It's time once more for my bi-monthly look back at comic books I bought 50 years ago.
Today, we'll look at what Li'l Dave-El spent his quarters on in September 1975.
We start of with a rather unique comic that is still regarded 5 decades later as a classic: 1st Issue Special#9 featuring Dr. Fate written by Martin Pasko and illustrated by Walt Simonson.
Maybe DC was envious of Marvel's supernatural super hero Doctor Strange in the hands of an up and coming writer and a hot new fan fave artist (Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner) and said, hey, who we got to fit that bill?
So up and coming DC writer Martin Pasko was paired with fave fan artist Walt Simonson (from Manhunter in Detective Comics) to bring new life to the golden age mystic master Doctor Fate.
What we get is a pretty solid tale of action, mystery and drama with Pasko and Simonson building on and adding to the mythology of Dr. Fate. It was Pasko & Simonson who introduced the concept that Kent Nelson is subservient to the helmet of Dr. Fate.
For a detailed look at this issue, click here for Attack of the 50 Year Old Comic and Alan Stewart's review of 1st Issue Special#9.While DC was working at a high level of more grown up comics with Dr. Fate, Superman was putting up with this goddam juvenile bullshit in Action Comics#454.
I'm guessing this is one those infamous editor Julius Schwartz gets a cover (in this case from Bob Oskner) and commissions a story around it. Cary Bates, Curt Swan & Tex Blaisdell gives us a tale of "Superman's Energy Crisis" where the solar energy that fuels his powers is being sucked away. Also Toyman is up to shit.
The issue is rounded out by a 5 page adventure fearturing the Atom by Martin Pasko (him again) and Jose Delbo, "The Campus That Swallowed Itself" which I don't remember a damn thing about.
Detective Comics #454 gives us another standard issue David V Reed/Ernie Chan crime stoy that has Batman framed for crimes he did not commit. There is a short but sweet Hawkman tale re-uniting E. Nelson Bridwell and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez who did very well with the Hawk guy two months before
Flash#238 has a lead story where our Scarlet Speedster is outmaneuvered by a villain who can switch bodies with people. 50 years later and I will fight to the death that Irv Novick was the best penciller on the Flash.
The back up is the Green Lantern serial by Denny O'Neil and Mike Grell with Hal Jordan's space faring battles with the Ravagers of Qys.
This is also the storyline that introduced GL's alien pal Itty who rode on his shoulder and gave GL someone to talk to.
(As Elton John said, "It's lonely out in space.")
From Justice League of America#125, Batman villain Two-Face teams up with Green Lantern foes Weaponers of Qward? Really?
This is Gerry Conway's first foray into writing JLA. The book was in a writer's limbo with no one person on scripting duties since Len Wein left in 1974. Conway was one of several writers (such as Cary Bates, Elliott S! Maggin and Martin Pasko) who rotated into and out of the book until Steve Englehart comes on board in about a couple of years.
Conway would assume the writing chores on this title on the regular starting with issue #151 and stay with the gig for nearly 100 issues.
If you think some of these covers seen crudely drawn, well, I agree with you. Ernie Chan was pressed into service as DC's main cover artist. Chan was better suited to working on Marvel's Conan the Barbarian and not so much super heroes.
But damned if DC didn't use him for everything.
Limited Collectors' Edition #41 was a tabloid sized book spotlighting TV's Super Friends. Writer E.Nelson Bridwell and artist Alex Toth provide an all new framing sequence to a pair of class JLA adventures by Gardner Fox, Mike Sekowsky and Bernard Sachs. I'm not sure what prompted me to drop a whole damn dollar for this since I hated the Sekowsky/Sachs art team.
Alex Toth was the lead designer for the Super Friends TV show and he also provided the iconic cover for this tabloid special.
Except for Superman's head.
DC was very particular about protecting the Superman brand and would order his head to be re-drawn if it didn't adhere to the asthetic established by regular Superman artist Curt Swan.
In this case, the Superman head Alex Toth drew was swapped out with a head drawn by Curt Swan & George Klein from a Superman annual back in the 1960's.
By the way, this shit used to happen to Jack Kirby all the time while he was drawing the Jimmy Olsen title back in the early 1970's.
Next up is an odd title. It might have seem like a no brainier to spin off the popular new Bat character Man-Bat into this own title.
But without creators Frank Robbins & Neal Adams? The odds of success were not good.
Underneath a pretty damn good Jim Aparo cover, Man-Bat#1 was written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Steve Ditko & Al Milgrom. In addition to the mutated Kirk Langstrom as Man-Bat, we got a very unique look at Batman.
Man-Bat would make it to issue #2 with an entirely different creative team (Martin Pasko, Pablo Marcos and Ricardo Villamonte) and that was it. A follow up tale by Pasko & Marcos would be run in the back of Detective Comics later the following year.
After debuting with an all reprint issue #1, Super Team Family#2 features it's first all new team up of Wildcat and the Creeper by Denny O'Neil, Ric Estrada & Bill Draut.
Even though Creeper is on Earth 1 and Wildcat is on Earth 2.
Maybe this is the Wildcat that Bob Haney would pair up with Batman in Brave & the Bold. Haney was not bothered by such middling details as what hero belonged to what Earth.
The reprint in the issue is an awesome Neal Adams drawn team up of Batman & Deadman.
And a Green Arrow short from way back when. (Spoiler: the unexpected guest star is Superman.)
Superboy #213 has Jim Shooter & Mike Grell pit the Legion of Super Heroes vs. a giant space lizard.
The back up by the same team is a spotlight on the Legion's answer to Marvel's Wolverine, Timber Wolf.
Superman#294 leads off with the same team from this month's Action Comics as Bates, Swan & Blaisdell pits Superman against old JLA bad guy Brain Storm who convinces Superman he's the only man on Earth.
Now, THIS is how you handle a rapture.
The back up is an installment of "The Private Life of Clark Kent" written by the seemingly ubiquitous Martin Pasko with at by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Vince Colletta.
I forked over two bits for Superman Family #174 for an ALL NEW Supergirl adventure by Elliott S! Maggin & Kurt Shaffenberger and a trio of reprints featuring Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and Superman.
Next up is Wonder Woman #221 which was written by Martin Pasko (he was everywhere!) and drawn by Curt Swan & Vince Colletta. This was part of the series where various members of the Justice League were monitoring her adventures after she had a memory wibble-wobble.
This issue features long time WW adversary Dr. Cyber who has beef with Wonder Woman because she was beautiful and Dr. Cyber was not.
This issue was a rare acknowledgement of the Diana Prince, Wonder Woman era where WW lost her powers and Diana was made into a kick ass super spy.
Hey, wasn't Wonder Woman tied up on last issue's cover? Yeah, this happened a lot.
I shelled out 2 quarters for DC Special#19 which was a collection of reprints featuring DC heroes versus giants, like it says on the cover.
Oh, look! Wonder Woman's tied up again. Well, at least Steve Trevor gets to join in on the fun.
Rounding out the titles I bought in September 1975 was World's Finest Comics#234 written by Bob Haney with art by Curt Swan and John Calnan. Yep, Swan was a busy guy drawing this issue, Wonder Woman as well as two lead Superman stories in one month.
A family seeks to leave Earth in a stolen space station, an alien experiment arrives on Earth while Superman & Batman go into SPACE to solve this typically messed up Bob Haney plot.
And that is what I spent my money from the ol' spinner rack in September 1975.
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