while something happens to makes you think there might be some hope for us, something to bring us what you humans call "joy".  

It all began with an idea for a road trip from Philadelphia to Niagara Falls, a 750 mile journey.  

But what makes this story interesting is how Cassie Aran and Lauren Lee of Tampa FL decided to make that drive.

They would make the trip in toy cars.

 

Cassie Aran, standing in back,and Lauren Lee, front, 

cross the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the first day of their 

journey from Philadelphia to Niagara Falls by toy car.

 I became aware of these two remarkable women when they began posting videos of their journey on Tik Tok.

The journey from Philly to the Falls is expected to take about 2 months.  Their cars are 48-volt electric vehicles that measure just under 6 feet in length and top out around 10 mph manufactured by Freddo.  

Lauren Lee said, "Way back when, we used to ride toy Jeeps for fun when we were kids. And what kid doesn't dream about how far you can go with those things?"

Yeah, when we were kids but you're 32 years old. What's the deal now? 

The deal is Cassie and Lauren are attempting to set the Guiness World Record for longest journey by toy car.  

Along the way, they're inviting the world along on their travels, posting video diaries.  

The record setting trip is also a fund raising opportunity for a nonprofit called To Write Love on Her Arms, an organization that helps people struggling with depression and suicidal ideation. 

This is Cassie and Lauren's 2nd attempt at this world record. In 2024, they drove 600 miles in toy cars in Florida, from Jacksonville to Key West.  (Driving in toy cars across the long bridges that connect the tip of Florida to Key West must have been a harrowing experience.) 

Some issues with the Guinness World Records rules meant that journey didn't count.  Still they raised over $17,000 for the Best Friends Animal Society.

For their second attempt to make this count and actually enter the record books, they have established stipulations with Guiness.  

The women must carry a GPS tracker and photograph stops that take more than five minutes. 

Any receipt from a gas station or restaurant goes in the logbook. 

They're also collecting signatures from witnesses who will confirm they saw them at documented locations

Some of those have been police officers executing anything-but-routine traffic stops.

Aran explained, "We have some cops that recognize us from social media and they are excited to see us and they pull over. Everyone's on edge when you see a cop, so there's still that instinctual like, 'oh my God.' But then every single time they come up and they're like, 'I just wanna know what's happening.'"

The women have meticulously planned their routing,  prioritizing bike lanes, sidewalks and woodland paths. 

Lauren and Cassie spend up to 10 hours a day in transit which is a long time for adult women to be scrunched up inside toy cars.  

Because of the small stature of their chosen modes of transportation, the women try to avoid driving at night but sometimes that can't be avoided. The toy cars include LED headlights and the women are also carrying lanterns and other light up devices.  

Packing supplies can be a logistical challenge as space in a toy car is at a premium. They can carry two small bags each.

Some of those supplies must include tools: screwdrivers, spare batteries, chargers, electrical tape, lights, safety goggles and gloves.

Sometimes the women have to lift and carry the cars if they encounter an obstacle than cannot be driven over or around.

As fall draws closer to winter, Cassie Aran hopes the two hoodies, heated vest and pair of fleece-lined leggings she packed will be enough to brave the cold. 

But what if it snows? Lauren and Cassie are trying not to think about it.

Cassie says, "We've made jokes about this and right now they're jokes. But they could become ... I mean, if we have to ask a friend to come and shovel or plow in front of us or something, then we might have to."

"Or Velcro a plow on the front of the car," Lauren joked.

Why Philly to Niagara Falls?  On a visit to the Falls with her boyfriend, Cassie witnessed someone attempt to take their life. They were rattled by the incident, but even more shocked to learn how common it was; local police told them it happened about once a week. 

So Cassie Aran and Laureb Lee decided to make suicide prevention their cause, and Niagara Falls their destination.

As Cassie said, "Mental health for both of us is really important. And we really want to make a difference with (this) and help more people not have to feel alone and go through that."

Wrapping up today's post is a video update from Cassie and Lauren on Day 8 of their journey.

Good luck and safe journeys, Cassie and Lauren!