And we're back with Comic Book Retro 50!
What pray tell was a young Dave-El spending is comic book buying scheckles on in May 1976.
Let's start with the big surprise of the month, the return of Green Lantern/Green Arrow.
A little bit of comic book history.
Starting with Green Lantern#76 in April 1970, GL began sharing his book with Oliver Queen, aka Green Arrow. Starting in issues of Justice League of America, writer Denny O'Neil had Oliver Queen lose his fortune and began molding the character into a social justice warrior and an agitator against authority figures.
Pairing Green Arrow with Hal Jordan who worked for the ultimate police force, the Green Lantern Corps, was a recipe for drama.
Partnering with artist Neal Adams, O'Neil sent our heroes on a road trip across America, exploring subjects like pollution, war, racism, sexism, political and corporare corruption, drug abuse.
The series was cancelled with issue #89 and Green Lantern and Green Arrow were consigned to back ups in The Flash and Action Comics respectively.
Four year later, GL and GA were back with Green Lantern#90.
Writer Denny O'Neil returned but Neal Adams had long since moved on from regular comics work so Mike Grell was brought on board as the new artist. Grell had been drawing the GL and GA back up strips and he was DC's hot go-to artist so he was a perfect choice.
While the original iteration of Green Lantern/Green Arrow primarily focused on street level adventures geared towards Oliver Queen's talents and personality, the new version would lean towards a more cosmic angle aligned with Hal Jordan's work as a Green Lantern.
"Those Who Worship Evil's Might" introduces some updates to the Green Lantern mythos. The power ring gets a re-design from a circle to resembling a stylized power battery.
Oh look! A Vulcan Green Lantern! Complete with the Vulcan salute! Cool!
We also find out the Guardians of the Universe employed different resources to bring justice and order to the universe before founding the Green Lantern Corps. An idea that writer Steve Englehart would explore in JLA a year later.
Speaking of the Justice League, I laid out a whole dollar for Limited Collectors' Edition C-46 with a dynamic new cover by Dick Giordano.
This was a tabloid sized book that reprinted Justice League of America #24 and #43 written by Gardner Fox and drawn my least favorite JLA art team of Mike Sekowsky & Bernard Sachs.
"Decoy Missions of the Justice League" is a team up with Adam Strange vs. the master world conqueror Kanjor Ro.
"The Deadly Dreams of Doctor Destiny" features the JLA's dream controlling nemesis.
And I picked up Justice League of America#133 written by Gerry Conway and drawn by my estimation the best JLA art team of Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin.
"Missing -- One Man of Steel" puts the spotlight on another recurring alien threat, Despero. And features a long overdue JLA appearance by Supergirl.
After not being part of my purchases for a couple of months, the Batman solo titles found their way home with me.
I'm not sure why Batman#278 made the cut this time.
"Stop Me Before I Kill Batman" by David V. Reed, Ernie Chan and Tex Blaisdell is about a masked weirdo known as... The Wringer who is going around wringing the necks of puppets and marionettes as a prelude to... murder!
Accompanying Batman on this baffling case is Inspector Kittridge from Scotland Yard who has come to Gotham City for the express purpose of matching wits with the Caped Crusader in solving a strange and unusual crime.
I remember this sequence where Kittridge thinks he's cracked the case using the kind of leaps in logic that Batman himself was prone to do in the old 1960's TV show.
The Wringer has a different plan.
So does the Batman.
David V. Reed favored these one-in-done crime procedural tales with Batman a glorified police officer in a Bat suit.
And I picked up Detective Comics#462.
"Kill Batman -- in Triplicate" is the conclusion of a 3 parter where Batman is contending with a pirate themed villain called Captain Stingaree who is convinced Batman is actually 3 people and has kidnapped two of them.
I had missed parts 1 and 2 but I was a smart kid and got caught up to speed pretty quickly.
The stort was written by Bob Rozakis and Michael Uslan with art by Ernie Chan & Frank McLaughlin.
Instrumental to the plot is a guest appearance by the Flash. Well,it is one big happy DC Universe, ain't it?
If the name Michael Uslan seems familiar, you see it in the credits of every movie that has Batman in it. Early on Uslan secured the film rights to Batman and has hung on to them. The result: Uslan gets a producer credit on every single Batman movie and (I presume) a nice check for his trouble.
The back up is an Elongated Man short called "Clue of the Talking Orchid" by Bob Rozakis, Union Studio* & Vince Colletta.
Union Studio? This is a team of Spanish language artists drawn from Latin America and Spain who primarily worked for Charlton Comics during the 1960s and 1970s. As far as I can tell, this is their only DC Comics credit.
Next up: Look! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's.....
Superman#302 by Elliot S. Maggin, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
& Bon Oskner.
Lex Luthor has zapped Superman with.... SCIENCE! that makes him grow bigger and dumber!
Size changing sounds like something that the Atom might be able to help with.
Supes is able to trick Lex and gets the cure to his condition.
A standard issue 1960's type "weird shit happens to Superman" tale enhanced by some dynamic art by Garcia-Lopez.
Which brings us to Action Comics#462.
"Super-War of Independence" by Cary Bates, Curt Swan & Tex Blaisdell continues Superman's struggle against the alien menace of Karb-Brak. Which will mercifully conclude next issue.
Rounding out the issue is a Krypt solo adventure, "This Is a Job for Superdog" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Curt Swan & Al Milgrom
Well, this post began with Green Lantern so let's end it with him as we head to Flash#243.
"If I Can't Rob Central City, Nobody Can" by Cary Bates, Irv Novick& Frank McLaughlin where Flash foe the Top has died and left one last threat for Central City as a farewell "gift".
This was a rare for real change to the status quo of the Flash's
Rogues Gallery.
The issue also features the concluding chapter of the Green Lantern serial, the Ravagers of Olys.
Denny O'Neil and Mike Grell are joined by inker Terry Austin who was a very good match with Grell.
Green Lantern would have two more solo back ups in The Flash in a couple of months.
And that is what Dave-El bought in May 1976.
What's coming for June 1976?
I purchase for the 1st time Freedom Fighters and Secret Society of Super Villians. And Shazam is new again!
And Batman vs. the Riddler and the Black Spider!
And more!
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