Comic Books From February 1975

Back in November, I did a post about comic books I had purchased 50 years earlier. 

I rather enjoyed that nostalgic trip back through time so I'm going back 50 years again to look at some of the comics I bought in February 1975.

From Batman #263, we got "Riddler on the Move" written by Denny O'Neil and illustrated by Ernie Chan and Dick Giordano. 

By this point, Ernie Chan (the credited as Ernie Chua) was the defacto Batman artist and I wasn't particularly happy about it.  His Batman was too chunky. I missed Irv Novick's more lithe version of the Caped Crusader. For now, Giordano was still inking Batman, adding some gloss to Ernie's work.

The issue feature's a riddle from the Riddler that I still invoke to this day. "Batman, why are you like an unemployed doctor? Because you have no patience!"   

Detective Comics #447 continues Len Wein's "Bat-Murderer" saga but artist Jim Aparo is gone. We get Chan & Giordano again on  the art and also we get a guest appearance from the Creeper.

Straight laced TV reported Jack Ryder was the Creeper with a bizarre ensemble and a maniacal laugh. The Creeper was ostensibly a super hero but his appearance and behavior made most people assume he's a villain.  

The back up was a Robin solo story drawn by a team of artists identified only as Martinez and Mazzaroli.  Who they were and how they came to attention of editor Julius Schwartz are unknown. They drew this one Robin story and were never heard from again.  

By 1975, these stories were sharing less space. In 1974, the page count for story and art in a standard issue comic book was 20 pages. As of 1975, the page count was down to 18 pages.

And that was after a price increase from 20 cents to 25 cents.  

After making a surprise cameo in a Green Arrow back up in Action Comics, Krypto returns in Superman #287 by Elliot S! Maggin, Curt Swan and Bob Oskner.   

By the time I started reading DC comics in earnest, I had missed the great teaming of penciller Curt Swan with inker Murphy Anderson. For my era, Bob Oskner was Swan's principlal inker and for my money, none of the inkers than came after (Adkins, Chiramonte, Hunt, etc) were as good as Oskner.

Gone by 1975 was DC's main cover artist Nick Cardy. Dick Giordano is frequently pressed into service to provide covers. 

Another thing that was gone by 1975 was the 60 cent 100 page spectacular.  I had only known the Shazam title in the format so it was a bit weird to see the oddly thin Shazam#18 bereft of those classic Golden Age reprints.  

The lead Captain Marvel story was  "The Celebrated Talking Frog of Blackstone Forest" by Elliot S! Maggin and  Robert Oksner.   

There is also a talking tiger.  Tawky Tawny was a recurring character in the old Captain Marvel mythos.

The back up is a Captain Marvel, Jr. tale written by E. Nelson Bridwell with art by Kurt Schaffenberger.  Bridewell will go on the principal writer of all things Shazam for several years.  

February 1975 appears to have been a slim month for me. Sometime comic book purchase could be hit or miss depending on my how much spare change I had.